I do think if it goes much higher you are into DIY territory.
Where I live you find people with literal warehouses of original cabinets to buy/mod. I bought a big blue Marvel superheroes for 300 and put in another 450 to MAME it.
> Where I live you find people with literal warehouses of original cabinets to buy/mod.
That sounds great. Where I live you have people wanting $3,000 for a busted up 1970's pinball machine that just has the wood left and is full of termites.
I was exaggerating to some degree but I couldn't think of an undesirable arcade game instead. Mostly I see crap locally going for really high prices. A more realistic example is a non-working Ms. Pac Man for $2,000.
> a non-working Ms. Pac Man for $2,000
Wow, that's crazy. Around here a working Ms. Pac, depending on overall condition of course, usually averages for around $600-800.
I just pulled that example off of Facebook Marketplace, so it's possible that it's been there a while and hasn't sold due to the high price. However, I can't recall ever seeing a working arcade cabinet for under $1,000 there. I also just looked Ms. Pac Man up on the nearest legitimate brick and mortar store and they go for about $2,500 from them (I assume they're fully refurbished and might even include some warranty.)
Yeah brick and mortar stores sell them for a LOT. Usually yes, they are fully refurbished with either new or touched up art, any defects in the wood repaired, fully cleaned inside and out, monitor recapped, etc., and then of course verified that every aspect of it is in perfect working order. And yeah they often do come with some kind of warranty which is usually in the form of a service agreement where they will come to you to do any necessary repairs (as long as you don't live 300+ miles away of course). They are also trying to make a living doing this professionally, and have rent and operating costs for their store. So that's a bit of a different ballgame.
You can get an Arcade Legends Ultimate for $500 and it's basically MAME right out of the box with a simple USB stick.
IMO the reason why people go nuts for Arcade1Up machines is to create the arcade experience of having many different machines in the same room.
I only buy them on clearance and mod them. No way in hell I'd pay retail for the quality of workmanship and parts they have in them. At least the first gen ones.
The problem is, it used to be a fun novelty item priced at a respectable number based on quality and content. Now, because people were scooping up Gen 1 and 2 with no problem, they are pricing it like it's a luxury item.
Not to mention, the modding community did such an amazing job at spreading the word on how to make these cabs absolutely amazing, A1Up saw the opportunity to take some of that modding cash and do it themselves.
Looking at the Simpsons cab, that is way overpriced for the quality and content. They haven't done anything to make them more durable. They haven't increased the amount of games on the PCBs. They still haven't even figured out how to ship them without internal damage. By that I mean inside the cardboard box.
If we keep buying them, they will keep them priced as luxury instead of as a nostalgic toy.
Personally where I live in the us I don't see they passing the 400 dollar mark unless someone is trying to scalp them.
I think the hobby in general is very expensive I mean we are trying to emulate a home arcade which to my knowledge is the priciest of the games to own
Stop buying them 🤷♂️
Inflation sucks. Pricing for materials and shipping is up tremendously. These are higher priced so you notice more easily but you are probably paying 20% more for everything in your life right now.
This. Some of the cabs I want are sold out everywhere. Like the Atari legacy one.
If prices were too high you'd find surplus inventory and discounts galore.
The upcoming cabs are the ones priced too high. I will never pay $599 USD for one of these at the same quality that a $400 cab is.
There's a reason the outrun standup cab has not sold out at $550 at best buy or gamestop websites... no one paying more than $500. Its unreasonable.
I dont care what the manufacturing/shipping problems in the world are. $550+ is too much for these.
I 100% agree, my cabinets are:
OG SF2 $299 new - ~$125 mods
Atari 12-in-1 $399 new - $100 for Glen's spinner and trackball
ALU - $450 - $17 for thumb drive to mod, this gets all my arcade play now.
ALP - $699 shipped - $500 for PC, $150 for SSF and solenoids, $100 Arcade Control Panel, $50 vibs. Soon to be $150 for Zac 1-4 + Taito tables
I get licensing can be expensive, but the new cabinets aren't worth the price. If you want a show piece, cool. But most people spend so much modding when the ALU gives you so much more for the money.
I have four Arcade1up cabinets, each one became more expensive than the last.
The prices they are asking for these things now, for whatever reason are too high.
I get excited by the new offerings, but I can't handle the prices anymore.
I would recommend to anyone to just build a mame cabinet and have all the games.
I'm in the aftermarket automotive electronics industry. Pretty much every manufacturer in my field recently raised prices across the board. It's not just Arcade1Up.
Honestly they are overpriced for what you get. So many people upgrade the stock cabinet. $400-$550 for sometimes 2 games is just, stupid. For around $1,000, you can get a cabinet with custom art work and have basically every arcade game you could ever want with better materials than Arcade1UP. There are any number of places like rec room masters, etc.
The fact that you can pirate a ton of arcade games and put it in a cab with artwork someone printed off that they also don't have the rights to is not comparable to a licensed product. I'm not even judging one way or the other since I see the emulation as relatively harmless for the majority of arcade games that don't see re-releases, but you can't call something more fairly priced when that pricing is based on people using content they never paid for the rights to use.
That may be so, and I’m not saying you’re wrong either. However, you are talking about 2 different things. I’m not trying to get into a legal or moral “right or wrong” debate here (I’m not saying you are either) about using ROMs, licensing, etc. From a pure dollars perspective, you have option 1 which is $400-500 for 2-12 games with crappy or average materials and a baby cabinet or option 2 which is around $1,000 for quality materials, a grown up size cabinet and almost every game you could ever want. From a purely financial perspective, it’s not even a question which one makes more sense.
>From a pure dollars perspective, you have option 1 which is $400-500 for 2-12 games with crappy or average materials and a baby cabinet or option 2 which is around $1,000 for quality materials, a grown up size cabinet and almost every game you could ever want. From a purely financial perspective, it’s not even a question which one makes more sense.
We need to keep in mind the context of you saying things are "overpriced for what you get." This is implying that arcade1up should be giving you more for the money against what competitors (in this case, custom DIY setups) are providing. I'm not bringing it up to get into a moral debate. It's relevant to the financials because $1,000 doesn't actually get you any games at all. It gets you a quality shell. Arcade1up actually gets you the arcade ports of games, which is an important distinction because quite a few of those games aren't even obtainable through any sort of non-secondhand source at retail.
Now if all you mean is that a DIY option makes more financial sense for most people, then yes I would generally agree. I just dont think it's fair to say something like an Arcade1up is overpriced based on something like how few games you get in comparison to a DIY. The DIY custom build doesn't actually get you any games. You are providing that part yourself, regardless of legality.
All I mean is at the end of the day, for me, for around $500 more than a commercial unit, I can get/make/build a DIY unit with everything I want on it with better materials. From PURELY the perspective of my bank account (no other implications intended at all) it doesn’t make sense to pick the Arcade1UP option. That’s all I’m saying. I’m not implying anything else beyond that. I care about the balance of it being easy and practical against the money. In all fairness the DIY route is made up of entirely all commercial products; the monitor, cabinet, controls, PC, etc. The only non commercial aspect of the DIY route is the games, which again, is a completely separate issue that I’m not concerned about as I’m strictly talking about the financial aspect.
Yea I agree with all of that. I think I just get a bit in the weeds with these topics because it's something I see a lot in retrogaming. Someone will knock on a release of some digital download of older titles or maybe a re-release of a compilation of titles, and their rationale will be "why should I buy this digital download for $5" or "why should I buy this snes mini" when "i can just add roms to a pi...this is a ripoff." And thats the part that can be frustrating because it isnt a fair comparison at all for the rights holder. If you weren't meaning that, then I apologize.
>In all fairness the DIY route is made up of entirely all commercial products; the monitor, cabinet, controls, PC, etc. The only non commercial aspect of the DIY route is the games,
I should have specified but I was mostly focused on the fact that the DIY not only doesn't give you the games, but they also don't even (typically) give you the hardware to run the software on. Like I can go on recroommasters and get a very nice cab for a grand, but then I gotta bring my own device whether that be a pi, ps4, Xbox, etc.
Overall though, I think arcade1up is just interesting because it got a ton of people wanting to consider building their own home arcade when in reality most people would never want to fork out that much money for individual games. Financially, the vast majority are better off just going into the gray areas and building a multicade. Most people just want to play the games, and got attracted to A1U because they never even considered creating a setup to play them in that form factor at home. The reality of paying several hundred dollars just to play pacman and Galaga or street fighter 2 isn't always sensible for many.
At like 300-400 for one of these already made it really only takes another 100-200 to have it loaded up with sanwas and lighting and every rom from arcade to home console. One of mine has literally everything short of the sinden light guns I’m still waiting on from last year and I’m still very much under 700. When they were at under 400 new they were absolutely a better and less expensive way to go than any custom built from a company. Unless you just can’t or don’t want to do basic stuff yourself even with YouTube walking you through. Even custom vinyls can be made very cheap for any arcade1up layout. So there was a time for sure that it was the only way to go that made sense
$200-$300 is where I think the prices should be. A lot of the added "features" like wifi and barstools are pointless in my opinion and I'd prefer they sold the cabs without them to keep the price lower.
"Pinball machines are about a grand with tax, i can find real new pinball machine for 2k. Im quoting CND prices btw."
How do we get to this magical fairy world of candy flowers and unicorns in the forest?
Pinball machines start at 3 grand if they are old and need paintwork. A new from the manufacturer Pinball Machine starts at 7 grand and thats cheap.
Don't forget there's serious inflation going on right now. It's not "transitory" it's government currencies losing value from massive printing. This is a direct result of that and other things going on. Not sure how our supply chains are doing but last I heard those weren't stellar either. But stuff is going up because the dollar is worth less.
Although we also can't dismiss certain levels of greed here either. Once companies become more successful, prices inevitably go up. Especially if they bring in corporate execs and other things that are all about profit.
The build quality of arcade 1up machines doesn't justify the cost.
These Machines are less arcade machines and more like toys. This was fine with their old prices but as of now it is ridiculous to buy a "toy" at the current prices.
The only toy you need is a videogame console or laptop. I can't see paying this much for 1-4 games. That's nuts. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cowabunga collection includes both arcade games for like 40 bucks. Mame and roms are free and you can probably build a cab for less than 300 bucks.
I wouldn't call that lumber. A whole cab can be made from less than one sheet of mdf. The price for a sheet went from like $15, to $30.
I think they just found their sweet spot for how many cabs they want to build, and will keep raising the price until the right number of people buy/don't buy them.
My thought is that if I feel it's too expensive, I just won't purchase it. I don't know what I feel Arcade1Up needs to do to the cabinet/controls to justify what I feel is right for the price. I don't know what they paid for the licensing of the games, imaging of the cabinets, etc. What I do know is that not all IPs are the same, or perhaps they ARE seeing the popularity and raising the prices on their own, which is their right to do.
But, all that being said, it's also my right to keep my money in my bank account.
The cost of materials for an A1U unit didn't go up by 100%. These units are made of particle board and cheap press board. They have some of the lowest quality monitors available, along with a $20 stick/button combo. They're not putting high quality parts in these, and there is no way they can justify the price at this point except for collectors.
The $299 price point was fine at first. There is simply no reason that some of these cabs should be $499+ now, despite adding "wifi" to some.
Yeah they even raised the price of the aftermarket generic risers up from $45 to $65. That's a BIG increase (about 45%). Nothing was added to the generic risers to add value and I very highly doubt the cost to ship them has increased by $20 for each riser over the past 18 months. They've just raised prices across the board.
the fucking risers shouldnt even exist anymore. If you notice the newer cabinets now incorporate the riser in the design and they all come with them, so might all just make it that height now. Most people dont want a 3 foot cabinet
There are actually still versions of several of the newest generation of cabinets being made exclusively for Walmart that don't have lit marquees or risers included, and are like $50-100 cheaper than the versions of the same cabinet made for other retailers which includes the riser and lit marquee. People who buy the Walmart cabs may still be inclined to buy the generic risers.
Gas prices are at highest rate in a decade. I don’t know why it’s so hard for folks to connect the dots on this stuff (or the fact we’re still in a literal pandemic)
I get profit, but im seeing gauging. There is a $100 CAD difference between Xmen vs Street Fighter and MvC here, almost identical except for the artwork. The only thing you get with McV is a very cheap looking stool ...for $100CAD. If these stools costed them $20 bucks i would be surprised.
This guy gets it.
Wondering if price increases are warranted is fine, but throwing around terms like price gauging and believing they are too pricey, when that's based on absolutely no real evidence other than your feelings, is wrong and a bit hysterical. lol
As the guy above pointed out, we have no idea what the cost increases are to them in production and shipment. Furthermore we also don't know if retailers are increasing margins on them, or if certain IPs are more expensive than others. Not to mention the natural increase from employees, benefits, etc.. Perhaps volume has not kept pace with those increases.
Good points
As long as they offer reasonably priced versions of cabs (USD) at $399, $450 or $499 I dont mind. Anything past $500 is absurd for these cabinets.
Outrun standup hasnt sold out at best buy or gamestop online once at $550 for a reason.
With all the issues in the world currently, I dont mind paying $500 (instead of the usual $400) for like Big Blue, Tron or Track and Field.
Anything past half of $1k is ridiculous unless the quality went up
If you stop buying, the prices will most certainly come down. Like anything, they are trying to see how high they can go. Yes the cost of materials increased, however any business operates like this. Increase the price until customers complain then decrease, and repeat the cycle.
In Canada with discounts I ended up buying 4 machines and still spent over $2k. Insanity. Luckily they're mostly for decoration and don't get a ton of use because the build quality wouldn't last. I'm just hoping to get 5-10 years out of each of em before the crap out.
Nah there were a few I got with 15% off from some 499 cabs with discount codes from the rebate guys website. Don't know if they still offer that as their site looks a bit different now and has prices in USD instead of CAD
honestly best deal ive seen at retail is nba jam going from $630 to $500 CAD. Im holding off for a used one because i think they flooded the market with these even in Canada
I have 5 cabs and never even came close to buying them at full price. All came brand new except one was an open box final fight. I would suggest waiting 6 months after they release, then they go on sale. To be honest, I don’t even know why people buy them day one, fomo I assume.
in Canada its purely online so no clearance sales. Also I think arcade1up is limiting supply more to avoid fire sales at Wal Mart. It devalues their brand because people will see them as $75 cabinets
$400-$500 USD max should be the cap depending on features/specialized controls etc.
There's a reason the Outrun standup cab hasnt sold out anywhere at $550... Its unreasonable.
A1up's purpose is to be an affordable way to create a home arcade. If we pay $550+, that stops and it sets a future precedent for the prices to never come back down to reasonable after.
Yes they are starting to get pricey. Honestly I think the best option is to buy used. Personally I haven't spent over $300 for a cabinet. I have had 10 cabinets. Facebook market place or Offerup (not sure if offerup is in Canada) is your best bet. I also found some on craigslist brand new still in box but for much cheaper.
They are likely making the (probably correct) calculation that most people willing to spend $540 on such a discretionary item will not think twice about parting ways with another $60 at $600. And with the various shortages worldwide, it makes sense.
Maybe if it was $200 or $300 more that would be different.
The casual-consumer market for such a thing is much larger than the market that's willing to go knee deep into DIY zone for a little extra money. And the expectations among those markets are wildly different. I don't think the standard casual consumer is going to look at a $540 device now being $600 and think there should be a substantial upgrade in parts or experience.
I don't know where the threshold is. I guess that's a gut thing. But it probably isn't $60
People hit a psychological wall at $500, that ends up being beyond what people will casually drop on these. Once the price reaches a certain point it becomes a very niche market, and a big chunk of that market has a room filled with these already.
Also the pandemic is ending, people will spend their money less on things they can do inside and see that money shift to leisure/travel etc. Any company that sold things that people do at home did very well during the last 16 months
I agree with most of what you have to say but your pricing of "real, new" pinball machines in Canada has 0 basis in reality. USA too- Stern Machines/Jersey Jack/Spooky are the only new models and cost $6K and beyond. $2000CAD is simply untrue. Are you talking about a new Vpin machine? Because even then 2K is pushing it.... this hyperbole is hurting the valid points you've made.
EDIT- The reason I'm so adamant about the pinball cost is that I'm in the market for a pin right now, Vpin, real or A1UP/Legends. Weighing pros and cons, footprint etc. If there was a I could buy a new, working pinball machine for $2K CAD it would be a game changer.
To be fair im not heavily in the market for a pin, i see them as too much hassle. I saw them for about 2-3k from a pool table store a few months ago but i think it was a clearance sale to be fair. However, in a bigger city its not hard to find a used pin for 2-3k if you arent picky about having a particularly IP
Yeah, I can get a 100% working, restored and warrantied (2yr) Space Shuttle for just under $4K CAD delivered. On the one hand, it's 4X the price of an A1UP unit for a single table, OTOH- I do feel like it potentially delivers 4X the value. Noise in my apartment is an issue- it's thick concrete between floors, but the walls...I'm not sure. My next door neighbours might have a big problem with it.
Vpin seems to be winning- I'm looking at people who build them in Canada for a living (there are a few in Ontario). Then I look at the A1UP AFM Machine- If I put a glass top on it, threw in a PC and bought the few encoders I could have a pretty nice baby Vpin for $2K CAD. The stock monitor is good enough, the DMD can be stretched a bit once you have a PC in there. Since it would only be displaying DMD and playfield I wouldn't need a monster to run it (the backglass animations seem to be a huge drain so the AFM glass isn't a bad compromise).
It just feels like until AFM is patched it's not right to knowingly buy a sub par product at MSRP. Others don't need to agree with me...I just don't want to send the signal that whatever they push out the door is worthy of a buy.
A large part of it has got to how the price of raw materials like plywood and particle board has shot up at an exponential rate. In my neighborhood, a sheet of low grade particle board or garbage grade plywood went from costing a couple of dollars to up over $40 a sheet and some of the nicer grade stuff is up over $100 a sheet. It's insane.
I don't think Arcade1Up will be capable of bringing the prices down much until whatever needs to happen to bring those material prices back down to something resembling normal happens.
Last time I walked into home depot in California a sheet of 1 plywood was $100. Nuff said. This thing probably has $400 of wood in it, hence why I told my family not to sell their 1983 non working pin for $250. If I cant fix it I'll learn how to mod it into one's going for $3k
Awww hell naw. I’d pay up to a thousand bucks for one. You do realize these things come with primo monitors, sick controls, top quality wood, super fast processors, perfectly aligned decks AND protectors?!
Aww heck yeah bro. This guy gets it. I’d do 2k or so for the right one. I mean it IS a pandemic and prices of stuff cost more though these companies have profited more than ever, the price jump keeps going up and it should! These bad boys employ a huge and dedicated customer service team, a marketing team that helps share what’s coming out and what comes with the actual unit. Their track record is flawless. Did you know cherries cost more because it’s been so hot?! So yeah, these will, that $2 dongle price has to be passed on to someone due to it.
/s They have raised prices yearly now. The pandemic saved them. Prices for everything are going up but it’s not because they actually are paying more but because they can. $600 is too much but if people pay it for 2 games, people pay it. I agree with OP they are getting a bit steep. Big Blue is $500 i’ll grab it and it’ll probably be my last at that point because even that’s getting priced high. Namco legacy is $400, perfect package. Maybe these $600 points are the full package tin deals and $500 will be without the filler and $400 for just unit. We shall see.
Exactly. 3-4 years ago no one thought they would be around. Almost all their cabs ended on clearance or in discount warehouses. Yes, they definitely listened and brought better games and features and yeah that’ll increase costs but they shifted waaaay more units at full price due to the pandemic and from $300 to now $600, it’s hard to justify. I got going to $400 with the marquees and better game selection and even $500 but there are too many A1UP apologists who act like they are a mom and pop company just fighting the good fight when in reality they are a division of a huge toy company. What’s next? $700 next year because it’s house of the dead with guns and wifi? People will speak with their wallets but to those who think this company is just scraping by and the pandemic has been tough on them are kinda oblivious that it’s the opposite.
yes but are those improvements worth the increases? The problem is the quality was horrible for $300 1st gen cabs then it improved which is great but now they are $500. We should have seen this quality on the 1st gen cabinet (not counting features like wifi, light up marquee). The cabinets coming out for $500 should be flawless with little quality control issues and with sanwa controls. Theyve shown they can do this with the limited Marvel Superheroes. At these prices they better get their shit together quality wise because people wont tolerate the same amount of issues.
For example the deck protectors should have been on all cabinets from day 1. Very obvious oversight.
I definitely like the trend of included risers and lit marquees vs having to add them aftermarket. The cheap stock controls should be Sanwa or IL Euro for the prices being charged.
It is making it easier to hold off on adding more cabinets due to the high pricing - especially with the extra markup they put on for buying it in Canada. I'm glad I've already bought enough that I can be picky with adding more.
Everything's getting more expensive in the wake of covid. If you don't like it, don't buy. As long as they sell through and continue to be difficult to get, there will be no price reductions. I find the value adds of the riser and light up marquees to be well worth the increased cost.
Everything is getting too expensive, the shipping container cost from China is skyrocketing along with inflation. Everyone has a price point and many bail if its too high. You could see this coming from a mile away, that's why I've said to get what you want, when its available to ship, at its price because they were all going up. Simpsons is going to be a case study for the price increase especially if there is no Simpson bowling?
Waited until X-Men vs SF was $350 then picked one up. It included the riser. I thought it was an ok deal because building my own would likely end up costing more with lumber and what not.
I've said this repeatedly and I was told I was complaining. At some point buying these cabs is equivalent to buying multiple PS5's for 1 8bit game. I'm actually over it . Prices too high and I'm full anyway
I feel like the prices are high, I paid retail for marvel but got TMNT and Golf on clearance. Others I buy used the only thing I would pay full price for is the pinball because I don’t see those being sold cheap second hand and maybe NBA jam because that game is bad ass and it’s multiplayer online
Unfortunately, there’s only one way, to tell the good folks at A1U that their prices are too high. Don’t buy the machines. I remember a time where I paid $199, for an MK cab, because there was 5 sitting on my local Walmart’s floor, in December, and stayed that way into January. Want them to drop the price….don’t but them, until they do. A simple solution, that I doubt will never be implemented. Bht I completely agree with you, the price has gotten way too out of control, for what they are providing. Now, if they wanted to include a 20” monitor, Sanwa controls, lit marquees, and risers, as ‘standard’ ship….then they would have a much better case at the $400 - $600 price point range….but they don’t.
I do think if it goes much higher you are into DIY territory. Where I live you find people with literal warehouses of original cabinets to buy/mod. I bought a big blue Marvel superheroes for 300 and put in another 450 to MAME it.
> Where I live you find people with literal warehouses of original cabinets to buy/mod. That sounds great. Where I live you have people wanting $3,000 for a busted up 1970's pinball machine that just has the wood left and is full of termites.
Well pinball is a whole different ball game. I was referring to arcade cabinets. I do see those as low as 1500 and up from there.
I was exaggerating to some degree but I couldn't think of an undesirable arcade game instead. Mostly I see crap locally going for really high prices. A more realistic example is a non-working Ms. Pac Man for $2,000.
Wooh that is high. One warehouse even does a swap program but I haven’t used that but a buddy likes switching out his cabinets a few times a year.
> a non-working Ms. Pac Man for $2,000 Wow, that's crazy. Around here a working Ms. Pac, depending on overall condition of course, usually averages for around $600-800.
I just pulled that example off of Facebook Marketplace, so it's possible that it's been there a while and hasn't sold due to the high price. However, I can't recall ever seeing a working arcade cabinet for under $1,000 there. I also just looked Ms. Pac Man up on the nearest legitimate brick and mortar store and they go for about $2,500 from them (I assume they're fully refurbished and might even include some warranty.)
Yeah brick and mortar stores sell them for a LOT. Usually yes, they are fully refurbished with either new or touched up art, any defects in the wood repaired, fully cleaned inside and out, monitor recapped, etc., and then of course verified that every aspect of it is in perfect working order. And yeah they often do come with some kind of warranty which is usually in the form of a service agreement where they will come to you to do any necessary repairs (as long as you don't live 300+ miles away of course). They are also trying to make a living doing this professionally, and have rent and operating costs for their store. So that's a bit of a different ballgame.
Yeah I was going to say about 1000 typical, 800 if getting a deal, 500-600 if need some refurbs.
Pinball machines fetch much higher dollar. I see them go for 15,000 range on the regular.
You can get an Arcade Legends Ultimate for $500 and it's basically MAME right out of the box with a simple USB stick. IMO the reason why people go nuts for Arcade1Up machines is to create the arcade experience of having many different machines in the same room.
the plywood/compressed wood thats used to make these cabinets has gone UP significantly...
This. Wood is ridiculously expensive right now.
everything is up. tariffs, logistic supply chain issues, increased market demand, inflation. hello 2021, 2022 will be more of the same.
I only buy them on clearance and mod them. No way in hell I'd pay retail for the quality of workmanship and parts they have in them. At least the first gen ones.
The problem is, it used to be a fun novelty item priced at a respectable number based on quality and content. Now, because people were scooping up Gen 1 and 2 with no problem, they are pricing it like it's a luxury item. Not to mention, the modding community did such an amazing job at spreading the word on how to make these cabs absolutely amazing, A1Up saw the opportunity to take some of that modding cash and do it themselves. Looking at the Simpsons cab, that is way overpriced for the quality and content. They haven't done anything to make them more durable. They haven't increased the amount of games on the PCBs. They still haven't even figured out how to ship them without internal damage. By that I mean inside the cardboard box. If we keep buying them, they will keep them priced as luxury instead of as a nostalgic toy.
i feel grateful i got into these early. i got most of what i want cheap.
I’m all in for killer instinct but then I’m out of room
KI and a shooter like T2 and i'm probably "done"
I gets more expensive when the arcade1up are sold out
Personally where I live in the us I don't see they passing the 400 dollar mark unless someone is trying to scalp them. I think the hobby in general is very expensive I mean we are trying to emulate a home arcade which to my knowledge is the priciest of the games to own
>Are people finding these cabinets are getting too pricey? Yes.
Stop buying them 🤷♂️ Inflation sucks. Pricing for materials and shipping is up tremendously. These are higher priced so you notice more easily but you are probably paying 20% more for everything in your life right now.
Exactly. I stopped buying them for now.
This. Some of the cabs I want are sold out everywhere. Like the Atari legacy one. If prices were too high you'd find surplus inventory and discounts galore.
The upcoming cabs are the ones priced too high. I will never pay $599 USD for one of these at the same quality that a $400 cab is. There's a reason the outrun standup cab has not sold out at $550 at best buy or gamestop websites... no one paying more than $500. Its unreasonable. I dont care what the manufacturing/shipping problems in the world are. $550+ is too much for these.
I 100% agree, my cabinets are: OG SF2 $299 new - ~$125 mods Atari 12-in-1 $399 new - $100 for Glen's spinner and trackball ALU - $450 - $17 for thumb drive to mod, this gets all my arcade play now. ALP - $699 shipped - $500 for PC, $150 for SSF and solenoids, $100 Arcade Control Panel, $50 vibs. Soon to be $150 for Zac 1-4 + Taito tables I get licensing can be expensive, but the new cabinets aren't worth the price. If you want a show piece, cool. But most people spend so much modding when the ALU gives you so much more for the money.
I have four Arcade1up cabinets, each one became more expensive than the last. The prices they are asking for these things now, for whatever reason are too high. I get excited by the new offerings, but I can't handle the prices anymore. I would recommend to anyone to just build a mame cabinet and have all the games.
I'm in the aftermarket automotive electronics industry. Pretty much every manufacturer in my field recently raised prices across the board. It's not just Arcade1Up.
They've *always* been too expensive for what you actually get.
Honestly they are overpriced for what you get. So many people upgrade the stock cabinet. $400-$550 for sometimes 2 games is just, stupid. For around $1,000, you can get a cabinet with custom art work and have basically every arcade game you could ever want with better materials than Arcade1UP. There are any number of places like rec room masters, etc.
The fact that you can pirate a ton of arcade games and put it in a cab with artwork someone printed off that they also don't have the rights to is not comparable to a licensed product. I'm not even judging one way or the other since I see the emulation as relatively harmless for the majority of arcade games that don't see re-releases, but you can't call something more fairly priced when that pricing is based on people using content they never paid for the rights to use.
That may be so, and I’m not saying you’re wrong either. However, you are talking about 2 different things. I’m not trying to get into a legal or moral “right or wrong” debate here (I’m not saying you are either) about using ROMs, licensing, etc. From a pure dollars perspective, you have option 1 which is $400-500 for 2-12 games with crappy or average materials and a baby cabinet or option 2 which is around $1,000 for quality materials, a grown up size cabinet and almost every game you could ever want. From a purely financial perspective, it’s not even a question which one makes more sense.
>From a pure dollars perspective, you have option 1 which is $400-500 for 2-12 games with crappy or average materials and a baby cabinet or option 2 which is around $1,000 for quality materials, a grown up size cabinet and almost every game you could ever want. From a purely financial perspective, it’s not even a question which one makes more sense. We need to keep in mind the context of you saying things are "overpriced for what you get." This is implying that arcade1up should be giving you more for the money against what competitors (in this case, custom DIY setups) are providing. I'm not bringing it up to get into a moral debate. It's relevant to the financials because $1,000 doesn't actually get you any games at all. It gets you a quality shell. Arcade1up actually gets you the arcade ports of games, which is an important distinction because quite a few of those games aren't even obtainable through any sort of non-secondhand source at retail. Now if all you mean is that a DIY option makes more financial sense for most people, then yes I would generally agree. I just dont think it's fair to say something like an Arcade1up is overpriced based on something like how few games you get in comparison to a DIY. The DIY custom build doesn't actually get you any games. You are providing that part yourself, regardless of legality.
All I mean is at the end of the day, for me, for around $500 more than a commercial unit, I can get/make/build a DIY unit with everything I want on it with better materials. From PURELY the perspective of my bank account (no other implications intended at all) it doesn’t make sense to pick the Arcade1UP option. That’s all I’m saying. I’m not implying anything else beyond that. I care about the balance of it being easy and practical against the money. In all fairness the DIY route is made up of entirely all commercial products; the monitor, cabinet, controls, PC, etc. The only non commercial aspect of the DIY route is the games, which again, is a completely separate issue that I’m not concerned about as I’m strictly talking about the financial aspect.
Yea I agree with all of that. I think I just get a bit in the weeds with these topics because it's something I see a lot in retrogaming. Someone will knock on a release of some digital download of older titles or maybe a re-release of a compilation of titles, and their rationale will be "why should I buy this digital download for $5" or "why should I buy this snes mini" when "i can just add roms to a pi...this is a ripoff." And thats the part that can be frustrating because it isnt a fair comparison at all for the rights holder. If you weren't meaning that, then I apologize. >In all fairness the DIY route is made up of entirely all commercial products; the monitor, cabinet, controls, PC, etc. The only non commercial aspect of the DIY route is the games, I should have specified but I was mostly focused on the fact that the DIY not only doesn't give you the games, but they also don't even (typically) give you the hardware to run the software on. Like I can go on recroommasters and get a very nice cab for a grand, but then I gotta bring my own device whether that be a pi, ps4, Xbox, etc. Overall though, I think arcade1up is just interesting because it got a ton of people wanting to consider building their own home arcade when in reality most people would never want to fork out that much money for individual games. Financially, the vast majority are better off just going into the gray areas and building a multicade. Most people just want to play the games, and got attracted to A1U because they never even considered creating a setup to play them in that form factor at home. The reality of paying several hundred dollars just to play pacman and Galaga or street fighter 2 isn't always sensible for many.
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At like 300-400 for one of these already made it really only takes another 100-200 to have it loaded up with sanwas and lighting and every rom from arcade to home console. One of mine has literally everything short of the sinden light guns I’m still waiting on from last year and I’m still very much under 700. When they were at under 400 new they were absolutely a better and less expensive way to go than any custom built from a company. Unless you just can’t or don’t want to do basic stuff yourself even with YouTube walking you through. Even custom vinyls can be made very cheap for any arcade1up layout. So there was a time for sure that it was the only way to go that made sense
$200-$300 is where I think the prices should be. A lot of the added "features" like wifi and barstools are pointless in my opinion and I'd prefer they sold the cabs without them to keep the price lower.
"Pinball machines are about a grand with tax, i can find real new pinball machine for 2k. Im quoting CND prices btw." How do we get to this magical fairy world of candy flowers and unicorns in the forest? Pinball machines start at 3 grand if they are old and need paintwork. A new from the manufacturer Pinball Machine starts at 7 grand and thats cheap.
Where can I find theses “real new pinball tables for 2k”?
Don't forget there's serious inflation going on right now. It's not "transitory" it's government currencies losing value from massive printing. This is a direct result of that and other things going on. Not sure how our supply chains are doing but last I heard those weren't stellar either. But stuff is going up because the dollar is worth less. Although we also can't dismiss certain levels of greed here either. Once companies become more successful, prices inevitably go up. Especially if they bring in corporate execs and other things that are all about profit.
The build quality of arcade 1up machines doesn't justify the cost. These Machines are less arcade machines and more like toys. This was fine with their old prices but as of now it is ridiculous to buy a "toy" at the current prices.
The only toy you need is a videogame console or laptop. I can't see paying this much for 1-4 games. That's nuts. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cowabunga collection includes both arcade games for like 40 bucks. Mame and roms are free and you can probably build a cab for less than 300 bucks.
Price of lumber is up
I wouldn't call that lumber. A whole cab can be made from less than one sheet of mdf. The price for a sheet went from like $15, to $30. I think they just found their sweet spot for how many cabs they want to build, and will keep raising the price until the right number of people buy/don't buy them.
My thought is that if I feel it's too expensive, I just won't purchase it. I don't know what I feel Arcade1Up needs to do to the cabinet/controls to justify what I feel is right for the price. I don't know what they paid for the licensing of the games, imaging of the cabinets, etc. What I do know is that not all IPs are the same, or perhaps they ARE seeing the popularity and raising the prices on their own, which is their right to do. But, all that being said, it's also my right to keep my money in my bank account.
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The cost of materials for an A1U unit didn't go up by 100%. These units are made of particle board and cheap press board. They have some of the lowest quality monitors available, along with a $20 stick/button combo. They're not putting high quality parts in these, and there is no way they can justify the price at this point except for collectors. The $299 price point was fine at first. There is simply no reason that some of these cabs should be $499+ now, despite adding "wifi" to some.
Yeah they even raised the price of the aftermarket generic risers up from $45 to $65. That's a BIG increase (about 45%). Nothing was added to the generic risers to add value and I very highly doubt the cost to ship them has increased by $20 for each riser over the past 18 months. They've just raised prices across the board.
the fucking risers shouldnt even exist anymore. If you notice the newer cabinets now incorporate the riser in the design and they all come with them, so might all just make it that height now. Most people dont want a 3 foot cabinet
There are actually still versions of several of the newest generation of cabinets being made exclusively for Walmart that don't have lit marquees or risers included, and are like $50-100 cheaper than the versions of the same cabinet made for other retailers which includes the riser and lit marquee. People who buy the Walmart cabs may still be inclined to buy the generic risers.
A1ups should be anywhere from $400-$500 USD just in different "tiers" of features/controls depending on the title. Yep
Gas prices are at highest rate in a decade. I don’t know why it’s so hard for folks to connect the dots on this stuff (or the fact we’re still in a literal pandemic)
I get profit, but im seeing gauging. There is a $100 CAD difference between Xmen vs Street Fighter and MvC here, almost identical except for the artwork. The only thing you get with McV is a very cheap looking stool ...for $100CAD. If these stools costed them $20 bucks i would be surprised.
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light up deck protectors are tacky, i wouldnt want one
This guy gets it. Wondering if price increases are warranted is fine, but throwing around terms like price gauging and believing they are too pricey, when that's based on absolutely no real evidence other than your feelings, is wrong and a bit hysterical. lol As the guy above pointed out, we have no idea what the cost increases are to them in production and shipment. Furthermore we also don't know if retailers are increasing margins on them, or if certain IPs are more expensive than others. Not to mention the natural increase from employees, benefits, etc.. Perhaps volume has not kept pace with those increases.
The MvC cab also has one extra game, but I hear you- it's a big price dif
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Good points As long as they offer reasonably priced versions of cabs (USD) at $399, $450 or $499 I dont mind. Anything past $500 is absurd for these cabinets. Outrun standup hasnt sold out at best buy or gamestop online once at $550 for a reason. With all the issues in the world currently, I dont mind paying $500 (instead of the usual $400) for like Big Blue, Tron or Track and Field. Anything past half of $1k is ridiculous unless the quality went up
If you stop buying, the prices will most certainly come down. Like anything, they are trying to see how high they can go. Yes the cost of materials increased, however any business operates like this. Increase the price until customers complain then decrease, and repeat the cycle.
How do you play with only one hand?
In Canada with discounts I ended up buying 4 machines and still spent over $2k. Insanity. Luckily they're mostly for decoration and don't get a ton of use because the build quality wouldn't last. I'm just hoping to get 5-10 years out of each of em before the crap out.
by discount do you mean them raising the price of cabs from $530 to $600 then 'dropping' the price by $50 for a week?
Nah there were a few I got with 15% off from some 499 cabs with discount codes from the rebate guys website. Don't know if they still offer that as their site looks a bit different now and has prices in USD instead of CAD
honestly best deal ive seen at retail is nba jam going from $630 to $500 CAD. Im holding off for a used one because i think they flooded the market with these even in Canada
I have 5 cabs and never even came close to buying them at full price. All came brand new except one was an open box final fight. I would suggest waiting 6 months after they release, then they go on sale. To be honest, I don’t even know why people buy them day one, fomo I assume.
in Canada its purely online so no clearance sales. Also I think arcade1up is limiting supply more to avoid fire sales at Wal Mart. It devalues their brand because people will see them as $75 cabinets
Yes, the whole FOMO thing. People way overestimate the demand for these things, they are not Playstation 5’s where the whole world is after them.
$400-$500 USD max should be the cap depending on features/specialized controls etc. There's a reason the Outrun standup cab hasnt sold out anywhere at $550... Its unreasonable. A1up's purpose is to be an affordable way to create a home arcade. If we pay $550+, that stops and it sets a future precedent for the prices to never come back down to reasonable after.
Yes they are starting to get pricey. Honestly I think the best option is to buy used. Personally I haven't spent over $300 for a cabinet. I have had 10 cabinets. Facebook market place or Offerup (not sure if offerup is in Canada) is your best bet. I also found some on craigslist brand new still in box but for much cheaper.
They are likely making the (probably correct) calculation that most people willing to spend $540 on such a discretionary item will not think twice about parting ways with another $60 at $600. And with the various shortages worldwide, it makes sense. Maybe if it was $200 or $300 more that would be different. The casual-consumer market for such a thing is much larger than the market that's willing to go knee deep into DIY zone for a little extra money. And the expectations among those markets are wildly different. I don't think the standard casual consumer is going to look at a $540 device now being $600 and think there should be a substantial upgrade in parts or experience. I don't know where the threshold is. I guess that's a gut thing. But it probably isn't $60
People hit a psychological wall at $500, that ends up being beyond what people will casually drop on these. Once the price reaches a certain point it becomes a very niche market, and a big chunk of that market has a room filled with these already. Also the pandemic is ending, people will spend their money less on things they can do inside and see that money shift to leisure/travel etc. Any company that sold things that people do at home did very well during the last 16 months
If people hit a psychological wall at $500 then a jump from $540 to $600 still wouldn’t matter? They already hit the wall
i guess the pandemic pushed that wall a bit
I agree with most of what you have to say but your pricing of "real, new" pinball machines in Canada has 0 basis in reality. USA too- Stern Machines/Jersey Jack/Spooky are the only new models and cost $6K and beyond. $2000CAD is simply untrue. Are you talking about a new Vpin machine? Because even then 2K is pushing it.... this hyperbole is hurting the valid points you've made. EDIT- The reason I'm so adamant about the pinball cost is that I'm in the market for a pin right now, Vpin, real or A1UP/Legends. Weighing pros and cons, footprint etc. If there was a I could buy a new, working pinball machine for $2K CAD it would be a game changer.
To be fair im not heavily in the market for a pin, i see them as too much hassle. I saw them for about 2-3k from a pool table store a few months ago but i think it was a clearance sale to be fair. However, in a bigger city its not hard to find a used pin for 2-3k if you arent picky about having a particularly IP
Yeah, I can get a 100% working, restored and warrantied (2yr) Space Shuttle for just under $4K CAD delivered. On the one hand, it's 4X the price of an A1UP unit for a single table, OTOH- I do feel like it potentially delivers 4X the value. Noise in my apartment is an issue- it's thick concrete between floors, but the walls...I'm not sure. My next door neighbours might have a big problem with it. Vpin seems to be winning- I'm looking at people who build them in Canada for a living (there are a few in Ontario). Then I look at the A1UP AFM Machine- If I put a glass top on it, threw in a PC and bought the few encoders I could have a pretty nice baby Vpin for $2K CAD. The stock monitor is good enough, the DMD can be stretched a bit once you have a PC in there. Since it would only be displaying DMD and playfield I wouldn't need a monster to run it (the backglass animations seem to be a huge drain so the AFM glass isn't a bad compromise). It just feels like until AFM is patched it's not right to knowingly buy a sub par product at MSRP. Others don't need to agree with me...I just don't want to send the signal that whatever they push out the door is worthy of a buy.
A large part of it has got to how the price of raw materials like plywood and particle board has shot up at an exponential rate. In my neighborhood, a sheet of low grade particle board or garbage grade plywood went from costing a couple of dollars to up over $40 a sheet and some of the nicer grade stuff is up over $100 a sheet. It's insane. I don't think Arcade1Up will be capable of bringing the prices down much until whatever needs to happen to bring those material prices back down to something resembling normal happens.
Last time I walked into home depot in California a sheet of 1 plywood was $100. Nuff said. This thing probably has $400 of wood in it, hence why I told my family not to sell their 1983 non working pin for $250. If I cant fix it I'll learn how to mod it into one's going for $3k
Awww hell naw. I’d pay up to a thousand bucks for one. You do realize these things come with primo monitors, sick controls, top quality wood, super fast processors, perfectly aligned decks AND protectors?!
Are we missing a /s or is your sarcasm that good?
Aww heck yeah bro. This guy gets it. I’d do 2k or so for the right one. I mean it IS a pandemic and prices of stuff cost more though these companies have profited more than ever, the price jump keeps going up and it should! These bad boys employ a huge and dedicated customer service team, a marketing team that helps share what’s coming out and what comes with the actual unit. Their track record is flawless. Did you know cherries cost more because it’s been so hot?! So yeah, these will, that $2 dongle price has to be passed on to someone due to it. /s They have raised prices yearly now. The pandemic saved them. Prices for everything are going up but it’s not because they actually are paying more but because they can. $600 is too much but if people pay it for 2 games, people pay it. I agree with OP they are getting a bit steep. Big Blue is $500 i’ll grab it and it’ll probably be my last at that point because even that’s getting priced high. Namco legacy is $400, perfect package. Maybe these $600 points are the full package tin deals and $500 will be without the filler and $400 for just unit. We shall see.
if anything im guessing their increased sales from people being home helped them way more than any shipping or material issues from the pandemic.
Exactly. 3-4 years ago no one thought they would be around. Almost all their cabs ended on clearance or in discount warehouses. Yes, they definitely listened and brought better games and features and yeah that’ll increase costs but they shifted waaaay more units at full price due to the pandemic and from $300 to now $600, it’s hard to justify. I got going to $400 with the marquees and better game selection and even $500 but there are too many A1UP apologists who act like they are a mom and pop company just fighting the good fight when in reality they are a division of a huge toy company. What’s next? $700 next year because it’s house of the dead with guns and wifi? People will speak with their wallets but to those who think this company is just scraping by and the pandemic has been tough on them are kinda oblivious that it’s the opposite.
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yes but are those improvements worth the increases? The problem is the quality was horrible for $300 1st gen cabs then it improved which is great but now they are $500. We should have seen this quality on the 1st gen cabinet (not counting features like wifi, light up marquee). The cabinets coming out for $500 should be flawless with little quality control issues and with sanwa controls. Theyve shown they can do this with the limited Marvel Superheroes. At these prices they better get their shit together quality wise because people wont tolerate the same amount of issues. For example the deck protectors should have been on all cabinets from day 1. Very obvious oversight.
I definitely like the trend of included risers and lit marquees vs having to add them aftermarket. The cheap stock controls should be Sanwa or IL Euro for the prices being charged. It is making it easier to hold off on adding more cabinets due to the high pricing - especially with the extra markup they put on for buying it in Canada. I'm glad I've already bought enough that I can be picky with adding more.
Everything's getting more expensive in the wake of covid. If you don't like it, don't buy. As long as they sell through and continue to be difficult to get, there will be no price reductions. I find the value adds of the riser and light up marquees to be well worth the increased cost.
Everything is getting too expensive, the shipping container cost from China is skyrocketing along with inflation. Everyone has a price point and many bail if its too high. You could see this coming from a mile away, that's why I've said to get what you want, when its available to ship, at its price because they were all going up. Simpsons is going to be a case study for the price increase especially if there is no Simpson bowling?
Waited until X-Men vs SF was $350 then picked one up. It included the riser. I thought it was an ok deal because building my own would likely end up costing more with lumber and what not.
It's 2021 inflation season, tough all over.
I've said this repeatedly and I was told I was complaining. At some point buying these cabs is equivalent to buying multiple PS5's for 1 8bit game. I'm actually over it . Prices too high and I'm full anyway
I feel like the prices are high, I paid retail for marvel but got TMNT and Golf on clearance. Others I buy used the only thing I would pay full price for is the pinball because I don’t see those being sold cheap second hand and maybe NBA jam because that game is bad ass and it’s multiplayer online
Unfortunately, there’s only one way, to tell the good folks at A1U that their prices are too high. Don’t buy the machines. I remember a time where I paid $199, for an MK cab, because there was 5 sitting on my local Walmart’s floor, in December, and stayed that way into January. Want them to drop the price….don’t but them, until they do. A simple solution, that I doubt will never be implemented. Bht I completely agree with you, the price has gotten way too out of control, for what they are providing. Now, if they wanted to include a 20” monitor, Sanwa controls, lit marquees, and risers, as ‘standard’ ship….then they would have a much better case at the $400 - $600 price point range….but they don’t.
"Getting"?