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Review: Namco Arcade Classics 5 in 1 Joystick
Yesterday I saw that my local Gamestop store had the Namco TV Games 5 in 1 joystick in by Jakks Pacific. I love the Atari 10 in one 2600 Joystick so I just had to get this one. This is another joystick with AV cables coming out of it where it would hook up to a games system you plug it directly into the TV. You get a near arcade perfect version of Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Galaxian, Rally-X, and Bosconian. Pac-Man and Dig Dug are enough to buy it right there but Rally-x is a less know racing game and Bosconian is a less know space shooter game sort of like Time Pilot. They games were reprogrammed and are not running on the original hardware or in emulation but they are pretty close. The vertically formatted games like Pac-Man and Dig Dug were reformatted to fit a standard TV but they still look damn good. I think they play a bit faster and harder than the original games but I might be wrong.
This sucker runs on 4 AA batteries and you have to use a screw driver to open up the damn battery cover. The joystick is pretty good and very retro but I did not like the ridges created by the yellow side plates. They sure look cool but I did not like holding them to play this bad boy. I am guessing that you would have to play it for a very long time to run out the batteries.
I guess that this is aimed at rapidly aging Gen X who is nostalgic about the early 80's like myself but I see no reason why kids would not like this thing. Here is to hoping that they make more of these based on the old games of Midway, Sega, Capcom and Konami. More Atari and Colecovision games would be pretty cool too.
This would make a great stocking stuffer or gift to any nerd and if you see one you might go and get it. It is not like it is as stupid as a singing plastic fish or dancing teddy bear.
Jake at July 12, 2003 
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Comments
"Rapidly aging GenX"?? OUCH!! Thanks for the gentle reminder. Sounds like you need to take that bad boy over to Peter's and play Pac-Man on his projected wall of amazement.
Posted by: puunum at July 12, 2003 5:56 PM
Technically everyone is aging at exactly the same rate my dear. I was just lamenting that the retro nostalgia dealers are abandoning the baby boomers who are approaching becoming senior citizens and Gen-X who is becoming the new market for Retro cool. I am just waiting for 80's bangs and big hair to come back with Bon Jovi.
Posted by: Jake at July 12, 2003 8:11 PM
Does that mean I should dust off my "Boy Toy" belt? (No, I don't really have one.)
Posted by: puunum at July 13, 2003 1:27 PM
That thing looks like a sex toy...errr not that i have any interest in that **cough**
Posted by: pete at July 13, 2003 11:08 PM
Note to All: Stores sold out of this item over the weekend. Local business representatives say that a muscular, blue-eyed man claimed to need them for a "study" he was performing.
That is all for now.
Posted by: puunum at July 14, 2003 8:21 AM
I just got mine today, in fact I had never heard of it (but own both Atari 10in1 joysticks) and had to own it.
While the Atari emulation was acceptable (the sound is off an octave) these Namco games are arcade perfect, a must have!
Posted by: Travis at August 6, 2003 5:14 PM
Was looking for this item for a friend, and couldn't find it ANYWHERE. The Atari ones are prevalent, but, I was sadly running out of places to look. The Gamestop right around the corner had TWO... Wow. So now, he'll have one. What a cool (in a totally man-what-was-I-thinking kind of way) toy!
Posted by: Michael at August 16, 2003 9:33 PM
You could probably order one from the company's website, Gamestop.com or Amazon.com
Posted by: Jake at August 17, 2003 11:02 PM
Does anyone know whether or not the joystick is 4-way (like the originals')? Trying to play these classics with an 8-way joystick is a pain.
Does it offer to play the games vertically, like the originals?
Thanks in advance!
Posted by: Codeena at September 11, 2003 10:11 PM
It is a four way joystick.
Posted by: Jake at September 11, 2003 11:30 PM
This is a great concept, but the 2 that I have purchased so far only display in black and white. Also the joystick is 4-way but is not as responsive as one would like. Seems to be made very cheaply.
I was so dissapointed to see them not in color... called their tech line and was told it was defective, but it seems all the units at my local target have the same defect :(
Posted by: Don at September 22, 2003 10:32 AM
Uh. Mine is in color.
Posted by: Jake at September 22, 2003 10:50 AM
The third one I purchased is finally in color. They had a batch of bad chips. No way to tell which are right, just lucky I finally got a good one!
Very fun product!
Posted by: Don at October 2, 2003 11:54 AM
I found mine at Walmart...have yet to play it, since i didn't think about the fact that I'll need batteries for it, but I'm encouraged by the lack of negative reviews on it. woohoo!
Posted by: Jasmine at October 25, 2003 9:25 PM
I got one for my four year old last night at target. $18 +tax. We had a blast all night. Works really similar to the originals. Slightly different in sound. Awesome for travel. Has anyone heard of a Donkey Kong one in the works? Imagine DK, DK jr., Mario Bros, DK 3 all-in-one.
Posted by: YNOT at October 27, 2003 12:43 PM
I know that Nintendo is selling some of their older games on the Gameboy Advance and the e-Reader cards but I doubt that they would put together a unit like this when they are trying to promote their own systems
Posted by: Jake at October 27, 2003 1:38 PM
colecovision and intellivision and sega genesis would be cool
Posted by: mr c at November 14, 2003 11:29 AM
I saw this a couple months back and it LOOKS great!! Does it have every thing that the arcade versions have? IE. Pac-Man "side-shows" when you clear a board...Things like that?
I really want this, but if the "Namco Museum" for the consoles has all those little extras that makes the games "arcade" I would just get that...
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/editorial/reviews/reviews.asp?pf_id=223568&popf_id=223568
Could somebody let me know? Thanks very much in advance!
Posted by: Dingo at December 8, 2003 8:10 AM
If you want a 100% accurate version of Pac Man, Ms.PacMan and the new redone Pacman? Than get the Namco museum. The stand alone joystick would be good for people who do not have a game system.
Posted by: Jake at December 8, 2003 9:21 AM
Intellivision has one also. It is not bad-10 games. They are missing some of the classic games, but it is still pretty good. Found it at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. The prob with these things is that there is no way for 2 player at the same time...
Posted by: Tim at January 2, 2004 12:33 PM
HI...I have had my game now for two weeks
what are the scores that you get free guys
i know you get one pretty quick in the game
but my high score is 3100 still only the one free guy.. do you get more? if so at what score?
Posted by: Tim at January 2, 2004 1:27 PM
Yes, it's a 4-way joystick and I HATE that, because the game I really wanted to play was Bosconian - which was designed for an 8-way joystick. This version of Bosconian is weird in several ways. First there's the lack of diagonal movement, then there's the way they did navigation as an overlay instead of on the side, and lastly it doesn't shout "Blast off!" like it should. Other than that, it seems pretty faithful to the original.
Posted by: Glen at February 27, 2004 11:28 PM
Who put out Robotron 2084? Midway-Williams? That was my favorite arcade game, although Graviton/gravitar was my second. I think the Atari 10-in-1 has Grav, but what about Robotron? It would be hard to emulate and run, since it needs two 8 way joysticks simultaneously.
Posted by: Ward at March 4, 2004 7:28 AM
Actually there is a perfect version of Robotron: 2084 in Midway Arcade Treasures for PS2 http://www.8bitjoystick.com/archives/jake_review_midway_arcade_treasures_for_ps2_xbox_and_gamecube.php
It uses the PS2 dual analog joysticks for that good Robotron feel
Posted by: Jake at March 4, 2004 7:49 AM
