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Original Donkey Kong Arcade

com64

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Apr 9, 2016
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North Dakota
Since the King of Kong documentary, me and my friend have been talking about getting the original Donkey Kong arcade game. As I've now got a new living quarters and there's spare garage space with my name on it, I might actually finally buy it. We're getting a pool table setup and i'll probably try to get some retro games consoles too along with a slot machine. I want that all round games room experience so want to cover all elements. Anyone know how much you can pick these things up for now?
 
Since the King of Kong documentary, me and my friend have been talking about getting the original Donkey Kong arcade game. As I've now got a new living quarters and there's spare garage space with my name on it, I might actually finally buy it. We're getting a pool table setup and i'll probably try to get some retro games consoles too along with a slot machine. I want that all round games room experience so want to cover all elements. Anyone know how much you can pick these things up for now?

Try Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/bhp/donkey-kong-arcade
 
Like everything, it depends on condition. You can pick up an old beat up one that doesn't work for $100, but they are tough to find now. A fully nice restored working one will cost you $1500+ from a vendor.
 
I wouldn't let the prices scare you away, though. Vintage arcades (especially from the 80s and early 90s) hold their value really well if you take care of them. If you grow bored of the game, you can likely sell it for the same price or trade it for a game of equal value.

If you're a handy person, you can buy a beater unit and fix it up. Lots of companies sell reproduction artwork, consoles, custom colored T molding, etc. Get one cheap, and with a little elbow grease, have yourself a great machine.
 
The problem you're going to have is finding a cabinet with a working CRT.

Arcade CRTs in decent working condition are very scarce these days. Old games like Donky Kong are very hard on tubes since it has lots of static graphics, most old cabinets you find will almost certainly have moderate to severe phosphor burn. If you plan on getting a banged up old cabinet to restore, the CRT is by far going to be the most expensive bit to replace if it has problems or doesn't work at all. There are LCD conversion kits available, but they're pretty expensive since a complex video signal converter is required. The last time I checked, such a system ran around $400.

It'd probably be more rewarding to build your own cabinet, and cheaper in the long run too. There are sites out there that have plans for common cabinets of the era, which aren't difficult to build with some woodworking tools.
 
The problem you're going to have is finding a cabinet with a working CRT.

Arcade CRTs in decent working condition are very scarce these days. Old games like Donky Kong are very hard on tubes since it has lots of static graphics, most old cabinets you find will almost certainly have moderate to severe phosphor burn. If you plan on getting a banged up old cabinet to restore, the CRT is by far going to be the most expensive bit to replace if it has problems or doesn't work at all. There are LCD conversion kits available, but they're pretty expensive since a complex video signal converter is required. The last time I checked, such a system ran around $400.

It'd probably be more rewarding to build your own cabinet, and cheaper in the long run too. There are sites out there that have plans for common cabinets of the era, which aren't difficult to build with some woodworking tools.

That sounds pretty cool although I'm not that much of a handy man. My buddy isn't to bad though but I don't he'll have the time to take on the project with his busy work and family commitments. I like the sound of the LCD kit. I do like the sound of the LCD kit though and that doesn't sound that crazy a price. If I bought a machine for in and around the grand mark and the only problem was screen burn on the CRT, then I'd just get that kit fitted. Unfortunately, I don't see me or my buddies ever beating the high score somehow, can't believe how much its increased from the time the documentary went viral. We'll just keep the competition between ourselves. I'll start having a look around on the net to see if I can spot a few. If I can find out which bits are still good and which bits may need replacing, i'll have a better idea of how much its all going to cost. Thanks all for the info.
 
That sounds pretty cool although I'm not that much of a handy man. My buddy isn't to bad though but I don't he'll have the time to take on the project with his busy work and family commitments. I like the sound of the LCD kit. I do like the sound of the LCD kit though and that doesn't sound that crazy a price. If I bought a machine for in and around the grand mark and the only problem was screen burn on the CRT, then I'd just get that kit fitted. Unfortunately, I don't see me or my buddies ever beating the high score somehow, can't believe how much its increased from the time the documentary went viral. We'll just keep the competition between ourselves. I'll start having a look around on the net to see if I can spot a few. If I can find out which bits are still good and which bits may need replacing, i'll have a better idea of how much its all going to cost. Thanks all for the info.

Found a donkey kong arcade machine at used.forsale/donkey-kong-arcade for $700 bucks so going to try and find out a little bit more. Looks ok in the picture but need to find out about its performance. There was another advert for one that's selling closer to the $1,000 mark so will check that one out too.
 

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