Ultimate Arcade1up Countercade RetroPi MOD!

RetroRalph·video·5m 20s·analyzed·Dec 6, 2019

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.020

TL;DR

RetroRalph modifies $99 Arcade1Up Countercade with RetroPi, custom controls, and vertical arcade games.

Summary

RetroRalph demonstrates a comprehensive RetroPi modification of a $99 Arcade1Up Countercade, covering hardware components (LCD controller board, USB encoder, audio amplifier), control panel setup from Tulsa Arcades with Sanwa joystick, and power distribution. The mod transforms the stock vertical cabinet into a functional arcade emulation machine running the ArcadePunks Mr. Burns vertical arcade game image on a Raspberry Pi 3B.

Key Claims

Walmart is selling Arcade1Up Countercades for $99, down from standard pricing
high confidence · Opening statement: '99 bucks for a countercade? Walmart is slashing prices.'
The ArcadePunks Mr. Burns RetroPie image is specifically optimized for vertical arcade games and works well with the vertical countercade monitor
high confidence · Direct endorsement: 'This thing is a vertical image filled with awesome vertical arcade games. So why vertical? It's because the countercade monitor is vertical, it's not a horizontal monitor.'
Raspberry Pi 3B was chosen specifically to run the ArcadePunks 8GB Mr. Burns image
high confidence · Explicit statement: 'I decided to use a Pi 3B. I decided not to put it in a case. I just mounted it straight to the board... Because I wanted to use the ArcadePunks 8GB RetroPie image called Mr. Burns.'
The Sanwa JLF joystick includes a square restrictor gate for 8-way movement that can be adjusted to 4-way for games like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong
high confidence · Technical details: 'Please note that there is a square restrictor gate on that Sanwa JLF, so it's eight ways. If you want, you can easily adjust that.'
The control panel from Tulsa Arcades is available in multiple configurations, including a five-button configuration with three action buttons, coin, and start
high confidence · Product description: 'This control panel was provided by Tulsa Arcades. It's orderable in a couple different configurations. This is the five configuration so three action buttons, a coin and a start.'

Notable Quotes

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop the clock! 99 bucks for a countercade? Walmart is slashing prices.”
RetroRalph@ 0:00 — Opening hook establishing the value proposition that motivates the modification
“So why vertical? It's because the countercade monitor is vertical, it's not a horizontal monitor. So you're not going to want to put a horizontal image on this thing.”
RetroRalph@ 1:33 — Key technical explanation for component selection (Pi 3B + Mr. Burns image)
“I think at 99 bucks, it's actually pretty cool as just a standalone item. This was kind of cool. I can see myself maybe using it. It's a lot more usable now with 800 games with the Mr. Burns image than it was in its stock form.”
RetroRalph@ 4:30 — Final assessment demonstrating value improvement through modification

Entities

RetroRalphpersonArcade1UpcompanyArcadePunksorganizationTulsa ArcadescompanyDIY Retro ArcadescompanyArcade1Up CountercadeproductRaspberry Pi 3BproductArcadePunks Mr. BurnsproductSanwa JLFproduct

Signals

?
announcement: Walmart is offering significant price reduction on Arcade1Up Countercade to $99, creating market opportunity for DIY modification projects
high · Opening statement emphasizing price drop as motivation for the tutorial
?
product_strategy: Post-purchase modification significantly improves Countercade usability by adding 800+ vertical arcade games and custom controls
high · Comparison statement: 'It's a lot more usable now with 800 games with the Mr. Burns image than it was in its stock form.'

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.016

0:00

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop the clock! 99 bucks for a countercade? Walmart is slashing prices. I guess you know what this means. It's time. Time to put a pie in it. Let's do it!

0:30

okay let's dive right in the first thing you're gonna need is an lcd controller board this is by someone called very very sneaky i'll have links in the description but you can find this on ebay So this is going to make your life a lot easier. I didn't use this for the video. The next thing you're going to need to do is make sure that you have the jumper on G. If you don't, this LCD control board won't work and the resolution will not be correct for the eight inch screen that's included on the counter cape. Okay in this mod I used a Pi 3B I decided not to put it in a case I just mounted it straight to the board There a reason for the 3B I going to get to that right now So why the 3B because I wanted to use the ArcadePunks 8GB RetroPie image called Mr Burns This thing is a vertical image filled with awesome vertical arcade games. So why vertical? It's because the countercade monitor is vertical, it's not a horizontal monitor. So you're not going to want to put a horizontal image on this thing. So this happens to be a really awesome prepackaged image with just about every awesome vertical arcade game. So this is what I went with, and you can go get that at ArcadePunks. You're also going to need a USB encoder. This is going to be the interface between your Pi and your sticks and buttons. It connects via USB directly to your Pi, and then right above that, you'll see there's a small USB receiver that's actually there for a wireless keyboard during the initial Pi setup. All right, what about audio? So this is a small audio amplifier that's required. You can bridge this to be mono since there's only a single speaker, and we are reusing the stock speaker. I'm going to have a link in the description of the video for this particular amplifier, although it's unavailable, so I'm going to provide an alternative as well. And we'll take a look under the hood so you can see the stock speaker. All right, now let's take a look underneath the control panel. So this control panel was provided by Tulsa Arcades. It orderable in a couple different configurations This is the five configuration so three action buttons a coin and a start and the plexiglass and t is also an option and I have all that information in the description of the video So let's take a look underneath. Underneath the control panel, you're going to find the buttons and the joystick. The joystick I used was a Sanwa JLF, and I'll have links in the description to that. And this will just plug right into your encoder board, and then I have some basic arcade buttons. All of this I got on DIY Retro Arcades, and I will have actual links in the description to all of this stuff. Please note that there is a square restrictor gate on that Sanwa JLF, so it's eight ways. If you want, you can easily adjust that. So for games like Pac-Man or Donkey Kong, if you want it to be just a four-way controller. And all the buttons are just standard plug-and-play with that encoder board.

3:22

Rounding this mod off is the speaker. So we're using the stock speaker. It doesn't sound so bad. You can splice this and connect it directly into your amplifier. So we are being a little resourceful by using some of the original parts. Okay, now we got to talk about power. This is the final step So we're gonna need to power the PI the amplifier and the LCD controller board as well as the marquee The only way we can accomplish that is if we actually split the signal into three So one's gonna go to the amp one's gonna go to the LCD controller board And then the other one is gonna go to the optional lit marquee should you choose to do that All right now to power all this on with one switch You could simply put it all run it out the back and put it into a power strip but I decided to make it a little bit cleaner so I actually mounted a power supply to an arcade switch and then you simply put the panel back on, and you've got a single switch at the bottom. This is actually a panel I messed up and used in the past, so you've probably seen this. I'm not going to cover how to do this on the video today, but it's a pretty simple and straightforward process. All right, it is final thoughts time. So what do I think about this? I think at 99 bucks, it's actually pretty cool as just a standalone item. Now, whether you choose to mod it or not is up to you. This was kind of cool. I can see myself maybe using it. It's a lot more usable now with 800 games with the Mr. Burns image than it was in its stock form. But if you love Dig Dug or you love one of these other titles, for 99 bucks, you kind of can't beat that. So that's it for this episode, guys. If you enjoyed it, please throw us a like. Please consider subscribing to the channel and put your comments below. I want to hear from you. Is this something you're going to buy? or not. All right, guys. Thanks, and we'll see you on the next one.