Warlords cocktail

[Shaggy the Atarian]

I am curious to know, how hard is it to find a working Warlords cocktail cabinet? How much do they usually go for? I know it's a popular classic title and probably a little difficult to find but I'd really like to know as I'm in the market for one at the moment.

 

Honestly I have never had a chance to play one - I've played Castle Crisis on the A8-bit and I've heard that it's pretty much dead on, minus the overlay for the background. Does anyone know how many of these Atari made? I know they also made an upright version although it would have to be the cocktail only for me (I want the 4 player - Warlords is OK in 2 player but so much better with 3 or 4 players, I love how crazy it can get with a group of people at least with the 2600 version).

[djpubba]

They are rare and usually expensive unless the seller doesn't know what he has. I'd say $500-800 or possibily more.

 

The major difference between the upright and the cocktail besides the number of players is that the cocktail is in color and the upright is black & white with a color overlay.

[Bryan]

I was always so conflicted...

 

Upright Pros: Beautiful cabinet, reflected screen over lighted artwork, big display.

Upright Cons: B&W monitor with overlay (if that bothers you), only 2 players possible.

 

Cocktail Pros: 4-players, color monitor

Cocktail Cons: Monitor is small, screen colors are stupid looking

 

For color, the motherboard has a look up ROM that translates the gray castle shades into various colors that change in each corner (by incorporating H&V timing signals). Anyway, I never liked it because you don't have a "red" player, and a "green" player anymore. You've got random psychedelic combinations, which is why I went with the upright scheme in Castle Crisis.

 

Besides, I modified my personal upright machine with a cable to add 2 external Atari paddles.

[Cassidy Nolen]

A friend of mine has had 2. Currently his is in "limbo" as he is trying to buy back his original.

 

As for value, 5-800 I think is conservative. I have never seen one in good shape for under 700. Really clean, you're in the 9-range.

 

The machine is a great party piece. Not much to look at, I think the Atari Asteroids table is about the only good "looking" one they made. The Tempest, Space Duel, Centi and Millipede cabinets lack a visual element to me. Not that the gameplay is not great, just the cabs...in other words, go look at a Warlords cocktail in person before you buy one. Check VAPS and see who has one in your area before you buy it. If you see it can fit into your collection, way to go. Otherwise, an upright is a much cheaper alternative.

My.25 cents,

C

[Shaggy the Atarian]

Thanks for the input guys. I figured that the price would be in that range although I guess it isn't as high as a few other games I know about (like Major Havoc or Tempest). I noticed from pictures that the cocktail monitor looks fairly small although I want it anyways. Partially because I would love to have a cocktail cabinet and also because I'd hate to be limited to 2 players. It's really too bad that they couldn't make the upright version a 4 player game. If anything could be remade for arcades however, it would be awesome to see a new version of Warlords.

 

I did register on VAPS yesterday. After filling out the forms I realized that I have more stuff than I thought.