I Finally Found a rare Nintendo Playchoice-10 | Tech Nibble

[@RMCRetro]

Hello Cave Dwellers! If you enjoyed this video I'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe to the channel, thank you! And if you'd like to visit The Cave and try this machine out for yourself you can book a trip at retrocollective.co.uk - See you there! Neil

[@programaths]

In Italy, there was a Nes system working with lives instead and the amazing thing was that lives carried over games. So, much more complicated than a timer. And that was weirdly located, the machine was on the shore with a military net above, like in a mini cave done just for it. I never met another player there. Each time I went to play, there were nobody around ^^ It was also dirt cheap to play, do not remember the exact amount, but low enough to even play 5 minutes without feeling screwed.

[@cadburybunny]

At 10:02 ... izzat a 1969-1989 Canuck Quarter? It sure looks like the ones I used to plug into machines here in Canuckistan!!

[@thebongmaster]

hove you got a RM Nimbus in your collection yet?

[@MD4564]

You have a number of options. 1. Install wheels so it can move easily (or use a trolly to help with moving)> 2. Install your own little (DIY) lift for larger objects.

[@TBMartin]

Haven't seen one of these in 20 years. My favourite metal nightclub in Southsea had one of these tucked away in a corner for us metal/goth heads to play on while partying the night away to the heaviest sounds around.

[@beetooex]

Nu metal era!

[@hicknopunk]

That is because 20 years ago everyone took the video boards out to put in Famicom titlers.

[@TBMartin]

@@hicknopunk No its because the club closed down 20 years ago.

[@shorerocks]

Thumbs up for the metal nightclub.

[@fensoxx]

Just a tip for those oversized screw holes in wood. Glue a few toothpicks in there. When it dries cut off the excess and you’re then all set to screw back into it.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

Wow, this looks absolutely beautiful, I grew up in England but unfortunately 15 years too late to see one of these, so I was only aware of the American releases, this UK model is new to me. The small monitor makes a lot of sense and looks quite good, I always thought the American models with twin full-size CRTs were horribly wasteful. The colours look incredible on the RGB monitor, it’s really sharp too, I was stunned by the image as I’ve never seen an NES running on a CRT with such quality. I find the colour palette is usually too garish, especially for games like Mario 3, but most of the footage you showed worked well with the colour change, especially on that gorgeous monitor, I’ve been using a top of the range Trinitron as my main CRT for years and while it is beautiful, it just doesn’t quite match the resolution and quality of an arcade monitor like this. It almost makes me want to look into getting some professional tier monitors, but I can’t justify the £500+ cost of the £200 to get my NES RGB modded. *EDIT:* I also want to compliment you on your CRT filming, it’s incredibly well done, I almost never see such accurate off-screen footage from a CRT, it’s very sharp, artefact free, and none of the colours are distorted.

[@freedomvigilant1234]

I remember one of these Arcade Cabinet's in the Shakespeare Pub in Kendal, Cumbria, UK. The game I played was Gryzor.

[@mogwaay]

Awesome, really need to make plans to visit again... I remember the overnight P&O ferry to Shetland had one of these and I remember being really confused by itat the time, I was like "hey this is just a NES" and I had a NES and I didn't need to pay to play it.however being stuck on a boat overnight for 14hours did encourage me to cough up the quids! Would be fun to try it again.

[@sierraboney1394]

Very nice cab! Two Hantarex MTC9000 monitors, looks like the 20" has had a new lopt/flyback transformer recently so should be good for ages! That board you said is for adjusting the monitor is actually the RGB inverter board (you'll notice that both monitors use one), used as such because the RGB outputs from the PC10 pcb are inverted from normal. The adjustment boards are plugged straight into the chassis in this cab. Sometimes they are on extensions routed through to the coin door for convenience. :)

[@InfectiousGroovePodcast]

I used to love the PlayChoice10 machines! We used to go to a Big Boy restaurant as a family sometimes and that's the only machine they had. It was cool in a way because we'd try a bunch of Nintendo games we didn't own at home.

[@bobbus_74]

I remember playing on a PlayChoice at the local British Legion. When I'd go there, my dad or uncle would bung me a couple of quid so I'd pop it in the Playchoice and have a go. At that time, I didn't know anyone with a NES so it kind of just felt like a lower-spec arcade machine. Watching your time remaining deplete before your eyes was slightly anxiety-inducing though. 😄

[@OidHunter]

We have a working Playchoice 10 at our local computer museum, my son and I had fun playing Mario

[@OidHunter]

Just realised you mentioned that you helped restore the same one at the museum 👍

[@RMCRetro]

Yep and it's still going strong there in Swindon Museum of Computing, well worth a visit

[@retroimportgamer513]

That's a wonderful piece of history and it looks in amazing condition. Picture quality also looks great and the RGB aspect really seems to make a difference I agree, at the time I would not have been tempted to put money into one back in the day but now it's an awesome thing to have The Sega one would be a great accompanying piece 👍✌️

[@rickylovesyou]

All that's missing now is a star wars sit in cabinet, a few various candy cabinets from their respective publishers and a hydraulic powered space harrier cabinet. 🥰

[@Daz5Daz]

Whilst I absolutely hated this pay for time model on the Playchoice at the time I do love that this great bit of kit is being preserved and will be enjoyed by many at the Cave.

[@zemaj0]

Excellent video did the games run at PAL or NTSC games I wouldn't put money in this as a kid but now I would love to try it now

[@hobbified]

My favorite pizza place in the US in the 90s had a PlayChoice-10 machine, but yes, it was a different style. The two monitors were more similar sizes and the front of the cabinet didn't rake back like that.

[@rahkuaschount]

Welcome to England, where the newest building is 600 years old and was made at a time when the tallest man was 3'

[@davidbanner9001]

I really don't think that was very expensive in todays market and indeed the condition etc. I had to add the following additional comments after I saw your full video. That I never liked the play choice 10. Time limited and basically a home console. I really didn't see the point of playing them at the time, just like yourself. But it's still great to have this machine in the cave.

[@Wanton110]

You could slap a Weylan-Yutani logo on that Players Choice and paint it in that Aliens grey/green colour and it would look like it's straight off the movie set of Alien/s

[@traviswright456]

Congratulations, this is holy grail at its finest. Don't ever get rid of this. They are becoming more rare by the year.👍🤙

[@funkoidi]

I have it on good authority that my Brent Leisure cab (compact) was built by and purchased from a company in South Wales back in 1987. That detail came from the owner of the operator that mine was branded by 👍

[@worldgate989]

I clicked on this video because this caught my eye and reminded me of back at the water park where i lived who had hacked games in one of these. I'm super jelous :D

[@Dazreil]

One of my favourite memories as a kid was going to a country pub with the family. In this pub they had one of these and the land lord put 4 hours of time on it for us, this was before we got a NES, so me and my brother just played Super Mario Bros for hours for free.

[@vileslair]

That monitor looks absolutely pristine, what a great pickup!

[@ebridgewater]

00:04 Oh God, that slide will scratch the back of the unit 🥺

[@JopieHaargel]

It was painful to watch...! And then scraping it up those stone stairs.

[@michaelmcpeters8098]

You really should invest in a refrigerator dolly... would make bringing large heavy object upstairs a LOT easier.

[@leegraves8878]

I thought the same thing a dolly sure would make that a lot easier.

[@OMorty]

That model of PlayChoice 10 seems nicer than the one I've seen all across the US!

[@Jef_Vermassen]

Played a lot on this cabinet when I was a child. Back then our local hypermarket: 'GB' (Grand Bazar) had these on free play to promote the NES. It wasn't that popular (and I was happy with that, more playing time for me! :p). So every week or two when our family would go for some shopping I'd spend the entire time playing on the cabinet. Thanks for making me revisit those memories! :)

[@charlesdebarber2997]

Fun Fact: The Punch Out!!! for the PlayChoice-10 is the only game that came out for it with a battery backup. The version of Punch Out!! on the PS-10 has that to record scores, while the actual NES version doesn't. So, it is unique in that way to the actual NES rom.

[@RMCRetro]

That’s a great fact thanks Charles

[@gregwalsh2354]

Wow. I remember being amazed by this machine as a kid in The Boathouse pub in Chester. I'd stand there bewildered at the Nintendo games praying my parents would get me an NES 😁

[@ArcadeCabNBud]

Did your parents get you the nes in the end ?

[@gregwalsh2354]

@@ArcadeCabNBud They did indeed! I'm pretty sure this was my first exposure to SMB2 as well. I was in awe!

[@MatSpeedle]

One of my earliest gaming memories is playing Super Mario 2 on one of these. Was probably down Southsea, back in the magical days when the streets were lined with epic Arcades

[@EdCourtenay]

I used to work for a company that rented video games to pubs, and the Playchoice 10 was a popular machine (as well as the similar Sega Mega-Tech system). The major problem with this unit was that punters would play it at varying levels of intoxication, and would invariably try to balance their pint glasses on the top - which would equally invariably fall over and pour their contents into the void where the top monitor is located, destroying the PCB for the monitor. It was such a regular occurrence that we kept a spare monitor in our vans so that we could do an on the spot repair job.

[@shorerocks]

I can smell that, ha ha.

[@firestar3x]

What a monster of a machine!

[@M0L0TOV]

That's interesting you mention the cabinet being made in the United Kingdom. I like it how when you look at the Super Mario Bros. 3 PCB you can see one of the chips is made or distributed by Sega of Spain.

[@Laserdreamz]

Very nice, would like one of those NES selectors you used to see in department stores. I had a latter revision megatech machine in the early 2000s, had wiring inside for megadrive 2, never got it going though, inexperience and little internet access.

[@joshmiller887]

I’m in the states and I’ve never seen one of these cabinets. Amazing! Thank you for sharing!

[@retrodave79]

In Spain we have a very similar PlayChoice but MUCH MUCH more interestig, I have one at my house, and all the parts, the games and even the stickers in the glass have the SEGA logo, yep, a Nintendo Arcade machine and cartridges by SEGA Spain (SEGASA).

[@davidfranzkoch9789]

Very nice! Thanks for showing us this rarity!

[@RMCRetro]

Thanks for watching David!

[@theadamtron]

I recall seeing one of these machines at a Roys store in Norfolk as a game demonstrator on freeplay, only the zealous store owners had set the timer for like 2 minutes. It was barely enough time for the game to load!

[@sanityormadness]

I would have looked into how much of the thing I could have taken apart before trying to move it upstairs! PS: 18:12 - slight editing glitch? Double Dragon prompt is held over the Punch Out gameplay for a while.

[@Monster-gr8on]

What an incredible find. Congrats!

[@sellectivecollective90s]

Great cab have one myself that's currently away for rebuild managed to score a NOS control panel overlay awhile back so can't wait to get it back 🤩

[@PixelsAtDawn]

The only time I used a Play Choice was when dragged into a hotel bar by my parents on holiday. It was the only arcade unit in there, and kept me from being a bored child that day. Thanks Play Choice!

[@earlbrown4398]

Fond memories of seeing these at Motorway Service Stations!

[@estrichleger5833]

When I was 8 or 9 I played on one of them in France. It was a little restaurant. That was a great time.

[@mrb3991]

HI Brilliant Cabinet, My Uncle used fix arcade machines , although he never repaired one of these, I did get to play in free mode on the first Asteroid machine with a track ball, thanks for the video

[@matthewmartin238]

Love seeing more arcades added to the Cave!

[@SwainyAtRetroAsylum]

I used to play on one of these in my local pub. Probably before I actually played on an NES console. I hated the time limit, it would have cost a fortune to finish any of the games on it.

[@ShapeyFiend]

This was the cabinet we had at my local Supermacs in Ireland. The Playchoice version of Mario 3 (and The Wizard) came out a good year or more earlier than the PAL version so I spent a lot of 20p's to get to that first warp whistle and not much further.

[@gamesessions]

Wonderful memories of playing on this every Summer in my youth. We used to go to something called Play Scheme at my local sports centre where we’d be dropped off as kids and get activities to do every day in summer and they had a Play Choice 10 there. I remember Kung Fu, Contra, Punch Out and SMB2 were the popular ones, think it might have had Golf on it too. Great memories, and it was eventually replaced by a Mortal Kombat II machine, which was also great!

[@Ed-eq5kd]

I remember playing this with mixed appreciation of the system. On the one hand, using a proper joystick and buttons was a more premium arcade experience. On the other, the games felt a bit of a let down, particularly my all time favourite Double Dragon. At a time when we looked to the Arcade for cutting edge graphics and sound, this didn’t deliver. However, in the cave, it’s a great addition 😊

[@jamesragsdale3069]

Mr.Baxter thank you for your work! The 4 slot neo geo machines were pretty common in the US. Or at least in the southeast. A local campground had a VS machine with the lightgun, and that was really cool.

[@jeffredd9965]

My parents had this playchoice 10 and sit down cabinet hard drivin in their pub back then. good days

[@BrassicGamer]

Great to see things like this being given a home.

[@charlies5217]

I remember one of these machines in the Queen's Bowling Centre in Rhyl, great video 👍 I remember playing Mario on it. the machine and the building are long gone so great to see one again.

[@Tomsonic41]

I have only ever seen the Playchoice-10 with two full size monitors, or the smaller desktop version that uses the same monitor for both instructions and gameplay. This version reminds me of the Sega Mega-Tech - you don't really need a giant screen just for the instructions and timer!

[@milk-it]

That's quality A-level gaming. Awesome purchase and addition to the Cave, Neil!

[@arcanescroll]

I'm not sure how common they were here in the US, but I played one that looked just like that in Nevada back in the days. Was at a department store or something like that. I remember playing it while waiting for my grandmother to finish shopping.

[@mattcalpin1924]

I'm a massive MegaDrive fan & used to own a MegaTech machine years ago. Me & a friend had to haul it up 4 flights of stairs to my flat at the time, he was owed many beers for that one... I will say, unless Neil is considerably taller than me (I'm 6'2") the MegaTech is quite a lot bigger than the Playchoice. In both height & depth if my memory serves me!

[@peanutismint]

Great video! Remember playing on these a lot growing up. I was also glued to one of the rare Super Nintendo ones you showed at a ski lodge we visited on holiday; I’d love it if you could find one of those and give it a look!

[@scottgamedev]

I can confirm that the Magnum Pleasure Centre in Irvine, Scotland, had a Nintendo Super System still playable in its lobby until at least the early 2000's, but was sadly moved/lost when the Magnum itself was finally demolished in 2017. I constantly wonder if a Scottish arcade collector has it hidden somewhere in a deep, dark cave somewhere in Ayrshire... hopefully safely!

[@John_Locke_108]

Magnum Pleasure Centre?? That sounds real scary. Parking lot was probably filled with dudes trying to get couches in their vans while wearing a cast.

[@binkman853]

Congrats! Nice looking game. Never saw that cabinet style in the US. Enjoy.

[@DrBagPhD]

Genuinely envious. Here I am struggling to source a single CRT TV and I see you acquiring this gorgeous cabinet. Looks to be in solid nick!

[@meatpockets]

Wow, that SMB palette looks really nice in person on a real Playchoice-10/CRT. Looks nothing like the digital version if you're playing an emulator on your PC. This looks a lot like a Sony CXA to me (which is my preferred palette on an emulator).

[@FritzCopyCat]

I was thinking the same thing; the colours via an emulator are usually very garish. The Sony CXA palette is my palette of choice too.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

It’s a weird situation, the Playchoice-10 RGB palette is usually more garish than the composite colours of a real NES. But it works quite well for Mario 1, some games look a lot worse. Mario 3 for example looks very garish. The default FCUEX palette is definitely pretty far off but Firebrand X made some great palettes that match the composiure colours a lot closer.

[@CSIG1001]

i remember seeing these in the arcade and playing them , the joysticks were alot smaller with a ball top. maybe sanwa

[@clivejones5880]

I owned one back in the day, I had at at home and played many a game of Contra on it. I actually wanted a Sega Megatech because there was one in my local pub but ended up with the Playchoice after the operator had sold all the Megatech's.

[@LawmanArcade76]

Congrats . About the MegaTech, good luck finding games for a reasonable price, sadly they skyrocked too. And when I saw your UK Playchoice, I immediately thought "hey, that looks like my mega tech with the small crt" :D

[@RMCRetro]

Thanks! Thankfully the MT I've found has a good selection of games with it. Here's hoping it all works out.

[@mdonoCFC]

Love these!! Such a nice guy too

[@bryndal36]

That Player's Choice cab looks a bit like the original Marvin the Paranoid Android from the old tv series of Hitchiker's Guid to the Galaxy.

[@pseudotasuki]

I'm glad you covered up those windows. Accidentally erasing one of the EPROMs would be a major bummer.

[@spooforbrains]

You've done well there, even considering the price. Very little resto work needed

[@lilwyvern4]

The idea behind the Playchoice 10 seems pretty solid: have a demo unit to advertise games available for the NES, kind of like one of those kiosks you'd see in department store in the 2000s. Unfortunately, there's no way they'd stand toe-to-toe with dedicated game cabinets at the time. If you put this in a store like a Blockbuster or as a side attraction in a convenience store, I could see one doing well.

[@josangoj78]

One chip on the cart @ 12:08 reads 'SEGA, S.A.', that company (also known as 'Sonic') distributed all Nintendo arcade products in Spain. I believe it started as an Spanish branch of the original Sega of Japan, but later it gained quite independence.

[@SullySadface]

Ohhh, that explains the Action 52 branding on those plug and play joysticks at the mall.

[@aner_bda]

Really awesome cabinet! I would love to have one of these at home.

[@althejazzman]

I've had my original NES modified for RGB output and the colours are so rich with the shapes so sharp. I would highly recommend it for that arcade visual experience in the modern age.

[@bigredracingteam9642]

Yeah I'm surprised to hear that some actually prefer the look of the composite out.

[@hjalfi]

The mill absolutely needs to invest in a stair-climbing trolley. They have three wheels on each side, arranged in a triangle, and the whole triangle rotates, so you can push it on a level surface _and_ you can pull them up and down stairs with minimal effort. No annoying (and dangerous) lifting any more!

[@MrDintheD]

It was an interesting concept. Good for those who couldn't afford getting an NES when it first came out, but not so good years later when the NES became more widespread, the games library grew, and prices eventually came down. Also, video game rentals probably contributed to making these strange arcade boxes disappear. Barcade in Detroit has one. Prior to that, I hadn't seen one in almost 35 years (at Showbiz pizza).

[@ncot_tech]

0:09 - Come on Barry, pick the end up. To me... To you... to me... to you.

[@electricadventures]

Very nice addition to the cave (I am amazed any of you can still walk after lugging that up the stairs though!!). It would be a nice way to play NES games, my hands don't like the NES controller, so being able to use arcade controls would be excellent.

[@arcademaster1]

That cabinet looks like a Mega-tech converted to a PC10. I’ve been in the arcade business for 25 years and bought dozens of PC10 cabinets and I’ve never seen an “official” pc10 in that cabinet. This appears to be a conversion. All official pc10’s had the Sanyo (or sharp) monitor, not hantarex. Also the pcb board never had a daughter board. I think that daughter board is part of that cabinet conversion. I love the PC10 and it’s rare to find that conversion in a mega-tech cabinet. Nice score!

[@RMCRetro]

Interesting! I’ll have a Mega Tech soon so I’ll make a comparison but it seems to be identical to the PC10 I worked on at Swindon museum which is seen briefly in the video

[@arcademaster1]

@@RMCRetro I actually owned an original Mega Tech cabinet (rare in America) and it looked like your cabinet. I still have a bunch of the carts somewhere. I’m fairly certain that it’s a kit (might be wrong) because when I had mine, I could see how those satellite boards would be a conversion. I’ve never seen those satellite boards on anything else. I’m more curious as to WHY they needed that satellite board. I owned all those systems… super system, mega play, tech, PC10, etc. all back when I had a big operation.

[@FuzzyOne2007]

This was my GOTO cabinet in any arcade i visited :)

[@100tinsoldiers]

so you use to GOTO 10 :)

[@FuzzyOne2007]

@@100tinsoldiers YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

[@GenerationPixel]

That's a lovely thing, and I can only imagine how much Alex was drooling over it 🤣

[@draggonhedd]

My local airport had a Super System! They had a tiny little arcade off the main stairway that had like 10 machines in it, one was a playchoice 10, and one was a Super System! I remember those wacky SNES controllers.

[@RMCRetro]

Oh wow nice to say you’ve tried such a rare beast

[@deepakmorar7747]

Brings back lot of memories

[@hammondeggsmusic]

Hah cool I forgot about these. I vaguely remember one in an arcade - but mostly a sit down 2 sided thing in a donut store where one side was super Mario and the other side was rbi baseball. Even in 1990 it was always being played by someone during lunch in high school, you’d constantly hear the wail of the ball sound effect all the time!

[@Auxodium]

Well done! Great work mate!

[@dvv45]

Seen one a couple of years ago,when I picked up another game from a sellers collection. But play choice was not for sale. Still want one.

[@JamiesHackShack]

Fun memories of playing one of these at the local Rose's dept store with some of the fresh popcorn they always had popping! :-D

[@timsurman3354]

So glad you put labels covering the eprom window, that was making me twitch 😅

[@icoborg]

you know heavy duty 6 wheels Stair Climbing Carts exist.

[@CB-yb1jl]

When you hit king hippo in his open mouth his trunks drop exposing his weak spot on his belly marked with an X looks like a bandage. Low punch him in this area for a quick KO. Very nice machine!!

[@Jayfive276]

In the late 80s and early 90s I played (mostly Mike Tyson's Punch-Out) on these machines in the kids room at a river-side pub in chester, at Victoria Coach Station in London and at a bar in a camping resort in the South of France.

[@io4439]

The Cave space is filling rapidly!

[@retror.d.1630]

You’re a lucky man! I regret not getting one of these when they where affordable! I was too young and broke I guess 😏

[@MrSirViking]

I have seen a Super Mario cabinet when i was younger. Thought it was strange as i thought that Nintendo mostly did consoles and not arcade machines. I have also seen other selector machines. Not from Nintendo, but like once that must have been from like Neo Geo or SNK as i remember it had one of the Super Sidekicks games on it. It was just like a standard brown one screen cabinet that under the joysticks in the middle had a silver button to press to select games. And when you got to the game you wanted you put in money.

[@MikesArcadeMonitorRepair]

Those monitors look amazing! Congrats on the pickup.

[@basileosalexios9200]

First and foremost I must commend you for the amazing work you've been doing setting up the cave, the next time I'm in the UK I'm absolutely visiting. But I got one suggestion for you to improve the cave in the long run and make your life easier: if you know you need to transport heavy stuff on occasion up several flights of stairs, you gotta start thinking about a long-term solution for this problem. From watching the footage in the beginning of the video the first thing that came to my mind was how easier moving that cabinet up and down the stairs would have been if you had any sort of system of ramps and wheels to slide it through. Just, like, don't try and move anything valuable on your first solution because there's a lot that can go wrong especially if it's an improvised one - you probably also need some system with ropes to make sure that stuff don't roll down the ramps - so I'd suggest making a few trial runs with something heavy and inexpensive until you iron it out into something that you're confident and comfortable with :)

[@marcusdamberger]

What he needs is a appliance hand truck, with the built in stair climbers glide and optional kick out wheels that converts to 4-wheel mode. They make climbing and maneuvering heavy unwieldy objects like this so much easier! They also have built in ratchet straps to hold it. You can probably rent them locally if this is an uncommon thing to do. I'm like you, I think it would be easier and safer and less prone to damage, scrapping etc.

[@Auxodium]

three wheeled fridge trolley with straps are suitable for this situation.

[@voltare2amstereo]

Pretty sure these were a ” you can play this as home, by Nintendo” type device

[@MrJgsmith]

❤️ this channel. Thanks for making great content

[@plast3r]

I would love one of these myself deffo a good addition to the cave neil