No.

LTG : )

If you want one to play, then buy it now, and don't worry about the price rising.

I have several friends who collect arcade games. The bottom fell out of that some time ago with exceptions like death race, tron, Star Wars and a few others. Even at that the high priced games rarely go for more than a thousand dollars.
You have to remember that many of the popular games like pack man and asteroids had much larger runs than any pinball game. I think there were something like 200,000 PAC man games produced.

Nope, emulation blew that stuff out of the water.

Hell no!

No chance.

From what I have heard most arcade guys have been selling their cabs to buy more pins. Plus now you can buy a mame cabinet and have a whole slew of games and that takes up the same amount of space that one dedicated game will.

Missed the boat on that one. There was already a run up in price and a nice large bubble that dropped sharp and fast.

I am almost exclusively a video game guy, but I love pinball and typically have 1 in the collection.
Somewhere around 2007-2008 a ms. pac could fetch $800+ pretty easily unrestored. Now most guys consider it a $200-$350 game. yes there were about 50,000 of them made.

Some games do hold much higher value. Color vectors, hard to find titles, now production runs, or just super fund games, like zookeeper.

I sold my kozmik krooz'r at CAX last year for over $3000, and discs of tron (upright version) has been selling for $3000-$4000 lately when it has typically been a $800-$1500 game. Atariscott over on klov (not sure if he visits here or not) has a prototype paperboy that he is asking $9500 for, (and will likely get somewhere close to it).

But generally, arcade games don't go for very much. Not even close to pins. And yeah the 60 in 1 barrage has lowered to value of standard high-run popular titles.

http://www.rotheblog.com/2008/08/arcade/15-most-valuable-classic-arcade-games/

But you have to admit that games like Tempest and MACH 3 do have a certain appeal.

This list is 5 years old. Some of that list is worth less, some more. A dedicated splat could get 10k+ now.

I can't think of a single game that isn't replicable on a MAME system (cept maybe the star wars vector or paperboy), and even then someone could replicate the analog input with some time.

Bout the only cab I'd want for the artwork alone is Tron, but it would also suck up space (and all monitors eventually die).

No, (respectfully) you are waaaaaaaaaaaaay off. Almost no games can be replicated correctly on mame.

Pac man sure.

Almost every game I like has very unique controllers. Tron, wacko, kozmik krooz'r, many more. Most of these games have an audio amplifier or some unique sound board that is "necessary" , to enjoy a classic properly.

Now I realize who my audience is here.

Sounds like you'd enjoy a mame cab or 60 in 1, but no classic gamer would. (Concerning authenticity)

And all monitors (virtually) can be rebuilt very easily.

All collectors eventually die, so what?

The better question is are pinball games the next arcade cab? i.e. boom to bust seemingly overnight, with a smaller but still hardcore collector base to this day...

I just sold my Tron,Budweiser Tapper,Cloak & Dagger,& Berzerk. All vids I thought I'd take to the grave. All just to add funds to the next NIB pin of my choice. Sometimes I wonder if I've made a bad decision. Oh well,too late now,bring on Iron Maiden!!!

All of those games are easily attainable again if you "need" to get them. (Except c&d). It is a great choice if you will have fun with the new pin!

I am dumping a couple machines to try to fund a tron pro purchase.

Yup, we be pinheads.
I'm a member of PAC (Portland Arcade Collectors) and that forum get pretty funky about MAME's, 60-in-one's etc. We got's pinball purists, then there's Arcade purists and dedicated cabs are the shit. Don't even mention converting to an lcd flatscreen there
I may be the only member of the group with no dedicated cabs (I have a Xevious I converted to 60-in-one with an LCD - sssh, don't tell them)

I do not know what the pinside community's opinion is of these virtual pins or hyper pins?

That is like playing a classic on mame. Same authenticity. Personally I think they are stupid.

MAME cabs are great. With an x arcade dual stick with trackball, a spinner and flight stick about the only games you can't do 100% are light gun games which do work good with a stick....especially considering at home you have unlimited continues. I have an 84 dynamo cab that has been rehabbed and converted to a mame cab with a 32" LCD. Works great and does everything I need it to and about 5,000 other things.

I also have and build virtual pins. I will say that a true pin is different than an virtual. Think of it as playing a video game representation of the best pins ever. While they are great fun and have unequaled versatility replicating a real pin exactly just can't happen without wood, steel, rubber and plastic. That being said for $2500-7,000 pending size and features you definitely get the most unique (and expandable) experience with a virtual and at a fraction of the cost.

That's not a good comparison. MAME is taking old code, and playing it on different hardware. Virtual pins are taking a physical object, and re-creating it digitally.

I will agree on that, someday I would love to get a 720.

mame and ghetto 60 in 1 dont do it for guys like me who actually like original cabs and artwork, as well as proper joysticks (gorf, original berzerk joysticks, tron, etc.)

and yes, plenty of classics and modern vids fetch money, not the bs games like pac man and centipede, but true, less common games.
dedicated major havoc, dragons lair, rare laser disc games, zoo keeper, crazy climber, mini robotron, mini qix, etc etc. plenty out there...
f mame, f 60 in 1s, i hate that garbage. ruins the whole appeal.

My favorite arcade game 720. Just completed mini restore. All new joystick parts and plays about as close to new as I have ever felt. This was one you can't replicate without the controller. Oh and it was lonely without Paperboy (waiting on grips).

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The arcade games that hold a high value other than the really rare ones are games that are really fun to play that cannot be easily MAMED. Unique cabinet/artwork, specialty controls like 720 joystick and Star Wars flight controller, and vector monitors like an Amplifone medium resolution just cannot be properly MAMED.

I would love to get my hands on a Budweiser Tapper. That is the one arcade game that I would buy over a pin.

no

I got rid of all my video games except the ones with special controls that can't be easily MAMED as well as my vector games. I rarely turn them on.

I have a 60 in 1 in a vertical cab, and a 138 in 1 in a horizontal cab. Both could use new control panels, which I think they'll eventually get. I never turn them on.

I have a MAME system with a 37" monitor and an X-Arcade stick. I never turn it on.

I have a VP system with 600 pinball tables. I never turn it on.

Yes, without this joystick 720 is not 720, but it CAN be replicated. Of course, the 720 cab is pretty damned awesome, it almost needs it's own space.

That pretty much sums it up.....no crazy price increases for arcade cabs

My first vid gets delivered today. I can't wait >>> not sure if the purists would be offended.

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Very nice! Haven't seen one of those in quite some time.

my collection includes star wars with empire kit, cruising world, discs of tron, tron, tempest with tubes kit, and an original arcade legends with every game that was made. paid a fortune for the arcade legends add on packs and later found out the guy selling them (you probably know who he is) was illegally burning the games onto the flash sticks and selling them as licensed games. i should have sued him as he profited 100% on each sale. the games were going for something like 400 each. i got a break for buying 4 for price of 3. easily put $10,000 into that arcade legends over time but thank goodness it is still mint and working like a charm (knock on wood!) plus my 3 and 5 year old girls love it. the 5 year old is a natural at centipede. anyhow, the reason i am posting is because i always felt my original games could not be emulated correctly and was proven correct when i played my games on someones MAME set up. I am happy with a lot of the games on the arcade legends but on some rare occasions it just doesn't work well for a particular game. like mentioned above, the art on the cabinets and the lighting also appeal to me but not enough to buy a centipede for example when the version on arcade legends is good enough.

Exactly.. emulation is more for the folks without room and limited funds. If I was a millionaire and had a 2,000 foot finished basement it would be an arcade paradise, but since I'm not I'm satisfied with a pin or 2 a virtual pin and a Mame cab. No doubt the cool factor for dedicated cabs.

I just sold it to a guy in Redding for $1K. Hatted to see it go,but it was just rotting away in my storage unit. I do still have my Ice Cold Beer in my game room

No, for the most part except for very unique machines like 720, Paperboy, Tron, etc that have unique / complex parts and expensive one-off boards.

I find it interesting that some people call them arcade games. I don't know if this is a regional thing like pop/soda? I call them vids and pins, i think of both as arcade games.

I have dedicated cabs for Joust, Nintendo VS, and NBA Jam TE, all for nostalgic reasons.

That is my set up. Took an $20 (or $50 can't remember) Defender Cab that was converted to a Yie Ar Kung Fu, threw in a PC Mobo and MALA front-end. I have an X-Arcade tank stick in place of the original board, and a flight stick and a game pad in the coin door for other games. Total cost was around $200 for everything, including new 2.1 speaker set up.

There are only a few games I can think of that I cannot play correctly: 720 & Paperboy. I have the flight stick set up to kinda play them, but it obviously sucks.

I'll play classic games on mame or in a 60-in-1 but it 100% is not the same as the real dedicated cab. Some late 80s early 90s games, sure since many were conversion kits anyways, but not classics. If ya want to play a vid OR pin, find the real deal- don't play an emulation/virtual-recreation version of the thing... can it be fun? Sure! Is it the same? NO!

That's the one game I think I'd own. There was one in the local roller rink when I was a kid.

Add me as another 720 fan! That and Toobin would be the 2 arcade games I would like to own.

Again, almost nothing plays correctly/authentically on mame. Those who say otherwise simply do not know anything about the subject. And this is a pin forum, with guys that are likely to have mame cabs and zero dedicated classics.
I understand. .

The Space Invaders is a good doc about people who collect video games:

http://www.thespaceinvaders.org/

Not a chance. That time has already come and gone, and from here on out, the steady decline will only continue.

Whaddaya got?

I'm with you on vids. I'd like to have a MAME cabinet just for the sheer number of games(damn near all of them!). That way, if I absolutely HAVE to play a certain game, I can, just without the investment. But there are a lot of the vintage arcade games that I'd rather own the full dedicated cabs/boards because the emulated gameplay doesn't match up and there's no beating the artwork, style, and experience of those original dedicated games.

My vid collection has been meager over the years, to say the least, but they've all been originals.

I ve dumped almost all of my pins for more vids... I guess Im doing it wrong

For me I love the original artwork/cabs and the gameplay does not compare on most emulated boards.

Im very fortunate to have a few pinsiders near me that are very gracious with sharing their collections, so I tend to stick to the vids.

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With a good mame controller and a proper setup I think there are 1000's of games that play fine in MAME. Carbon copy well it's the same code. I am playing on a true arcade monitor so they look the same and the sound is the same. Unless you are talking about unique games like Tron,720 ect I sort of disagree with you. Well at least for me they are the way I remember and having one machine playing multiple games well is priceless to me. I also have been using Mame and had a dedicated cabinet with a custom controller since the late nineties. Good enough for me and I understand vector games won't look the same,dragons lair does not have the digital points point bored but these changes really do not effect gameplay.

If I were going to ever buy two arcade games, these would be the two. Both are excellent. 720 is amazing, you can have games on it that last forever once you get good at it.