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Arcade in my head


choosy

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Hi all,

 

Just wanted to start a post as it's been a while.

 

I initially started out wanting to purchase a Sega Astro City (I guess I still do!) but obviously quite an expensive endeavour. I'm now looking at potentially picking up a Hori VLX Premium arcade stick and using it on PC & PS4 https://www.hori.co.uk/vlx

 

My favourite is the older model Hori VLX diamond but that is pretty rare

 

What are you guys working on?

 

Hori-Real-Arcade-PRO-Premium-VLX-Diamond-PS3-_1.jpg.bd99b32ca227c8ecc7435bb8a0052733.jpg

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If you get lucky, it doesn't have to be too expensive. I've owned 3 Astros, sold one and now have 2. They are the most common candy cab, so they do come up fairly regularly. A decent Astro can be had for anywhere between 600-800 and if you get lucky, sometimes even cheaper.

 

Don't give up on your dream, candy cab ownership is awesome and well worth the time it takes to track one down.

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Mate, if you really want an Astro and have no desire for anything that needs VGA 31k etc, then the Astro is perfect!

 

Quite easily my favourite candy

 

The best part is they are inexpensive to maintain and keep going - well, electronic-wise that is.

The tubes last *forever (just try get one without screen burn).

Jomac works on the original nanao dual res chassis in them all day everyday and is excellently priced and turnraound is quick. The picture on them is stunning.

 

Sanwa sticks and buttons are easy and cheap enough to change.

 

Even if the PSU went (which my machine has had the same PSU in it for 20 years that I personally know of, could have been there since day it was built), fair few pop up on ebay for a couple hundred generally. I also believe that Highway Entertainment even make an adapter now that allows you to change the PSU over from a non-Sega one as well - though have never looked too much into it as I havent had to yet fortunately.

 

If the control area is hacked or rusted, control panels are generally obtainable either reproduction or 2nd hand, but usually hang around a couple hundred bucks in price, so just take that into account as well. If possible, try find one with a control panel in good shape to save on that aspect.

 

 

If you dont mind fixing up body work for ones with cracks, needing paint etc. then you can really grab some bargains when they come up!

 

The best advice I can give, is pay a little more up front for one which isn't missing actual panels or major parts.

The expense and also difficulty in these cabs is tracking down missing bezels, missing panels/doors , board rail mounts, tube and chassis brackets from an LCD conversion etc. etc.

Thats when they can become expensive, or more so - very difficult to track down.

 

Its better to buy one complete and fix up minor odds and ends, instead of tracking down one with missing parts.

 

I think its better to spend more up front on a better shape and complete cab, so that you only need to worry about future maintenance or failures such as chassis.

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Chassis can be easily repaired by Jomac for less than $100 in most cases. The biggest things to watch out for are the condition of the cabinet body and screen burn. If the cabinet is in good shape with no cracks, everything else can be repaired, unless the tube is physically damaged. The common Astro cracks are found under the CP, where people sit on the CP and crack where the CP joins to the body of the cab. Unscrupulous sellers will often sell cracked cabs and not highlight the cracks in the photos, so inspection is key.
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If you have the room, get an Astro City :)

 

But if your focus is on HD gaming, then an astro city won't be the best, find yourself a Chinese Vewlix. I've seen the Game Wizard Vewlix go for as low as 1000

 

I've got all 4 version of the Hori VLX - I paid a pretty dollar for them all - especially the Vewlix C version (red and black) because I put a Brook UFB, Jasens Customs EZ Board PCB AND a custom 6 panel control panel ie. Astro City button layout in a "vewlix" style fight stick.

 

I would sell EVERY one of them if I could get a figure that wasn't as low as I sold my other two for (200 because I wanted them gone) to get more cabs :D :D :D, but the problem is, I will lose too much on them and they're far better off being stored than selling it for 200 each..

 

Note the VLX Diamond is only PS3 and PC. If you want to use it on a PS4, you will need to either mod it, or use a brook converter.

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All of the above being true and correct, because the Astro City is totally awesome, i use my arcade sticks for heaps of indie games on PC, and newer fighting games etc. I'm not going back to a pad. So the stick Hori would be nice to have as well, IMO.
I'm keen to grab some Saturn astro style and use a Cthulhu board for the same reason for all my consoles it's compatible with. Arcade sticks own dpads once you make the transition.

 

Sent from my HTC 2PZF1 using Aussie Arcade mobile app

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