Hello Cave Dwellers! If you enjoyed this video I'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe to the channel, thank you! And if you'd like to visit The Cave and try this machine out for yourself you can book a trip at retrocollective.co.uk - See you there! Neil
In Italy, there was a Nes system working with lives instead and the amazing thing was that lives carried over games. So, much more complicated than a timer. And that was weirdly located, the machine was on the shore with a military net above, like in a mini cave done just for it. I never met another player there. Each time I went to play, there were nobody around ^^ It was also dirt cheap to play, do not remember the exact amount, but low enough to even play 5 minutes without feeling screwed.
You have a number of options. 1. Install wheels so it can move easily (or use a trolly to help with moving)> 2. Install your own little (DIY) lift for larger objects.
Haven't seen one of these in 20 years. My favourite metal nightclub in Southsea had one of these tucked away in a corner for us metal/goth heads to play on while partying the night away to the heaviest sounds around.
Just a tip for those oversized screw holes in wood. Glue a few toothpicks in there. When it dries cut off the excess and you’re then all set to screw back into it.
I remember playing on a PlayChoice at the local British Legion. When I'd go there, my dad or uncle would bung me a couple of quid so I'd pop it in the Playchoice and have a go. At that time, I didn't know anyone with a NES so it kind of just felt like a lower-spec arcade machine. Watching your time remaining deplete before your eyes was slightly anxiety-inducing though. 😄
Very nice cab! Two Hantarex MTC9000 monitors, looks like the 20" has had a new lopt/flyback transformer recently so should be good for ages! That board you said is for adjusting the monitor is actually the RGB inverter board (you'll notice that both monitors use one), used as such because the RGB outputs from the PC10 pcb are inverted from normal. The adjustment boards are plugged straight into the chassis in this cab. Sometimes they are on extensions routed through to the coin door for convenience. :)
That's a wonderful piece of history and it looks in amazing condition. Picture quality also looks great and the RGB aspect really seems to make a difference I agree, at the time I would not have been tempted to put money into one back in the day but now it's an awesome thing to have The Sega one would be a great accompanying piece 👍✌️
All that's missing now is a star wars sit in cabinet, a few various candy cabinets from their respective publishers and a hydraulic powered space harrier cabinet. 🥰
I used to love the PlayChoice10 machines! We used to go to a Big Boy restaurant as a family sometimes and that's the only machine they had. It was cool in a way because we'd try a bunch of Nintendo games we didn't own at home.
Whilst I absolutely hated this pay for time model on the Playchoice at the time I do love that this great bit of kit is being preserved and will be enjoyed by many at the Cave.
Fun Fact: The Punch Out!!! for the PlayChoice-10 is the only game that came out for it with a battery backup. The version of Punch Out!! on the PS-10 has that to record scores, while the actual NES version doesn't. So, it is unique in that way to the actual NES rom.
My favorite pizza place in the US in the 90s had a PlayChoice-10 machine, but yes, it was a different style. The two monitors were more similar sizes and the front of the cabinet didn't rake back like that.
You could slap a Weylan-Yutani logo on that Players Choice and paint it in that Aliens grey/green colour and it would look like it's straight off the movie set of Alien/s
I have it on good authority that my Brent Leisure cab (compact) was built by and purchased from a company in South Wales back in 1987. That detail came from the owner of the operator that mine was branded by 👍
One of my favourite memories as a kid was going to a country pub with the family. In this pub they had one of these and the land lord put 4 hours of time on it for us, this was before we got a NES, so me and my brother just played Super Mario Bros for hours for free.
Wow, this looks absolutely beautiful, I grew up in England but unfortunately 15 years too late to see one of these, so I was only aware of the American releases, this UK model is new to me. The small monitor makes a lot of sense and looks quite good, I always thought the American models with twin full-size CRTs were horribly wasteful. The colours look incredible on the RGB monitor, it’s really sharp too, I was stunned by the image as I’ve never seen an NES running on a CRT with such quality. I find the colour palette is usually too garish, especially for games like Mario 3, but most of the footage you showed worked well with the colour change, especially on that gorgeous monitor, I’ve been using a top of the range Trinitron as my main CRT for years and while it is beautiful, it just doesn’t quite match the resolution and quality of an arcade monitor like this. It almost makes me want to look into getting some professional tier monitors, but I can’t justify the £500+ cost of the £200 to get my NES RGB modded. *EDIT:* I also want to compliment you on your CRT filming, it’s incredibly well done, I almost never see such accurate off-screen footage from a CRT, it’s very sharp, artefact free, and none of the colours are distorted.
Wow. I remember being amazed by this machine as a kid in The Boathouse pub in Chester. I'd stand there bewildered at the Nintendo games praying my parents would get me an NES 😁
Played a lot on this cabinet when I was a child. Back then our local hypermarket: 'GB' (Grand Bazar) had these on free play to promote the NES. It wasn't that popular (and I was happy with that, more playing time for me! :p). So every week or two when our family would go for some shopping I'd spend the entire time playing on the cabinet. Thanks for making me revisit those memories! :)
I used to work for a company that rented video games to pubs, and the Playchoice 10 was a popular machine (as well as the similar Sega Mega-Tech system). The major problem with this unit was that punters would play it at varying levels of intoxication, and would invariably try to balance their pint glasses on the top - which would equally invariably fall over and pour their contents into the void where the top monitor is located, destroying the PCB for the monitor. It was such a regular occurrence that we kept a spare monitor in our vans so that we could do an on the spot repair job.
I have only ever seen the Playchoice-10 with two full size monitors, or the smaller desktop version that uses the same monitor for both instructions and gameplay. This version reminds me of the Sega Mega-Tech - you don't really need a giant screen just for the instructions and timer!
The idea behind the Playchoice 10 seems pretty solid: have a demo unit to advertise games available for the NES, kind of like one of those kiosks you'd see in department store in the 2000s. Unfortunately, there's no way they'd stand toe-to-toe with dedicated game cabinets at the time. If you put this in a store like a Blockbuster or as a side attraction in a convenience store, I could see one doing well.
Wow, that SMB palette looks really nice in person on a real Playchoice-10/CRT. Looks nothing like the digital version if you're playing an emulator on your PC. This looks a lot like a Sony CXA to me (which is my preferred palette on an emulator).
It’s a weird situation, the Playchoice-10 RGB palette is usually more garish than the composite colours of a real NES. But it works quite well for Mario 1, some games look a lot worse. Mario 3 for example looks very garish. The default FCUEX palette is definitely pretty far off but Firebrand X made some great palettes that match the composiure colours a lot closer.
I'm a massive MegaDrive fan & used to own a MegaTech machine years ago. Me & a friend had to haul it up 4 flights of stairs to my flat at the time, he was owed many beers for that one... I will say, unless Neil is considerably taller than me (I'm 6'2") the MegaTech is quite a lot bigger than the Playchoice. In both height & depth if my memory serves me!
One of my earliest gaming memories is playing Super Mario 2 on one of these. Was probably down Southsea, back in the magical days when the streets were lined with epic Arcades
I remember playing this with mixed appreciation of the system. On the one hand, using a proper joystick and buttons was a more premium arcade experience. On the other, the games felt a bit of a let down, particularly my all time favourite Double Dragon. At a time when we looked to the Arcade for cutting edge graphics and sound, this didn’t deliver. However, in the cave, it’s a great addition 😊
I recall seeing one of these machines at a Roys store in Norfolk as a game demonstrator on freeplay, only the zealous store owners had set the timer for like 2 minutes. It was barely enough time for the game to load!
I really don't think that was very expensive in todays market and indeed the condition etc. I had to add the following additional comments after I saw your full video. That I never liked the play choice 10. Time limited and basically a home console. I really didn't see the point of playing them at the time, just like yourself. But it's still great to have this machine in the cave.
Very nice, would like one of those NES selectors you used to see in department stores. I had a latter revision megatech machine in the early 2000s, had wiring inside for megadrive 2, never got it going though, inexperience and little internet access.
I used to play on one of these in my local pub. Probably before I actually played on an NES console. I hated the time limit, it would have cost a fortune to finish any of the games on it.
That's interesting you mention the cabinet being made in the United Kingdom. I like it how when you look at the Super Mario Bros. 3 PCB you can see one of the chips is made or distributed by Sega of Spain.
In Spain we have a very similar PlayChoice but MUCH MUCH more interestig, I have one at my house, and all the parts, the games and even the stickers in the glass have the SEGA logo, yep, a Nintendo Arcade machine and cartridges by SEGA Spain (SEGASA).
Awesome, really need to make plans to visit again... I remember the overnight P&O ferry to Shetland had one of these and I remember being really confused by itat the time, I was like "hey this is just a NES" and I had a NES and I didn't need to pay to play it.however being stuck on a boat overnight for 14hours did encourage me to cough up the quids! Would be fun to try it again.
Wonderful memories of playing on this every Summer in my youth. We used to go to something called Play Scheme at my local sports centre where we’d be dropped off as kids and get activities to do every day in summer and they had a Play Choice 10 there. I remember Kung Fu, Contra, Punch Out and SMB2 were the popular ones, think it might have had Golf on it too. Great memories, and it was eventually replaced by a Mortal Kombat II machine, which was also great!
Congrats . About the MegaTech, good luck finding games for a reasonable price, sadly they skyrocked too. And when I saw your UK Playchoice, I immediately thought "hey, that looks like my mega tech with the small crt" :D
The only time I used a Play Choice was when dragged into a hotel bar by my parents on holiday. It was the only arcade unit in there, and kept me from being a bored child that day. Thanks Play Choice!
Very nice addition to the cave (I am amazed any of you can still walk after lugging that up the stairs though!!). It would be a nice way to play NES games, my hands don't like the NES controller, so being able to use arcade controls would be excellent.
HI Brilliant Cabinet, My Uncle used fix arcade machines , although he never repaired one of these, I did get to play in free mode on the first Asteroid machine with a track ball, thanks for the video
Great video! Remember playing on these a lot growing up. I was also glued to one of the rare Super Nintendo ones you showed at a ski lodge we visited on holiday; I’d love it if you could find one of those and give it a look!
Hah cool I forgot about these. I vaguely remember one in an arcade - but mostly a sit down 2 sided thing in a donut store where one side was super Mario and the other side was rbi baseball. Even in 1990 it was always being played by someone during lunch in high school, you’d constantly hear the wail of the ball sound effect all the time!
I'm not sure how common they were here in the US, but I played one that looked just like that in Nevada back in the days. Was at a department store or something like that. I remember playing it while waiting for my grandmother to finish shopping.
I remember one of these machines in the Queen's Bowling Centre in Rhyl, great video 👍 I remember playing Mario on it. the machine and the building are long gone so great to see one again.
That cabinet looks like a Mega-tech converted to a PC10. I’ve been in the arcade business for 25 years and bought dozens of PC10 cabinets and I’ve never seen an “official” pc10 in that cabinet. This appears to be a conversion. All official pc10’s had the Sanyo (or sharp) monitor, not hantarex. Also the pcb board never had a daughter board. I think that daughter board is part of that cabinet conversion. I love the PC10 and it’s rare to find that conversion in a mega-tech cabinet. Nice score!
Interesting! I’ll have a Mega Tech soon so I’ll make a comparison but it seems to be identical to the PC10 I worked on at Swindon museum which is seen briefly in the video
@@RMCRetro I actually owned an original Mega Tech cabinet (rare in America) and it looked like your cabinet. I still have a bunch of the carts somewhere. I’m fairly certain that it’s a kit (might be wrong) because when I had mine, I could see how those satellite boards would be a conversion. I’ve never seen those satellite boards on anything else. I’m more curious as to WHY they needed that satellite board. I owned all those systems… super system, mega play, tech, PC10, etc. all back when I had a big operation.
When you hit king hippo in his open mouth his trunks drop exposing his weak spot on his belly marked with an X looks like a bandage. Low punch him in this area for a quick KO. Very nice machine!!
It was an interesting concept. Good for those who couldn't afford getting an NES when it first came out, but not so good years later when the NES became more widespread, the games library grew, and prices eventually came down. Also, video game rentals probably contributed to making these strange arcade boxes disappear. Barcade in Detroit has one. Prior to that, I hadn't seen one in almost 35 years (at Showbiz pizza).
I can confirm that the Magnum Pleasure Centre in Irvine, Scotland, had a Nintendo Super System still playable in its lobby until at least the early 2000's, but was sadly moved/lost when the Magnum itself was finally demolished in 2017. I constantly wonder if a Scottish arcade collector has it hidden somewhere in a deep, dark cave somewhere in Ayrshire... hopefully safely!
The mill absolutely needs to invest in a stair-climbing trolley. They have three wheels on each side, arranged in a triangle, and the whole triangle rotates, so you can push it on a level surface _and_ you can pull them up and down stairs with minimal effort. No annoying (and dangerous) lifting any more!
My universal experience of these was "oh, there's a new machine, what is it ... oh, it's one of those things where they charge you a quarter to play NES, **** that". They never did very well in actual arcades in my personal experience.
Very similar to mine. The VS system however was in the US before the NES was released so that’s an interesting difference, I wonder how that went down with anyone here who experienced it first hand?
I've had my original NES modified for RGB output and the colours are so rich with the shapes so sharp. I would highly recommend it for that arcade visual experience in the modern age.
I always got so disappointed when I'd spot an arcade game somewhere from the distance and get closer only to realize it was a Playchoice cabinet! I had an NES at home and nothing was more awesome as a kid in the 90s than wandering upon some random weird lone arcade cabinet. Still a great piece of history.
Seeing you pull out those boards with missing EPROM stickers was worrying haha. The modern white LEDs blast out enormous amounts of UV compared to the good ol' CCFLs so take care to put some stickers on and/or backup the chips :P
I played a PlayChoice back in the day but only SMB and Castlevania. I remember each time thinking it was weird that the games were 99% the same as the NES at home. Castlevania in particular struck me, as I was expecting it to be some kind of "arcade" version with different shit. Was a bit surreal in how pedestrian they were, since they were (unknowing to me at the time) basically the same as the console versions but on an arcade CRT. Whoever put Castlevania on the one I played did a good job. It was fun with a joystick and arcade buttons. Mario was more difficult, but interestingly different.
I owned one back in the day, I had at at home and played many a game of Contra on it. I actually wanted a Sega Megatech because there was one in my local pub but ended up with the Playchoice after the operator had sold all the Megatech's.
I know exactly what you mean about choosing to put your money in "proper" arcade games BITD. I do remember playing one in Southend in the 80s though, we had a NES with Super Mario Bros at home and it was fun to show off all the secrets we had found in front of strangers in an arcade 😊
I spent so much money on Kung Fu Master at the local grill after my confirmation celebration. Somehow I convinced my mother I'd somehow dropped some of my gift money, so she "reimbursed" me some of my ill-spent money. Owe her an apology for that before she dies 💕
As you said, you can convert some NES games to PlayChoice games. It all depends on the games mapper and circuit board. E.g., you can convert Mega Man 3 into Mega Man 5 since they both use TLROM boards.
I had the same feeling back then - it seemed pointless & expensive to me. There were arcade games that looked far better, played at least as well and gave you at least 5 minutes of fun per coin as well so this was usually ignored by me.
Mr.Baxter thank you for your work! The 4 slot neo geo machines were pretty common in the US. Or at least in the southeast. A local campground had a VS machine with the lightgun, and that was really cool.
One chip on the cart @ 12:08 reads 'SEGA, S.A.', that company (also known as 'Sonic') distributed all Nintendo arcade products in Spain. I believe it started as an Spanish branch of the original Sega of Japan, but later it gained quite independence.
I clicked on this video because this caught my eye and reminded me of back at the water park where i lived who had hacked games in one of these. I'm super jelous :D
This was the cabinet we had at my local Supermacs in Ireland. The Playchoice version of Mario 3 (and The Wizard) came out a good year or more earlier than the PAL version so I spent a lot of 20p's to get to that first warp whistle and not much further.
I have seen a Super Mario cabinet when i was younger. Thought it was strange as i thought that Nintendo mostly did consoles and not arcade machines. I have also seen other selector machines. Not from Nintendo, but like once that must have been from like Neo Geo or SNK as i remember it had one of the Super Sidekicks games on it. It was just like a standard brown one screen cabinet that under the joysticks in the middle had a silver button to press to select games. And when you got to the game you wanted you put in money.
In the late 80s and early 90s I played (mostly Mike Tyson's Punch-Out) on these machines in the kids room at a river-side pub in chester, at Victoria Coach Station in London and at a bar in a camping resort in the South of France.
First and foremost I must commend you for the amazing work you've been doing setting up the cave, the next time I'm in the UK I'm absolutely visiting. But I got one suggestion for you to improve the cave in the long run and make your life easier: if you know you need to transport heavy stuff on occasion up several flights of stairs, you gotta start thinking about a long-term solution for this problem. From watching the footage in the beginning of the video the first thing that came to my mind was how easier moving that cabinet up and down the stairs would have been if you had any sort of system of ramps and wheels to slide it through. Just, like, don't try and move anything valuable on your first solution because there's a lot that can go wrong especially if it's an improvised one - you probably also need some system with ropes to make sure that stuff don't roll down the ramps - so I'd suggest making a few trial runs with something heavy and inexpensive until you iron it out into something that you're confident and comfortable with :)
What he needs is a appliance hand truck, with the built in stair climbers glide and optional kick out wheels that converts to 4-wheel mode. They make climbing and maneuvering heavy unwieldy objects like this so much easier! They also have built in ratchet straps to hold it. You can probably rent them locally if this is an uncommon thing to do. I'm like you, I think it would be easier and safer and less prone to damage, scrapping etc.
While it's in the Cave, it might be worthwhile to bring that insert credit button up in a form fitting way, and use the credits to keep visitors aware of other who might want to play. "Time's about to run out, someone want the machine? No? *presses credit button again*"
Play choice 10, Mega Tech and NeoGeo, was not really ment for the arcades. We had 100's in pub's, clubs and holiday parks.Finally replaced by touch quiz/puzzle type machines.
