Your opinions please.

[+Yurkie]

Hello new to this forum. I own a few classic arcade games , however for $450 I kinda want a new Tempest especially if I spy a spinner on that panel.

Any your thoughts please.

 

https://atari.com/products/tempest-legacy-edition-arcade

 

forgot to add link

[H454]

I think @Crazy Climber Had one awhile back? Maybe different version of a 1up Tempest.

 

With these I'd sign for best buy email and check the deal of the day. I've seen some of the 1ups go for half price every couple of months.

 

[82-T/A]

On 7/28/2023 at 3:13 PM, Yurkie said:

Hello new to this forum. I own a few classic arcade games , however for $450 I kinda want a new Tempest especially if I spy a spinner on that panel.

Any your thoughts please.

 

https://atari.com/products/tempest-legacy-edition-arcade

 

forgot to add link

 

So... I have a lot of opinions, not all of them nice. So I'll try to be as constructive as possible. If you are accustomed to "classic" arcade machines... as in, you know what they look like, feel like, and the size and weight of them... and you already have a couple of them. My opinion is that you're not really going to like the 1Up Arcade machines.

 

In order to reduce cost, shipping weight, and overall overhead for these (and to make them more marketable in general), they've remade these kinds of arcade machines using cheaper and lighter-weight materials. Specifically, this is entirely press-board. I realize that a lot of actual arcade machines are particle board too, this is a lower quality... held together by the resin and the graphics. They are much smaller... and unless you get that little pedestal thing (which is usually sold separate), they are also too short.

 

I mean, they play well, and they're really done nicely... but my personal opinion... and remember, this is an opinion. If you're not going to get the actual arcade machine... then might as well spend that money on an Atari VCS and then buy / download the Tempest Recharged that just came out (Tempest 4000 I think it's called), which basically has every version of the game. And then you can play it on a big screen TV... and you've even saved yourself about $200 bucks.

[+Yurkie]

I think the light weight flimsy feel would suck big time. I can see me breaking it.

[mr.bill]

I have been collecting arcade games for nearly 40 years now. I have not owned a 1up. but I hear their spinner is junk. I hear it was more like a rotary controller.  My friend has one and instantly replaced it.

 

I acquired a broken at games ultimate arcade and I fixed it. I briefly played tempest on it. The spinner on the ultimate arcade does not feel that bad. the lcd screen looks ok. I did not try the trackball on it, but it rolled ok.  The control panel is well made, but cabinet is pretty much junk. but it does looks nice. the joysticks and buttons do feel pretty good. but depending on your gaming needs/preferences, you might want to modify/uprgrade/ or replace them. From what I hear, the at games ulitimate arcade is consider to be a step above the 1up arcade stuff, but I think it sells for nearly double.

 

The reality is, unless you have the means to get a real tempest (figure around $1k-1500+), the 1up tempest might be you best choice. But I would look into if they fixed the spinner. If its still the crappy one, you might want to consider ultimate arcade. Or plan on spending another $50-$75 for a quality spinner.

 

one thing you should think about before you buy the real arcade tempest, Its not a game that is fix it and forget it. you will have to have plans on what to do when it breaks. if you dont have repair skills, then you need to find someone who can fix them.

 

tempest and star wars are the hardest games on their monitor.  when you finish the level on tempest and fly down the tube, the monitor is trying to draw all those vectors you cant see way off the screen. If listen to it, it sound like the monitor is screaming..  Star wars does the same thing too, but what really kills it is when you blow up the deathstar..  The point being is that those 2 games are very hard on their monitors.  If your running them in a commercial arcade, you will be lucky to get 2 years out of it. in the home environment you should get many more years out of it before you have to repair it. Also, the AVG(analog vector generator) chips are failing in these games. luckily smart people are making replacements for the AVG.

 

 

Edited August 1, 2023 by mr.bill

[Crazy Climber]

On 7/28/2023 at 7:50 PM, H454 said:

I think @Crazy Climber Had one awhile back? Maybe different version of a 1up Tempest.

 

With these I'd sign for best buy email and check the deal of the day. I've seen some of the 1ups go for half price every couple of months.

 

I had the first gen tempest (Asteroids) the spinner was pretty weak but a guy sells aftermarket ones that are really nice that just snap right in. I "think" they corrected the poor spinners on the legacy release but I've never personally played one. 

 

I like arcade 1up but people have to remember they are toys, as long as you think of them as that, and not an actual commercial released arcade machine, they are a lot of fun. Cheap, easy to move around, etc... 

 

There was a tempest legacy in our area last summer for $150! I mean, you can't beat that...