Old Guy Does Stuff

These comments for these pictures are reasons why I don't want to engage with fandoms especially on certain platforms like Reddit. It also shows why I think it's best to be wise about where one shares certain things.

Someone shared those to the Arcade subreddit on Reddit because they liked them and wondered where they could get some like them

People there responded using strong words to describe things that are just not to their tastes as if they shouldn't exist for anyone.

Some people think some games should never be played on arcade machines because they never played them that way and they should never be played with joysticks because they only used gamepads to play them.

What they don't realize is people like me exist. Back in the day I preferred Joysticks because I preferred arcade gaming and I actually bought and made arcade sticks for my home systems and used them to play everything including platformer games like Donkey Kong Country and got better with them than with gamepads.

They deride CNC cut cabs but I appreciate how cabs can be made that way these days because IMHO it's elevated what can be produced and has made precision cuts that can make it easier and more accessible.

Those things and home arcade cabs have made home arcades more accessible to me in general.

There's also something to be said for having items of that type that one can customize to their liking without having to hack up and destroy originals thus treading on history. This helps so that those things can be reserved for people who care about those kinds of things as their priorities.

But they should also be aware that not everyone shares those priorities and there's nothing wrong with that.

Enthusiasts may also look down upon cheaper cabinets as being inferior and to some degree they may be correct but apart from what I've already said not everyone can afford the most high end of materials nor is the size and weight of them always practical.

That being said while these cabs actually look quite good to me there's certainly things about them that aren't to my tastes that I would want to be done differently.

Like I wouldn't use smaller unmatted widescreen monitors on them especially with the rest not modified to take into account the size difference. Like the bezel areas on these look too tall making the monitors come off as extra small... and I wouldn't stretch the games to fill the screens either but I don't actually judge people for that.

These cabs seem to also all have monaural sound when I know that some of those games definitely have stereo sound so I wouldn't have made the same choices.

These cabs probably would benefit from at least being equipped with 25" 4:3 LCDs to make the best use of the real estate.

On the other hand I might agree that emulation is better for home use than for commercial use but there is practical reasons why it might be used. Nothing lasts forever and emulation is one tool that people use to help preserve games. It's possible to still enjoy games even if the presentation isn't to someone's tastes or sensibilities..

I can appreciate having a preference for original hardware but I think it's going too far being so elitist and judgemental about emulation especially not in the current economy.

Generally speaking however they look like nice Midway style cabinets to me and I can see why the OP would want something like them.

Quake LAN Party , Leeds UK (1999)