Latest / Ultimate Rewinds Podcast / QUARTER UP! When Arcades Ruled the World!

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QUARTER UP! When Arcades Ruled the World! · Ultimate Rewinds Podcast

• 0:00
  Today we're diving deep into the golden
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  glow of arcade lights, the sound of
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  buttons clicking, and that unmistakable
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  feeling of chasing high scores. Our
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  guest today is a true arcade enthusiast,
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  someone who lives and breathes classic
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  cabinets, modern machines, and even home
• 0:17
  arcades. So, I want to welcome to the
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  podcast today one of my favorite
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  YouTubers out there. His name is James
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  and he has one of the most iconic
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  YouTube channel names and it caught my
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  eye the first time I actually, you know,
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  clicked on one of his links. Say hello
• 0:32
  everybody to James Hates Everything. How
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  you doing, bud?
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  >> I am doing excellent. Thanks for having
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  me here today. How How are you doing?
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  I'm excited to be here.
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  >> Yeah, I'm doing good, man. It's been a
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  while since I I've done a podcast of my
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  own, but I've been trying to get some
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  some new and unique guests on that that
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  maybe other people who don't usually
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  watch my stuff for for all types of
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  things. You know, having new people and
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  new experiences to me is what this is
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  about. So, again, I appreciate you
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  coming on with me just talk about one of
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  our favorite subjects and that's the
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  arcade, right?
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  >> Absolutely. I love love talking arcades.
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  Honestly, comics, toys, all that stuff.
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  But yeah, arcades obviously my channel
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  is centered around arcades. So, it's uh
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  it's definitely near and dear to my
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  heart.
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  >> I saw that on Instagram. I followed you
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  on Instagram and I saw you me and you
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  were into some of the same things like I
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  saw He-Man and some other stuff on there
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  as well, some toys. I got a little
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  excited when I saw that as well. But
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  today, we're going to stick to arcades.
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  Maybe another time we'll bring you back
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  on with some other toy guys and we could
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  talk about that too. But uh the the
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  first thing I have to ask you is that do
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  you remember and I'm sure this is your
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  first experience is when you were a kid.
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  The first arcade game you ever played?
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  That's a tough question.
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  >> It is a tough question. Um mainly
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  because my memory is really bad to begin
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  with, but I I have memories of the early
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  days of arcades. I just don't remember
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  the very first one. Right. I can
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  remember going with my dad to a a small
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  arcade
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  uh you know in Kansas City that had Star
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  Wars, right? That's that original, you
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  know, early late '7s Star Wars with the
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  um vector graphics, right? It just that
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  that was an iconic memory that stood out
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  as like really one of the first true
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  arcade games that made an impression on
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  me.
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  >> Yeah, I agree. That was definitely one
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  of the ones when I saw it, it was like,
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  "Oh my god, like what is that?" It was
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  so much different than some of the other
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  arcade games that I originally sought
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  out to play. So, it's like when you
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  first see that cabinet, you first see
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  the gameplay, I'm like, "Holy crap, like
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  I have to check this out." But for me,
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  it was like I have always been a fan of
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  the original um early8s Nintendo
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  cabinets. Like, I've always flocked to
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  them. And I don't remember like you, I
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  don't remember the first game that I
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  actually played, but I remember being
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  drawn to a bunch of those original,
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  especially like Donkey Kong, uh, the
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  original Mario Brothers, stuff like
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  that. I can always remember like vividly
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  in my mind like hitting those first
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  whenever I went to an arcade. But, uh,
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  speaking of that arcade, is there a
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  specific place that you got to go? Like
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  you mentioned, you you went with your
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  dad to a specific arcade. Is was there
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  certain places and what were they named
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  like? Yeah. So, we had I really most of
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  my arcade days was really around two
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  locations and one of them I could never
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  tell you the name because I think it
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  went out of business pretty quickly. Um,
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  but it it was close by. So, me and my
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  friends used to be able to get on our
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  bikes and ride over and and play there.
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  But the big one that we all went to was
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  called FunFactory. It was at the uh you
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  know the local mall and it was you know
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  a much bigger arcade experience than say
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  the local place that was near me.
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  >> See I wish I had outside of like I've
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  talked about this before on other
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  podcasts but there was a place by me
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  called Showbiz Pizza. I don't know if
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  they they had other you you had one by
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  you.
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  >> Oh yeah. I I that's again talk about
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  early memories. Showbiz was we had
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  several in in the area and you know I
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  had a birthday party at Showbiz. So I
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  still remember getting the the little 45
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  record with the song by Rocket Fire
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  explosion say it's your birthday. You
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  know those the iconic animatronics and
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  stuff like I loved showbiz. I still
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  collect showbiz stuff. I have mugs and
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  some things over across the room that
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  are all from Showbiz.
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  >> I might have to do that. You just me I
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  you brought that up like I collect a lot
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  of stuff. I might have to go out and
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  start collecting showbiz stuff cuz Yeah.
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  But for me like the showbiz was one of
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  them like cuz there was always like you
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  mentioned you go to somebody's birthday
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  party at showbiz pizza and you got to
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  play the games. Another one was the rink
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  when I would grew up like the roller
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  rink by me like they had a back room
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  with arcades in it. So like I remember
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  playing double dragon there for the
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  first time and I was like blown away out
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  at this game cuz I knew nothing about
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  it. my friend like finally introduced it
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  to me when we were at the rank and I was
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  like holy crap. But those two places
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  especially were to me like where I got
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  to play some of my favorite arcade
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  games. The other like I don't know if
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  you had this but like there'd be like lo
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  local pizzeras by me where I'd go and
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  I'd be able to go and like have a pizza
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  but they'd also have one or two arcades
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  like in the corner. Do you guys have
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  that by you or No.
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  >> Yeah. So so I wish we had local pizzeras
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  where I grew up. Most of them are all
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  chain restaurants but I mean who doesn't
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  remember Pizza Hut? you know, they they
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  would always have, you know, a cocktail
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  table of Galaga or something like that
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  growing up. So, always love going there
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  and you always had to play the Galaga
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  when you were there.
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  >> Yeah, I agree. A Galaga is one of my
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  all-time favorite games. In fact, I put
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  out a video like like six months ago, my
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  top arcade games that I played and
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  Galaga made that list as well. But what
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  would you say, and this is a really
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  another really hard question, but if you
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  had to pick an all-time favorite arcade
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  game growing up as a kid doing that,
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  what would it be?
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  Uh
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  it it really I think would that boil
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  down to the genre. I mean like overall
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  the one that sticks out the most is
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  probably Street Fighter 2 Championship
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  edition strictly because that was more
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  my high school age, right? And we were
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  always going up to the 7-Eleven or
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  Circle K and and everybody's quartering
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  up and battling it out for hours and
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  hours. But,
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  you know, I really for me a lot of the
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  earlier ones really stick out a lot more
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  if I if I just want to play a quick game
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  like Mappy or Tapper, like those I can
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  go to anytime again over and over,
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  whereas I won't go to Street Fighter 2
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  too much these days, but back in the day
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  it was a blast.
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  >> And I you just nailed it right on the
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  head like cuz I feel the same way. I
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  feel like the the more simple the game,
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  the easier it is to go back to and play
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  now, especially as adults, even even as
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  kids, because like I feel like some of
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  the games, like we mentioned, Gallagher
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  earlier, by no means was it an easy
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  game, but it was a simple game whereas,
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  you know, you're just mashing a button
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  and try trying to nail all the bugs and
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  all all the things there. So, like I
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  feel like I've always said that when I
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  talk about arcades, I've always flocked
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  to the the more simple games. And I
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  think you you kind of feel the same way,
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  you know, after what you just said.
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  >> Yeah. I think I think the reason arcades
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  are really, you know, exploding in
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  popularity these days and those old
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  games is because of that. You know, too
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  many times modern games require
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  investment of 20, 30, 100, a thousand
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  hours
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  >> and it's really hard to find the time to
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  dedicate that much time to one game.
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  Whereas, you know, you can go back to an
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  arcade, jump in, play, you know, for 20
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  minutes and have a blast and have played
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  like the game 10 times or 15 times
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  depending on how good you are and just
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  walk away and not have to think about it
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  anymore. So, I really think it's that
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  quick short experience that really is
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  popular right now because modern gaming
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  isn't really giving you that and so it's
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  filling that gap that people miss. I
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  think
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  >> I I agree. Um, you brought up modern
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  gaming. Is there a game that sticks out
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  to you from the modern gaming and I'm
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  still talking about arcades at this
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  point because like I kind of grew out of
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  the arcade and I shouldn't say I grew
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  out of it but as you get older there
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  were less arcades around like show pizza
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  didn't exist anymore by me. They they
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  turned it into a Chuck-E-Cheese but uh
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  it's still around but it's really not as
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  popular as it once was. So, like is
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  there that modern game where you kind of
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  like are was like, "All right, this is a
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  game I I could see myself playing for a
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  while."
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  >> Yeah. So, there there are a few modern
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  arcades that I think would be really
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  cool to own, right, and to be able to
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  play a lot. The problem is they're more
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  experienced driven, so they're very
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  expensive. They're not likely to be
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  replicated. Um, one in particular there,
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  I can't remember the full name of the
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  game, but there's the Godzilla VR game
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  uh that came out a couple years ago.
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  It's incredible. It's like a amusement
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  park ride. You got VR on and it's an on
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  the rail shooter and you're really
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  interactive and scale. It's just an
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  amazingly fun game. But, you know,
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  you're paying a small arm and a leg for
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  every time you play it. You know, those
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  are the kinds of experience I think in
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  arcades that are still good outside of
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  the redemption stuff. Obviously,
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  redemption stuff is very popular. Um,
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  but that experiential stuff that you
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  really can't take home is still real fun
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  at the arcade.
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  >> I I agree. I I will say this and that um
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  the modern arcade for me like and I I
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  talked before about like stepping away
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  from the arcade as they disappeared, but
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  the cost to play arcades as we got older
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  became an issue because back in the day
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  you're paying a quarter to play a game,
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  it wasn't a big deal. Well, now all of a
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  sudden it's $2, $250, whatever it is.
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  It's It's just got to be too much money.
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  And one night alone would be like over
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  hundred something dollars if you really
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  spent a good amount of time playing a
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  certain amount of games.
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  >> Yeah. And I think that's where at least
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  the barcades and some of the more
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  non-new arcades, so they're they're, you
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  know, retro arcades, they don't carry a
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  lot of the new stuff where you just pay
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  like $10 and you could spend all day in
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  there um and just play as much as you
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  want. that I think is a good experience
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  for people that just want to go out and
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  have a good time with the family because
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  it's not that exper expensive. Your kids
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  can jump on some of these old games that
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  don't take a lot of, you know, don't
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  take a lot of learning. It's one
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  joystick and one button for a lot of
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  them, right? Like, so it's it's really
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  easy. And of course, kids always
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  gravitate to all the driving and
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  motorcycle games and things like that
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  anyway. Um, but that there is
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  opportunities there. There are great
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  arcades out there now that aren't all
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  the modern stuff. Um, so I find that a
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  ton of fun and obviously the ones that
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  are barcades are have a whole different
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  level of fun with them, right?
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  >> Yeah. I I wish there we had more of
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  those by me. I'd probably be hanging out
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  there a lot more, but we don't have too
• 10:58
  many of those. But the one thing I
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  forgot to mention before when we were
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  talking about places where we played
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  arcades, I don't know if you had a
• 11:03
  ground round by you. Did you have a
• 11:04
  ground round?
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  >> No, I'm not familiar with that one.
• 11:07
  >> All right. So it was like it was like a
• 11:09
  restaurant. How about a Benigan? You
• 11:11
  have a Benigans?
• 11:12
  >> No.
• 11:12
  >> No. Okay. So So it's it was
• 11:14
  >> I do remember that name, but we didn't I
• 11:16
  don't think we had one.
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  >> It was like a TGI Fridays. I'm sure
• 11:19
  you've had one of those. Okay. So it was
• 11:20
  like a Fridays, but they had like a
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  small arcade when you win. And I
• 11:23
  remember playing um Paper Boy was one of
• 11:26
  the still one of my favorite games of
• 11:27
  all time there on of course the the bike
• 11:30
  handle and stuff like that. And there
• 11:31
  was one more pole position. I've always
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  been a great pole position player ever
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  since I was a kid. So, that's one of the
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  still games to this day that I flock to.
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  But, um, here's a weird question and I
• 11:43
  think I I have to ask every arcade
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  enthusiast about this. Is there like
• 11:46
  this one obscure game that you're like
• 11:48
  obsessed with that many other people
• 11:50
  like don't really love? They're like,
• 11:52
  "Oh, really? That's a really cool game,
• 11:53
  but like not a lot of people like it."
• 11:56
  >> So, so for me, it's Mappy. So, I don't
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  know truly how many people know or or
• 12:02
  those that do know even like Mappy.
• 12:05
  Like, I think it's a blast. It's, you
• 12:07
  know, I don't know if you've played it,
• 12:08
  but the the object is you're a mouse
• 12:11
  police officer and there's a bunch of
• 12:12
  cat burglars trying to steal stuff out
• 12:14
  of out of a house or a hotel or whatever
• 12:18
  it is. And so you're going around trying
• 12:20
  to secure all the goods while avoiding
• 12:22
  the the cat burglars, though, which is
• 12:26
  kind of like backwards. You'd think
• 12:27
  you'd be arresting them or something,
• 12:29
  but it's the other way. Um, but it's a
• 12:32
  ton of fun because it it's sort of like
• 12:34
  Pac-Man where it's a maze type level
• 12:37
  where you but it incorporates a
• 12:39
  trampoline mechanic. So, you're jumping
• 12:42
  from floor to floor and if you are on
• 12:44
  the trampoline too much it breaks breaks
• 12:47
  way and you you can use the environment
• 12:49
  against your enemies. So, I find it like
• 12:52
  really a ton of fun. Um, and it's
• 12:55
  something that I've probably put out,
• 12:57
  you know, countless hours into over the
• 12:59
  years because it I just enjoy it a lot.
• 13:02
  But
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  >> there's always that one, man. I'm
• 13:04
  telling you, there's one game that's
• 13:05
  like the dumbest game in the world, but
• 13:07
  you always go back to it. I I don't
• 13:08
  know, for me, I hate to say it, some
• 13:11
  people are like, "Oh, that's a pretty
• 13:12
  mainstream game, but it was always
• 13:13
  DigDug." I thought that game was the
• 13:16
  dumbest game in the world, but I
• 13:17
  couldn't stop playing it. I I I don't
• 13:20
  know what it was, but I just it was
• 13:22
  something I' always flocked. that and
• 13:23
  Mr. Doo. Mr. D was another one was like
• 13:26
  it it wasn't a great game, but I it's
• 13:28
  one of the first ones I always went back
• 13:30
  to. I was like, "Oh, all right. Let let
• 13:31
  me play on this." And I just always just
• 13:33
  standing in front of there playing
• 13:35
  smashing the buttons. And I was never
• 13:36
  good at any of those two games, by the
• 13:38
  way. But maybe that's why I think
• 13:39
  they're obscure.
• 13:46
  Now, we're adults, right? So, we've come
• 13:49
  back into the arcade world, and you
• 13:51
  cover a lot of arcade stuff in your
• 13:52
  channel. I've done it minimally here,
• 13:54
  but
• 13:56
  what do you think makes a good arcade
• 13:59
  experience, whether at home or at an
• 14:01
  actual arcade?
• 14:04
  >> So, I definitely think it's the
• 14:05
  atmosphere, at least for me, right? So,
• 14:08
  I I think there's a lot of people are
• 14:09
  like, "Hey, I just want to play the
• 14:10
  games." and they're good with like a
• 14:12
  multicade or even emulation on a, you
• 14:16
  know, a console or something or a PC,
• 14:19
  but for me it's very much atmosphere,
• 14:22
  right? So, I want to see the rows of
• 14:24
  games. I want to have the black lights
• 14:26
  and the dark atmosphere and all the neon
• 14:28
  around. Uh, and then it's people, right?
• 14:31
  So, it's a mixture of all those things
• 14:33
  that I think really make that arcade
• 14:37
  experience what it is. Um, so even, you
• 14:41
  know, I have a home arcade. It's
• 14:42
  designed around recreating the
• 14:44
  atmosphere of an arcade. So when my kids
• 14:46
  are all down here hanging out, we're as
• 14:48
  a family or if we have guests over, it's
• 14:50
  it's recreating the atmosphere of the
• 14:53
  arcades in the 80s and 90s that you just
• 14:56
  really can't get easily uh elsewhere
• 14:59
  these days.
• 15:01
  >> It is. And and I think even now, like I
• 15:03
  have local arcades that are nothing like
• 15:05
  the arcades that we grew up in. We we
• 15:07
  mentioned like you know showbiz pizza.
• 15:09
  We met I mentioned the ground round. You
• 15:11
  mentioned a few others by you. There
• 15:14
  there is no experience like that
• 15:15
  anymore. I cannot find one. Like the
• 15:16
  arcades by me are just games stacked up
• 15:19
  in like a warehouse and they let you in
• 15:20
  and like you said before where you pay
• 15:22
  the amount of money you can go in and
• 15:24
  you can play whatever you want. But the
• 15:25
  experience of like the look, the feel,
• 15:28
  the music, the food, the people around
• 15:31
  you like you don't get that. Like I
• 15:32
  don't get people standing around me
• 15:34
  putting a quarter on top of the marquee
• 15:35
  and say I got next. Like that doesn't
• 15:37
  happen anymore. So like that whole
• 15:39
  experience is a big thing. I really wish
• 15:41
  someone somewhere would kind of recreate
• 15:43
  that experience. But it brings us to
• 15:45
  like our next topic which is the home
• 15:47
  arcade uh you know back when the whole
• 15:50
  home arcade thing came out. I know
• 15:52
  arcade oneup hit. At least that that's
• 15:53
  the first one that I remember hitting.
• 15:55
  There might have been someone before
• 15:57
  then but you mentioned you have your own
• 15:59
  home arcade. So, how many uh machines do
• 16:02
  you have in your home?
• 16:04
  >> So, in in my home, I have like 21 if you
• 16:10
  count a couple virtual pinball machines.
• 16:12
  Then I have four more at the office. So,
• 16:16
  I have a break room at my day job that I
• 16:21
  put four
• 16:22
  >> like arcade oneups in there for people
• 16:24
  to play.
• 16:25
  >> Um, and so, you know, I'm running out of
• 16:28
  space. That's that's always a challenge,
• 16:31
  right? You know, when you have a bunch
• 16:32
  of these uh but I you know that's really
• 16:35
  why I do it is it makes the atmosphere
• 16:37
  and if you start counting like claw
• 16:39
  machines and other things that number
• 16:40
  goes up but really just looking at the
• 16:43
  the arcade stuff is is awesome.
• 16:46
  >> So let me ask you this. Are they all
• 16:48
  arcade one-ups or do you have actual
• 16:50
  real machines in your house as well?
• 16:52
  >> So I right now I have one quote unquote
• 16:55
  real machine. It's not an original.
• 16:57
  Let's say the Unicorn Nova Blast, which
• 17:00
  is like a modern recreation of a candy
• 17:02
  cab, which uses the original arcade
• 17:05
  boards. You can put Jamama boards and
• 17:07
  stuff. You can also hook up other things
• 17:09
  like Pandora's boxes, even your Nintendo
• 17:11
  Switch if you want. But it's great
• 17:13
  because you can play all the original
• 17:15
  Jamama boards from the original arcades.
• 17:17
  Plug it right in. It's got a huge like
• 17:19
  26 in screen. It's awesome. I did the
• 17:23
  the real arcades in the late 90s, early
• 17:26
  2000s. Uh, you know, me and my roommate,
• 17:30
  we would go to auctions and buy real
• 17:33
  arcades. And so, I've had my share of
• 17:35
  that. And now I have back problems. And
• 17:38
  I don't look at like recreating that.
• 17:41
  They're very heavy. You know, they do
• 17:44
  take a fair amount of maintenance,
• 17:46
  especially if you want it to look good,
• 17:48
  right? because you're you're either if
• 17:50
  you're paying for one that somebody's
• 17:52
  already restored, it costs a lot of
• 17:54
  money. If you're getting one that needs
• 17:56
  restored, then it takes a lot of work.
• 17:58
  Um the arcade one-ups aren't aren't the
• 18:02
  greatest, right, from a quality
• 18:04
  standpoint, but they scratch the itch
• 18:07
  enough and they're light, easy to move
• 18:09
  around, and they recreate the
• 18:11
  atmosphere. So, I've steered clear of
• 18:14
  the originals just because I've done
• 18:16
  that before and have no interest going
• 18:18
  back down that road.
• 18:20
  >> It's hard because I, believe it or not,
• 18:22
  I grew up with an arcade machine. So, I
• 18:24
  I mentioned this before, I was a big
• 18:26
  Nintendo
• 18:27
  >> kid. So much in fact that like when I
• 18:29
  was in my, you know, before I hit my
• 18:31
  teens, I actually asked my dad to buy a
• 18:35
  uh repurposed Punchout, the original
• 18:38
  Punchout machine, and we found one for a
• 18:40
  decent price. And you know, I
• 18:42
  contributed a little bit of cash. He
• 18:43
  contributed a little bit of cash and I
• 18:45
  convinced him to buy it and and bring it
• 18:47
  home. And I got to tell you how many
• 18:49
  nights he got aggravated with hearing
• 18:51
  body blow, body blow like like at 11:00
• 18:54
  p.m. at night. So, but having an arcade
• 18:57
  at home, arcade machine at home, I got
• 19:00
  to tell you, an original, there's
• 19:01
  nothing like it. Now, unfortunately, as
• 19:04
  I got older, my, you know, we moved, it
• 19:06
  was in my dad's basement, and when I was
• 19:08
  in college, um, house caught on fire and
• 19:11
  end up, uh, damaging the machine and,
• 19:12
  and that was it. I tried to find
• 19:14
  somebody to come in and and fix it. But
• 19:16
  he said the board had been damaged and I
• 19:17
  need to get a new board. And I said, at
• 19:19
  that point, you know, I said, "It's just
• 19:21
  time for me to sell it for parts." And
• 19:22
  that's what I did. But I will say this,
• 19:24
  having an original arcade game,
• 19:26
  especially if it's one of your
• 19:27
  favorites, there is no better feeling.
• 19:29
  But I like you got into the whole arcade
• 19:32
  oneup thing when they first came out and
• 19:34
  I got to tell you uh in the beginning it
• 19:37
  was like a little bit of a fat. I saw
• 19:38
  them hit Walmart and I was a little bit
• 19:40
  taken aback. Obviously this is pre-
• 19:42
  riser when they first came out but uh
• 19:45
  once we found out that you know they
• 19:47
  they you could buy a riser and then I
• 19:49
  think that Marvel Superheroes came out
• 19:50
  what it had the the riser with it. I
• 19:52
  could be wrong. I think that was the
• 19:54
  first one that came with a riser uh of
• 19:56
  course that that matched the actual
• 19:59
  arcade oneup. And at that at that point
• 20:01
  I was blown away and it was like a
• 20:02
  special edition. I was like, you know
• 20:03
  what? I got to order this thing. It
• 20:05
  really looks cool. So what was your
• 20:07
  first like machine uh whether it be
• 20:10
  Arcade OneUp or somebody somebody else
• 20:12
  that you brought home and said, you
• 20:13
  know, I got to have this thing.
• 20:14
  >> Yeah. So so obviously postcoid really,
• 20:18
  right, when all this stuff started
• 20:19
  popping up. If we we look at that time
• 20:21
  frame, uh obviously I saw arcade oneups
• 20:25
  in Walmart like you were talking about
• 20:26
  early on with the Street Fighter 2 and
• 20:28
  like the Galaga that had no riser and I
• 20:30
  thought, "Wow, these are pretty cool,
• 20:32
  >> but they're very short, right? Like I'm
• 20:35
  not going to sit on the floor and play
• 20:36
  this or so I stayed away from them at
• 20:40
  that point." It really was
• 20:43
  >> um quite a while later I saw their first
• 20:46
  Star Wars that was released and I was
• 20:48
  like, "Oh, I should get that." And even
• 20:49
  then, I put it off and it was gone. And
• 20:52
  then finally, I had gotten a promotion
• 20:55
  in my job. I was like, "Whatever. I'm
• 20:57
  just going to reward myself. I'm going
• 20:58
  to go buy a Mortal Kombat 2." And it was
• 21:01
  the like the legacy edition. So, this
• 21:03
  was later, like 22, I want to say, when
• 21:06
  those came out. Um, and then within two
• 21:09
  months, I had 13 of them.
• 21:13
  You know, they just started multiplying.
• 21:15
  I think within the first year I was well
• 21:17
  over 20 and have gotten rid of some
• 21:19
  since then and bought others. But it I
• 21:22
  always tell people you got to watch out
• 21:24
  because when once you get one it opens
• 21:26
  the floodgates of oh now I want this and
• 21:28
  I want that and uh it really does become
• 21:31
  a an addiction of sorts.
• 21:34
  >> 100%. I remember and I don't know if you
• 21:36
  remember this, but they went on like
• 21:39
  clearance at certain Walmarts and you
• 21:40
  could search like the Walmart like in
• 21:42
  the app like who had what in stock and
• 21:44
  who had something on sale and that's how
• 21:46
  that's how I would go ahead and try to
• 21:48
  find these things and that's how it
• 21:49
  became an addiction because I'd be going
• 21:51
  out looking for for deals on arcade
• 21:53
  one-ups and I'd picking up like
• 21:54
  >> which one? Um, Space Invaders I got for
• 21:57
  like $100. I was like, "Oh man, if I
• 21:59
  could keep finding these, I'll keep
• 22:01
  buying them." Because I had this extra
• 22:02
  room downstairs. So I was, of course, my
• 22:04
  wife is getting annoyed. That's a whole
• 22:05
  different story. But I was buying them
• 22:07
  on the cheap and then assembling them
• 22:08
  and and and putting them all in in the
• 22:10
  room. But uh what do you think out of
• 22:13
  the arcade oneups that you did buy is
• 22:15
  your favorite when you when you
• 22:17
  purchased it that you think you spent
• 22:18
  the most time on?
• 22:20
  >> Uh well, for me, the one I play by far
• 22:23
  the most to this day is NFL Blitz. And
• 22:27
  that's one I have at the office. It gets
• 22:29
  played all the time, not just by me, but
• 22:30
  by other people. Uh I'm a big football
• 22:33
  fan. I've always loved Blitz and and
• 22:35
  although that that particular cabinet
• 22:39
  had had its criticisms like they removed
• 22:42
  late hits, it was missing a few players,
• 22:44
  it was still the Blitz I remembered,
• 22:47
  right? And so I I love playing that. So
• 22:50
  I play that one to death and that's one,
• 22:52
  you know, you mentioned the deals,
• 22:53
  that's like one of the few that I
• 22:55
  actually paid full price on. Um, you
• 22:58
  know, I would stupidly pre-ordered it.
• 23:01
  One thing you learn in home arcade is
• 23:03
  don't pre-order any of the stuff.
• 23:06
  But pre-ordered it to get a free hat and
• 23:08
  then they showed up at Sam's Club way
• 23:11
  before the people who pre-ordered stuff
• 23:13
  got it. You know, you could just walk in
• 23:15
  and buy it and it came with extra stuff
• 23:17
  and it was like, what is going on, you
• 23:19
  know? But I still love that one to this
• 23:21
  day. It's great. Um, but the deal days
• 23:25
  were the best, right? like
• 23:28
  you could there were sites that just
• 23:30
  told you where all the deal was were. We
• 23:32
  were all in the habit of checking it
• 23:33
  multiple times a day and hunting those
• 23:36
  down and you know I can remember getting
• 23:38
  like Simpsons for like $92 at at a
• 23:42
  Walmart and driving an hour because only
• 23:44
  one had it in stock at that price.
• 23:47
  >> But uh those were the fun days of of
• 23:50
  Home Arcade where the deals were raining
• 23:52
  down. I agree. And that's where it like
• 23:54
  really kind of pumped up the market. And
• 23:56
  then right after that, um, it's kind of
• 23:59
  when like Arcade OneUp kind of shifted
• 24:01
  into giving us a little bit better
• 24:03
  quality arcades where you started to get
• 24:05
  the not the XL versions, but I forgot
• 24:07
  what they call where you got the Killer
• 24:08
  Instinct, which was like a uh, you know,
• 24:10
  a um,
• 24:11
  >> Yeah. They had the deluxe and then the
• 24:13
  XL's.
• 24:14
  >> Yeah.
• 24:15
  >> So the the deluxes really look great. So
• 24:18
  the more they got into that, they looked
• 24:20
  a little better. But for me, what it
• 24:23
  came down to was like I'd be in there
• 24:25
  playing certain games, but it wasn't
• 24:26
  enough. It wasn't enough to have three
• 24:28
  or four or five or even six arcade
• 24:30
  machines anymore. I wanted more. And
• 24:32
  modding came into into our space. And of
• 24:36
  course, the ETA Prime video came out,
• 24:38
  which is like got if you go back and
• 24:40
  look for that video now, how viral that
• 24:42
  video went is crazy. But uh I know
• 24:44
  you've done some mods only for the fact
• 24:46
  that you got I saw you post a video
• 24:48
  about GI Joel who does his own mod and I
• 24:51
  actually questioned you about it and you
• 24:52
  told me about it and I actually ended up
• 24:54
  pursing this purchasing it as well. I
• 24:56
  didn't get it yet in yet. He's still
• 24:57
  working on it but
• 25:00
  uh when did you get into modding these
• 25:01
  arcade one-ups and tell us how you did
• 25:05
  it because there's different types of
• 25:06
  mods or what kind you have. Yeah. So,
• 25:08
  pretty quickly I mentioned that Simpsons
• 25:11
  one. That was one I almost modded
• 25:14
  immediately. U Simpsons is great. I love
• 25:16
  the game. That's why I bought it. But it
• 25:19
  although it's got Simpsons bowling on
• 25:20
  there, it's basically just one game. But
• 25:23
  that had a very easy soft mod. So, uh,
• 25:27
  you know, there was a group called Team
• 25:29
  Encoder, which is a hacking group that
• 25:31
  releases hacks or soft mods for a lot of
• 25:34
  these games on Arcade OneUp. And that
• 25:37
  was one of the first. And you could load
• 25:39
  the Ninja Turtles arcade game or, you
• 25:41
  know, from the actual
• 25:44
  APKs from Arcade OneUp Op. So you'd have
• 25:47
  the actual Turtles cab software running
• 25:50
  on yours. The only thing that didn't
• 25:52
  work with those is the online. And then
• 25:54
  they just started adding more and more
• 25:56
  and more to that hack. So that was
• 25:58
  really the first one. And it plays
• 26:00
  everything from like Cadillacs to
• 26:01
  dinosaurs to sunset riders to, you know,
• 26:04
  TMNT. There's probably close to I think
• 26:09
  a hundred or just under a hundred
• 26:12
  multiplayer games on that hack. So, it
• 26:15
  it's an awesome addition to that one
• 26:17
  cab. You can just jump into any of these
• 26:19
  co-op fighters and stuff in there. Um,
• 26:24
  then I did some like I hacked the
• 26:26
  Terminator 2, uh, you know, which was a
• 26:29
  later hack from, uh, the Team Encoder
• 26:32
  group to add more shooters to that.
• 26:34
  Again, another cab that only came with
• 26:36
  really one game on it. And that one was
• 26:39
  difficult. So, it's one I don't
• 26:41
  recommend people actually try because a
• 26:43
  lot of people had issues with it and it
• 26:45
  caused problems with their cabinet. Uh
• 26:49
  I've done some basic like I created an
• 26:52
  an entire Accari Warriors cab out of a
• 26:54
  Street Fighter 2 HS5. So, that had
• 26:59
  custom everything. So, the controls from
• 27:04
  uh GRS, Glenn's retro show, he he
• 27:07
  released a set of controls for a car he
• 27:09
  wears with the rotary stick. So, that
• 27:11
  was the first thing you needed. So, once
• 27:13
  he did that, then it was, okay, well,
• 27:15
  that cab I can soft that cab. So, hacked
• 27:18
  it, loaded RetroArchch on it, put in uh
• 27:22
  Accari Warriors and a bunch of like
• 27:23
  Heavy Barrel, bunch of other games that
• 27:25
  use the rotary stick. had a custom
• 27:28
  screen made by by Stuff Arcades for a
• 27:30
  19inch vertical. Put that on there. Had
• 27:33
  all the custom artwork done. Uh GI Joel
• 27:36
  made a custom deck for me so that I
• 27:39
  could have the right button layout on
• 27:40
  there and everything. So truly trying to
• 27:43
  recreate the original in that form
• 27:45
  factor. So the that's really the first I
• 27:48
  think full cabinet mod where I did all
• 27:51
  the stuff adding you know new
• 27:54
  new uh you know cabinet pieces, new
• 27:57
  artwork, new everything. And then of
• 28:00
  course you mentioned his his build
• 28:02
  choice which is really more of a kit
• 28:04
  which is what's awesome about it. So
• 28:06
  it's whatever you want it to be and
• 28:09
  that's phenomenal. You know talking of
• 28:11
  Nintendo cabs, right? That is
• 28:13
  >> it's awesome. It's like perfect scale.
• 28:16
  You know, it's obviously not full size,
• 28:18
  but it's scaled down and it looks right.
• 28:20
  And he's made all the sizes
• 28:23
  proportional, so it's still so you can
• 28:24
  fit the right artwork on there. You, you
• 28:27
  know, the deck's at the right height, so
• 28:29
  it's not awkwardly low or too high. It's
• 28:31
  right where it should be. Like, it's a
• 28:33
  great great cabinet, but it's one that's
• 28:36
  like built from scratch essentially. So,
• 28:39
  >> I I saw yours and your yours is a Popeye
• 28:41
  and it looks absolutely phenomenal and I
• 28:44
  mentioned Popeye because as soon as I
• 28:45
  saw that again, one of those Nintendo
• 28:47
  games that I absolutely loved growing up
• 28:49
  as a kid, so that caught my eye when I
• 28:51
  saw that video and that's what made me
• 28:52
  reach out to you. But it's funny, you
• 28:54
  know, we talk about mods and we talked
• 28:56
  about the Walmart and then we talked
• 28:58
  about, you know, wanting to moder
• 28:59
  things. You wanted more games, right?
• 29:00
  Arcade, Arcade OneUp at that point
• 29:02
  wasn't putting out enough classic games
• 29:04
  that we all wanted. But for me, I think
• 29:07
  every cabinet that I've ever had, I
• 29:09
  ended up modding at some point. Right. I
• 29:11
  I probably in my lifetime, I've had
• 29:12
  about 12 arcade one-ups or arcade
• 29:15
  cabinets that I I would say most of them
• 29:18
  I mod. Maybe not all of them, but you
• 29:20
  mentioned T2. I have a T2 sitting
• 29:22
  sitting right here. You can't see it,
• 29:23
  but I actually ended up modding it with
• 29:24
  a retro shooter. And I actually have a
• 29:27
  video on how I did it, and that video
• 29:29
  actually did really, really well. Other
• 29:31
  people, you know, tried it, and they
• 29:32
  said it came out really, really well.
• 29:34
  So, that was a really fun one that I did
• 29:36
  that I still play to this day for
• 29:38
  shooting games. And then I did my own
• 29:40
  complete uh mod that I got from
• 29:42
  MicroEnter with my own artwork, my own
• 29:45
  buttons, my own joysticks, my own uh
• 29:46
  image that I I didn't create it, but I I
• 29:49
  you know, pulled it from somebody. They
• 29:50
  gave it to me, installed it. But to me,
• 29:53
  the modding is kind of what started
• 29:56
  Arcade OneUp on its downs slope in my
• 29:58
  opinion, only because they weren't
• 30:00
  putting out certain games that everybody
• 30:02
  wanted, and they weren't moving fast
• 30:04
  enough. And of course, the prices went
• 30:06
  higher and higher on these things, even
• 30:08
  though they did try to, you know,
• 30:10
  appease some of us arcade enthusiasts
• 30:12
  with with, you know, better joysticks
• 30:13
  and buttons, but they were, again, the
• 30:15
  prices started to get astronomical. So,
• 30:18
  let me ask you this. Are you still
• 30:20
  buying? Obviously Arcade OneUp is no
• 30:22
  more, but are you still buying home
• 30:24
  arcades or you think you're you're done?
• 30:26
  >> So, uh, it's harder to buy them simply
• 30:29
  because they aren't making any, right?
• 30:31
  Like,
• 30:32
  >> so this this past year I bought the Nova
• 30:35
  Blast, which is a, you know, from a
• 30:37
  completely different company and it's
• 30:38
  more of a real arcade. But I did pick up
• 30:41
  the basic fun WrestleFest.
• 30:44
  Um, you know, it was their first product
• 30:47
  out of the gate. Uh, I'm not a huge
• 30:50
  WrestleFest fan, but it was enough that
• 30:52
  it's like, hey, I'll I'll pick it up. I
• 30:54
  I want to see what they've done anyway.
• 30:57
  Um, and I was pretty disappointed
• 31:00
  overall with the quality of it. The game
• 31:03
  play was fine if you can ignore the fact
• 31:05
  that the it was missing key wrestlers
• 31:08
  and things from the games. The controls
• 31:10
  worked like any arcade oneup controls
• 31:13
  do, so you knew what you were going to
• 31:15
  get there. You're not getting
• 31:16
  competition sticks and buttons. You're
• 31:18
  just getting everyday cheap stuff, but
• 31:21
  they work.
• 31:22
  >> But the printing quality wasn't as good
• 31:24
  on the side art, on the marquee, on the
• 31:27
  the deck protector was the wrong color
• 31:29
  because of whatever protecting coating
• 31:32
  they have on it. It's not a protector,
• 31:33
  but the deck cover. Um, so there were a
• 31:36
  lot of things I just didn't like quality
• 31:39
  concerns I had. So that was one of the
• 31:42
  first ones I ever sold. I was just like,
• 31:44
  "Ah, it's I'm never going to play this."
• 31:46
  Like it, you know, I could That's one I
• 31:49
  think if you're a big WrestleFest fan is
• 31:51
  still maybe worth owning when you can
• 31:54
  find it on sale or on clearance or
• 31:56
  secondhand because as you mentioned like
• 31:58
  Buy stuff store, they have a mod for
• 32:00
  that that adds the wrestlers back in
• 32:02
  that adds a ton of other wrestling games
• 32:05
  and fixes the artwork, you know, puts
• 32:07
  the right artwork back on there. Um, and
• 32:10
  then you can get a bigger screen if you
• 32:11
  want, stuff like that. So, there is a
• 32:13
  pretty cool mod out there that would
• 32:16
  make that for fans that are real of the
• 32:19
  real arcade. Get it pretty close to the
• 32:21
  original.
• 32:24
  >> So, we talked about obviously OG
• 32:26
  arcades, we talked about arcade oneup,
• 32:28
  and we talked about mods so far. So,
• 32:30
  what do you think
• 32:32
  is lacking to give us that arcade
• 32:34
  experience? because like
• 32:38
  it wasn't the it wasn't a true
• 32:39
  experience that we got that we were
• 32:41
  looking for in my opinion, right? Uh it
• 32:43
  was a a great novelty. It was a great
• 32:46
  niche. It kind of brought things that we
• 32:48
  hadn't had in our homes before, but it
• 32:50
  still didn't give us that that nostalgia
• 32:52
  that we were looking for. Is there
• 32:54
  anything that an arcade company can do
• 32:55
  right now in your opinion? And I hope
• 32:57
  they watch this because there are a few
• 32:59
  companies out there that are coming to
• 33:00
  market with some arcades like Basic Fun,
• 33:03
  uh, like Iconic Arcade, which, you know,
• 33:05
  maybe we'll touch on, maybe we won't,
• 33:06
  but is there something that these guys
• 33:08
  are missing that that they should know?
• 33:10
  Well, I think it it comes down to
• 33:14
  what I think at least people in the home
• 33:16
  arcade community want, which maybe is a
• 33:18
  niche of a an overarching thing, is I
• 33:22
  think by and large most people want as
• 33:24
  close of a recreation as they can in an
• 33:27
  affordable scale. And some of that is
• 33:31
  they've already done a lot of the top
• 33:33
  100 games. So, you're talking about
• 33:36
  >> finding more niche ones or more
• 33:39
  difficult to do. You mentioned Paper
• 33:40
  Boy. Paper Boy's been on several
• 33:43
  cabinets from Arcade OneUp, but none of
• 33:45
  them did it right. Like none of them
• 33:47
  have the right controls. Like they even
• 33:49
  put it where you play with a track ball
• 33:50
  on one, which is like what?
• 33:53
  >> But releasing one with a handlebar would
• 33:56
  be awesome, right? Like
• 33:58
  >> it's like, yeah, you might not get a
• 34:00
  whole bunch of games on it, but you get
• 34:02
  the experience from the arcade that you
• 34:04
  won't get any other way. You're not
• 34:05
  going to get that off an emulator and a
• 34:07
  PC, you know, unless you go out of your
• 34:09
  way to have special controls made or
• 34:11
  something. You just can't do it. So
• 34:13
  things like Battle Zone, some of that
• 34:15
  stuff that that truly has unique
• 34:19
  experiences to them would be a gamecher.
• 34:22
  I think that would get a lot of people
• 34:23
  really excited. Again, people always
• 34:25
  love the driving game. So, you know,
• 34:28
  they do that because it has a different
• 34:31
  kind of control scheme and it's a
• 34:33
  different kind of experience. So, if
• 34:35
  they focused on some of that, I think
• 34:37
  they could have big sellers. Even if the
• 34:39
  titles themselves aren't huge, I think
• 34:42
  collectors and people that enjoy this
• 34:44
  stuff would like it. Otherwise, it's
• 34:47
  really hard to say because a lot
• 34:50
  bringing new people in at this point, I
• 34:53
  think, is difficult. You know, your your
• 34:57
  selections haven't been great. The big
• 34:59
  games have all been done. So to bring
• 35:01
  new people in, you have to go back to
• 35:03
  the classics, which a lot of us have
• 35:05
  bought three or four times already,
• 35:07
  right, as we upgraded. So I think they
• 35:10
  have to balance that. I I've always kind
• 35:12
  of recommended when Arcade OneUp was
• 35:14
  floundering before they sold out to
• 35:16
  Basic Fun that the ones they have in
• 35:19
  stores, the Pac-Man, the NBA Jam, the
• 35:24
  you know what are Mortal Kombat, that's
• 35:26
  fine. Th those should be your loss
• 35:28
  leaders, your you know what do they the
• 35:32
  uh their gateway drug, you know,
• 35:33
  whatever you want to call it. That's the
• 35:35
  I want to get you in the door with these
• 35:37
  huge titles and they're just going to be
• 35:39
  out there forever. And then once you've
• 35:42
  bought that, I want a catalog and a
• 35:45
  website full of all these other ones
• 35:47
  that you basically only buy direct from
• 35:49
  me because I can't convince Walmart to
• 35:52
  stock a Dragon's Lair, you know. uh you
• 35:56
  know, a burger time, some of these other
• 35:57
  ones. So, I want you to to have that
• 36:00
  where you can walk into Walmart and Best
• 36:02
  Buy and buy the big titles, but I want
• 36:04
  to convert you later into these niche
• 36:06
  ones like Tron and stuff like that that
• 36:09
  will keep you buying and going, and I
• 36:12
  don't need to sell, you know, 500,000 of
• 36:16
  them. I only need to sell, you know, 500
• 36:19
  to 3,000 of these things. So it becomes
• 36:21
  easier and more s sustainable for these
• 36:24
  companies, but uh they don't that's
• 36:27
  they're just not interested in that from
• 36:29
  what I can tell. Arcade 1UP played with
• 36:31
  that for a little bit, but for the most
• 36:33
  part never really dedicated to it and
• 36:35
  got focused on how do we get,
• 36:39
  you know, Gen Z, you know, apartment
• 36:41
  dwellers because they looked at numbers,
• 36:43
  right? People that live in big cities
• 36:46
  generally live in apartments. they're of
• 36:48
  uh you know a certain family status. Is
• 36:50
  it mostly single? Things like that.
• 36:52
  Doesn't mean there aren't families and
• 36:54
  people that live in apartments that buy
• 36:56
  these things. It's just in general they
• 36:57
  looked and said, "Oh, there's a big
• 36:59
  sizable market here." So instead of
• 37:01
  going more recreation, they went what
• 37:04
  what we all call the slim cadis, which
• 37:07
  is the you know, they started shrinking
• 37:09
  them the depth of them so that they were
• 37:11
  kind of just like these glorified things
• 37:12
  that just sit next to the wall. and they
• 37:16
  lost that,
• 37:18
  you know, for lack of a better word,
• 37:20
  that replica feel. And then everybody
• 37:22
  was upset at them and and then nothing
• 37:26
  moved at that point, right? And that's
• 37:27
  why they're not here anymore.
• 37:29
  >> So,
• 37:29
  >> I agree with you. I agree with you. I
• 37:32
  think that, you know, for a minute they
• 37:34
  were kind of listening to everybody and
• 37:36
  and what we wanted, we wanted a better
• 37:37
  joysticks. We wanted a bigger screen. We
• 37:39
  want a more of an arcade feel. They
• 37:40
  started going to like an XL cabinet or a
• 37:42
  deluxe cabinet. Like we talked about the
• 37:44
  bigger size cabinet. The problems is,
• 37:46
  you know, they were a little bit too
• 37:47
  expensive. But also, what about
• 37:49
  licensing? Like you and I are probably
• 37:52
  are privy to, you know, what licenses
• 37:54
  cost to to put these games out, but how
• 37:56
  much of a home run would it have been to
• 37:58
  get capture some of these other licenses
• 38:01
  for these games that we grew up with? I
• 38:03
  mean, I know it's probably near
• 38:04
  impossible to get a Nintendo license,
• 38:06
  but if somebody were to ever capture
• 38:08
  that and put that in in an arcade, I
• 38:11
  think they would do pretty well.
• 38:13
  >> Yeah. I mean the Nintendo right is the
• 38:15
  the holy grail of of licensing. You know
• 38:20
  many have tried. No one has succeeded
• 38:22
  when it comes to the home arcade. Now I
• 38:23
  do know one company is it is closer than
• 38:26
  anybody else has ever gotten but they're
• 38:29
  not you know they're not larger scale.
• 38:31
  These are microsiz things. So we'll see
• 38:34
  how their success goes. But um yeah
• 38:36
  that's the holy grail. Everybody knows
• 38:38
  if you got a do if a company produced a
• 38:40
  Donkey Kong, it would be a massive hit
• 38:42
  overnight. It would be huge. If Nintendo
• 38:45
  embraced the home arcade uh market in
• 38:49
  general from that aspect, it would it
• 38:52
  would grow it tremendously because it
• 38:53
  would bring a lot more attention. You
• 38:56
  know, if you could go out and get the
• 38:57
  Donkey Kongs and the Popeye's and the
• 38:59
  Mario Brothers and the Play Choice 10's
• 39:02
  and and Punch Out, which is one of my
• 39:04
  favorite, right?
• 39:05
  All of those would just bring so much
• 39:08
  attention into the space that then a lot
• 39:11
  of other ones that maybe are more niche
• 39:14
  would be more attractive because they'd
• 39:16
  be just looking to sell as many as they
• 39:18
  could of anything.
• 39:20
  >> But licensing is a challenge. I will say
• 39:24
  I don't think it it's as expensive as a
• 39:26
  lot of people think it is. I think
• 39:28
  certain certain IPs maybe when you talk
• 39:30
  Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter, but a
• 39:33
  lot of the the challenge around arcade
• 39:35
  licenses is figuring out who owns them
• 39:38
  because these companies have traded
• 39:40
  hands so many times and then for those
• 39:44
  companies like a lot of Midway games,
• 39:46
  right? They fell into Warner Brothers
• 39:48
  hands. Well, Warner Brothers doesn't
• 39:50
  care about any of these things. So
• 39:52
  saying, "Hey, you own this license. we'd
• 39:55
  like to license it for the Warner
• 39:57
  Brothers. It's the money involved in it
• 39:59
  isn't worth their time of having the
• 40:01
  lawyers track down all the rights
• 40:04
  holders in order to write the contract
• 40:06
  to let you license it. It's not that
• 40:07
  they don't want you to have it. They
• 40:10
  would do it if it was easy. And so the
• 40:12
  ones that were easy, they've licensed.
• 40:13
  The ones that aren't, they're just like,
• 40:15
  we don't we're not going to spend any
• 40:16
  effort on it. So that's been a
• 40:18
  challenge. Some of the stuff is just too
• 40:20
  old and too lost to everything that's
• 40:23
  going on. Uh, but the opportunity is
• 40:26
  there. In fact, Arcade OneUp. I One of
• 40:30
  the things I like to cover on my channel
• 40:31
  was the lawsuits and things around
• 40:33
  Arcade OneUp. Um, because I'm interested
• 40:36
  in legal stuff for some reason. Like,
• 40:38
  I'm not a lawyer or anything like that.
• 40:41
  I just find it really interesting. Uh,
• 40:43
  um, so, you know, in the lawsuits, some
• 40:47
  of their licensing contracts were part
• 40:50
  of the discovery. So, I have like their
• 40:53
  agreement with Atari and they licensed
• 40:56
  more titles than you can possibly
• 40:58
  imagine and they probably haven't didn't
• 41:01
  release but like maybe 10% of what they
• 41:03
  had the rights to. Um, which is a shame.
• 41:06
  So, they gobbled up those licenses and
• 41:08
  then did nothing with them. They just
• 41:09
  sat on them.
• 41:10
  >> Um, and I think they did that with a lot
• 41:13
  of companies because they were
• 41:15
  >> they had cheap money. They got venture
• 41:17
  capital loan like right out of the gate
• 41:20
  because they they won some big awards
• 41:22
  early on. And so they got a lot of money
• 41:25
  right out and they used that to gobble
• 41:27
  up licenses to block competition and
• 41:30
  then you know quite frankly just spent
• 41:32
  money like it's water and before they
• 41:35
  knew it they burned through the money
• 41:36
  and then were in an unsustainable
• 41:39
  business model and that's when things
• 41:41
  really started getting rocky over there.
• 41:43
  you had ownership changes, ousting of
• 41:45
  the people that actually knew arcades
• 41:47
  were all forced out and left with, you
• 41:50
  know, people that just wanted to, you
• 41:52
  know, sell the things that didn't
• 41:54
  understand what they were selling.
• 41:56
  >> I I think you just hit it right on the
• 41:58
  head. When when you pe when people in
• 42:00
  general have uh an interest or an
• 42:03
  enthusiasm about something, those are
• 42:05
  the people you should probably be
• 42:06
  listening to instead of going away from
• 42:08
  that. But I understand being in
• 42:09
  business, that's not not always the way
• 42:11
  it goes. But out outside of like Arcade
• 42:14
  OneUp, obviously now that they're no
• 42:16
  longer, is there anything that you're
• 42:17
  interested in that is possibly coming
• 42:19
  out? Like we know Icon Arcade is going
• 42:21
  to be coming out with the Double Dragon.
• 42:22
  That seems to be a little bit a little
• 42:24
  bit of interest for some people out
• 42:25
  there in the community. I myself am a
• 42:27
  big Double Dragon fan, so I haven't
• 42:29
  pre-ordered it, but I am, you know,
• 42:30
  conscious to see what that's going to be
• 42:32
  and what's what it's going to look like
• 42:33
  when they come out.
• 42:35
  >> Yeah, I think Iconic Arcade is yet to
• 42:38
  ship anything. So hopefully they, you
• 42:40
  know, I when I say anything, they did
• 42:42
  have an older multicade cab that was
• 42:44
  available in Europe and and Canada, but
• 42:46
  in the United States, they haven't
• 42:47
  shipped anything.
• 42:48
  >> Uh but they do have the Street Fighter
• 42:50
  Alpha and uh Street Fighter Hyper
• 42:53
  Fighting or whatever it is coming out
• 42:56
  very soon. Uh supposed to ship by the
• 42:58
  end of this month, which we there's
• 43:00
  three days left, right? So it should
• 43:02
  should be shipping at least from China
• 43:04
  anytime soon. Uh, but the you mentioned
• 43:06
  the double dragon. That's exciting. I
• 43:08
  know they have a few others in the
• 43:10
  hopper. I think they want to do three
• 43:12
  total this year. So, they're doing these
• 43:15
  the first group, then they're going to
• 43:16
  do the Double Dragon uh theoretically,
• 43:18
  and then something else. Uh, Basic Fun
• 43:22
  is the other company that's still
• 43:23
  producing these. So, they've got uh Toy
• 43:26
  Fair coming up, right? Two weeks away,
• 43:28
  three weeks away. and they're going to
• 43:31
  be at Toyf Fair where they're going to
• 43:33
  show the stuff that they are going to
• 43:36
  release this year, at least parts of
• 43:38
  them. So, pretty sure we'll see again
• 43:41
  the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which
• 43:43
  they showed last year, um, but they
• 43:45
  didn't release. So, we'll see if that
• 43:47
  has gone through any changes, what that
• 43:49
  looks like. Hopefully, Basic Fun will
• 43:51
  add online play for their next releases
• 43:54
  because the the first year's releases,
• 43:56
  none of them had online. And and for
• 43:58
  things like Ninja Turtles and stuff, you
• 44:00
  want the online so that you can play
• 44:01
  with other people.
• 44:03
  >> Yeah, some people really like online. I
• 44:05
  I'm not a huge fan of it. It's nice
• 44:08
  having the scores.
• 44:09
  >> U for people that love fighting
• 44:11
  competitions, they love it. Like if I
• 44:13
  play Street Fighter, I'm just going to
• 44:14
  play it, you know, against the computer.
• 44:16
  >> I'm with you. I'm with you.
• 44:18
  >> Like I'm not going to go get waxed by
• 44:19
  some tryh hard, right? Like because I
• 44:22
  won't be able to compete. That's just
• 44:24
  the reality of it. So, um, so some
• 44:27
  things online I think is important,
• 44:28
  others it's not that big a deal. But the
• 44:31
  fact that they don't have any is is a
• 44:33
  challenge because several of those games
• 44:35
  really are, that's why they're an
• 44:38
  improvement over the originals is now
• 44:40
  you can play with people over the
• 44:41
  internet and still play on an arcade,
• 44:43
  which is a a pretty fun experience. So,
• 44:46
  you got them coming out. I think you'll
• 44:48
  see Ninja Turtles. Um, I think they have
• 44:51
  a driving one coming out, which they
• 44:53
  haven't said, but is supposed to be a
• 44:54
  new title. Um, I think they'll
• 44:58
  officially announce the Wrestle Fest
• 45:01
  Supreme, which is their near full size,
• 45:04
  right? 19inch screen. Some of those have
• 45:06
  leaked out already, like they've sent
• 45:08
  out review copies to a few like
• 45:11
  magazines and they've put them up for
• 45:13
  sale. So, if you watch Facebook
• 45:15
  Marketplace, you can buy Wrestlefest
• 45:16
  Supreme today. there's somebody selling
• 45:18
  it out of California and last week it
• 45:21
  was somebody in Michigan was selling
• 45:23
  one. So like they're popping up for some
• 45:25
  reason even though they haven't been
• 45:27
  sold anywhere yet. Um so you'll see
• 45:30
  that. I'm hoping
• 45:33
  that that we get more details about now
• 45:37
  that they've acquired Arcade OneUp,
• 45:39
  which really happened at the tail end of
• 45:41
  2025, what that is going to look like
• 45:44
  going forward. I think it's too early to
• 45:47
  say, "Hey, here's a bunch of titles we
• 45:49
  got that we got the licenses for that
• 45:51
  Arcade OneUp had, and we're going to
• 45:53
  rush them out." I don't think they've
• 45:54
  had enough time to do any of that,
• 45:56
  >> but it would be nice to hear them at
• 45:58
  least talk about what they're thinking
• 46:00
  about.
• 46:01
  >> You know, I I have a a track and field
• 46:04
  from Arcade OneUp, which is a prototype.
• 46:06
  Yeah. One of two in existence. Like,
• 46:08
  that's a game that's been begging to get
• 46:10
  made and nobody still nobody made it.
• 46:13
  It's like a classic. Um, but you know,
• 46:16
  so we may see something there. Then you
• 46:18
  have Unico. Um, I mentioned them with
• 46:21
  the Candyic Cab. They also created the
• 46:24
  MVSX. If you're a Neo Geo Big Red fan,
• 46:27
  they they did a 3/4 scale arcade in that
• 46:30
  which they're selling or at least
• 46:32
  marketing again. Uh so they've brought
• 46:34
  that back with they've indicated that
• 46:37
  two more will be coming of Visco which
• 46:39
  is basically a it's not a huge arcade
• 46:43
  brand but it's very if you're Neo Geo
• 46:45
  you've probably played some games from
• 46:47
  Visco and then Raiden which is the you
• 46:50
  know Japanese vertical shooter game
• 46:53
  which you know that they have a Nova
• 46:55
  Blast version of that coming out so if
• 46:57
  you want Raiden in a candy cab form you
• 46:59
  can get that but they're also going to
• 47:01
  come out with that 19inch monitor size,
• 47:04
  home arcade size version. So, those I
• 47:08
  think we know are coming for sure. And
• 47:11
  there are rumors that they're also doing
• 47:13
  a larger scale uh you know full-size
• 47:17
  wood cabinet licensed by somebody. They
• 47:20
  haven't announced who yet. Um but
• 47:22
  there's rumors that one or two are going
• 47:24
  to be announced this year. So, um I
• 47:26
  would look for that somewhat soon. Uh,
• 47:29
  but when you talk about the big ones,
• 47:30
  that's really the only companies that
• 47:32
  are making larger companies that are
• 47:35
  making fully licensed products. Then you
• 47:38
  got, we mentioned GI Joel, he's going to
• 47:41
  do a Robbitron once he gets caught up on
• 47:43
  all these other ones. He's just a oneman
• 47:46
  shop, so it takes some time. Um, and
• 47:48
  then the smaller scale stuff, quarter
• 47:51
  arcades, like they make 1/4 scale arcade
• 47:55
  recreations. They're really kind of cool
• 47:58
  for collectors. They're they're pretty
• 48:01
  big. I mean, they're if you think
• 48:03
  talking action figures, right? It's
• 48:04
  18inch scale action figure size. So,
• 48:07
  it's pretty they're pretty big and
• 48:09
  they're very playable because they're
• 48:10
  that big. But, they are tiny compared.
• 48:12
  You're not gonna play hours on a little
• 48:15
  tiny air.
• 48:16
  >> They do look cool. Don't get me wrong.
• 48:18
  I've seen them before, but I got to tell
• 48:19
  you, I don't know how anybody sits at
• 48:20
  them for a really long period of time
• 48:22
  and plays on that thing, but they do
• 48:24
  look really cool. It's but it's got to
• 48:25
  be tough to play. Let me ask you this.
• 48:28
  Like you mentioned all these companies
• 48:29
  which is great. I'm actually going to be
• 48:30
  at Toyf Fair this year which is
• 48:32
  phenomenal. It's the first time I'm
• 48:33
  going there. So I am going to check out
• 48:35
  Basic Funds booth and hopefully I have a
• 48:36
  scoop for anybody out there. I'm sure
• 48:38
  other people will be covering it as
• 48:39
  well. But uh stay tuned for that. But a
• 48:42
  question that I did want to ask you
• 48:44
  before which I we started talking about
• 48:45
  something else was you said you have
• 48:47
  about 21 arcade one-ups. Could you
• 48:49
  rattle them off right now? Which ones
• 48:50
  you have or most of them?
• 48:52
  >> Yeah. So, I have Time Crisis, um, which
• 48:55
  is like the last real like, you know,
• 48:59
  new title they released. I have, yeah,
• 49:02
  >> Golden T. I have the Track and Field.
• 49:05
  >> I have the Pac-Man Cabaret Cabinet. I
• 49:08
  don't remember what they called it.
• 49:10
  >> Um,
• 49:12
  uh, Fast and Furious next to that. Then
• 49:15
  I have the second release of Star Wars,
• 49:17
  which I like the best because it had the
• 49:19
  full graphics and the riser matched. Um,
• 49:23
  next to that is Dragon's Lair.
• 49:27
  Uh, then I have, of course, GI Joles
• 49:29
  like Popeye next to that. Then I have
• 49:32
  MVC2,
• 49:34
  Atari 50th,
• 49:36
  Street Fighter 2, HS5, the Atari
• 49:39
  Warriors,
• 49:40
  Killer Instinct,
• 49:42
  Terminator 2, Ridgera, X-Men,
• 49:46
  Simpsons, the MK2 Legacy, Blitz,
• 49:52
  uh, NBA Jam,
• 49:56
  Street Fighter 2, Hyper Legacy, which
• 49:58
  was the Hyper Fighting version. Then I
• 50:00
  got a couple AT games, the 4KP and the
• 50:03
  other pinball Nova Blast. I have Pac-Man
• 50:06
  XL. I have a claw, you know, arcade one
• 50:08
  of Claw Machine. I don't I'm sure
• 50:10
  there's some forgetting, but because I
• 50:12
  can't see them all over there right now.
• 50:15
  >> So with
• 50:18
  with all that there, does space ever get
• 50:21
  an issue or the noise like does somebody
• 50:22
  in your house be like, "Dude, there's
• 50:24
  there's just way too much noise coming
• 50:25
  from there or space become an issue or
• 50:27
  no, you're good with space."
• 50:28
  >> The sound is pretty good. Like I I have
• 50:30
  other arcades down here too, right? I
• 50:32
  have like a 75 inch multicade. So I have
• 50:36
  a giant screen with a multicade hooked
• 50:39
  up to it with the RS3 Reaper, you know,
• 50:42
  they're the retro shooter, the RS3
• 50:45
  Reapers, which are I think the best gun
• 50:46
  that anybody's released. Like they're
• 50:48
  awesome.
• 50:49
  >> Um so I can play like, you know, the
• 50:52
  more modern shooters using Technop
• 50:55
  Parrot and stuff on there. That's an
• 50:56
  experience, right? like it's it's
• 50:58
  awesome. Um, and then VR, like VR and
• 51:02
  arcading, that's to me that's the
• 51:04
  future. Like there's a there's a couple
• 51:07
  VR games out there now. One one is
• 51:10
  legitimate. That's the AR it's called
• 51:11
  Arcade Ranger. It's on MetaQuest and
• 51:14
  it's it's a typical arcade simulator.
• 51:17
  Like you run an arcade. That's how they
• 51:19
  do it. but you can sideloadad ROMs on it
• 51:22
  and your own skins and so you can
• 51:24
  actually make the classic arcades and
• 51:26
  make your own arcade and go hang out in
• 51:29
  it and play arcade games. Um, and then
• 51:31
  with the XRcade
• 51:33
  stick control stick, which is sold by
• 51:36
  another company, it syncs with the
• 51:38
  MetaQuest, so you can actually use real
• 51:40
  arcade controls while you're playing
• 51:41
  those games. Um, but an even better one
• 51:44
  is the arcade time capsule, which runs
• 51:47
  on PC and VR. That is in insane if
• 51:50
  you've never experienced it. Um, it is
• 51:54
  it is five floors of every arcade you
• 51:58
  game you can ever imagine. It's got all
• 52:00
  the 80s and 90s music playing. It's got
• 52:03
  posters on the wall, all the lighting.
• 52:06
  It's really like nothing you've ever
• 52:08
  experienced. It's pretty amazing. And
• 52:12
  when they can get that into a
• 52:14
  multiplayer atmosphere where you can
• 52:16
  hang out with your buddies and play in
• 52:18
  there, it that will change what I think
• 52:22
  AR home arcade gaming is. Like people I
• 52:25
  think will just jump into that all the
• 52:27
  time. Um,
• 52:28
  >> and that's what that's what I think what
• 52:30
  we want, right? That's really what we're
• 52:31
  looking for is that experience. So So
• 52:33
  you you probably nailed it right there.
• 52:36
  >> So I'll ask you this. When family and
• 52:39
  friends come down and they see the that
• 52:40
  arcade and all everything going on, how
• 52:42
  do they react to that setup?
• 52:44
  >> It's it's pretty insane. Like I've had
• 52:47
  comments like my my brother-in-law came
• 52:50
  in one time like uh a year ago and was
• 52:53
  like, I'm having my he my 50th birthday
• 52:56
  party at your house, right? And they
• 52:58
  they live in Colorado, so it's like, you
• 53:01
  know, they'd have to travel here to do
• 53:02
  that. Like it it's pretty like kids go
• 53:05
  nuts. And even like adults will like
• 53:08
  just be like blown away. So like you can
• 53:12
  walk up and play anything whether it's
• 53:14
  the claw machines or the pinball or some
• 53:16
  of the other games. Like uh that's it.
• 53:20
  It really is mass appeal. You'd be
• 53:23
  surprised because everybody remembers
• 53:24
  playing some version of these games at
• 53:26
  some point.
• 53:27
  >> Yeah.
• 53:28
  >> And the nice thing with the arcade
• 53:29
  oneups versus oh I have a multicade,
• 53:32
  right? it becomes it's a lot more
• 53:35
  difficult for somebody who doesn't know
• 53:38
  how to use a multicade to use it.
• 53:39
  Meaning like they get lost in changing
• 53:42
  games. There's too many
• 53:44
  >> and that experience they just walk away
• 53:45
  from.
• 53:46
  >> Whereas when you have the arcade oneups
• 53:49
  booted up and they're into the different
• 53:50
  games that that are there, they just
• 53:53
  walk up, play that game, and then walk
• 53:54
  off and play the next one and stuff. So
• 53:56
  it becomes easier to manage, too. you're
• 53:59
  not having to constantly fiddle with it
• 54:01
  and show somebody how to change games
• 54:03
  and things like that. So, it's an
• 54:04
  overall better experience. Um, but
• 54:07
  definitely like parties and stuff,
• 54:10
  they're huge hits, you know? Yeah.
• 54:13
  >> Cheap free entertainment, right? So,
• 54:15
  >> so, it's funny you say that because I
• 54:17
  gave my dad a multi to put in his
• 54:18
  basement now, like for he's got a kid
• 54:20
  that lives across the street from him,
• 54:21
  so sometimes the kid will come over and
• 54:23
  it was it wasn't a good idea because I'm
• 54:25
  getting phone call after phone call. How
• 54:26
  do I get from here to here? How do I get
• 54:27
  from here? from here. I'm like, forget
• 54:29
  it. I should have should have bought you
• 54:30
  like an arcade oneup and just left it
• 54:32
  there and be done because that would
• 54:33
  have been nice and simple. So, I know
• 54:35
  what you mean. But, um, if you had to
• 54:37
  pick one machine, one arcade machine
• 54:40
  that you absolutely love that that
• 54:41
  Arcade OneUp or some of these other
• 54:43
  companies never made, what would it be?
• 54:47
  >> Um, wow. The the one before I made it
• 54:51
  was Aari Warriors. Like, that was my
• 54:53
  bucket list one. Like, I really wanted
• 54:55
  that. So that's why I made that one.
• 54:58
  >> When I think back, it would probably be
• 55:00
  Afterburner. That's one that's high up
• 55:02
  on my lift list.
• 55:03
  >> Yeah.
• 55:04
  >> Uh just that experience is currently
• 55:06
  missing.
• 55:08
  >> And it's you know, I you know, remember
• 55:10
  as a kid, right, the hydraulic version
• 55:12
  that you're sitting in and not that
• 55:14
  anybody will make that, but you know, I
• 55:16
  love that that experience is just like
• 55:18
  burned into my my brain from being a
• 55:21
  kid. And it was so like oh well you're
• 55:24
  moving while you're flying and and just
• 55:26
  that game is just it's fun. It's easy.
• 55:28
  It's it when I say easy I mean it's easy
• 55:30
  to get into. It's not easy to get
• 55:33
  through it. But um so that's high on my
• 55:36
  list. And Spy Hunter would be another
• 55:37
  one that is like how is nobody released
• 55:40
  Spy Hunter, right?
• 55:41
  >> I I agree with you there 100%. That was
• 55:44
  one of those games where I wasn't good
• 55:45
  at it all but I would always flock back
• 55:47
  to as well with Mr. Doo and Digdug. Uh
• 55:50
  that those are three great course
• 55:51
  choices. I think if anybody came up with
• 55:53
  an afterburner, that would be like an
• 55:54
  ultimate. Everyone would be buying it.
• 55:56
  If it was a decent price, everybody in
• 55:58
  their grammar would go after that.
• 56:00
  That's a great pick. I forgot about that
• 56:01
  game. Very good. All right, so I got a
• 56:03
  couple more and then we'll wind this
• 56:04
  thing down.
• 56:05
  >> Um if you had to start your own arcade,
• 56:09
  you had to only have three games. What
• 56:11
  would they be? You might have just
• 56:13
  mentioned one. The three of them maybe
• 56:14
  right there.
• 56:16
  So am I is this in my house or is this
• 56:19
  like
• 56:21
  >> if your personal your per your personal
• 56:23
  games?
• 56:24
  >> Yeah. I Punch Out would be super high.
• 56:28
  Like that is like that is a game I can
• 56:30
  play forever. Like I'll play it on
• 56:32
  Nintendo all day long. I like the arcade
• 56:35
  version. I would would love to have a
• 56:37
  legit multi-creen punch out. Um
• 56:42
  then it would probably be
• 56:45
  um a m I have to have a mappy so like I
• 56:49
  will play that and then oh boy I want to
• 56:54
  say Star Wars but the reality is it
• 56:57
  would probably be something like Street
• 56:59
  Fighter or Mortal Kombat because you
• 57:02
  know I I enjoy that too and it would
• 57:05
  give me a nice variety right here's a
• 57:07
  fighter, here's a a platformer And uh I
• 57:11
  already forgot what Oh, Punch Out,
• 57:12
  right? In a sports title kind of thing.
• 57:14
  So, uh those would probably be the three
• 57:17
  that would have to be there. Like I
• 57:18
  would not get rid of those.
• 57:20
  >> I think that those are three really good
• 57:22
  choices. I I can't tell you how much
• 57:24
  stress Street Fighter gave me playing
• 57:26
  that game in the arcade as a young adult
• 57:29
  because I was not good at this game at
• 57:31
  all. I I got a lot better once it came
• 57:32
  out on Super Nintendo. I was better on
• 57:34
  that than I was in the arcade. But oh my
• 57:36
  god, there are people whooping my ass on
• 57:38
  that machine every freaking time I went
• 57:40
  to the arcade. But uh on a side note,
• 57:42
  Punch Out, I've actually done two mods
• 57:44
  of Punch Out. Uh my second one being the
• 57:46
  best or as actually like a miniature
• 57:48
  version. It actually looked just like
• 57:49
  the Nintendo cabinet and I actually got
• 57:51
  the real Punch Out button. Remember
• 57:53
  where I got it from, but I ended up
• 57:55
  putting that in one of my mods. So it
• 57:56
  was a great game. Mod was really, really
• 57:58
  good. But at the end of the day, I think
• 57:59
  the machine was too small. Obviously, it
• 58:01
  only had the one long screen instead of
• 58:03
  two split screens like it should be. So,
• 58:05
  I think if anybody out there could ever
• 58:07
  get like a license for that and actually
• 58:09
  do it the right way with the two
• 58:10
  screens, that would be a real hit as
• 58:11
  well. But, um, last question, buddy.
• 58:14
  First, I want to thank you for coming
• 58:15
  on. Uh, this is a great chat. Uh,
• 58:18
  anybody who who watches and plays
• 58:21
  arcades, watches some of the other
• 58:22
  content for for arcade out there, make
• 58:24
  sure you're following James Hates
• 58:26
  Everything. Great name, but he he covers
• 58:28
  everything in the home arcade space
• 58:30
  right now. He's one of my favorite uh
• 58:31
  arcade channels out there. But last
• 58:33
  question, where do you see the arcade
• 58:35
  hobby in 5 to 10 years? The home and you
• 58:37
  know obviously if if you think there
• 58:39
  might be an inerson arcade as well.
• 58:41
  >> Boy, that that's a real tough question
• 58:45
  because I we're at this period in the
• 58:48
  home arcade hobby where we came off a
• 58:52
  high postcoid like almost every
• 58:54
  collector market, right? like everything
• 58:57
  spiked and there was a lot of stuff and
• 59:00
  with the biggest company in the space
• 59:02
  floundering for the last few years,
• 59:05
  there's not been a lot of hope. You
• 59:08
  know, it's it's been wishes and
• 59:10
  unfulfilled dreams for like the last
• 59:12
  three or four years. And so, you know,
• 59:17
  for me, it's hard to still be optimistic
• 59:19
  after so so much disappointment, but
• 59:22
  there are more companies now than ever
• 59:25
  making this stuff. So, even though I'm
• 59:28
  somewhat pessimistic, that's uh that's
• 59:31
  an opportunity we haven't had for a long
• 59:34
  time. You had Arcade OneUp doing these
• 59:38
  home arcades and then it was just a
• 59:40
  bunch of multicades and things. So now
• 59:42
  that there's iconic arcade,
• 59:45
  um you had basic fun. I know my arcade
• 59:48
  continues to flirt with the idea of
• 59:50
  doing it. Um you know, you have Unico
• 59:54
  and then you have some independent guys
• 59:56
  like GI Joel and others that are
• 59:58
  starting to make some stuff. I I think
• 1:00:01
  there's an opportunity to have a
• 1:00:04
  somewhat of a renaissance or resurgence
• 1:00:07
  in the space. We'll see. Like for that
• 1:00:10
  to happen, there needs to be some really
• 1:00:13
  interesting products released.
• 1:00:15
  I we I don't think we've seen that yet.
• 1:00:18
  There's not anything that's get been
• 1:00:20
  really exciting. The closest was
• 1:00:22
  WrestleFest U because nobody thought it
• 1:00:25
  could be done. U but it the quality
• 1:00:27
  issues were just too hard to overlook
• 1:00:30
  and it was a it was a problem. And so,
• 1:00:34
  you know, we'll just really have to see
• 1:00:35
  who steps up and really delivers
• 1:00:37
  something next level to get it excited
• 1:00:41
  and going again.
• 1:00:42
  >> If you're a listener and you love
• 1:00:43
  arcades, home setups, or chasing that
• 1:00:45
  perfect high score, make sure to follow,
• 1:00:48
  subscribe, and drop a comment down
• 1:00:49
  below. Until next time, keep the
• 1:00:52
  quarters ready. If you'd like to become
• 1:00:53
  a sponsor here on the Mighty Rewind
• 1:00:55
  podcast, make sure you reach out at the
• 1:00:56
  mighty rewind podcast atgmail.com.