Hardware

[filterpunk]

Reading this site and digging around others, i've come to the realization that I know absolutely nothing about arcade PCBs and kits. Apart from MAME, I wasn't even aware this option was a possibility short of busting a cabinet open and ripping the board out.

At the risk of sounding like a complete moron, how is this done? Are you ordering the PCBs and wiring several into a cabinet, swapping them out, or...? Better yet, is there a space-friendly option for lowly apartment dwellers?

Feel free to toss me any links to educate my lame ass, I'm happy to read up on the subject.

(If it helps to redeem me, I spent hours in arcades as a kid, but they mostly died off when I was a teenager. I'm only recently starting to realize that there's still some life left, so I'm going through a bit of a rediscovery.)

[icycalm]

Yeah, it gets really exciting when you realize you can buy arcade games to play at home. A whole new dimension of gaming suddenly opens up -- ports and emulation notwithstanding. I plan to write a detailed guide on this subject eventually, but I might as well help you out here and set down some stuff that I can use later.


PART #1

From Wikipedia:

Printed circuit boards, or PCBs, are used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, or traces, etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate.

In layman's terms, a PCB is a usually green piece of plastic that carries a lot of complex-looking electronics stuff. Your computer's motherboard is a PCB, for example, and so are your graphics and sound cards.

Now many arcade games, though not all, are sold as PCBs. This means that the hardware powering the game (processors, specialized chips, memory, etc.) is physically bolted onto the same board as the game ROM itself -- in contrast to consoles for example, where hardware and games come separately.

Scroll to the bottom of the page below for a pic of a typical, modern arcade PCB (in this case, of Cave's Mushihime-sama):

http://www.world-of-arcades.net/Cave/Ha ... rdware.htm

And here is the complete kit:

http://www.world-of-arcades.net/Cave/Mu ... ma_Kit.jpg

(you have to click in your browser's address bar and press enter to see this image, because the site has protection from hotlinking)

Now PCBs of new games are very expensive, with initial prices often exceeding 200,000 yen. However, prices invariably drop straight down soon after release, sometimes even halving within a couple of months. After that initial drop prices usually keep falling until they hit some low mark, and afterwards fluctuate according to various factors: popularity, print run, availabilty of port(s), etc.

To give you a rough idea, R-Type (1987) goes for around 10,000 yen these days, Arcana Heart (2006) for 60,000 (though the recent upgrade, Arcana Heart Full, is still quite expensive at around 130,000), and Espgaluda II (2005) can be had for around 50,000 if I am not mistaken.

The upshot is that, as long as you can temper your enthusiasm and let the game centers and the really rich guys suck down the initial price hit, you can keep buying and selling PCBs, playing all the unported arcade games with minimal investment (in fact, if you develop a good sense for the way prices fluctuate you can even turn a profit).

As for how you actually get to play these games, there are two options: arcade cabinets (or "cabs") and Superguns.

To be continued... in the meantime check the following links, do some research on your own (and report any interesting pages you find) and ask away if you have any questions.


Further reading
http://www.gamesx.com/arcade/primer.htm
http://www.gamesx.com/arcade/home.htm
http://www.gamesx.com/rgbadd/caveatrgb.htm
http://insomnia.ac/japan/mak_japan_and_g-front/
http://nfggames.com/neography/pivot/ent ... =nfg_games

Stores
http://www.fujitacommunications.com/
http://www.mak-jp.com/
http://www.gfront.com/
http://www.excellentcom.net/

[filterpunk]

Yeah, it gets really exciting when you realize you can buy arcade games to play at home. A whole new dimension of gaming suddenly opens up -- ports and emulation notwithstanding. I plan to write a detailed guide on this subject eventually, but I might as well help you out here and set down some stuff that I can use later.

I think my biggest OMFG moment was the realization that not only will I be able to play Japanese arcade games, I'll be able to rediscover arcade games in general, since they mostly died out here sometime in the mid-90's. There are still a couple around, but with the exception of a couple newer goodies like <i>House of the Dead 4</i>, it's still the same stuff they had when I was a kid.

I read each of the links you posted (thank you!) and so far, it sounds a lot like building a computer, only there's less crap to deal with. Just for my own clarification, the main stuff I'll need is a JAMMA harness, power supply (any particular spec? - i.e. eps12v, etc), monitor with component inputs, PCBs (which should be swappable thanks to the harness), and a cabinet/pc case/whatever to stuff it in. Sound about right?

[AlphaONE]

I love Jamma games.
Try to get a cab, I am in California, Matsu ships cabs all over the country
he would be someone to talk to.
I bought 2 of my 6 candys from him.

[filterpunk]

I love Jamma games.
Try to get a cab, I am in California, Matsu ships cabs all over the country
he would be someone to talk to.
I bought 2 of my 6 candys from him.

I would love to get a cab in here, but it's getting difficult to find any open space...not impossible, but I'd probably have to sell the synth (anyone want an Alesis Ion?) I've been thinking of getting rid of for the past year.

How much do his cabs typically run?

Edit: A little more digging turned up http://www.jpdeal.com, which seems to be his business. If $1200-1700+ is the general price range, it's way out of budget for me right now - the Neo Geo cabs might be possible, provided the shipping cost isn't too insane.

[AlphaONE]

You know what, those AW and Egret 2 cabs are alot( I have both)
but a New Astro City would be all you need.

Get 2, cabs 1 for vert and 1 for hori shooters and fighters both taken care of.
Plus they are like $500 each shipping to Oregon should be like 200-300 tops.

[filterpunk]

You know what, those AW and Egret 2 cabs are alot( I have both)
but a New Astro City would be all you need.

Get 2, cabs 1 for vert and 1 for hori shooters and fighters both taken care of.
Plus they are like $500 each shipping to Oregon should be like 200-300 tops.

I could probably fit one in my apartment, but two would be pushing it. In any case, I won't be able to do anything for a couple of months. My financial aid for this term was disqualified because I took last term off, so I had to pay out of pocket to finish out this term. Once that's done, it'll be reinstated and I'll have a bit more breathing room.

Serves me right for going back to school in my late 20's. Heh.

Anyway, if I wind up having to choose between them, I'll probably go tate. I generally prefer vertical shooters and while I like fighting games even more, there are enough of them for PS2 that a HRAP2 should be enough to satiate my arcade lust.

[icycalm]

I would also recommend getting a cab, at least in the long run. That way you don't have to worry about superguns, harnesses, power supplies, etc. -- and above all you don't have to worry about a monitor. Because getting hold of an RGB monitor in the US is not easy, nor cheap (in Europe and Japan TVs accept RGB signals and can be used as arcade monitors, but not in the States).

It's not that a supergun is a bad choice, you see. There are even reasons you might want to have one even if you already have a cab. It's just going to be more work getting all the bits and pieces together, and if you go for quality components you'll end up spending close to what you'd pay for a cheap cab (though not perhaps with the US prices quoted in that website -- I am thinking of prices in Japan, which are quite a bit lower).

Just for my own clarification, the main stuff I'll need is a JAMMA harness, power supply (any particular spec? - i.e. eps12v, etc), monitor with component inputs, PCBs (which should be swappable thanks to the harness), and a cabinet/pc case/whatever to stuff it in. Sound about right?

Not exactly. For one thing, forget about PC cases -- this stuff wouldn't fit in there. If you go the supergun route you are just going to have everything laid out on a desk or some flat surface. Also, you need an RGB monitor -- forget about components inputs. Do some googling to find out what an RGB monitor is. As for the supergun, I'd recommend a Sigma, which will set you back just under USD300. Everything you'll need is on this page basically:

http://www.mak-jp.com/ctrbox.html

I am pretty sure they ship to the states, though I don't know if they speak English. If you do decide to try and place an order I'd suggest you go to the gamengai forums and ask Gaijin Punch to help you out. He might even be willing to go there personally, buy the stuff and forward it to you, if you ask him nicely (and send him the money in advance, of course).

(Then again he might not, what with having to take care of his infant son these days...)

[AlphaONE]

Is Gaijin Punch a member of the Shmups forums also Icycalm?
I want a DDP:DOJ board badly!! The PS2 port just does no justice :(

[filterpunk]

It's not that a supergun is a bad choice, you see. There are even reasons you might want to have one even if you already have a cab. It's just going to be more work getting all the bits and pieces together, and if you go for quality components you'll end up spending close to what you'd pay for a cheap cab (though not perhaps with the US prices quoted in that website -- I am thinking of prices in Japan, which are quite a bit lower).

I ran across the Sigma during my initial searches and you're probably right re: the cost. After tallying up the cost of the supergun, monitor, controls, etc. I'm hitting pretty close to what a cab would cost, but without the flashy "oooooh, ahhhh" factor that a candy cab would have.

I am pretty sure they ship to the states, though I don't know if they speak English. If you do decide to try and place an order I'd suggest you go to the gamengai forums and ask Gaijin Punch to help you out. He might even be willing to go there personally, buy the stuff and forward it to you, if you ask him nicely (and send him the money in advance, of course).

That might be a good idea, since I don't speak Japanese. :)

I might do a bit more digging along the west coast, too. There are bound to be at least a couple places in or near northern Oregon/southwest Washington.

[DestronPrime]

I know this is an old topic but I would like to ask a question. From what I can gather a cabinet is everything except the pcb, am a wrong? And I could run Arcana Heart on say... a KOF cabinet? Sorry for my being unknowledgable but icycalm stated he wanted to let everyone experience the arcade (or something I'm probably paraphrasing) so this'll help me do it. Thanks very much!

EDIT I take the KOF part back, I think Arcana has too many buttons ! Still some random Cab.

[icycalm]

I know this is an old topic but I would like to ask a question. From what I can gather a cabinet is everything except the pcb, am a wrong?

Yes, you are wrong. You have cabinet (comes with monitor and controls, except if you are buying it used, in which case anything goes), harness, power supply and PCB.

And I could run Arcana Heart on say... a KOF cabinet?

You could run any JAMMA-compatible game in any JAMMA-compatible cabinet. Virtually all cabinets/games are JAMMA compatible (and certainly all modern ones), so there is no problem here.

EDIT I take the KOF part back, I think Arcana has too many buttons ! Still some random Cab.

Even if a game uses one or two extra buttons above the JAMMA specification, you can easily modify the control panel to accommodate them (don't ask me how, though). For the vast majority of games this is not an issue.

Also, welcome to the forum.

[DestronPrime]

Alright, and thank you! I wont be getting Arcana AC though since it's a huge investment when I can get it on PS2.
I might have to hold off on the Gundam kits...

[markedkiller78]

Alright, and thank you! I wont be getting Arcana AC though since it's a huge investment when I can get it on PS2.
I might have to hold off on the Gundam kits...

theArcana Heart pcb is also hi-res only (31k or VGA) so it won't run on a standard Jamma cabinet like the Egret 2 or astro's mentioned above.

It will however work on an atomiswave SD :)

There are ton's of pro's & con's when it comes to pcb vs port, but if you can afford it (or rather justify the huge outlay) it's worth it in the end.

[Sn0wp1r4t3]

Do you guys know of any legit sites that are in English? I am super new to this, but I found some sites, but they looked really sketchy.

[icycalm]

http://arcadecontrols.com/
http://arcadefever.blogspot.com/
http://www.killercabs.com/

I've started buying lots of PCBs recently. Once I get a couple of cabs and set everything up I'll start writing some articles. Will take a few months at least though.