Tybee Games - F.A.Q.

If I buy a Coin-Operated machine from Tybee Games, can I legally make money from its use?
Yes, as long as you purchase the proper state-issued decal for operating the particular machine in your business (or wherever).

Can you make a cocktail cabinet or sit-down type machine where 2 players face each other?
Yes. We don't have any examples of this on our site yet, but one is in the works soon. The design is complete and waiting for someone to commission one. Our multicades page shows a 3D model of one.

A lot of your pages talk about not being able to include games in your machines. What's the deal?
We are in the United States of America, where copyright laws are enforced. If we sell arcade machines with unlicensed copies of copyrighted video games, we will be in violation of US copyright laws and could be sued or worse. This does not apply to our coin-operated machines and combo cabs that include legitimate arcade game boards, but does apply to multicades, BITSYcade, System Zero & System 3. This is explained on the respective pages, but more info can be accessed by contacting us directly on this matter. We can't publish game acquisition techniques, but we can provide more information in private communications.

Where are you located exactly?
We are located in Loganville, Georgia, which is situated precisely between Athens and Atlanta. Construction of our products is now taking place at 2 different residential locations, so a permanent address for a shop or display showcase is currently unavailable. We can always be contacted online though or we can meet to deliver/pickup goods in the Loganville area. We don't publish a phone number on the site thanks to spammers and telemarketing robots, which have ruined it for everybody, but we will be glad to share it with you if you contact us first through our contact page here or our Facebook page.

How long does it take you to build an arcade machine?
It depends. Our quickest turnaround was 2 weeks (on a custom bartop machine that was already under construction). Our longest project was a 4-player machine that took 4 months, but we had to move our shop during that time and our only engineer had a broken hand for 2 of those months. Average time for an arcade machine is usually about a month. If we have parts on-hand, turnaround time is probably 2 weeks. If we have to order parts from overseas, expect it to take 3 weeks to a month (or longer, depending on parts availability and shipping times from places like Spain and China.) Expect a full size, 2-player machine to take 4-6 weeks and a full size, 4-player machine to take 6-8 weeks.

If I buy a Multicade machine from Tybee Games, can I legally make money from its use?
No. Operating an arcade machine for coin revenue in a commercial environment requires a state-issued license and these are only provided for arcade machines that contain a legitimate arcade board with legitimate serial number from a bona fide manufacturer, like NAMCO, SEGA, TAITO, WILLIAMS, etc. Therefore, a state-issued license cannot be obtained for a multicade board which contains unlicensed copies of copyrighted games, like those discussed on our Multicades page. However, you can still use a machine like this in the privacy of your home and even have it coin-operated, which is basically like having a big, electronic piggy-bank.

If I buy a Multicade from Tybee Games, can I have it in my [store/bar/business] if I don't charge money or run it as a FREEPLAY machine?
This is risky, especially in a bar or other business where local arcade/vending operators or leasors have machines or would like to install machines, as the presence of such a machine would cut into their potential profits and might motivate them to report a machine running unlicensed copies of copyrighted games (even for free) to the local state authorities. While this scenario is improbable, it is not impossible and we don't advise trying it to test your luck. In a business that isn't regularly scouted by arcade or vending operators/leasors (who know what they are looking at), the chances of such a scenario are increasingly less likely and safer, but the same laws can apply, even though legislation specific to this are either vague or currently non-existent.

I see Multicade machines and multigame systems all over eBay & Etsy with games included. Are these legal?
No. Those machines are illegal to sell (and illegal to buy as well, so be careful!). The sellers who are selling those machines are breaking US Copyright laws by selling those machines with unlicensed copies of copyrighted games included and it is just a matter of time before the authorities close in on them and shut them down and the owners of the copyrights file suits against them. Sites like eBay don't regulate this themselves due to the volume of items that go up for sale in a single day. Just because an item is for sale on eBay or Etsy, doesn't mean the item is legal to sell in the US (or purchase). Sellers of these items get away with it for a while though, by selling a few then creating a new username and starting again to try to keep ahead of authorities and copyright holders.

How long does it take you to build a BITSYcade?
To keep our parts costs down and pass those savings on to you, we order many of our parts directly from the manufacturers in China, rather than a middle-man operation in the US that might already have the parts on-hand, but mark them up by 100%. Therefore, we have to wait 2-3 weeks for the parts (LCD screen, audio amp, power supplies). While we wait, we build the cabinet. The process takes about 3-4 weeks.

How long does it take you to build a plug-n-play system like System 3 or System Zero?
These only take about 4-7 days, since most of the parts come from US vendors and we can get them in about 3 days and build the system once we have all the parts. If we have all the parts on-hand at time of order, we can have it ready in a day. Shipping takes about 2-3 days just about anywhere in the US. System 3 Deluxe takes a lot longer because of the expensive parts which need to be ordered from the source overseas (China, UK) to save money (controllers and system case). System 3 Deluxe takes about 3 weeks to complete because of this.

See current products at our Facebook shop!