Author Topic: Taikee Micro Arcade Machine & its variants  (Read 9405 times)

taizou

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Taikee Micro Arcade Machine & its variants
« on: January 18, 2016, 08:09:38 PM »
So as brought up in this thread, there are a few variations of these mini (~15cm high) arcade machines doing the rounds at the moment, with mostly 16-bit Cube Tech games (originals and hacks) built in.. and they're quite interesting, so I thought I'd start a new thread for them!


These three all have 240 games - it may or may not be the same set, there are some variations in lists posted online:
Taikee Micro Arcade Machine: http://www.mymemory.co.uk/Gadgets/Taikee/Taikee-Micro-Arcade-Machine-with-240-Built-in-Games---16-Bit
Red5 Mini Arcade Machine: http://www.red5.co.uk/mini-arcade-machine.aspx (this is the one I have)
Lexibook Cyber Arcade: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lexibook-Cyber-Arcade-240-Games/dp/B00XW6CX4A (this one has a different design from the others, more Japanese-style)

and here's another version with 230 games (and a different menu, which resembles the one in the production-music-using Cube Tech DDR clone I mentioned in the previous thread)
SoundLogic XT Multicade 230 http://bootleggames.wikia.com/wiki/Multicade_230 / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jwTCe-Wj40


The hardware is something in the VT line - I'd guess a fairly recent model with lots of backwards compatibility, maybe VT369, since it's pretty much a greatest(?) hits(?) of Cube Tech, with their VT168 originals, VT03 originals, a ton of better-than-VT03 NES hacks, a handful of VT03 hacks, who knows what else, and a bit of Waixing/Nice Code stuff thrown in at the end. Unfortunately most of the games are missing their title screens though.


Here's a list of the games found on the Red5 version (transcribed by me from the system menu to avoid any discrepancies with documentation): http://pastebin.com/ZLaA5ADd


MyMemory's listing for the Taikee one suggests the Red5 unit has a few changes, probably mostly for copyright reasons - Galaga was renamed Galaxy Battle and bumped to the start of the Shooting section, and Zuma was replaced with Unwonted Space. Also a few of the target shooting games were renamed; there may be other changes on top of that. I haven't done a full comparison yet. I'm not sure, though, if these differences are actually represented in the Taikee machine itself, or if MyMemory were just given an early game list and the final ROM actually matches the Red5 one.

The Red5 manual actually seems to have been made at some point in between the two - it has Unwonted Space in place of Zuma, but still has Galaga midway through the list and the old names for the target shooting games.


DreamGear also have an 8-bit version, covered here: http://s4.zetaboards.com/PGC_Forums?topic=10399086/1/#new
but it looks like they're also getting on board with their own 16-bit variation, the "Retro Arcade Machine X", containing 300 games: http://www.dreamgear.com/retro-arcade-machine-x-gaming-system-with-300-games/
according to the game list  on the sell sheet, it looks like they've supplemented *most* of the games on the 240-in-1 versions with a selection of their usual Nice Code games (some VT03). The games dropped from the 240 list seem to be almost entirely those that are either hacks or clones of too-well-known games - so, for example, the Donkey Kong Jr hack Jungle Max1 is gone, but so is the coded-from-scratch Frogger clone Cross River.

Oh yeah, and on the subject of the NES hacks found on this thing - as I mentioned they seem to be based on something better than VT03, I'm not sure exactly which part of the VT line supports these high-colour graphics on top of NES code, but .. that's what it is.

But interestingly there are also high-resolution versions of these hacks in existence, seemingly running at 2x the resolution of the versions seen on the mini arcade machines - in fact it looks like the graphics in those versions were downscaled from the high-res ones.

The high-res versions appear, for example, on a MiWi console I have (the same one that has production-music DDR), and I'm fairly sure they can also be found on this trapezoidal thing once seen on Cube Tech's site. I have no idea what hardware they are running on - some unknown high-res VT derivative? Something else entirely? But it's those high-res versions that are used, misleadingly, for the screenshots on the Mini Arcade box and the icons in its menu.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2016, 08:21:27 PM by taizou »

codeman38

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« Reply #1 on: January 18, 2016, 10:50:04 PM »
I definitely remember Cube Tech's site having a page for that shooting game console at one point, which had a huge listing of the high-res versions of these hacks. I was really intrigued by them at the time and wanted to know more about them. (Now I really wish I'd archived it...)

On Lexibook's variant, the protective film thing that's covering the screen shows a screenshot from the Arkanoid hack. It, too, is of the high-res version-- most noticeably, the font is entirely different.
The Lexibook version, naturally, seems to have a third variation on the menu-- it lists "Galaga", but has it at the top of the shooting section. Here's the manual; this French YouTube video, although blurry, confirms the name and position of Galaga.

Edited to add: Lexibook's version also appears to have replaced Zuma with Unwonted Space. Looks like we've found the missing link!
taizou
Jan 18 2016, 08:09:38 PM
The games dropped from the 240 list seem to be almost entirely those that are either hacks or clones of too-well-known games - so, for example, the Donkey Kong Jr hack Jungle Max1 is gone, but so is the coded-from-scratch Frogger clone Cross River.[/quote]And yet, "Dual Hoopers"-- a blatant Chip 'n Dale hack-- appears to still be on DreamGear's version. Guess that wasn't well known enough?  O_o
« Last Edit: January 18, 2016, 11:30:39 PM by codeman38 »

codeman38

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« Reply #2 on: February 01, 2016, 06:07:19 PM »
This Korean product listing for the Taikee variant is somewhat interesting:
http://www.10x10.co.kr/shopping/category_prd.asp?itemid=1280069

In particular, note the game list halfway down the page. Six of the screenshots were very clearly replaced in post-production-- unlike the rest of the screenshots, which were captured from an emulator, these show clear signs of being from a camera pointed at an LCD screen, and even the captions are in a different font. These are: Unwonted Space, Fling Ball, Toy Factory, Abscondee, Falling, and Teleport. (Incidentally, Galaga is still Galaga on this version, so it seems to be from the same generation as Lexibook's model.)

We've already figured out that Unwonted Space was a replacement for Zuma, but now I'm a bit curious what five other games got replaced.

In other news, the "who made this thing" situation may be even more puzzling than we thought-- Subor lists this on their HKTDC page, with an image that looks identical to Taikee's version. They also have a version of this closely related handheld that Taikee also makes a version of.  O_o

taizou

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Taikee Micro Arcade Machine & its variants
« Reply #3 on: February 01, 2016, 06:59:15 PM »
codeman38
Feb 1 2016, 06:07:19 PM
This Korean product listing for the Taikee variant is somewhat interesting:
http://www.10x10.co.kr/shopping/category_prd.asp?itemid=1280069

In particular, note the game list halfway down the page. Six of the screenshots were very clearly replaced in post-production-- unlike the rest of the screenshots, which were captured from an emulator, these show clear signs of being from a camera pointed at an LCD screen, and even the captions are in a different font. These are: Unwonted Space, Fling Ball, Toy Factory, Abscondee, Falling, and Teleport. (Incidentally, Galaga is still Galaga on this version, so it seems to be from the same generation as Lexibook's model.)

We've already figured out that Unwonted Space was a replacement for Zuma, but now I'm a bit curious what five other games got replaced.[/quote]taking a wild guess based on the games that were present on the MiWi but absent here, and assuming a motive of "get rid of the knockoffs of super-well-known stuff", maybe they replaced the SMB, Pac-man and Ms. Pac-man hacks in the Arcade section, and a couple of Tetris clones/hacks in Puzzle?

(incidentally, knowing those games replaced others, their positioning now makes sense - they're the only Nice Code games not grouped at the end of each section with the other NC/Waixing stuff)

Quote:
 
In other news, the "who made this thing" situation may be even more puzzling than we thought-- Subor lists this on their HKTDC page, with an image that looks identical to Taikee's version. They also have a version of this closely related handheld that Taikee also makes a version of.  O_o [/quote]
That kinda makes sense, Subor has definitely manufactured stuff for Taikee in the past - Taikee's website lists a number of products known to be Subor-related, including the iSports and iSports Pro Wii clones (I actually have the Taikee-released variant of the former), iFit yoga mat and the "Motion2" Kinect clone which looks like one of Subor's efforts too.

It would also explain why a bunch of Waixing-copyrighted games ended up on here, considering their close links with Subor..
oh and here's another interesting thing from that Korean site - http://www.10x10.co.kr/shopping/category_prd.asp?itemid=1430639
apparently there's now a v2, with Senca's Family Sport games.
« Last Edit: February 01, 2016, 07:19:05 PM by taizou »

codeman38

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« Reply #4 on: February 01, 2016, 09:54:03 PM »
taizou
Feb 1 2016, 06:59:15 PM
taking a wild guess based on the games that were present on the MiWi but absent here, and assuming a motive of "get rid of the knockoffs of super-well-known stuff", maybe they replaced the SMB, Pac-man and Ms. Pac-man hacks in the Arcade section, and a couple of Tetris clones/hacks in Puzzle?

(incidentally, knowing those games replaced others, their positioning now makes sense - they're the only Nice Code games not grouped at the end of each section with the other NC/Waixing stuff)[/quote]The Mario hack was the first to come to mind immediately. Somehow Pac-Man and Tetris completely escaped my mind, so yeah, those guesses seem plausible.

(Even the positioning of Toy Factory, which is between two other NC/Waixing games, would completely make sense, if what it replaced was one of those companies' pirate-original takes on Tetris.)

Quote:
 
That kinda makes sense, Subor has definitely manufactured stuff for Taikee in the past - Taikee's website lists a number of products known to be Subor-related, including the iSports and iSports Pro Wii clones (I actually have the Taikee-released variant of the former), iFit yoga mat and the "Motion2" Kinect clone which looks like one of Subor's efforts too.[/quote]*facepalm* Yeah, I should've probably realized there was a connection there with the whole "iSports" thing...

taizou

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« Reply #5 on: February 02, 2016, 06:24:26 PM »
..actually, checking the MyMemory page again, it looks like that *is* the original list - it has these games in the slots filled with the random Nice Code games in the later versions:

Zuma -> Unwonted
Cube -> Twin Cards
Balls -> Fling Ball
Triple -> Toy Factory
Jumper -> Abscondee
Bean Eater -> Falling
Pea Eater -> Teleport

and looks like I guessed right, for the most part! Jumper, Bean Eater and Pea Eater are the SMB, Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man hacks respectively. "Triple" has been used as a name for one or two Nice Code Tetris clones. "Cube", I would guess is the Tengen Tetris hack listed as "Magic Cubes" on the MiWi. Not sure about "Balls", but maybe it's the Nice Code Tetris hack called "Shapes" on the MiWi?

codeman38

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« Reply #6 on: February 04, 2016, 02:29:44 AM »
Speaking of which, "Jumper" is one of the games listed on the sell sheet for the 300-game DreamGear variant (which is admittedly still unreleased, and thus subject to change). I seriously doubt that it could be that Jumper, but I can't think of what it could be. (It's not Bee Jumper or Jumping Kid; those are separate entries on the list. Is there a Nice Code game that's just "Jumper"?)
As for "Balls" (giggle), that could also possibly have been "Maze Ball", Cube's inexplicably-named Tetris clone from the 16-bit 111-game MiWi.
« Last Edit: February 04, 2016, 02:52:39 AM by codeman38 »

taizou

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« Reply #7 on: February 05, 2016, 03:54:57 PM »
well! I just got one of the Taikee ones from MyMemory (my excuse is I wanted to have one on my desk at work) and the ROM seems to match the Lexibook - with Galaga still called Galaga but all the game substitutions in place - but the manual still has the old game lineup, complete with screenshots.

from that it looks like "Balls" actually is "Shapes", "Triple" is some probably-VT03 version of the same NC Tetris game, but "Cube" is something else entirely: https://imgur.com/hXlqHdS

.. matters are confused slightly by them seemingly mixing up the names for "Cube" and "Copy It"; the Rotation/Ratation game listed as "Cube" in the manual is actually present on the console as "Copy It", so presumably the manual's "Copy It" is the real "Cube". And that is some kind of block-based puzzle game which I haven't seen before, which I'm guessing got the axe because the blocks looked too Tetris-like for comfort..
codeman38
Feb 4 2016, 02:29:44 AM
Speaking of which, "Jumper" is one of the games listed on the sell sheet for the 300-game DreamGear variant (which is admittedly still unreleased, and thus subject to change). I seriously doubt that it could be that Jumper, but I can't think of what it could be. (It's not Bee Jumper or Jumping Kid; those are separate entries on the list. Is there a Nice Code game that's just "Jumper"?)[/quote]It's probably "Fatso Jumper" (an NS-Shaft clone featuring a quite blatant sample of Homer Simpson's "Woo-hoo"), which occupies roughly the same spot on the 240 in 1 version.
« Last Edit: February 05, 2016, 04:02:23 PM by taizou »

taizou

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« Reply #8 on: February 06, 2016, 07:05:59 PM »
oh and here's some random stolen music I just identified -
- "China Corpse", a Plants vs Zombies clone and one of the few games on here I haven't seen anywhere else, uses For an Angel by Paul van Dyk.
- The menu uses "True Companion" by Russ Freeman & The Rippingtons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec-XHt_kjKs

codeman38

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« Reply #9 on: February 07, 2016, 01:05:40 AM »
...The Rippingtons! That is amazing. Every time I think this thing couldn't manage to be any more bootleg, it manages to do that.

Edited to add: Incidentally, Shazam doesn't seem to recognize the music in the Multicade 230's version of the menu (at least from this video, which has a long enough sample of it). That one probably is production music-- it sounds exactly like the kind of thing a producer would drop in when they couldn't afford the rights to Van Halen's "Jump".
« Last Edit: February 07, 2016, 01:10:17 AM by codeman38 »

codeman38

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« Reply #10 on: February 25, 2016, 12:21:10 AM »
RetroGamerVX posted a review of the Lexibook version earlier this month. Interestingly, in contrast to the video that I had linked earlier in the thread, this one uses the "Galaxy Battle" name instead of "Galaga" (while keeping it at the top of the section), so it seems like the updated ROM made its way into Lexibook's chassis as well.

Edited to add: Just noticed another minor difference-- the banner above the screen reads "Arcade Console" in the earlier French video, but "Cyber Arcade" in RetroGamerVX's video. The packaging carries the "Cyber Arcade" name in both, but seems to have changed from white to black in the newer variant.
Oh, hey, someone on Amazon is selling a "Game Zone"-branded handheld that looks like a rebranded version of the Xtra Game Portable. 240 games, and the box shows screenshots of the same hacks from the Micro Arcade. (Though oddly, the hero image inexplicably shows a screenshot of unhacked Duck Hunt.)

Interesting that these things are showing up in more and more places. Maybe I'll eventually stumble across Taikee's elusive light-gun console one of these days...
« Last Edit: February 25, 2016, 10:41:04 PM by codeman38 »

kelvin donna

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« Reply #11 on: June 18, 2017, 04:07:02 AM »
taizou
Feb 2 2016, 06:24:26 PM
..actually, checking the MyMemory page again, it looks like that *is* the original list - it has these games in the slots filled with the random Nice Code games in the later versions:

Zuma -> Unwonted
Cube -> Twin Cards
Balls -> Fling Ball
Triple -> Toy Factory
Jumper -> Abscondee
Bean Eater -> Falling
Pea Eater -> Teleport

and looks like I guessed right, for the most part! Jumper, Bean Eater and Pea Eater are the SMB, Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man hacks respectively. "Triple" has been used as a name for one or two Nice Code Tetris clones. "Cube", I would guess is the Tengen Tetris hack listed as "Magic Cubes" on the MiWi. Not sure about "Balls", but maybe it's the Nice Code Tetris hack called "Shapes" on the MiWi?[/quote]yeah, speaking of zuma on that console, that got replaced, does someone know, where to get this exact game? :angry2:
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kelvin donna

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« Reply #12 on: October 23, 2017, 05:04:49 AM »
can somebody read this topic:http://s4.zetaboards.com/PGC_Forums?topic=30152482/1/
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NintariousFamicreep

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« Reply #13 on: October 29, 2017, 03:27:54 PM »
This reminds me; There was a Super C hack called "Combat"- Any info on that one?

kelvin donna

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« Reply #14 on: November 23, 2017, 01:55:05 PM »
NintariousFamicreep
Oct 29 2017, 03:27:54 PM
This reminds me; There was a Super C hack called "Combat"- Any info on that one?[/quote]no, there is no info, there was no info before and there will NEVER be info of this game  :angry:

but i have a much more important mission, i need the game "Zuma" to play it on gameboy advance if possible  :|
i hate all media of the world, so i just moved to eurasia.