Anyone have any in-depth information on this? Interested in learning more about the build quality. For the price, I hope it isn't a bunch of particle board. Then again, it is Micomsoft... http://micomsoft.co.jp/xac-1.htm http://www.tikisaurus.com/blog/japan/micomsofts-xac-1-arcade-desk-priced-japan.html
You do know ow that Maicomsoft did make some of the best X68000 game ports as well as many games for other systems? Their software label was Dempa. So taking that in to account and that they built some pretty good sticks back in the day, the build of this desk should be pretty solid. It is a company that understand games afterall
Sure do, hence my comment "Then again, it's Micomsoft". :biggrin-new: My main concern is that for the price (50,000JPY) and what it would cost to ship one overseas, I would hate to discover the bulk of it consists of particleboard. The fact that it uses Sega Astro-style panels and has a rotate mechanism is quite attractive, but for that amount of money, I expect the build quality to be top-notch, and not MDF or cheap fibreboard. I still haven't been able to locate any information on the build quality/components, but it does seem to be selling quite well judging from the fact that they sold the entire first production run and are apparently nearly sold out of the second run.
And more important, it is a company that understand the gamer needs to the utmost! These days, almost no company does this anymore.
I'm confused by the fact that some of the pictures show the desk with an Astro City-style arcade stick, and some show just a flat desk. Do they offer the stick separately, or are you expected to hack together one for yourself? EDIT: Looking at this page, I see there's a mention of an "option panel" next to the image of the arcade stick. So I'm guessing that means you can buy the unit with or without the arcade stick. So yeah, ignore the first half of this post. Or don't, whatever.
I would love one of these but the truth is you could probably buy a real Astro city cab for less. Hmm, what to do.
And an integrated arcade stick. That part is optional, though. But yeah, I would much rather have a real Astro City than this. It looks cool for what it is, but 50,000 yen is asking kind of a lot.
It does. Also, regarding the purpose/use of this: yes, you could buy a candy cab with a CRT for the same price or less, but CRTs use much more power and are more prone to failure due to their age. You also don't have to deal with JAMMA wiring, I/O converters, PSU issues, calibrating the CRT, etc. In addition, depending on the cabinet, rotating the screen may not be possible or difficult to do on a regular basis. The XAC-1 has a rotate mechanism, you get to pick the monitor, has the height/dimensions of a typical Japanese arcade cabinet, all without the hassle of owning an actual cabinet. It's also the best option without question for people who want to replicate the modern arcade experience without having to purchase an expensive Vewlix-type cabinet (~$3000USD if you're not considering a Chinese clone cabinet) or worry about laggy monitors. For people who just want to buy an easily-replaceable and affordable LCD monitor and a Frame Meister if they intend to use retro hardware, this is really the best way to go. This is coming from someone who has owned many different Arcade cabinets in the past, and still owns a couple of them currently. I also like the marquee holder at the top. It's quite a nice touch for arcade enthusiasts. It's not for everyone, that much is obvious. But for some of us, it's potentially a worthwhile purchase. My only question at this point is whether or not it is particleboard. :sorrow:
