GameRoomSolutions - 24″ Viewlix Vertical Bartop Arcade!

RetroRalph·video·10m 18s·analyzed·Jun 16, 2020

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.024

TL;DR

Game Room Solutions vertical tabletop arcade review with Coin Ops focus

Summary

RetroRalph reviews the Game Room Solutions 24-inch Viewlix Vertical Bartop Arcade, a $129 DIY cabinet kit designed for Coin Ops emulation software. The cabinet supports vertical and horizontal arcade games as well as virtual pinball via FX2/FX3. Key to the build is a Space Jam JX encoder board that maps arcade controls to Xbox 360/One controller inputs, eliminating software configuration complexity.

Key Claims

Game Room Solutions 24-inch Viewlix Vertical Bartop retails for $129 before options
high confidence · Stated directly in opening: 'this thing retails for a hundred twenty nine dollars'
AK-1 mini PC successfully runs Coin Ops at 720p including Pinball FX (FX2/FX3) and MAME without problems
high confidence · RetroRalph tested the hardware directly: 'I used this AK-1 mini PC. I thought at first it wouldn't run Coin Ops but in 720p it actually runs it pretty well. Both the Pinball FX - Zen Studios virtual pinball platform stuff, FX2 and FX3, as well as all the MAME stuff without a problem.'
Space Jam JX encoder board maps one-to-one with Xbox 360/Xbox One controller without requiring software solutions like Joy2Key
high confidence · RetroRalph explains: 'it maps one to one with an Xbox 360 or an Xbox One controller. It has all the buttons, it has all the triggers, everything... those buttons will function exactly how they would function on an Xbox controller.'
Monitor bezel did not sit flush with the top of the cabinet
high confidence · RetroRalph reports: 'the only issue I had with the kit was the monitor bezel it didn't quite go flush with the top'
Cabinet design includes side flipper and nudge buttons for pinball play
high confidence · RetroRalph describes: 'On the side you see your flipper and nudge button. So this cabinet was designed with the idea that you could play vertical arcade games, horizontal arcade games with Coin Ops and also pinball.'

Notable Quotes

“I'd rather do a hardware solution that I don't have to mess with because if you write a post and say it doesn't work, I can say, is it wired correctly? And we can both troubleshoot it together super fast.”
RetroRalph@ 1:50 — Explains the philosophy behind preferring the Space Jam JX encoder board over software solutions like Joy2Key for arcade control mapping
“I'm not a huge fan of bar tops, but I am in love with these Coin Ops vertical builds lately and having it in the tabletop format is pretty damn cool.”
RetroRalph@ 7:52 — Core sentiment about the cabinet: vertical form factor overcomes typical bartop skepticism
“And a 24 inch monitor that close to you for vertical games, horizontal games, pinball it's really a lot of fun”
RetroRalph@ 8:02 — Key appeal of the cabinet is the screen size and proximity creating immersion across multiple game types
“The key to this build was really that encoder board. You can't really mess it up, it's all labeled.”
RetroRalph@ 8:53 — Identifies the Space Jam JX encoder board as the critical enabler for easy plug-and-play Coin Ops functionality

Entities

RetroRalphpersonGame Room SolutionscompanyCoin OpsproductSpace Jam JXproductPinball FXproductMAMEproductAK-1 mini PCproductBeelink PCproductSanwacompanyVertigo CabinetproductMetal Sluggame

Signals

$
market_signal: Budget-friendly arcade cabinet option ($129 base) with 24-inch vertical display attracting enthusiasts interested in Coin Ops vertical builds and virtual pinball, indicating growing market segment for compact, multipurpose arcade systems
medium · RetroRalph's enthusiasm for vertical Coin Ops builds is evident throughout: 'what got me so excited about this is it's a vertical tabletop and Coin Ops has just been doing an awesome job providing all these really great vertical builds'
?
product_strategy: Game Room Solutions vertical bartop cabinet incorporates side flipper and nudge buttons specifically designed for pinball gameplay alongside arcade emulation, demonstrating manufacturer attention to Coin Ops vertical build support
high · RetroRalph notes: 'this cabinet was designed with the idea that you could play vertical arcade games, horizontal arcade games with Coin Ops and also pinball'
?
technology_signal: Hardware-based encoder solution (Space Jam JX) replacing software control mapping solutions (Joy2Key) for arcade emulation builds, eliminating troubleshooting complexity and improving user experience
high · RetroRalph emphasizes: 'The key to this build was really that encoder board... it's all labeled' and contrasts with 'software solutions like Joy2Key', positioning hardware as superior for ease of use

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.031

0:00

all right guys let's get right to it so what are we looking at today we're looking at the game room solutions 24 inch view licks tabletop this thing retails for a hundred twenty nine dollars now that's before you add options to it it will add up a little bit but it's still a pretty affordable tabletop now what got me so excited about this is it's a vertical tabletop and coin Ops has just been doing an awesome job providing all these really great vertical builds. So what a killer cabinet to do that in. Now I wanted to try to keep it on a budget so I used this AK-1 mini PC. I thought at first it wouldn't run Coin Ops but in 720p it actually runs it pretty well. Both the pinball effects stuff, FX2 and FX3, as well as all the MAME stuff without a problem. So that's really cool. Now I did look at this Beelink PC. This had an i3 Intel processor. I didn't have to use this, so maybe we'll save that for a project later on. I used Sanwa joysticks in this thing. I used Sanwa buttons, but the thing that's key to getting coin ops to work easily in here without using a software solution like Joy2Key is this encoder board. It's by SJ at JX. The reason why this is so cool is it maps one to one with an Xbox 360 or an Xbox One controller. It has all the buttons, it has all the triggers, everything. So the cool thing is, is as long as this is wired correctly and it's all labeled, those buttons will function exactly how they would function on an Xbox controller. That is so important because it allows you to get the coin ops experience out of the box. No more software nonsense. Do this. I'm sorry. Some people might to call this a leading edge solution or whatever, but to me, I'd rather do a hardware solution that I don't have a mess with because if you write a post and say it doesn't work, I can say, is it wired correctly? And we can both troubleshoot it together super fast. So thumbs up to sj at jx. This thing rocks. I will have a link in the description to this thing. And also special thanks to Mike, who's a viewer of the channel. He's the one that tipped me off on this. This thing makes coin ops easy without any software nonsense. It's good to go. All right, so let's take a look at the cabinet. So if you flip this around, you'll see it's got a Vuelix type body style. That's why they call it a Vuelix cabinet. The artwork they did at Game Room Solutions was really great. It came out awesome and I love Metal Slug Who doesn love Metal Slug On the side you see you got your flipper and nudge button So this cabinet was designed with the idea that you could play vertical arcade games horizontal arcade games with coin ops and also pinball So again makes it awesome for a coin ops build. The top's got your button configuration. This does open up which is really cool. So if you need to actually do any work on it that's really convenient. I love that. We'll flip around the side in a minute. It's got all of this nice chrome T-molding. Now, if you don't order it this way, it will be pre-slotted for T-molding should you want to order your own, but they allow you to order it through the website as well. It's got this little cool option to be able to plug in a controller. And with CoinOps, that's pretty awesome to be able to have a second player on an Xbox wired controller. And you've got your start and coin button. So it's really configured for one player, but if you want to hook up a controller, you totally can. All right, let's swing around back and check that out. All right, as you go around back, you see the two stereo speakers and a power switch. Now, I wired all that up myself. This is a DIY kit. You can pull down the back. It's on hinges, and you can have access to the amplifier for volume, you know, treble, bass, and then you have your two speakers, and then you see the wiring there. Now, I did not clean the wiring up, so of course, it's a super rat's nest, but there you'll see the PC on the left, the power brick on the right, and the encoder board. The top part comes down as well so you can have access to any of the TV settings, you know, power, volume, menu systems, all that kind of thing, and then access to where you have the HDMI in. And that's pretty much it. We can close the back up and check out some gameplay. Okay, so while I'm not going to go through coin ops in general, I am going to show you some unique features of the fact that we're using that encoder board that's compatible with an Xbox 360 and Xbox One controller. So if you've ever used coin ops before, you know if you hit X, it toggles between pinball and arcade games in the pinball versus arcade build. So that's really cool. So because of that, I can just use my X button and toggle between those two things. Now it can play arcade games vertically as well as horizontal. So you'll find there's a mix of different things in here and different game types, but you can watch some of my other videos to see that kind of thing. But I figured you guys might want to see pinball since it's kind of unique, but keep in mind this build does allow you to play horizontal and vertical games. For instance, Let's go to one really quick. Okay, the Simpsons is a horizontal side scrolling beat-em-up. Now you'll notice it puts the marquee at the top, which is really cool, so you don have to have a lit marquee because it gonna change with every game and then you get your horizontal play field If I were to press the coin button and then start I can play the game with whoever character I want

6:17

So this makes for an interesting virtual pinball experience. Now there's many different coin ops builds, so depending on what exactly you're looking for, you can kind of pick a build that works for you. All right, so I'm having way more fun than I thought I would with this thing. So because of the fact that it has a 24-inch monitor and it's this close to you, it just gives you a really immersive virtual pinball experience. But it's great for horizontal games too. So that's what's awesome about these CoinOps builds. There's pinball versus arcade. There's pinball versus arcade versus consoles. There's a bunch of them. And I'll have instructions on how to join the CoinOps Discord and get access to backups where you download the actual builds. But I'm just having so much fun with this. I don't really have any complaints, to be honest. I'm loving it way more than I thought I would. and for a 24 inch tabletop it's really versatile just because of the screen size it just makes it way different than some of these smaller tabletops and I'm pretty stoked okay I hope this part isn't confusing so I have to mention that I used the left trigger right trigger L2 and R2 and map those to the side buttons because those buttons will as well do flipper and nudge but I wanted them to be on the side of the cabinet so because this was an eight button configuration this is the solution I came up with and I'll have a link to the t-tap connectors if you wanted to do it the way I did but there you can see the buttons on the side are mapped to those as well. Okay the only issue I had with the kit was the monitor bezel it didn quite go flush with the top I guess I could come up with some other way to secure it a little bit better but you know just something worth mentioning but it didn bother me that much All right guys it final thoughts time So what do I think about this 24 inch Vuelix bar top by Game Room Solutions First of all the fact that it vertical got my attention. I'm not a huge fan of bar tops, but I am in love with these coin up vertical builds lately and having it in the tabletop format is pretty damn cool. And a 24 inch monitor that close to you for vertical games horizontal games pinball it's really a lot of fun so what things didn't I like about it well the bezel I brought up how it had the little gap at the top not a huge deal but it is you know something to bring up the other thing was I don't really love that the speakers are firing in the back but there's really no other place he could have put them so maybe he could have put a single speaker in the front but I mean the design in general he's packing a lot of stuff into a small space so I can't really fault him for that So overall I give it a really good, it's definitely something you should consider if you're thinking about a bar top and it's for sure unique. And the fact that it has that Vuelix type design is pretty awesome. Now I went with a small form factor PC, I did that on purpose because there's not a lot of room in there. And it seems to be running FX2 and the MAME stuff really well. So it's a budget-ish type machine and it fits in there. The key to this build was really that encoder board. You can't really mess it up, it's all labeled. and then the printout he gave me for the Metal Slug graphics, it actually had all of the mappings to an Xbox controller. So all I had to do was make sure it was connected to the right wire in the encoder board. It was fairly simple. So I think overall it's an easy solution. I can't put that away. Anyway, so I really liked it. It's great. I think it's definitely something you should consider if you are looking at a bar top, you don't have the space, and you just kind of want a cabinet that can do as many things as possible and not take up a bunch of room. I think it's cool. So let me know what you guys think. Please put your comments below. I want to hear from you. Also, if you enjoyed the video, consider giving it a thumbs up and also consider subscribing to the channel if you enjoy the content. I would appreciate it if you turn on notifications and then that way you won't miss any other videos. And that's it for now, guys. We will see you on the next one.