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Ever since the arcades went away, I’ve always wanted my own personal arcade cabinet. A few weeks ago, I saw these Arcade1Up boxes at Walmart, and looking at the box art, they appear to be “full sized” cabinets for $300!
After doing more research and contemplating on the pricing, I’ve decided that it’s actually a good deal to buy a Street Fighter 2 cabinet.
Putting the cabinet together was pretty easy to follow, thanks to the pre-drilled holes and easy-to-follow instruction book. All the parts are clearly labeled, and anyone with a Phillips screw driver can put it together in under 30 minutes.
Some minor complaints:
The ball joystick could be like later generation Street Fighter 2 fight sticks that I remember (they were more sensitive to movement and was a little taller).
The other complaint is that it’s actually not a full-size cabinet, but rather a 3/4 scale. To solve these complaints, Arcade1Up actually released a branded riser to lift the cabinet up to about five feet… which will set you back about $40-$80, depending on where you buy it.
Some praises:
The artwork is beautiful and high quality. It’s brand new and faithfully reproduced from the original Street Fighter 2 cabinets by Capcom.
Joystick and six buttons configuration - it’s how SF2 was meant to be played! Spacing is good, and includes a second six button for a challenger!
After some research, I found out that the suggested retail price to these cabinets are $400. Most stores were pre-selling them at $400 (originally published pricing of $500), but then Walmart announced they were selling it at $300 - forcing the other stores to match the $300 price. I wish they were cheaper, but you have to think that the margin is already thin at $300 if the markup price was originally $400 or more.
I do have my eye on the next Capcom cabinet (Final Fight, Ghost n Goblins, Strider, and 1944: Loop Master)…. And I also want both the Galaga cabinet (Walmart is selling these for $250 as a Black Friday sale) and Pac-Man (for the classic artwork).
UPDATE: After watching and reading about these Arcade1Up from collectors who owns original arcades, some agreed that old cabinets are very expensive, heavy, and requires a lot of maintenance of aging obsolete technology (CRT monitors). One guy said it took two guys to carry a 200 pound machine up one flight of stairs and it nearly destroyed him. Imagine having to move two or three arcade machines? One of the benefit of a smaller Arcade1Up is that it's only about 60lbs, and a grown person can move it around easily. The other nice thing about the Arcade1Up is that pricing at $300 is fair, some people said it's cheap compared to $1,000 for a real machine... Still, we'd all like it to be cheaper.
As for the ball joystick, you can buy replacement "bat" top styling and easily replace the ball. The batstyle is only about $5 each, so it's reasonably priced.
The other complaint a lot of people have mentioned is that they wish the marquee would light up. It is a cost-savings issue, so I understand why they didn't include it with this initial release. I would love Arcade1Up to offer a more expensive "deluxe" version that lights up or comes with a taller frame (instead of having to buy an extra "Riser" to lift it up to standing level)... because I would shell out an extra $50 to get those things built in.
After doing more research and contemplating on the pricing, I’ve decided that it’s actually a good deal to buy a Street Fighter 2 cabinet.
Putting the cabinet together was pretty easy to follow, thanks to the pre-drilled holes and easy-to-follow instruction book. All the parts are clearly labeled, and anyone with a Phillips screw driver can put it together in under 30 minutes.
Some minor complaints:
Some praises:
After some research, I found out that the suggested retail price to these cabinets are $400. Most stores were pre-selling them at $400 (originally published pricing of $500), but then Walmart announced they were selling it at $300 - forcing the other stores to match the $300 price. I wish they were cheaper, but you have to think that the margin is already thin at $300 if the markup price was originally $400 or more.
I do have my eye on the next Capcom cabinet (Final Fight, Ghost n Goblins, Strider, and 1944: Loop Master)…. And I also want both the Galaga cabinet (Walmart is selling these for $250 as a Black Friday sale) and Pac-Man (for the classic artwork).
UPDATE: After watching and reading about these Arcade1Up from collectors who owns original arcades, some agreed that old cabinets are very expensive, heavy, and requires a lot of maintenance of aging obsolete technology (CRT monitors). One guy said it took two guys to carry a 200 pound machine up one flight of stairs and it nearly destroyed him. Imagine having to move two or three arcade machines? One of the benefit of a smaller Arcade1Up is that it's only about 60lbs, and a grown person can move it around easily. The other nice thing about the Arcade1Up is that pricing at $300 is fair, some people said it's cheap compared to $1,000 for a real machine... Still, we'd all like it to be cheaper.
As for the ball joystick, you can buy replacement "bat" top styling and easily replace the ball. The batstyle is only about $5 each, so it's reasonably priced.
The other complaint a lot of people have mentioned is that they wish the marquee would light up. It is a cost-savings issue, so I understand why they didn't include it with this initial release. I would love Arcade1Up to offer a more expensive "deluxe" version that lights up or comes with a taller frame (instead of having to buy an extra "Riser" to lift it up to standing level)... because I would shell out an extra $50 to get those things built in.
