Arcade1ups are Great but Flawed
Arcade1up machines have been one of the biggest blasts in the gaming community over the last year, and they are great products, but there are some things you might want to know before you purchase one yourself.
Defects Galore
When asking representatives from Arcade1up, they did not provide me details for the amount of defects that their first run of Arcade1ups came with, but with some research and estimations, I assume around 5% of their 1st run had some level of defect (and that estimation is on the low end). When I mention defects, I am talking about mostly monitor or board related ones. There are a lot of defects with scratches and dents that I do not count because Arcade1up have done a pretty good job in sending out replacements for those. I do think their next production line will have better quality control, but to me, that high of a percentage of defective machines are inexcusable for a product with a $300 price tag.
If you are lucky enough to get a fully working and proper Arcade1up product, they are extremely nice and the Arcade1up community has been fantastic, especially with mods of these machines, I think they are worth it. The second wave of these machines are going to be released soon as well, so I will let you if the quality will be better.
Edit: Some more details and explanation of the defects from Arcade1ups
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This is one of the most unprofessional evaluations of a consumer product I have seen. The headline says “Defects Galore” but galore is never specifically defined nor is specific manufacturing data, return rates, or the like discussed to justify the figure of 5%. This seems completely capricious and subjective.
From a verbal standpoint you cannot render a critique regarding DEFECTS (plural) and address at length only a single issue (a single dead pixel on a single machine). Having worked for 15 years of in electronics retail I have seen plenty of dead pixel issues and I don’t know of ANY company (Sony, Toshiba, HP etc.) that processes a return/exchange on a visual device over a single pixel.
This evaluation is 100% subjective and lacks any corroborating data. To label a company as having a 5% rate based only on your own experience without any specifics to cite is irresponsible and probably slanderous from a legal sense. Further while there was a brief mention (only one sentence) regarding scratched art, but again no data was provided or objective measure.
You cannot say “you don’t fault” something and then find fault with it for 8 minutes. Get some data, make a case, but if it’s just your opinion simply call it that. The video was a “talking circle” and a waste of time.
Brett,
I made a specific response in video for you but I will explain it as well below (video link: https://youtu.be/w9y0Y7sGPn8)
There is no subjectiveness in this article. I want Arcade1up to succeed. As far as data to back up my claims, here you go…
-Galaxian rom freezes in first batch of shipment
-Changes in their return policy of monitors (reportedly due to lack of supply, which they would have gotten an estimated 10% more than they ordered in initial run)
-The large amount of returns (people aren’t returning perfect condition Arcade1ups- https://www.directliquidation.com/auctions/?s=arcade1up&idx=dl_prod_posts_product&page=1&dFR%5Bis_private%5D%5B0%5D=0&is_v=1)
-The fact that Costco stopped selling them due to the quality of the first wave and the returns (https://www.reddit.com/r/Arcade1Up/comments/a1unue/so_costco_is_no_longer_going_to_be_carrying_the/)
-Gauntlet freezes at level 32 (something they can repair)
-Street Fighter 2 CE Cabinet – Some EMULATOR BOARDS STARTING TO MALFUNCTION OVER TIME
And that’s not including damaged panels, bezels, control decks, buttons and etc. It’s a simple google to see that these machines have not had the best first impressions.
Also, saying you worked in electronics for 15 years, you should know that if someone got a dead pixel right away on their product, it would be returned to the store. No one is paying hundreds or thousands of dollar for any dead pixels. The point is that these are $300 products that shouldn’t have these defects, they did, and hopefully they fix it in the future.