This Arcade Game SUCKS!

RetroRalph·video·5m 44s·analyzed·Jun 2, 2023

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.020

TL;DR

RetroRalph pans Chicago Gaming's Ultimate Arcade 2 Plus for underpowered emulation despite quality hardware.

Summary

RetroRalph reviews the Chicago Gaming Company Ultimate Arcade 2 Plus multicade cabinet from his collection, criticizing its underpowered single-board computer processor that causes emulation issues and screen tearing despite having good controls, a nice CRT monitor, and licensed games from Atari, Capcom, Midway, and other publishers. While acknowledging the cabinet's quality construction and parts, he considers it his least favorite arcade machine due to poor value proposition at its original $3,500-$5,000 retail price.

Key Claims

The Ultimate Arcade 2 Plus retailed for $3,500 to $5,000 when it came out
medium confidence · Jon states price range from memory; marked as estimate ('I want to say they were like...')
The cabinet uses a very underpowered single-board computer that causes screen tearing in games
high confidence · Jon directly observed and demonstrated the internal hardware, explicitly identified the processor as underpowered and linked it to emulation issues
Chicago Gaming Company has since moved to PC-based emulation in newer multicade units with better emulation quality
medium confidence · Jon states this as update information but does not provide specific source or timeline; presented as current knowledge
The cabinet uses Cherry Micro switches and HAP buttons/trackball, which are commercial-grade quality parts
high confidence · Jon visually identified and named the specific components inside the cabinet
The cabinet has difficulty running games with unique control schemes like Joust due to the control configuration
high confidence · Jon states this as a design limitation he observed in gameplay

Notable Quotes

“I'm shocked that they would allow it or approve it when some of the emulation isn't great.”
Jon (RetroRalph)@ 2:03 — Expresses surprise that major publishers (Atari, Capcom, Midway, Incredible Technologies) approved licensing for a cabinet with substandard emulation
“You could run a Pandora's box and it would work better than this.”
Jon (RetroRalph)@ 2:30 — Direct comparison to alternative multicade solution, suggesting Pandora's Box would be superior for emulation quality
“for paying that amount of money, you obviously have a bunch of licensed games... but the emulation of them are not great”
Jon (RetroRalph)@ 1:04 — Core criticism: high price point not justified by poor emulation despite having licensed content
“I'm really trying to focus on not just buying everything because it's cool and it's a good deal, but I'm trying to buy the games I really love.”
Jon (RetroRalph)@ 4:34 — Reveals his collection curation philosophy, explaining why despite the machine's objective quality, he doesn't value it
“It seems like people have a hard time getting rid of them believe it or not even though they retailed for a lot of money”
Jon (RetroRalph)@ 4:11 — Market observation about secondary market difficulty despite high original retail price

Entities

Chicago Gaming CompanycompanyUltimate Arcade 2 PlusproductRetroRalphpersonAtaricompanyCapcomcompanyMidwaycompanyIncredible TechnologiescompanyTaitocompanyPandora's Boxproduct

Signals

?
business_signal: Chicago Gaming Company has evolved their multicade approach from single-board computer to PC-based emulation in current generation of products
medium · Jon states 'Chicago Gaming Company still does make these. I think they've moved to a PC. The emulation is much better.' but notes this is an update to the product line
?
design_philosophy: Cabinet's control configuration makes certain games with unique control schemes (e.g., Joust) difficult to play effectively
medium · Jon states 'some of the games actually have unique controls like joust and it becomes really hard to play joust in this type of a configuration'
?
licensing_signal: Chicago Gaming Company licensed games from major publishers (Atari, Capcom, Midway, Incredible Technologies, Taito) for the Ultimate Arcade 2 Plus multicade
high · Jon enumerated the licensed game libraries from each publisher available on the cabinet
$
market_signal: Secondary market for Ultimate Arcade 2 Plus multicades is difficult despite high original retail prices; machines are hard to resell
medium · Jon observes 'I don't really even know how much money you can get for these things these days. It seems like people have a hard time getting rid of them believe it or not even though they retailed for a lot of money'
?
product_concern: Ultimate Arcade 2 Plus experiences screen tearing and emulation issues due to underpowered processor despite high retail price ($3,500-$5,000)
high · Jon directly observed screen tearing, inspected the internal processor, and confirmed it as 'very, very underpowered' responsible for the emulation problems

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.017

0:00

Hey guys, welcome back to the channel. So in today's video, we're going to cover my least favorite arcade game in my collection. Now, I collect dedicated arcade games mostly, but I got this Multicade as part of a trade. It was a bunch of other things, but this came as part of it. It's the Chicago Gaming Company, it's the Ultimate Arcade 2 Plus. I guess this one was kind of rare, they didn't make many of the 2 Pluses. My problem with it really is that I'm not the biggest fan of these Multicade devices. it does have some positives though it has a really really nice crt the crt looks amazing it's bright and tight and looks great the game selection is actually good the problem is a lot of the emulation isn't good it uses a super underpowered little single board computer that i'll show you in a second the joysticks are actually decent it uses cherry micro switches they have hap buttons with cherry micro switches so it's not like they skimped on the parts it doesn't have a coin door because this isn't meant to be put in a facility in like an arcade or a bar or anything. It's just strictly made for home use. These things were also super expensive. I want to say they were like $3,500 to $5,000 when they came out. But I just feel like for paying that amount of money, you obviously have a bunch of licensed games because they worked with Atari and Capcom. You can see they have Atari, Capcom, Incredible Technologies, Midway, Taito. So they have a bunch of different companies they worked with So all the games are licensed and that cool but the emulation of them are not great And then some of the games actually have unique controls like joust and it becomes really hard to play joust in this type of a configuration So while I think this might be okay for the super casual, I'm just not a big fan. So I'm going to open this up so you can see what runs this thing. Okay, so to get inside it, you just kind of like lift this up and then you just push this up. It's a shelf and that's the single board computer that runs this. It's very, very underpowered. So that's the thing. I think with some of the games, you get screen tearing and stuff like that, and it's just because it's an underpowered processor, which kind of shocks me because of the fact that they worked with all these manufacturers like Atari and Capcom and Incredible and Midway. I'm shocked that they would allow it or approve it when some of the emulation isn't great. But like I said, in the control panel, they use good parts. You can see these are Cherry Micro switches. These are HAP buttons. So they use good parts. I think it even has a HAP trackball. Let's see.

2:20

Yeah, it does. It has a Hap Trackball too, so they didn't skimp on parts. Like, it's really a commercial-grade device. The real, I'd say the real Achilles heel to this thing is definitely the single board computer. You could run a Pandora's box and it would work better than this. So, it's just kind of one of those things, you know, I think for a casual it might be totally fine, but for me, I just feel like if I'm going to pay this amount of money, even though I got it in a trade and I did not pay retail for it it just doesn seem worth it to me Like I was saying And on the positive front look at all the games it has So on the Atari collection it got Asteroids Warlords Tempest Super Breakout Space Duel Red Baron Missile Command Millipede Lunar Lander Liberator Gravatar Crystal Castle great games And if you go to Capcom, 1942, 1943, it's got Captain Commando, Commando, Final Fight, Ghosts and Ghouls, Ghouls and Ghosts. There's great games on this. Incredible technologies. you got the older golden tees from midway you have all of the you know joust and robotron and defender robotron actually surprisingly plays pretty well on this you'd be surprised um it does use both the sticks most of the mappings of the game itself do run pretty well so like it has its positives but you know i'm this is the games that i feel in my collection that are the worst there's just too many flaws with this thing and especially for the price they expected people to pay for this back in the day, it definitely wasn't worth it in my opinion. Now I'm going to put a huge asterisk on this. So Chicago Gaming Company still does make these. I think they've moved to a PC. The emulation is much better. They still use all the same parts. So I know the modern ones, it's not a good reflection of the modern ones. But for this time period, if you bought something like this, I just feel like they could have done better. And if I'm looking at the games in my collection, it stands out to me as one that I'd probably get rid of at some point down the road if someone was interested in it. I don't really even know how much money you can get for these things these days It seems like people have a hard time getting rid of them believe it or not even though they retailed for a lot of money This one actually almost isn even used The tape that protects the chrome T is still on it So this one, honestly, it almost looks brand new. Some of you guys are probably thinking, well, that Chicago Gaming Company game isn't that bad. But the thing is, I've really slimmed down my collection. I'm really trying to focus on not just buying everything because it's cool and it's a good deal, but I'm trying to buy games I really love. So that's why I would categorize it that way. I wouldn't shy away from buying it, although if you can deal with some of the emulation issues, it's just surprising that for the cost of that at that time, that it would have had screen tearing and other emulation issues. The positive is the monitor is beautiful, the controls are good, and the construction of the cabinet is awesome. They did a really good job. But like I said, out of my collection, it's probably the one that stands out to me as one that I could probably sell, and I wouldn't really care, and I wouldn't miss it very much. So hopefully you guys enjoyed this video. So let me know if you have an arcade collection, what would you consider your least favorite game in your collection, because I know we all have them. And put your comments below, I want to hear from you. And that's it for now, we will see you on the next one.