It is the culmination of my '80s being
When I first saw this on the Internet this morning, my heart swelled with joy, watery fowl sang out from Lake Itopia, and I heard the lush orchestration of the Star Wars cantina band playing faintly over a majestic sunrise.
Dream Authentics is peddling one of the most grandiose toys -- nay, not a toy ... a lifestyle -- that any '80s fan could possibly acquire. Like the holy grail itself, it cannot be saddled with a formal name. So here we'll just call it The Ultimate Tabletop Arcade Machine and Reason For Living.
It plays more 200 classic arcade games including Asteroids, Centipede, Tempest, Pac-Man, Defender, Space Invaders and my personal favorite -- Great Swordsman (also my nickname in college). And of course, it'd be the signature addition to the '80s redecoration effort at the Spears Lair.
Sadly, the $2,500 price tag conspires to keep me from fulfilling my destiny. But if selling my Buck Rogers in the 25th Century lunchbox and Battlestar Galactica trading cards gets me any closer to earning the required green, then so be it.
Relive the music, movies and culture of the greatest decade ever with Times online editor Steve Spears. A teen during the decade, Steve is obsessed with everything from Duran Duran to Journey, John Hughes to John Cusack, and parachute pants to Reaganomics.
E-mail Steve Spears:
Heh, I built a MAME a year ago and my 8 year old son plays it more than I do. He's gotta be the only third grader in his class who knows all these old games.
(Esp. one of my favorites, Wizard of Wor...)
Posted by: SethBramwell | August 30, 2009 at 03:04 AM
Hey Spearsy... not sure if you were into the NES but I found this site that has a USB controller for your computer modeled after the Nintendo's original.
http://store.videogamecentral.com/pc-retrobit-nintendo-usb-controller.html?gclid=CKGc3P2miZgCFQEoGgodBjXbDg
Posted by: Lyle | January 12, 2009 at 10:39 AM
On the plus side, it has Robotron 2084. On the minus side, how the hell am I supposed to play Robotron 2084 without two joysticks? I mean, that "fire" joystick is crucial. Come on!
Posted by: Dr. Incognito | January 10, 2009 at 12:39 PM
The Colecovision version was pretty darn close to the original. In fact most of the Colecovision games were were pretty darn good! They kinda blew it with the "Adam" though...
Posted by: Douglas Arthur | January 08, 2009 at 08:52 PM
Oh yeah I loved Zaxxon, especially when I got it for my Atari. 2600 or 5200 i don't remember. It was different from the arcade version and i think it was only Sega or colecovision had the same as arcade. Play a poor online version here
www.tripletsandus.com/80s/80s_games/zaxxon.htm
Posted by: Mick in Sydney | January 08, 2009 at 07:58 PM
I think I'm on record as saying "Zaxxon" is a gift from the very gods themselves.
Posted by: Spears | January 08, 2009 at 05:55 PM
I'm waiting for the original Zaxxon to return.
Posted by: Bassnote | January 08, 2009 at 05:36 PM
There are a number of these types of MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulators)machines out there. If you want to play the games but not get the cabinet right away, pick up an emulator for the computer of your choice (free), get the ROM's for the games you want (90% are freely and legally available on the net - active dis-interest in prosecution by the copyrights holders) and a Tank Stick ($130 to $200).
The Tank Stick comes from XArcade and they have a MAME cabinet for $1100.
There are plans available on the net to make your own cabinet with a cheap dedicated PC and arcade quality components. You can literally spend as much or as little as you want to play the old arcade games. I have toyed with the idea of making a cabinet over the past 10 years but just have not had the space until recently. The problem now is the eternal lack of proper funding.
Posted by: Rock Fields | January 08, 2009 at 12:28 PM
you can get most of those games from xbox live for about $5 each if you have an xbox 360 - sadly, i have downloaded them all and get bored after about two plays - missile command and battlezone are really, especially, not as good as i remember...
Posted by: bob | January 08, 2009 at 11:16 AM
Verry cool!
Posted by: The Man Known Only as.......Rowan | January 08, 2009 at 08:52 AM
How big is this thing?? Is it larger than a VecTrex?
Posted by: Douglas Arthur | January 08, 2009 at 01:05 AM
Honestly, I'd say a no-brainer price would be $500.
Posted by: Spears | January 07, 2009 at 08:26 PM
You totally had be until "Sadly, the $2,500 price tag", yikes.
Posted by: 80sfan | January 07, 2009 at 08:20 PM
Michelle - that is exactly what I asked Steve when he told me about it!
Posted by: Vegasgirlfriend | January 07, 2009 at 07:58 PM
You can build one of these for way less. It's just a Mame cabinet which is a pc with an emulator stuck in a game cabinet. You can download the emulators and the games from many places online so, if it's just the games you're looking for it's no sweat. If you want to stick it all in a cabinet then it costs a bit more but not $2,500! Personally I'd like to build one of those table ones with the cigarette burns in the plexi-glass.
Posted by: Dave from MN | January 07, 2009 at 07:43 PM
If it doesn't have Tron or Krull on it, forgetabout eh! Hey does it have the JHourney escape game? You never mentioned that one when talking to Ross Valory.
Posted by: Mick in Sydney | January 07, 2009 at 06:58 PM
Bassnote, you got the kids a Wii. This toy would be for you. What kid would want to play Pac Man or Centipede.
Don't they make a Lite version of the game with like 20 games instead of 200. For like 25% the price.
Posted by: sparky | January 07, 2009 at 06:22 PM
Does it have Joust?
Posted by: Michelle | January 07, 2009 at 05:48 PM
I so want this. It is so shiny and pretty. I am also jealous that you have Battlestar Galatica trading cards.
Posted by: Cylon | January 07, 2009 at 05:44 PM
Children? In the Spears Lair? Heck no, Smokey! It's strictly a 21-and-over establishment.
Posted by: Spears | January 07, 2009 at 04:35 PM
Looks like great fun...
But if you are considering buying one, obviously you aren't married with small children.....:)
Posted by: Brett | January 07, 2009 at 03:51 PM
I just got the kids a Wii for Christmas, so I'm done spending money on video games for a while. I will say it is very cool though.
Posted by: Bassnote | January 07, 2009 at 03:49 PM
I would never leave the house if I got one of these.
Posted by: jay | January 07, 2009 at 02:18 PM
I WANT THIS!
Posted by: specialkness | January 07, 2009 at 02:03 PM
Maybe we can all pool together our money and then pass it around to each other. It would be like the 80s classroom's hamster.
Posted by: Melissa | January 07, 2009 at 01:47 PM
Oh geez... I just realized that this wasn't Daly's page. I commented on his blog earlier and...um...oh well...
Get it anyway!
Posted by: Ian (in CT) | January 07, 2009 at 01:41 PM
Wow! You've got the a new position at the TBT, right? Splurge!
Posted by: Ian (in CT) | January 07, 2009 at 01:13 PM