Which arcade system to get? (Dream Arcades and Awecades)

[CavemanDoctor]

Hey guys,

 

I'm really interested in getting of those pre-built proprietary arcade systems that have 100 games on them. There are quite a few sellers out there.

 

I've narrowed it down to these two:

 

http://www.awecades.com/machines.htm

 

and

 

http://www.dreamarcades.com/cabiocade.shtml

 

Do any of you have any experience with these machines? Are they reliable? Overpriced? Do they look good? etc. Any information you can tell me will be of great help.

 

The Dreamcade has only a 19" monitor whereas the Awecades has a 21" monitor. Is 19" way too small, or is it pretty standard?

 

Someone on another board told me that the games on these proprietary system dont look as good as they can look on a MAME cabinet.

 

I want to play as many games (legally) as possible. But I'm kinda stuck. Please tell me your experiences on these or any other prebuilt machines.

 

Thanks.

Edited October 30, 2006 by CavemanDoctor

[Treasure-Diver]

I personally have been planning to buy this one http://www.chicago-gaming.com/alegends.php

 

It has a ton of expansion packs. But I've never bought any of these things so I too would like to know what others think.

[+DamonicFury]

I don't own either of these, but I've looked them over a good bit:

 

Pros for Dream Arcade:

Namco and Capcom games

Easily able to add any PC game, arcade collection, or emulator into it

(for 4.99 at your your local EB/Gamestop, you could add the Taito arcade collection, for example)

More authentic arcade look (marquee, tilted monitor)

 

Pros for Awecade:

Spinner and light gun included

Exidy games

Larger monitor (for the AC-605SP) -OR-

The price on the P.A.M. is very attractive compared to it's competitors

 

A MAME cabinet could indeed give you a more authentic look on most games by using a real arcade monitor. The cons of doing so is that they are expensive, and the vector games (Asteroids, Tempets, etc.) will look awful. Mine uses a PC monitor, and I'm personally quite happy with the result.

 

Building a MAME cabinet is probably the best option, certainly the cheapest, but the amount of work involved and skill required makes it not for everyone.

 

Best of luck whatever you choose, and let us know how your choice works out!

[NE146]

I'm sorry but what in the heck is up with that drawkcab joystick on the 2nd player for the 'awecade'

 

[Shannon]

I have an awecade unit myself and have been pretty happy with it. You can read all about it, if you dare, in my blog. Although it has been a while since I added any comments. When it comes to well designed, no configuration involved, it's pretty nice.

 

They also give you the software you need to reprogram the controls if you wish to "modify" it yourself. Something I plan on doing sometime in the future. I've been in like "superlazy" mode lately though. To be honest though configuring a machine yourself, although fun, can be pretty laborious. I'd probably do mine sooner but I have some stuff I'm trying to finish up on my xbox before christmas comes.

 

As for the other one I'd have to read up on it. But it looks like sdamon listed a few things. You won't find capcom or namco on the awecade units at this time. They do plan on adding a taito pack sometime soon, from what I hear.

 

Plus from my talks to Curt they have been making efforts to customize the OS (environment) for maximum performance, more so than most other cab manifacturers probably do. I'd say more but I'm still waiting for a drive with the latest revisions.

 

What's a drawkcab joytick?

Edited October 30, 2006 by Shannon

[deathtrappomegranate]

What's a drawkcab joytick?

 

Backward backward

[Jacob Rose]

I'm sorry but what in the heck is up with that drawkcab joystick on the 2nd player for the 'awecade'

 

The 'drawkcab' (read it starting from the "b") joystick makes a lot of sense. If you're a lefty, you can use it instead of the Player 1 joystick; if you're not, at least it's not in the way of your hand as it flies across the trackball...

 

That said, I think most of us would want some easy home customization features. It would be nice if the controls for each player were mounted in a lift-out box with easy-to-change connectors and (perhaps) a shiny stainless steel faceplace for support, so you could take them out, flip them around, reconnect them, and put them back in the other way if you wanted (or build your own controller box and drop it in without cutting up the cabinet). I'd also like a marquee that stood out from the monitor and with graphics that I could replace (by removing a cover on top of the cabinet, pulling out the two glass/plastic sheets around the graphic, and changing it).

 

I'll eventually build my own mini-MAME-cab instead, I think.

[Shannon]

Doi! I knew something was eluding me, but I just woke up. Yeah, that's my excuse!

 

Yeah I kinda thought a replaceable marquee would be kinda cool, or some type of display at the top that would change the marquee according to the title being played.

 

It is nice not to have to worry about slapping my hand into the stick when playing trackball games, although it'd be nice if the orange and purple keys were defined as fire on track games. The stick has a tendancy to get in my left hands way when firing.

 

I think the biggest flaw is that the control layout is intended to fit two players into a standard arcade cabinet form factor. Which is more of a limitation than a flaw really. But for people like me with limited space it's pretty nice.

 

Anyways chances are when I get to putting my own stuff in there. I'll probably define the right stick as player 1 and the left as player two, etc.

Edited October 30, 2006 by Shannon