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Willie!

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Did the 2006 ones come with batteries?

no 2 AAA's required

Brian Matherne - owner/curator of "The MOST comprehensive list of Atari VCS/2600 homebrews ever compiled." http://tiny.cc/Atari2600Homebrew

author of "The Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion" book series available on Amazon! www.amazon.com/author/brianmatherne

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awe I wished I knew you were visiting Pinball Wizard Arcade ... where I mostly play usually on Monday Nights but would have made the trip if on another night

 

there is a working Video Pinball cab @ Fun Spot NH Weirs Beach (usually always has been anyways) 

 

I keep hemming & hawing on buying that "History of Pinball" DVD & would like to hear your opinion on it 

Edited by chas10e
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Released by Basic Fun (basicfun.com) this year (2016) this little minicade is actually quite a bit of fun.   It has the same cabinet design as the earlier Pac Man but the packaging is much different.  Whereas the Pac Man minicade had a sealed plastic shell you had to cut apart, Space Invaders comes in a regular flap top box!  plus it has some great artwork on it, so makes it worth to keep you minicade in the box on the shelf when not in use!

One of the cool features of this little minicade is it has the arcade sounds of Space Invaders!  from the march of the invaders to that awesome sound when you shoot the ufo, this minicade as it all!  The controls are very responsive and it does feature a auto power down feature (if the unit is left alone for 60 seconds it will shut down).  In addition it has a pause feature and a 3 position volume control (off, low, high).

The LCD represents the arcade game quite well, although shots are hard to see on the display.  I like how they used the classic invaders of the arcade game, really adds to the experience!  The game does have a timer that starts at 999 and counts down.  I belive the was done due to the invaders not speeding up as they dwindle in numbers so it makes the game easier than the arcade version.  The object is to see how far you can get in the levels and how high a score before you die or the timer runs out.

Pros:

  1. Great packaging
  2. Authentic arcade sounds
  3. Responsive controls
  4. High score retention
  5. Nice plastic case with great decals

Cons:

  1. Invaders do not speed up as they dwindle in number like the arcade
  2. Shots difficult to see on the screen

Overall I really like this Minicade!.  Not as much as the Pac Man one Basic Fun released, but this one will have a happy home on my shelf and be played!

Rating: (3 out of 5 Minicades)

3-out-of-5-1.jpg

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Edited by Willie!

My Youtube Channel Arcade USA! - https://www.youtube.com/user/SVT512

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Released by Hashy Toys, this Tetris MiniCade Bank was mainly only available in Japan.   Based on the same molds as the Excalibur MiniCades, the build quality is quite good.   The controls work very well.  The sounds can get annoying but thankfully there is a Mute button (labeled Sound) to play the game in peace :).

 

The unit runs of 4C batteries and features a working coin slot on top!   There is a small micro switch in the coin slot to detect coins.  anything from a arcade token up to a quarter will activate the machine.   The bank part of the machine has a very large capacity, there is a screw lock door on the back of the machine to empty out your moola!

 

The system auto powers down after 3 minutes.   To activate it, you insert a coin and get 3 minutes to play the game.  The screen is a back lit color LCD and is fairly clear and it plays the familiar "Tetris" song as well.

 

The gameplay is straightforward Tetris.  you can select a starting level and speed then try to get the most amount of "lines" you can.   The gameplay screen features a "preview" area showing what the next three pieces to fall will be.  Below the preview area is a bonus multiplier (if you remove more than one line at a time the bonus multipler will increase to multiply your score by the number of lines you destroyed.   There is also a line score (how many you have destoyed overall) and a timer that will beep at every minute interval.   You control your Tetris piece via a joystick and rotate it with two rotate buttons on the right hand side of the control panel.  Pushing down on the joystick will drop the piece faster into place.

Pros:

  1. Well built housing
  2. Nice artwork, will look good on any shelf or desk
  3. Enjoyable gameplay
  4. Responsive controls
  5. Great Tetris artwork

Cons:

  1. Game music can get repetitive rather quickly
  2. Screen can be hard to see in some orientations.
  3. Does not keep your line destoyed high score

Overall I really like this Minicade!.  Granted its not VFD based like the Coleco Classic MiniCades, but it does the job well.

Rating: (4 out of 5 Minicades)

 

4-out-of-5-2-300x99.jpg

Arcade USA Facebook Page
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Arcade USA on Twitter

My Youtube Channel Arcade USA! - https://www.youtube.com/user/SVT512

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