MAMEWorld Forums - EmuChat - Let's face it, these old cocktails were ugly as, well, ugly.

> Not much more than an old school desk with a hole cut in it.
>
> No matter how cool the game, it just kills their collectability because who wants an
> old school house for a game room.

I'd imagine it's at least partly because cocktails were supposed to be somewhat unobtrusive. Cost was probably a factor, as well. They were made in smaller numbers than uprights, so the manufacturers couldn't justify spending lots of money on custom designs and fancy artwork. I have to disagree on the collectibility, though. They represent the epitome of the nuttiness of the video game craze. Video games were so ubiquitous that we had to build them into *tables*. If you're into the nostalgia and remembering what it was like back then, you can't do much better than a cocktail. I wouldn't turn one down, regardless of what it looked like.

Some were better than others, anyway. I always thought the side-by-side Joust cocktail was pretty cool. The one thing I can't stand is the vertical control panel found mostly on Nintendo cocktails. You either have to hold your wrists at an awkward angle or else hold the stick with your palm facing you and whack the buttons with your knuckles. Very uncomfortable to play for any length of time.