Filling in the middle ground, the mid-tier PC keeps the desktop at 1080p but performs at high speeds on everything. For those who want performance without the Falcon PC price. The FALCON arcade machine models have now been upgraded from the Stock PC to the Mid-Tier PC to start, upgradable to the Falcon PC if desired. Comparison chart below!
Workshop Update: Falcons, Fast Shipping, and a Peek at What’s Next
Things have been flying here at the shop lately. We've been hard at work building a ton of new Falcon cabinets, and we’re excited to say we’re nearly to a point where we’ll have spare production time for our next big thing. Huge thanks to our amazing customers for your patience and support!
With production flow on track, we’re shifting gears to make things even easier: some of our most popular designs will soon be available in our webstore for immediate purchase and shipping. No more waiting in the queue, just click, order, and game on!
Behind the scenes, we’re also cooking up some seriously exciting projects for commercial clients. While we can't show everything just yet, we can tell you that we’re building some massive custom cabinets for a museum exhibit featuring science-based games., and custom FTL machines for multiple well known gaming companies. Stay tuned for a full reveal!
Whether you're a home gamer, business, or educational partner, there's never been a better time to get in touch. Big things are happening, and we’re just getting started.
—Team Paradox
Falcon 2.0
THE BEST JUST GOT BETTER…
The FALCON 2.0 is now rolling out!
Completely retooled from the ground up. Falcon Colossus 2.0 features:
- Fully redesigned DIY-friendly assembly. Still all plywood construction and quality. This DIY design will be available as a kit, and this design reduces our production time and labor costs. It's seamless at the control panel now too, previous versions the control panel box was visible.
- New (again!) RGB LED molding. Finally serviceable without specially tools or skills. The two previous versions had visible single LEDs, required soldering, had durability issues in shipping and more. This design looks better than the others, is gorgeously diffuse, and can be easily replaced if damaged.
- Curved-front control panel box. Previous versions were flat-front and required some woodworking skills for assembly.
- Improved steering wheel integration in matching curved-front box. Swappable FFB/360 wheels.
- Storage drawer with cut foam insert for peripherals
- Quick draw gun holster integration.
Each one requires a handful of 3D printed parts for trims/fit and finish.
Check the ABOUT section for details on the RGB molding and steering wheel details.
Gun Updates
Quick update on guns as we roll out the Falcon 2.0 machines. Going forward the ADVANCED LIGHT GUN will be the only light gun we use on the FTL and FALCON arcade cabinets. Most of our customers choose this optional upgrade anyway and they’re so much better than the older Aimtrak tech. So we’re making a switch. They’re a bit more expensive than the Aimtrak guns so there's some price changes to reflect that.
We’re also making these guns available as a standalone kit for DIY customers. You can get just the guns or add a PC for plug and play action.
VECTOR Racing and updates...
VECTOR RACING
Get ready to race! The VECTOR racing cabinet is here. We wanted a few things out of a multigame racer which we hadn’t seen before.
1.) Dynamic buttons for PIN codes, VIEW buttons and navigation
2.) An easy way to see the controls during the game on a per=game basis
3.) A cockpit option with the smallest footprint possible
4.) Easy LAN linking for 2+ player games
I’m happy to report we achieved these things with this new cabinet. Details below!
FECTOR RACING
CABINET FEATURES
Automatic LAN link for linking 2 cabinets: Player 1 launches a LAN game, player 2 will automatically join the game.
Stream Deck (left of steering wheel): Switches to view buttons, PIN pad, or front end navigation icons
7in Screen (right of steering wheel): Shows game controls (nearly 200 unique control screens!)
2.1 speakers with subwoofer under the seat
Authentic Racing Seat with adjustable slide and tilt functions
Backlit control panel with retro digital display graphics
LED brake lights and a cupholder
Gaming PC
All plywood cabinet with 8x heavy duty casters
Plexiglass monitor bezel
Smoked plexi rear cockpit window
Two retro art packages available: SUNSET and NIGHT
PC SPECS
Intel i7
GTX 1050 Graphics
16gb Ram
550w Power Supply
DISPLAYS
32" Main Monitor
Static Backlit Marquee
Static Backlit Control Panel (with retro digital display graphics)
7in Controls Screen
INTERFACE FEATURES
Servo-driven Force Feedback Steering and Joypad buttons on the face
6 Gear H-Shifter
Triple Pedals
Compatible with nearly 200 games, focused on arcade titles. 60 games are LAN linkable! 70+ games are force feedback compatible. See the game list HERE.
Ships fully assembled with white glove service. Discount provided if buying a pair of linked machines.
DIMENSIONS:
32" W x 55" L x 65" H
SHOP UPDATES
Back in May we had a small tornado tear the roof off the shop. Since then we’ve moved into a larger facility and brought in more production equipment to improve and expand our products - one of which is the VECTOR racing cabinet. Improvements to the FALCON machine and more products coming soon!
RACING
THE PROBLEM
Buckle up, this is a long update!
We like the start-up approach; “Talk to customers, improve the product.”. We’re also trying to strike a balance on popular games vs. playability vs. manufacturing. What’s all this about then? The Falcon Racing wheels, that’s what.
The availability of the arcade pedals has been a huge challenge in the last 18 months. It was bad enough that we started scooping up used pedals and refurbishing them with new powder coating and new electronics. This is completely untenable in the long term as it’s extremely labor intensive and not a reliable supply source. Our previous source for pedals was Suzo Happ but at times there were lead times exceeding 12 months on resupply of the arcade pedals. Also untenable.
We like the authenticity of the arcade pedals, but continuing on with a product that’s been this difficult to acquire demands change.
So what do we do? Well there’s always simulator pedals. Switching things up means we could do force feedback wheels too. This leaves out your 360 wheel games (think Off Road, Super Sprint, Pole Position etc…) so what do we do about the gamers that love those few precious titles? Some of our customers have expressed a desire for FFB wheels instead, so there’s that to think about too.
SOLUTION
So we’re winding down the arcade pedal hardware in favor of consumer racing sim pedals. We’ve tried these on and off before, but I think we’ve got a setup that we’re happy with now. We’ll keep some refurbished arcade pedals in storage for warranty support and sell through the rest of the stock over the coming months.
As mentioned there are still some 360 games that just don’t quite feel right with a FFB (force feedback) wheel. Well, we’ve got you covered. We’ll have the 360 wheels as an available add-on to the FFB setup. We’ve cooked up a huge spreadsheet showing the various pedals and wheels and what works with what, all that’s coming very soon to the Falcon machines. The FFB setup has a handful of games where both players get full force feedback and stick shift implementation. Very cool stuff!
CHANGES
Look for these changes soon! Pricing has been adjusted already to reflect the changes because if you’re buying today you’ll be getting FFB wheels by default.
With all this we’re revising the product builder section, including a “ground up” option with all variables possible on one product. It’s a huge undertaking but it’ll make things much easier for you at checkout.
After all that, let’s get a look at how the first FFB setups are coming out! Everything is detachable and easy to remove - the wheels and shifters store inside the cabinet, alongside the light guns and keyboard etc…
Wheels and shifters off
Wheels and shifters on
Survey Results
First of all thanks to all who voted! A few months back we asked which kind of products you’d like to start seeing us carry. Much to our surprise there’s a demand for printing and DIY parts, despite there being tons of great vendors out there already for that stuff. Here’s how the rankings have turned out so far…
Dedicated Custom Racing Arcade Cabinets
More Buttons/Joysticks/Parts
Vinyl Printing Services
In-Stock XL Complete Arcade Cabinets
DIY Flat-Pack Cabinet Kits
In-Stock 30" Complete Arcade Cabinets
Digital Products: Plans and Tutorials
We’ve started on the racing cabinets and flat pack designs, two areas where we think we can add value to the marketplace. Pretty soon we’ll have arcade PCs in the store too. Stay tuned!
Racers and Gun Cabs In Development!
We’re working on linkable racing cabinets and lightgun cabs. Head to the store page to preview them and sign up to be notified when they’re available!
PC vs Pi
THE HEART OF THE MACHINE
So you’re looking at arcade cabinets and wondering “why are some of these custom cabs a couple hundred bucks and some are way more?” Well, apart from materials and build quality a large contributing factor is the processing power that runs it all. If you like speed and accuracy in your games avoid anything that use anything buy a PC. Lots of builders are using the Raspberri Pi, let's look into why PCs reign supreme:
Processing Power
This is a big one. If you’re on Pi most games newer than the mid-90s are going to struggle in one way or another. With powerful CPUs and GPUs, PCs can effortlessly handle the demands of emulating a wide range of gaming platforms, from the 8-bit era to the modern-day consoles. This raw horsepower translates into smoother emulation, higher frame rates, and better compatibility with a variety of games.
Flexibility
With a PC you can upgrade components in the future, adding more RAM, upgrading the graphics card.
Software
Emulators are often optimized for PC hardware, leveraging advanced features like DirectX and Vulkan to deliver exceptional performance. Additionally, PC users have access to a myriad of plugins, shaders, and customization options, allowing them to fine-tune their emulation experience to perfection. Pi falls way behind in terms of active marquee, led buttons, and force feedback racing support.
Support
We offer remote wifi support on most of our machines, an experience that’s optimized on PC.
While Raspberry Pi has its merits, particularly in terms of affordability, when it comes to game emulation, PCs are the champion. All of our PC specs are fully listed so you know exactly what you’re getting. Don’t skimp on the brain, it’s important!
New Controller Add-Ons!
Guitar Hero and Wii controller add-ons are now live in the store!
