More arcade gaming thoughts

Today, Kotaku posted a story about a home arcade cabinet Dream Arcades, and they called it an ideal solution for people looking to play Street Fighter IV "the authentic way."

http://kotaku.com/5151618/dream-arcades-offers-street-fighter-iv-arcade-solution

Well, there's certainly some truth in that, however I figured I'd share my 2¢ on the topic, since arcades are something I have a lot of passion for, and I also happen to own my own arcade cabinet, which I converted into a Mame (Multi Arcade Machine Emulator) machine.

Since Kotaku's story was about Street Fighter 4, first of all I'd like to point out that Dream Arcades are OK, but they are more for retro 2D games (like the cab I made). I'm pretty sure they all use standard-definition CRT monitors, which make old games look gorgeous, however a new game like Street Fighter 4 or HD Remix begs for something a bit flashier. Dream Arcades are a great solution if you're looking to relive the glory days of the arcade at home, and you lack confidence with power tools, however I'm not quite sure I'd say they're ideal for bringing the modern arcade experience into the home rec room.

On the other hand, an HD arcade setup with a fancy flat panel monitor will make new games on PS3 and PC look amazing, but ****c games from the 80s and 90s will not look so hot. If you really are an arcade nut, having both setups would be the ideal, but that obviously is extremely expensive and takes up a lot of space. I spent about $800-1000 on my project (including the PC inside), but if I was going for an HD setup it would have easily run me into $2000 territory.

It's a shame that Capcom won't just give SF4 a proper US release. Even if they were just selling conversion kits, it would be a godsend to most arcade operators. SF2 made arcades the scene to be at in the 90s, and SF4 would have been a much needed shot in the arm for our ailing industry. Chances are, we're only going to get it here through gray market imports, which means it's going to be rare and extremely expensive. My local arcade's imported Tekken 6 machine costs $3.00 a play! It makes me wish I could build myself a sligh HD arcade machine to play these games on, but that's not happening since I have neither the money nor space. For now, I'll just have to content myself with my PS3 and my portable custom arcade stick.