I want to buy a arcade game

**kool-aid killer** · 09-20-2004

Hey guys, as the title states ive recently begun looking into buying a used arcade game and was wondering whether anybody had any tips on what to avoid, what company sells good ones, or perhaps even just share your experience and any type of info you think i should know. I was looking at one (via the internet) that i was interested in but it had the words "reconditioned" by it so i was wondering what it means? Any type of assistance or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

**Kidhuman** · 09-20-2004

I have been wanting to do this for years. I had a chance about 10 years ago at an auction and the only thing they had was the Moonwalker game and some other game I never heard of. I would get the reconditioned one, if it had a warranty on it. You might want to check local newspapers for stores going out of business and auctioning things off. You might find a good price there.

**Lord Malakite** · 09-20-2004

Originally Posted by kool-aid killer

I was looking at one (via the internet) that i was interested in but it had the words "reconditioned" by it so i was wondering what it means? Any type of assistance or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I would think "reconditioned" means pretty much the same thing for an arcade game as it would with a piece of furniture. At some point the cabinet in which the game is housed probably got damaged and was then later restored (repaired) to resemble the way it did when it was new. Could also possibly mean it has new buttons or joysticks I suppose (as those types of things can wear with use over time). I doubt it had any effect on the games electronics itself though, like say the motherboard.

Another thing to probably be aware of is conversions. Conversions are games that aren't original to the cabinet itself. The original game's motherboard is removed and is altered or replaced with a completely different game. The Atari arcade game of Empire Strikes Back is a good example of this. ESB was sold as a conversion kit for the original Star Wars Atari Arcade game.

You can probably find more information on this site about finding and buying certain games than I can ever give you, as well as answers to any further questions that you may have.

**JediTricks** · 09-20-2004

There are a lot of places in SoCal that sell used arcade machines, many older games go for only a few hundred, so you may want to try major metropolitan areas to look for them. When a machine is said to be refurbished, often that means that either the monitor has been changed (which is not usually that big a deal) or the cabinet has been altered in some way (that issue depends on the change) or most likely it means the buttons and/or controllers have been changed (which can be a major deal but is oftentimes necessary). Those controller/button swaps are the type of thing you'll want to examine carefully before buying, sometimes you see machines with the totally wrong type of joystick or new buttons that are cheap and don't fire.

There are machines on ebay, but I would be very careful about that sort of thing first, do a lot of research on the seller and be extremely cautious when reading the details of the machine.

Monitors can usually be replaced, so sometimes Burn-in can be your friend since that drives the price down yet can be swapped out by you whenever you feel. Display graphics on the cabinet, especially the glass at the top, is harder to find but if you know the machine or don't care about the aesthetics, this condition also drives the price down (though it usually means the controls are also not original).

**kool-aid killer** · 09-22-2004

Kidhuman, i had thought about it before but never made a serious inquiry into obtaining one. Went to an Uncles house over the weekend (ive never really known him) and he had 1942 in his basement. Spent a good portion of my time there just playing it and thought to myself how cool it would be to have one in my house. Got the wheels spinning. Im looking for a couple of games that never came out on any type of home console, no point in buying Mario when i can pick it up for the Nintendo, SNES, Gameboy etc.

Lord Malakite, many thanks for the link to the site. Lots of useful info on it and i havent even gone through it all.

JT, online i found a website that had one of the games i would be interested in and its located in California. But i imagine shipping would be a killer. But looking through the phone book i found some local business that deal in amusement devices so im going to see if there are any places i can go and actually look over the game(s) with my own eyes. Hopefully they have something im after that way i can just haul it myself.

Thanks for the replies all and i will keep you posted on any developments.

**JediTricks** · 09-22-2004

Cool beans! And if you drive, you could rent a truck and haul it back to your home yerself, if you don't mind the road trip.

When I was a younger lad, we had a pinball machine in the living room, it was super awesome, even better than an arcade machine really because it was "real" in that way, picked it up for $200, real bargain.

**kool-aid killer** · 10-22-2004

Finally got around to checking some places out and i visited two businesses that sold games. The first one really only had new ones and was looking for some big bucks. But i was guided to a nearby place that had ones that were more within my interest and price range. Found a game that i liked, but im going to hold off on it until i try some other places. Something tells me the game i really want wont be found around here.

**Kidhuman** · 10-22-2004

WHat ya looking for? Crystal Castles?

**dr_evazan22** · 10-24-2004

Earlier this year my buddy Paul bought a ST: The Movie pinball game. It was made around '79 or '80. He found on eBay in a Local search. He was lucky enough to get it for a couple hundred less then it usually goes for.

Search eBay for current and former listings of your game to get a ballpark price range. Like others said, games that don't have original graphics are not worth as much.

We transported it in the back of his pickup [about 40 miles], but seemed to get a little upset when I "jostled" the machine to keep the ball from going down (crazed).

**darthvyn** · 12-12-2004

you could also always build your own, using emulator software on a computer and building a cabinet around it. there's a book i saw a barnes & noble about it, found it on their website : here

it's a project i'm looking to conquer in the future, as soon as i have the space...