The original Qix cabinet uses the tan Taito side art, with very dynamic marquee art. The bezel mimics what happens in the game and carries that design onto the control panel. The rest of the panel is black except for the P1 and P2 indicators and the repeated game name on the right. I like the idea of the overlowing art onto the panel but I’m not a huge fan of the way it was done here. Now if we look at the Willis Qix replacement control panel overlay, we see that Willis avoided all of that. Opting instead for a basic design, by using rounded off rectangles full of color to match the bezel. Basic text was used to indicate what the buttons do and a couple of Willis men make an appearance at the P1 and P2 spots. The Qix overlay also has the © WILLIS INDUSTRIES 1982 tag and PN 26-3179 printed in the lower right corner, indicating it was distributed by the Wico Corporation. While this is a pretty basic design, the contrast it has with the “busy” bezel kinda works. The Willis Qix overlay is fairly common, I’ve ended up with at least a dozen of them from bulk buys, so if you’re collecting Willis art it should be easy to find. I would like to see one of these installed on a game, so please share some pictures if you have them, thanks.
From the original Tokens Only post…
Another first post on a Willis control panel overlay.
Below is a picture of the original Qix overlay so you can compare the two pieces. I’m conflicted on this one and would probably leave the Willis piece on the game if I found it that way. Let me know what you think. Big thanks to Arcade Specialties for the use of the game image.
