I'd rather have a full sized, well-built virtual machine 98% of the time, but there's two cases so far where I have (or will have) a 1UP: Star Wars Arcade and the forthcoming Big Buck Hunter, because of the unique controls. I like my SW Arcade 1UP. Decent quality build material, not pressboard junk, control stick isn't metal but is still solid and heavy, I don't notice any lag personally (maybe that was an issue with older 1UP tech?), the marquee lights up, and it plays all three flight stick Star Wars games. Pretty neat for tree fiddy. I wish BBH was coming out soon, my wife keeps asking me about birthday gifts.

Sold a pin this morning and with nothing do to the rest of the day and flush with bills, a dangerous combination of events, I ran around to numerous Best Buys to pick up a bunch of on sale 1ups. Heads up: Everywhere right now Simpsons is $400 with stool ($300 off), and Ridge Racer is $400 (also $300 off). And then I used reward points to get $100 off each of Golden Tee 3D, Terminator 2, and Pac-Mania Legacy. Gonna be a lot of assembling in my near future.

Already have Star Wars Arcade and Big Buck Hunter. Really looking for an Outrun if anyone wants to sell one or knows where to find 'em!

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Yeah. It's not hard to put these together, but it sure is tedious.

It does, and it's not one of my favorite beat-em-ups to begin with (that would be Final Fight) but it also has Simpsons Bowling at least, although it's been so long since I played it I can't remember if it's any good or not. Was a big fan of Capcom Bowling back in the day, even owned one for a few years.

I've found Facebook Marketplace to be a great place to grab Arcade1UPs on the cheap. Got an Outrun 15 minutes away for $500 when people are trying to sell it on ebay for $1000+. Thinking of hitting some local deals tomorrow, someone selling MKII+SFII for $250 for both, and lots of others out there in the $200 or less range. Actually thinking about grabbing someone's Golden Tee 3D for $500, and returning mine still in the box for $600. Saves $100 and I don't have to build it!

Argh, lame. This is one of those 1up releases that will be better off on a MAME cabinet if you have one.

Seems to be strong rumors that Time Crisis will be the next release after Blitz. I'm down for that day 1.

Speaking of, I put together a Tempest Atari Legacy yesterday and holy hell, the trackball is barely even functional. It just doesn't want to go L/R without absolutely gunning it. Makes Centipede/Millipede hard to play and Missile Command impossible. Gonna open it up tonight and put just a dab of synthetic grease on the bearings as suggested in a few youtube videos, just wondering if anyone else has tried to improve their 1UP trackballs and have any tips/tricks.

I just opened it up and I think the machining in mine is just off. The ball itself won't (or barely) make connection with the side roller, and since everything in there is plastic, there's nothing I can bend or manipulate to induce contact. The plastic tabs that hold that side roller in place are just a hair too far away. Hopefully their support comes through and gets me a new trackball.

...But I'm sure I'm going to tinker with it all night anyway because now I've got a "must find solution!" brainworm going on.

T2 $399 today only (8/22) at Best Buy. It's a pretty good version, alas no one has been able to mod it yet to put more light gun games on it.

It should also be noted some models don't have a plastic cover on the control panel, and the artwork was prone to fading and rubbing off. The artwork on some of those would likely be gone in a month under sweaty/grubby kid hands. But I think most of the releases from the past year or two do have covers.

Has anyone modded either of the wheel games to to play more steering/driving games? I know I saw a youtube video once upon a time where someone did that to their Outrun, but I can't find it. I'd love to know the details on how you did it or where you bought a kit if you did.

In the past I've had a few A1UPs and liked them but never paid them too much mind, but the aftermarket scene is addicting! A million ways to improve and mod these, and there are always lots of 1UPs available on Facebook marketplace for prices both great and not so great, many of them modded in all sorts of ways. It's like the hustle to find pinball deals locally except there's no big financial reward for it, it's just about getting games to play. Kind of like how the pinball scene was 10+ years ago.

No one has been able to get RR's wheel to work with any emulators yet, as far as I know. You've got to mod Outrun if you want other wheel games, at least for now. Alas, that isn't a simple softmod or drop-in solution, either. It's a bit involved:

I definitely plan on tackling it sometime soon.

I'm not even sure that's $100 worth of parts, retail.

But this is the time lately where pretty much everyone from groceries to graphics cards to oil/gas to etc. are pushing their prices to the extreme and seeing how it plays. In pinball, it seems to be playing just fine so far. Will 500 people buy a $1200 KI that's just a bit better than the one that goes on sale for $400? It both would and wouldn't surprise me if it did sell out. Weird times.

I just built mine the other night and only played a few games, but I liked it. $299 is a great deal. I think I got mine for 4-something and still think it's worth it. The wheel is too sensitive after doing a calibration, I wonder (and assume) if there's a way to make it less sensitive. Works well in long curves but your car is jerky when making smaller steering adjustments. Cabinet was a little wobbly though, the wheel might improve after I secure the cabinet better.

I was thinking of putting mine up NIB for $500 since I recently bought a new Golden Tee PGA pedestal. But I doubt you or anyone is driving 400 miles for a 1UP.

That's interesting, I also tried to build my RR as a sit down unit but that glossy black piece on the bottom doesn't fit that area, it needs to be cut down. Did you cut yours down and then nail it in, or is there another piece somewhere that fits that I'm not noticing?

Speaking of Ridge Racer (or Outrun), thinking of pulling the trigger on the mod kit that buystuffarcades just came out with this morning that gets you 150 wheel games in one of those units if you buy the racing kit + hdmi converter board for about $250 combined. Not a bad price considering driving game emulation (like light guns) is not so straight forward in MAME.