The New Wave Of Replica Arcade Cabinets Are All About The Controls – Forbes

Having tried the previous Arcade1up cabinets in my family I was interested to see them diversify with different controls and a wider range of titles. Since they first launched there have been a number of competitors enter the space with different offerings.

Arcade1Up’s response has been to introduce new form factors that include spinner, track-ball and steering wheel controls in addition to standard sticks and buttons. This was the first draw of the Out Run and Tempest Legacy Edition cabinets. My kids had never played an arcade machine with a real steering wheel, and were intrigued by the idea of controlling a character with a track ball.

As with the other cabinets, before we could get playing there was a bit of construction. I got my 13 year old to build the Out Run cabinet and he was able to follow the instructions to piece together the wooden cabinet and electronics it contained. The build was a little bit more complex that the other cabinets we have tried, which stemmed from the different shape and additional parts to support the wheel and pedals.

Once built we worked through the different games on the cabinet in turn. Out Run, Turbo Out Run, Outrunners and Power Drift. At first my son would slam the wheel left or right to turn, but soon realised you needed to use the full arc of steering to get the cornering just right. This, combined with the accelerator and brake pedals offered a pretty authentic arcade experience.

Power Drift was the game I was most keen to play. Having enjoyed this in the arcades as a child it was great to be able to share this with the family in the home. I also found that the muscle memory of navigating the roller-coaster style tracks soon came back.

I had planned to leave the machine on in attract mode while not using it. A nice way to brighten up the office. But found that the fan that kept the machine running at the right temperature made a bit of a background hum so have ended up only powering it up to play.

The Tempest machine I built without help from the kids. They were less excited with this one until it was complete. Showing them Centipede or Missile Command and how to use the trackball to play, soon piqued their interest. It took them a while to get used to the track ball control but once they got the hang of it we were soon competing for a high score.

We then moved to Tempest and the spinner control. This one needed a more deft touch. Not just to quickly spin to the right position but stopping at the right point to then shoot the enemies.

It was interesting seeing the kids get to grips with this. While they are adept at swiping to unlock, navigating a touch screen or using their face to log in to their apps, this was a new skill.

Over the last year or so, the replica arcade market has grown considerably with a number of companies offer competitive offerings. From Creative Arcades full-size cabinet to AtGames Legends Ultimate cabinet that offers new game downloads or even the super cute Quarter Arcades machines. These products compete on authenticity of experience, the games they have licensed and the quality of their cabinets.

The Quarter Arcades Bubble Bobble machine is worth mentioning here. It combines not only a pixel-perfect rendition of the popular game, but also does it in a form factor you can play away from home.

These machines from Arcade1Up focus more on the controls. Having offered a full recreation of the Star Wars flight yoke, OutRun offers a similar level of quality. With the number of competitors growing, continuing this innovation will be key to stay ahead.

There are a number of machines that haven’t been offered in a home-friendly arcade format because of controls that are awkward to recreate. I would love a Time Crisis cabinet or Point Blank machine. Paperboy is another example of a great game that simply isn’t the same without that handlebar controller.