F355 Arcade Game

That would be fun to put in a garage along with someone's Ferrari.

 

I blew so many quarters on that thing I could have bought one. hrmph!

Very very cool.

 

Those are brilliant, they use the SEGA Naomi boardset which is a set of souped up Dreamcast consoles. They can be networked for group play as well! I have about 60 vids and pins in my collection and that one has eluded me, you almost never see them at auction because 15 years later they are still earners on location so they tend to stay in the field. I have a friend in LA that is going to the auction to go after that exact game on my behalf.

If you want to play the game without committing to a full sized environmental cabinet like that the Dreamcast port is actually VERY good and close to the arcade version sans the multiscreen features. You can pick up a Dreamcast, wheel and copy of 355 Challenge for under $100.

@Andrew, and any other Vegas gamers; be sure to check out Classic Gaming Expo in Sept; www.cgexpo.com

 

You just missed one for sale down here in Florida, Sub. I was a bit too late to grab it also, but I've been chasing one for my collection as well! Big collector and expo goer here also.

You'll have to send me your wish list, and vice versa. Always nice to have another set of eyes on the other coast

 

Ha! Brings back memories - I played that thing routinely when I was in college! Like another poster said above, I probably could have bought one with all of the money I spent on it!

 

I've seen them come up on Ebay from time to time. Usually in the $4000 range if that helps.

 

I also have blown a ton of money on that game. High scores bounced between me (always driving F1) and this other guy (always driving 6-speed), but the other guy cheated. I always wanted to have a contest between me and this guy, but included in the rule would be that if his tachometer ever went above 9 grand, he would be disqualified. He would constantly do gross overrevs.
That game is so fun!!!

 

If only my inlaws weren't in the third bedroom of my house!!!! That would the centerpiece of my man cave. Fond memories of that game.

 

I also played that machine, in Vegas a few years ago with my daughter, was either Circus Circus or New York New York. Great fun!
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I used to design 3-screen simulators for the Army.....haven't seen one in years. Would be a totally cool garage toy.

 

You can almost totally dismiss ebay prices, mainly they are incredibly overpriced waiting on an uninformed buyer to come along, many games have been on ebay for years waiting on that one buyer who doesn't know that $2700 is not a good price for PacMan that is worth $600. Sometimes games are posted and sell for legit prices, but most of them are bought at auction, wiped off, and a zero tacked onto the end of the price.

 

So, what is a good price for an F355 Challenge game in good condition?

Serious question. I don't know the market at all...

 

I wish I could tell you, I can quote the market for most games in most markets (operator, collector, amateur etc.) but this one is a oddity because they didn't build that many and they were/are earners to this day while most other games are moving on their regular progression through the market. There are allot of factors.

The normal market is that a game comes out and goes to 1st tier operators (think movie theaters, big name amusement places like Dave and Busters). After it is no longer earning enough to justify the space over bringing in a new game the operator takes it to auction and tries to sell it for what he paid for it new and it usually sells for 1/2 give or take. Then the game is bought usually by a 2nd tier operator (think family fun center, bowling alley, or similar) and maybe by a collector. After it runs its course of a few years it is back to auction on a regular basis every few years as other second/third tier operators and as the game ages increasingly more collectors looking for the games of their youth. During that part of the market cycle it also diffuses out to ebay, craigs list, peer to peer sales etc.

Example Game NEW $4000 Year 1
Tier 2 auction buyer $2200 Year 3
Tier 3 auction buyer $1000 Year 5
Collector $425 Year 8

Other factors come into play, such as the game size. Your average collector is not going to have or give up the space for a huge cabinet. So the larger "deluxe" video games tend to sell for less than the smaller versions although they sold for much more new. So if 355 Challenge has finally tapered off enough in earnings, or maintenance is trouble enough that the operator market is not interested in spending much if anything, then the question is the collector market. Maybe only a few if any local collectors at auction are willing to give up the space or ship the monster. So a huge deluxe game like this might go for well under $1000. Or, there might be a few operators and collectors interested and it might hit 3k. Because each auction/sale has a different mix of buyers you can look at the averages over time and estimate what a game will go for and if a game has gone to high to bid on and you just wait till next time. In the 15 years this game has been out I have seen 1 at auction and I got to allot of auctions.

I should also mention that operators are generally lazy bums and care about earnings while putting as little into the game maintenance as possible. At CGE 2012 we did a tour of the arcades in Vegas where I found 4 F355 games still in the arcades. In one arcade both were broken and not networked even though sitting side by side, another location had the pedal controls broken, and the 4th the seat and shifter were broken so the seat would slide around as you tried to drive. Last month all the games were still there other than the closed Gameworks location and all were still broken, but people walk up and dump in a few quarters and after giving up they walk over to the next machine and the operator has the money. As long as that keeps happening they are content.

 

Subarubrat: Wow, thanks for such a detailed response!

 

Couldn't you build a simulator for less than 3K?

 

Sure, but we collectors want the real thing. There are multi game setups called MAME (multiple arcade machine emulator) where you can have thousands of arcade games running in one cabinet, but we want the original hardware. If you wanted to do this on the cheap with a good result you can buy any old driver cabinet ranging from free to just over $100, outfit it with a Sega Dreamcast running 355 Challenge and a nice monitor etc. and make out for $500ish. The original physical hardware it what makes it cool for us collectors.

 

Guys I have the dual console like this one here. Except mine is actually 2 units so you can race each other.

Sega Ferrari F 355 Challenge Twin Arcade Game | eBay

If anyone is serious about purchasing one, PM me.

 

Any difference between yours and this one?

Arcade Ferrari F355 Challenge Twin | eBay

 

Eric, that looks like mine, by memory. I haven't seen mine in awhile. It's in storage. I don't have the top piece that says 355 Challenge. It looks like that attaches both together. Mine are not attached.

 

The problem with this specific game is that none of the ports available (Dreamcast and PS2) are as good the real deal, especially the three screen cabinet version, and there is no working MAME (or other) emulation for the full arcade version. The Dreamcast and PS2 ports are pretty good for single screen, but then you run into the fact that there's no H-pattern shifter and good force feedback steering setup for them. I have the ps2 version (runs on my ps3) with a logi g25 and it's alright but not nearly as good as the 3 screen arcade setup with H-shfiter. If anyone runs into one of those setups for under a grand, let me know and I'll be a buyer for sure. It could keep my 355 company and occupy a corner of my garage.

 

I actually meant for the casual fan. A good gaming PC and triple monitor setup could be a better purchase. Granted a F355 setup could hold value better.

 

Like Bobzdar said above, you could have a neat console based version but it would lack the full hardware feature of the arcade cab. If your a casual fan and are wowed by the non arcade version then it could well be the better buy. The Dreamcast version is pretty good too, but the arcade one has 3 souped up dreamcasts running together to present the 3 screen effect.

Nobody really gets into collecting to make money, games rise and fall in value but at best keep their value with a few exceptions. For example Mrs Pac and Galaga were selling for 2~300 for a decade until the home gameroom fad hit, then they shot up to $800~1000 (auction and collector prices). When the poker fad hit and everyone threw out their home gameroom to set up their poker room the market was flush with Mrs Pac and Galaga and they dropped back well under $500 quickly. Many other games have soldiered on at their normal prices. A few like Tempest have risen, and a few like Quantum have jumped.

And the same jokers listing Moon Patrol for $2600 and Mrs Pacman for $3800 on ebay have always been there.