Review for Game Room Solutions full size Pinball Cabinet

[psiomicron]

Game Room Solutions full size Pinball Cabinet ($800 after taxes)– Overall 3.65 out of 5 stars

I don’t normally write reviews but I believe my input on this may be helpful to others who decide to build a full-size virtual pinball machine. When I was shopping around for a kit I narrowed it down to Game Room Solutions (gameroomsolutions.com) and Rec Room Masters (recroommasters.com). I decided to go with Game Room Solutions because it was cheaper. I went with a cabinet that had the LCD, plunger, and USB cut and a 10-button layout with no controls on the lock down bar. After purchase I received an email asking what color buttons I wanted. I informed them I would like the colors that was displayed on the website (3 red, 3 blue, one dark blue, 1 white, 1 green, and 1 black), the black one looked appeared to be a bigger launch button. I later received and email asking if I wanted non-LED buttons, didn’t know this was an option, but replied back that if I could get LEDs I would prefer them. I was told the order was “updated on that”.

Buttons (3 out of 5)- So I finally received the cabinet, upon opening the box and taking inventory I noticed that I got non-LED buttons. No biggie, but why ask and say the order would be updated if you weren’t planning on sending them anyway. However, I did not get all the colors I wanted, instead I got 2 red, 2 blue, 2 black, 2 white, and 2 green standard buttons. Again, they asked what colors I wanted and yet they send something different. Additionally, I did not receive any large launch buttons at all.

Wood/Cabinet (4 out of 5)- The cabinet is a cam locking system. The wood and cuts, for the most part, are good quality. There were some pieces that were scratched, cracked, or expanded, but upon assembling the cabinet these issues did not affect the structural integrity or visual aspect of the machine, so I wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it. To access the internal part of the cabinet you have a hatch at the bottom and the rear of the cabinet. So, you either have to slide under the machine like your changing the oil, or you’ll need to be Stretch Armstrong to access buttons and plunger from the rear.

Plexi (3 out of 5)- The plexi glass slides into precut grooves on only THREE sides of the cabinet. For some reason the lock down piece has T-molding so this causes the plexi glass to droop down in the middle at the bottom. Because of this the plexi does slides out of the bottom right groves and falls on the TV. Simple fix would be to have the lock down piece have a plexi cut but more on that in the customer service section. In the meantime, I had to use a picture hook wrapped in electrical tape to hold the plexi in place for a temporary solution until I can route out a plexi cut on the lockdown piece.

Wiring/Control board (3 out of 5) – This is where another issue came up. The unit came with a control board with wires included. However, upon wiring the buttons, the wires where not even close to being long enough to reach the buttons on the right side of the cabinet. With these buttons I had to get extra wiring and splice the wires together to make them reach. The control board is auto detected by windows and works rather well.

Customer Service (1 out of 5)- This is where it goes downhill. I email support an informed them of my issues. Mainly the button colors, and plexi issue. I tried to explain the issues the best I could and even sent pictures (I did NOT mention anything about the scratches, cracks, and such with the wood). I did inform them about the wiring issue so that they are aware for future orders, but did not need anything from them on this. I was informed by a customer service rep that I ordered only 10 buttons and not the 13. Yes, I knew that, but that didn’t address the button color issue. Upon clarifying again with customer service, they state that I have to send the buttons back FIRST then they will send the colors I want. Really? You can’t send me the buttons I want fist, then send you the ones back I don’t want. I have to down my machine because you don’t trust me to send back buttons that cost less than $1.50 each after spending $800 on the cabinet? They still refused to send me the replacement buttons first. As for the plexi glass this is the response I got:

“For the plex I just spoke to the owner, it looks like its swooping. Right now it is fine.

They are trying to come up with a solution for this but it will be a week before they can find a proper solution for the plex.

The plex does have a tendency to do that swooping type of look especially if something was on it or with heat being a factor.

I'm sorry we can't fix anything with the plex at this moment.”

So, this kind of made me upset a little, because it’s not fine. I informed them there are two fixes for this issue, a wider plexi, or send me a lockdown piece that has a plexi slot cut.

At the end of the email I just stated:

“Honestly I have a couple friends and family who were going to buy but I'll probably tell them to go to rec room masters. I will also be posting an overall review on all the sites as well.”

All I said was “overall review” no mention of what type of review.

Also, a few people suggested to me that I contact the BBB on this, I mentioned this in another email as well. I get the following response from Tina:

“I do not deal with people that threaten me or my employees. I refuse to help you further due to this. Return all my products.”

Really? Where is the threat against her or her employees? There was no foul language, swearing, threats of violence, or anything. The email(s) were about the company’s quality of customer service. I know the employees were doing what they were told and I don’t blame them as much as who’s telling them what to do. I tried to explain this to Tina. Tina blames COVID for not able to get the plexi issue resolved because it’s hard to get unless you a government agency, even though I was able to contact various local dealers who were willing to get me what I needed on plexi sizes (although now I plan to go with tempered glass). I told Tina, that she didn’t need to send any new plexi if COVID is an issue but again, a lock down piece with a plexi slot cut would resolve the issue. I have yet to hear back from anyone.

So, there you have it. I included pictures of everything. Overall, its not a bad cabinet for the price, and if your willing to resolve any issues yourself you should be happy. Just be prepared if your planning to contact customer service for anything.

Pictures of the issues:

https://imgur.com/a/OeeIWpp

Also found out Gameroomsolutons.com and Arcademodup.com are the same company! It seems I wasn’t the only person who had this issue with Customer service, here some links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEX1o2nf7MA

https://www.reddit.com/r/Arcade1Up/comments/g16sob/just_bought_a_mod_kit_from_arcademodup_was/

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=159810.0

https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroPie/comments/aim2n1/an_update_to_my_post_regarding_an_error_from_game/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Arcade1Up/comments/ex1lav/arcademodup_experiences/

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Gameroomsolutions-Sucks-105070337840424/posts/

https://www.reddit.com/r/virtualpinball/comments/emt55q/anyone_bought_the_gameroomsolutions_mini_pinball/ (mentioning support not the greatest)

[eighties8]

Sorry to hear about your experience with this company. I was interested in their 43" cabinet as well, mainly due to the fact they have free shipping and it can be flatpacked and quickly assembled with camlocks (and idea that may sound better than it actually works in reality - Ikea furniture is not meant to be constantly nudged, lol).

Then once I found out about the limitations of the design, as you indicate, there is no way to access the cabinet from top. The monitor and playfield glass (plexi) are fixed in place and not designed to be removed unless you take the cabinet sides off.  Puzzling design choice there when it could have easily been avoided with a more standard playfield glass design.

Anyway, I've opted for another vendor you didn't mention, "Monster Arcades" out of Carrolton Georgia (West of Atlanta).

Made the choice primarily because they have a WPC styled cabinet but also they are within driving distance from me so I don't incur shipping fees. The one thing about their cabinet though (they offer 40" standard and 43" widebody available in both unfinished birch and in thermal laminated birch), is that they have reduced the depth of the cabinet from standard WPC of 51.5 down to 47 inches. This makes the playfield area more suitable to a 16:9 format monitor/tv but at the expense of having to use non standard siderails, glass guards and playfield glass. The monitor actually may go under the backbox slightly, which is actually just like modern machines from Stern and Williams and gives more of a 3D effect, in my opinion, than when the cabinet is longer than the monitor and you have to use a wedge spacer there. FWIW, here are a few shots of modern Stern cabinets at the back:

FWIW, that's a quick summary if anyone is considering options. Virtuapin.net has one of the only available WPC widebody cabinets that is exact replica of the late 90's WPC machines. I couldn't afford the shipping from Michigan though and opted to source one closer to home.