$25k? $50k? $100k? How about $1,000,000? That’s what the seller of this Taito Chase H.Q. full motion simulator is asking? Not familiar with Taito or Chase H.Q.? Don’t worry, unless you were addicted to video arcade games in the early 80’s you are probably not alone.
Some of you may remember that it wasn’t all that long ago when John was trying to convince me we needed a Porsche pinball machine. Well, it would seem he’s found something similar that we MUST have. Fortunately Unfortunately, this one looks like it just might be a bit out of reach, at least from a pricing expectation standpoint. The seller has a buy it now price of $1,000,000. They can’t be serious, can they? This is just a strategy to get their listing noticed and published on sites like ours, isn’t it?
After a bit of research I found that the Taito Chase H.Q was released in 1988 and featured a Porsche driving (a black Porsche 928), miami-vice looking, criminal chasing cop named Tony Gibson. Apparently Tony, and his partner Raymond Broady, were part of the Chase Special Investigations Department. It was their role, that you as the game player filled, by chasing down the bad guys in their two speed, turbo powered Porsche 928.
At the start of each game you learn who you will be chasing and how far away they are from you. It's your job to chased them down and then run them off the road with a few well placed bumps (in my opinion a great way to dispose of most criminals). Each time you run down a criminal you advance to the next level and chase down a new car. All in all there are five levels and five criminals driving five completely different cars:
- Ralph, the Idaho Slasher (White Lotus Esprit)
- Carlos, the New York armed robber (Yellow Lamborghini Countach)
- Chicago pushers (White Porsche 911)
- L.A kidnapper (Blue Ferrari 288 GTO)
- Eastern Bloc Spy (Red Porsche 928)
While the seller of the simulator in question might be a bit over the top in their price and description this does look like a fun game for a Porsche enthusiast who also likes arcade games. If you're not interested in a "full motion" simulator that may take up as much room in your garage as the real thing, I also found a site that offers the stand-up version and for considerably less money.
So, what do you think, will the simulator version sell? The price is obviously a gimmick, so if does sell, how much will it go for? I already offered them $500 
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[Source: Ebay, Wikipedia, Arcade-Museum.com]
It looks too much like a Nissan GTR. I wouldn’t be caught dead in anything that looks like that.
I have a pinball machine from the early 90′s made by Data East called Check Point which features a Porsche theme. It’s pretty cool.
Well, I’m a second gen “coin-op” amusements business owner who had many Chase HQs and Checkpoint pinballs as well… the games are not that rare and many can probably still be found sitting, stored in warehouses taking up costly space as is the nature of our business. Though my machines are long gone (sold or broken up for parts) they do have a “book value” in this industry. I sold a Chase HQ up right video for $350 last year and was thankful to see it go to a nice home gameroom. The pinball is worth maybe $900 – $1500 tops depending on condition. It’s only the Porsche enthusiasts (of which I’m an avid member) presumed disposable income which has created a small market niche where silly money may be spent on what are old, retired games.
I have a High Speed pinball machine from the mid 80′s. It has what looks like a Testarossa on it, but the story Steve Richie (the designer) has is that he got the idea when he was running from the police in his Porsche.
This was my favorite arcade game in the late eighties/early nineties! I was very good at it, people standing next to me, waiting patiently for their turn haha! When i see the cabinet now, it looks so childish to me.