SMASH IT UP! Video Contest

Contest Extended Until May 31st

Arcade-in-a-Box Smash It Up Contest!

Arcade-in-a-Box will be holding a contest and will be giving away a complete Arcade-in-a-Box solo console arcade controller to the winner. More prizes will be added as the contest progresses. New sponsors and prizes will be added to this post including other prizes for Arcade-in-a-Box, Gameroom magazine and more.

For the contest we are asking contestants to enter videos showing them destroying gamepads in the most creative ways possible. We just ask that you be safe, be smart, and don’t injure yourself in the process.

The contest will last until the end of May, at which time our panel of judges will pick the top 10 videos. Once those videos are selected, there will be a website created where users can vote on their favorite video by DIGGing them. The winners will be determined by the amount of DIGGs each video gets.

We have a youtube group created for you to upload your videos.
http://www.youtube.com/groups_layout?name=smashitup

We just have a few simple rules.
No nudity
No drug use
Nothing illegal
Must be a United States Resident

That’s it, now get out there and Smash up those wussy gamepads ;).

Prizes: (More prizes are coming - Updated March 18th)
1st Place -

• Arcade-In-A-Box Solo Arcade controller built to order.  You choose the system, button type, layout, Joystick type and artwork.
  
• 1 Year Subscription to ConsoleClassix
• 1 Year Subscription to GameRoom Magazine
• Construction Plans for the Ultimate Arcade I or II Cabinet from Mameroom

2nd Place -

• $75 gift certificate towards the purchase of an Aracde-In-A-Box Solo Arcade Controller
  
• 1 Year Subscription to ConsoleClassix
• 1 Year Subscription to GameRoom Magazine

3rd Place -

• $25 gift certificate towards the purchase of an Aracde-In-A-Box Solo Arcade Controller
  
• 1 Year Subscription to ConsoleClassix
• 1 Year Subscription to GameRoom Magazine

4th-10th Place -

• 6 month subscription to ConsoleClassix
  

A New Direction

I have decided that it's time for a change.  Arcade-in-a-Box is moving in a new direction and I will be concentrating creating the best console arcade controllers I can.  This decision has been a very hard one considering the Arcade-in-a-Box Home Arcade Console was the staple of this company, it was the product that started this company and has kept it alive for the past 8 years.  However, due to very low sales over past year, it is apparent there is a shift in the market for the home arcade enthusiast.  

When we launched the press release just 5 months ago about the release of the Xbox 360 solo arcade controller, I was not prepared for what was about to happen.  The amount of sales I got in that short time was overwhelming.  Since then I have realized the absolutely amazing community of gamers out there that desire a good arcade stick for their home consoles.  Whether they are competitive tournament players or casual players.  The embrace I got from that community just blew me away.  Then came the very favorable reviews from sources like Official Xbox Magazine and IGN to name a few.  This community of enthusiasts is one of the main reasons I am making this change.  Without them stepping up and purchasing a product from a virtual unknown company in console arcade controllers was amazing.  I realized then that this was a special community that I had to be a part of.

I continue to search for feedback and new ideas from this community, and I won't stop.  On top of that, this amazing community has also contributed artwork for use on my arcade controllers, and new artworks is pouring in all the time.  I don't know what to say besides thank you.

So what will the changes be?

• The Arcade-In-A-Box and Jamma-In-A-Box systems will no longer be sold.  Of course I will fulfill any current orders and will continue to support my customers that have purchased those items in the past.
  
• The Arcade-In-A-Box building plans will be made available for free in a downloadable PDF file.
• Dreamcast, Playstation 2, Playstation, Playstation 3, and GC/Wii controllers will all be made available very soon.  These will compliment our 360 controller.
• Two solo stick designs.  One for those that like to play with the stick sitting on a table or chair (the current design) and one that will be designed for lap players.
• Box colors will be offered in more than black.  Blue, Green, Red, White are a just a few examples of what is to come.
• We will continue to accept new artwork to our collection to make sure we always have something for everyone.
• A new design will be coming as well.  The old style will still be available as many people seem to like it, but the new design will be moving the joystick and button up on the stick to allow more wrist room.  It will also move the non Play buttons to the side of the controller.
• We will also offer a service upgrading your old arcade controllers (X-Arcade, SFII Anniversary Stick) for use with the 360

I think that's all for now.  Thank you for your continued support for Arcade-In-A-Box and I look forward to building more arcade sticks.  A lot of changes are taking place, so please be patient while arcadeinabox.com is updated.

Ed Farias
Owner
Arcade-In-A-Box: Hold Your Own!

First 360 Arcade Stick Review

CyberAthlete over at gamertagradio.com has posted the first review of our Xbox 360 Arcade Stick. You can read it here.

http://www.gamertagradio.com/vbportal/forums/showthread.php?t=5824

A few interviews

I've done a few interviews over the last week in regards to the Xbox 360 controllers.

The first was an email interview with John Yan from GamingNexus.com
You can see the interview here:

The second interview was a phone interview with the guys at GamerTagRadio.com
That interview can be heard here: Episode 120

The third was another email interview, this time with Dan Keener from XboxAmerica.com
It can be seen here:

I want to all the websites for giving me the opportunity to answer questions.

Ed

XBOX 360 Controllers

XBOX 360 Controllers are here

We are glad to finally announce our line of XBOX 360 arcade controllers. We currently have 2 models, the picture above shows the Dual controller with no overlay options. The image below shows the Solo controller with a custom overlay. For more information, please visit our online store at http://www.arcadeinabox.com/

Jamma-In-A-Box Deluxe (On Hold)

This is the ultimate arcade supergun. Not only will this system play your standard Jamma PCBs, but it will also play most version of Golden Tee, including Golden Tee Fore. Visit our online store for more information.

EDIT: Due to some issues getting Golden Tee to sync right with older Televisions using S-video and Composite video, we are putting the sales of this item on hold until we can rememdy the issue.

Jamma-In-A-Box Deluxe

Arcade-In-A-Box At CGE 2007

July 28th & 29th 2007

We will be attending the Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas at the Riviera Hotel and Casino. We plan to have both a Jamma-In-A-Box and Arcade-In-A-Box setup and running for all to enjoy. The Arcade-In-A-Box will be setup on a 70" screen. Come by our booth and have some fun.

Here is a little more information about the show.

• Classic Gaming Expo enters its tenth year as the world's first and largest event paying tribute to the people, systems and games of yesteryear. This year's event will be the biggest and best ever, with lots of surprises to be announced as the show draws near!
• The show is open to the public, gamers of all ages are welcome.
• Meet the Legends of video gaming! Dozens of video gaming's "alumni" will be present. In recent years the show has featured dignitaries such as Nolan Bushnell, Ralph Baer (the "father of home video games"), Al Alcorn (the creator of Pong), Don Bluth (former Disney artist who crafted Dragon's Lair and Space Ace), David Crane (Pitfall!, Dragster), Katz, Kunkel and Worley (Electronic Games, Sega Visions), Jay Smith (designer of the Vectrex), and many more.
• Live musical entertainment, featuring some very talented artists who bring classic game themes to life, past events have included the talents of 8-Bit Weapon, Tony Fox NYC, The Minibosses, FirestARTer, and the C-Men.
• Prizes and tournaments at every turn, including special events sponsored by Intellivision Productions and Digital Press.
• A live auction is held on Saturday night after the show, where many rare and one-of-a-kind items are put on the block. You could end up getting the deal of a lifetime!

Hope to see you there.

Jamma-In-A-Box Review

Jim Metzler won a Jamma-In-A-Box unit during a December contest at www.retroblast.com . He took the time to write up a very professional, and bias review of our system. If you have questions about the Jamma-In-A-Box unit, it's very possible this review will answer those questions and concerns. Thank you Jim for the excellent and well written review.

Jim Metzler's JIAB Review

Arcade Stands Coming Soon.

There has been a small delay in the manufacturing of our stands.  We hope to have them available in the next 2-3 weeks.

We are proud to announce 2 new stands for our systems coming in April. The first stand is designed for the Arcade-in-a-Box system, and the second will fit the Jamma and Neo-Geo systems. The stands will come in black with your choice of t-molding color and will probably retail for $99 plus shipping. The stands will come flat shipped, and easy to assemble with just a screwdriver. These stands are sturdy, and will not move with the most aggressive players. The stand features one shelf in middle for storage and an open back design to allow a seperate stand for your proejector or audio equipment. As always, we can custom make stands if you already have an arcade controller you want to use, just send us the dimensions, and we can give you a quote.

Congratulations to University of Florida Gators!

Arcade-In-A-Box presents this custom home arcade piece featuring the University of Florida colors.

For fans of other schools, Arcade-In-A-Box can create color themes matching their schools too, as well as provide decals that can be attached to the units for the ultimate college sports fan.

Arcade-In-A-Box in Local Tucson Paper

The Arizona Daily Star has done a very nice piece on the Arcade-In-A-Box and it's owner. It was printed in the business section of the Friday, Dec 8th Morning Issue of the paper. You can also see part of the story here http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/159396 However, this is not the whole story, and at the time of this posting, did not go through final editing.

We are honored to have been featured in the paper, and it was a pleasure to have Levi Long and photographer Kelly over to our shop for photos and the interview.

Many thanks to James Hills (www.marketinghelpnet.com), Kevin Steele (www.Gameroommagazine.com), and Rich Rochlin. All of these people were interviewed for the piece and we can't thank them enough for their kind words on the product.

New Jamma Boxes Coming Soon

We are working on 2 new Jamma Boxes. Both of these units will be designed to work with the Ultimate Arcade II Cabinet Kit. For those of you that would rather have a full size cabinet, there is nothing better than using real arcade boards with it.

This unit will come in a home and coin-op version.

Home Version:

• Coin-In Buttons
• Hinged top for quick and easy game swapping

Coin Op Version:

• Coin in buttons are removed, and wires are installed to connect to the systems coin mech.
• Locked hinged top. Still making it easy to swap games, but keeps everything secure on the inside.

More news about this product coming in the next few weeks.

Xbox 360 Controller On The Way

Within the next week we will have a few options available for the XBOX 360. These joysticks are designed with Xbox Live Arcade titles in mind. Xbox Live Arcade continues to put out great classic arcade games, but they just don't feel right playing with the 360 controller. We have decided to make something a little more authentic.

SPECS:

• 8 way arcade joystick
• Classic 6 button fighter setup
• Guide, Start and Back buttons.
• Wired and Windows XP Compatible
• Front Headset Jack (Will not work with the official 360 headset. We do include a free headset)

OPTIONS:

• 360 Fighter Stick
• 360 Dual Stick (Second joystick added for Robotron and SmashTV type games)
• 360 Fighter Kit (Includes wood, t-molding, joystick and buttons)
• 360 Dual Kit (Includes wood, t-molding, joysticks and buttons)

Available October 18th, 2006

Arcade-In-A-Box Trailer Video is now online. We are working on more videos to show the full power of all of our systems, and everything they are capable of.

Arcade-In-A-Box Trailer (Windows Media Player)

Arcade-In-A-Box Trailer (YouTube)

Interview with Arcade-In-A-Box Owner, Ed Farias

Ed Farias was interviewed by Gamerz-Edge (http://www.gamerz-edge.com/features/articles/090406aiab.html) regarding Arcade-In-A-Box, future plans for the company and more. Additionally, the site wrote an introduction explaining some of the issues regarding software piracy of classic games vs the legal ways to play classic games, including GameTap and Xbox Live Arcade.


Gamerz-Edge: Who is your main audience?

Ed Farias: Anyone that remembers how thrilling it was to play games in arcades. Remember using your hard earned cash to play for as long as you could for bragging rights when you got that top score. It’s for the retro gamer looking for an alternative to the upright cabinet, but who still wants to enjoy classic and modern games with authentic arcade controls.

Arcade-In-A-Box supports GameTap as well as PC compilations such as those from Midway, Namco, Atari and modern retro-remakes from sites such as Alawar, Real Arcade, and Reflexive.

Catch us on HGTV Tonight

There is a new show on HGTV this season and it's called I WANT THAT: TECH TOYS. It's a spin off the very popular show, I WANT THAT. Tonight's episode will show the Arcade-In-A-Box in a real world environment. No more looking at pictures, you can see one in action.

Program Guide and Air Times

New Custom Overlays

Our custom overlays have arrived. You can choose any color you want. If you want white buttons and blue themed overlay, it's yours. How about making a unit with your favorite sport team's colors? Take some pride in your country and make your color theme match your country's flag. The choice is yours.

NeoGeo MVS System

The NEO-GEO MVS System is an all-in-one solution for playing your NEOGEO MVS Cartridges on any s-video compliant video source. These systems have a Slot 1 board installed inside the unit with S-video and RCA Audio outs. The top lid flips open to make game swapping a snap. The hinged top is held down by a magnetic latch to make it easy to open and close, but hard enough to not effect game play. The unit comes with a scratch resistant printed overlay and the buttons are arranged in the classic NEOGEO style.

Jamma-In-A-Box Arcade Supergun

Jamma-In-A-Box is an all-in-one solution for playing your favorite JAMMA PCBs. These units are designed to make swapping of games easy by just opening the lid and changing out games.

The units include Composite, S-Video, and Component video output to NTSC, RCA Audio output, cooling fan, power switch and Happ joysticks and buttons for that authentic arcade experience. We can provide a generic setup that will work with most JAMMA PCBs, or we can custom build a unit around your favorite arcade game.

Retroblast and CoinOp TV Video Review is Online

The gang at Retroblast.com and CoinOP TV were nice enough
to put together a video review of our all-in-one system.

Check it out here