tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195290252024-03-13T21:56:30.780-07:00Confessions of an Arcade AddictArcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.comBlogger108125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-73482280479255689792018-02-14T23:36:00.001-08:002022-08-13T13:36:56.124-07:00Difficulty in older shooting gamesAlthough I'm a huge fan of the earliest arcade shooting games (Defender/Stargate, Asteroids, etc.) there are a class of mid-1980's shooters from Japan that raised the bar in terms of shooter difficulty, which caught me by surprise.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9fYmvkk-Ea8/WoUtLIIArKI/AAAAAAAAEuo/h0wEHqQkCWAmWnG5m_480uNSvU0QiA9fgCKgBGAs/s1600/Dangar-Stream.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9fYmvkk-Ea8/WoUtLIIArKI/AAAAAAAAEuo/h0wEHqQkCWAmWnG5m_480uNSvU0QiA9fgCKgBGAs/s320/Dangar-Stream.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(UFO Robo Dangar by Nichibutsu 1986)</span></div>
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By the early to mid-1990's shooters evolved into bullet hell style shumps with a seemingly impossible barrage to doge and shoot back against, but somehow managed to allow players to slip by with a feeling of god like abilities. The truth is, while these later shmups added a ton more bullets/sprites on screen, pushing arcade hardware to its maximum, they also greatly simplified enemy movement and patterns, while reducing hitboxes and even allowing some laziness to collision detection routines. These bullet hell style games are what I've been primarily playing for the last 10 years or so. So going back to play earlier shooters, with a seemingly simpler challenge of smaller number of bullets and enemies on screen, and having my butt handed to me, is not only frustrating, but is down right ego busting.<br />
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Let me take UFO Robo Dangar as an example. With a low number of on screen bullets and sprites, difficulty is primarily centered around enemy movements. Enemies are able to accelerate up to 2x your player ship's speed, and literally run rings around you. Enemies are also able to run off the sides or bottom of the screen and loop right back onto the screen if not killed, most times accelerating to kamikaze into you if they get behind you. Enemies are free to fire upon you at any range, making point blank shots a common occurrence. These tactics would be considered cheap or down right bad programming by today's shmup standards, but is the genesis of the genra in terms of difficulty.<br />
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Anyway, I have a greater respect for shmup players of the mid-80s, and I can now see why the gen<div>ra evolved as it did, attracting new players and making them feel a greater accomplishment when it comes to the challenge of difficulty. I can also now see why Dangar implemented a butt shield powerup. :)<br />
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<br /></div>Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-65070680161206381752017-01-06T23:58:00.000-08:002017-01-07T08:17:39.807-08:00 Twitch streaming arcade PCB's<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Double playing Mad Shark)</td></tr>
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Exactly 4 years plus second child later, and I'm back to update this neglected blog with a little something I did over the holidays.<br />
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Twitch live streaming has become quite popular, and I've started following some friends that stream live PCB plays. Given I've got a unique collection of not only PCBs, but also of cabinets and arcade controls, this was a great opportunity for me to try and share more of my gaming treasures with the rest of the world.<br />
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For PCB/RGB capture I used a StarTech PEXHDCAP card I bought many years ago, as it was a cheap OEM version of the great (and expensive) Micomsoft SC-500N1. Startech has since discontinued this and released a PEXHDCAP2 version, with reduced input features, but higher capture framerate for HD resolutions. In addition to RGB/VGA input via the DVI port, the original PEXHDCAP also had HDMI, Component, Composite, and Stereo inputs. The only draw back was 1080p could only capture at 30 frames, but I didn't have a need for that.<br />
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The minimum PC specs for the PEXHDCAP was an Intel Core 2 processor with 2GB ram. And it just so happens this is all I have in terms of a crappy PC with PCI express slot (I'm not much of a PC gamer if you haven't noticed).<br />
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Since PCB RGB is typically 1V and PC Analog RGB is .7V, taking the RGB/Gnd/CSync lines from your PCB and running straight into the DVI port (via VGA 15 pin adapter) is going to give you a washed out bright picture. To adjust the RGB levels, you're going to need a CGA to VGA adapter (like <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm//221480387637">this found on eBay</a>). No conversion actually happens, it just routes your RGB lines to the 15 pin adapter, but does have adjustable resistor pots on the RGB lines to bring levels down to PC analog spec. I then run this via VGA cable into the DVI input (with VGA to DVI adapter).<br />
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Routing audio from your PCB into the PEXHDCAP's external audio break out cable will also take a bit of hacking to tap line level audio from the PCB's amplified sound. I'll have to follow up with an actual circuit for this, but basically you need a resistor, a cap, and a mono input jack. I just happened to have a prebuilt headphone line out with volume pot which did the trick. I've seen others just use an external microphone setup next to the cabinet speakers, which can also be used to pickup your voice, but you won't get good quality sound from the PCB.<br />
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Last is streaming software, which is pretty well known if you've ever tried to stream something from your PC. I use OBS which is plug and play ready to work with Twitch. There are plenty of tutorials out there on how to set this up and configure plugins, so I won't go into detail here.<br />
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I almost forgot, most players also have a webcam setup to show off their joystick prowess, or to show their face, adding more personal interaction while streaming. The webcam I use is a Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000. This is pretty much the cheapest 720p camera out there that is compatible with Windows 10. One issue I did run into was trying to run two quickcams plugged into the same PC to show both my hands/joystick as well as my face. The issue is that two of the same cameras can't be plugged into the same USB bus as they will both resolve to the same USB address. Buying a second PCI USB adapter (~$10) solves this, and also alleviates any framerate/bandwidth issues running on a single USB bus. Turns out my crappy Intel Core 2 started to choke with two cameras and PCB capture at the same time, so I trimmed down to a single camera, and am back to a mostly 60FPS stream at 1280x720.<br />
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I've already tested this setup on several cabs, including a medium res game, and VGA (Sega Naomi) game and it works great! So expect me to be streaming some Planet Harriers and NARC in the near future. I'm typically on for a half hour at night after my kids go to sleep, maybe once or twice a week. You can checkout my twitch page <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/arcadefever">here</a>, and be sure to check my <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/arcadefever/videos/all">saved streams</a>.Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-38400326647625647862013-01-06T20:03:00.001-08:002013-09-13T14:34:27.730-07:00Heavy UnitSorry for the lack of blog updates. "Real Life" has gotten pretty busy with the birth of our first child, but that hasn't kept me from picking up a few random PCBs over the holidays.<br />
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First up is Heavy Unit, a relatively unknown Taito published shmup on Kaneko hardware, and apparently was unemulated up until the end of 2010. You can still find this pretty cheap in the US, so I went ahead and got one.<br />
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The detailed artwork is rather nice, a mix of bio-horror and mecha type enemy and scenery. You have standard powerups for your A and B shots (no bomb button), and a transforming powerup that switches your ship to a mecha. Unfortunately the game suffers from lack of autofire, which means a very sore wrist without (or much easier game with) autofire. Rank seems to depend completely on your powerup level, which is nice when you die, as its not too difficult to get powered up again.</div>
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I haven't had enough time to play this past the first few levels, and I like the detail and variety of enemies, but feel the game may be too easy with autofire. Bosses go down quite quickly if you are fully powered up. I'll come back to this when I get more time to clear the game.</div>
Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-83182084804770256402012-08-16T18:33:00.002-07:002012-08-16T19:53:29.557-07:00Armed Police Batrider artworkReceived the following awesome Raizing artwork, thanks to Bay!<br />
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<br />Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-14209153852168166512012-07-04T10:43:00.000-07:002015-03-01T09:41:04.635-08:00CGA2VGA scaler for arcade PCBs<br />
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<b>UPDATE</b> (03/01/15) There have been a lot of breakthroughs in hacking these Gbones upscalers via Raspberry Pi and I2C connection. Details can be found on the shmups forum thread <a href="http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=52172">located here</a>.<br />
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I made a very interesting discovery with the CGA2VGA scaler that came in my <a href="http://arcadefever.blogspot.com/2012/04/red-storm-32-lcd-arcade-cabinet.html">Red Storm cabinet</a>. The scaler looks like the generic/OEM version we've all seen on eBay for ~$35, except even cheaper since they removed all the components except for RGB input and VGA output. But the big difference is the one that came in my cab can successfully scale PCBs of various refresh rates, like the very difficult Seibu 55hz games!<br />
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Here is a visual comparison. The Gonbes GBS-8220 in on the left, and the Red Storm generic is on the right.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(click picture for hires pic)</i></td></tr>
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Comparing both side by side in a similar setup, the menus are exactly the same, except the red storm version allowed for a wider range of values to be set for horizontal and vertical settings. Looking closely at the both boards, the GBS-8220 has a 2011.08.16 V30 silkscreened on it, while the stickers on the red storm version looks like it's firmware was updated in February of 2012.<br />
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So I'm hoping someone can help me figure out how to dump the firmware of the red storm version and see if I can successfully upgrade the GBS-8220 firmware. I see there are two sets of 4 pin "upgrade" connectors on the right side, although it looks like some were removed. There is also a 2 pin connector directly under these which I assume may be a selectable "write" jumper?<br />
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<br />Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-67108067614106175772012-04-09T23:51:00.000-07:002012-04-19T15:27:21.224-07:00AssaultAssault is an amazingly fun (and difficult) overhead tank arcade game that has a distinctive style all its own. The <a href="http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=6934">original vertical cabinet</a> is pretty unique being noticeably thinner, with twin stick controls, making it a rare find outside of its native environment.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZUncHyaVX8o/T4OfistIdXI/AAAAAAAABMM/vMESC0JkvhI/s1600/Assault_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZUncHyaVX8o/T4OfistIdXI/AAAAAAAABMM/vMESC0JkvhI/s200/Assault_1.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MyUvYEeeAP8/T4OfigyPbjI/AAAAAAAABMI/NtpZ5uclb_Y/s1600/Assault_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MyUvYEeeAP8/T4OfigyPbjI/AAAAAAAABMI/NtpZ5uclb_Y/s200/Assault_2.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
I wouldn't hesitate picking up an Assault cabinet if one were to pop up locally, but given the opportunity to buy the PCB alone (a Namco System 2 board), I considered it a challenge to see how it would play in one of my vertical candy cabinets.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GawAO0zed_I/T4OfjJYUPfI/AAAAAAAABMY/8eCwKGMWFpA/s1600/Assault_PCB.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GawAO0zed_I/T4OfjJYUPfI/AAAAAAAABMY/8eCwKGMWFpA/s320/Assault_PCB.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Being a fan of <a href="http://arcadefever.blogspot.com/2008/01/starting-new-blog.html">dual playing</a> certain vertical shmups, I'm rather comfortable using both player sticks simultaneously while pressing A and/or B buttons. This got me thinking that playing Assault on a typical candy control panel shouldn't be that difficult given proper re-wiring of the controls.<br />
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Rather than re-wiring actual connectors under one of my control panels, I just created a little adapter to remap the right stick controls over to the Player 2 inputs, and then mapped the A button to both sides. Since the original cabinet used 4-way sticks, I did have to adjust my Sanwa JLF-8YT restrictors to 4-way, which honestly I didn't even know was possible until I looked into it.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NunrCNyJ8u4/T4OflSkSlgI/AAAAAAAABMo/HkKaXjt0ZHI/s1600/Assault_Config.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NunrCNyJ8u4/T4OflSkSlgI/AAAAAAAABMo/HkKaXjt0ZHI/s320/Assault_Config.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
What we have left is the following control setup, which is probably faster/easier for making small adjustments in aiming than using the original grip joysticks. It didn't take long to get used to this setup, where I primarily used P2's shoot button with my right pinky. Pulling the sticks apart to perform the bomb shot seemed almost too easy, in fact I kept accidentally doing this while trying to perform quick horizontal roll dodges...which is just a matter of me getting more practice with the game.<br />
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Overall I'm pretty happy with how this plays, but again, I'd prefer the overall vibe and feel of an original cabinet if one were to be found locally.<br />
<br />Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-980954337653482972012-04-01T10:28:00.001-07:002012-06-12T07:36:02.997-07:00Red Storm 32" LCD arcade cabinetI've been saving up for over a year now to get an LCD cabinet, and sold one of my Astro City's to make room in my garage. The wait paid off last week when I was able to take home a new Red Storm 32" LCD cabinet.<br />
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This is a sister to the Black Storm 32" LCD cab (<a href="http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=17598#p224250">as seen on arcadeotaku</a> back in September). They are made in China and based on the New Delta 32 design by Riverservice (although not a direct copy). Unlike the New Delta 32, there is no slick LCD rotate mechanism, but its fairly easy to unscrew the four bolts holding the LCD onto the frame to remove and rotate manually. The LCD itself weighs about 50 pounds, so a single person can rotate it without a problem. </div>
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Visually, the Red Storm differs from the Black version by the color of the control panel and monitor although the rest of the cab has the same red accents. Personally, I think the Red Storm looks better, especially with the red light up panel.</div>
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The LCD on the Red Storm also differs from the Black Storm, with a host of inputs including VGA, HDMI, Component, and S-Video (Black version only has VGA and DVI). Inputs are located on the side of the LCD rather than the bottom like the Black version. This however presents an interesting problem for the Red Storm, in that rotating the monitor counter-clockwise for vertical games, puts all these inputs facing the top of the cab, which does not fit the fame's design. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q-ONEODgnJg/T3fYnEeWhVI/AAAAAAAABLQ/Nf27mhDzzCw/s1600/BlackStormLCD.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q-ONEODgnJg/T3fYnEeWhVI/AAAAAAAABLQ/Nf27mhDzzCw/s200/BlackStormLCD.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-btjLClrCBfI/T3fYnHgsAhI/AAAAAAAABLU/oj9HHE3I7-4/s1600/BlackStormNoLCD.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-btjLClrCBfI/T3fYnHgsAhI/AAAAAAAABLU/oj9HHE3I7-4/s200/BlackStormNoLCD.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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You can rotate the monitor clockwise (the wrong way) and have the inputs facing the bottom of the cab, only in this configuration, you'll not be able to attach the top marquee since the mounting holes are now also on the bottom, but more importantly, you'll only be able to play jamma games that support a screen flip option (most do but some don't). However, I did find a solution to this strange issue, which involves rotating the square chassis on the back of the LCD 180 degrees. This takes an additional 2 minutes while the LCD is off, and the wires support flipping the chassis around. Now when you mount the LCD back on the frame, its oriented properly (counter-clockwise) and inputs are facing the bottom of the cab<br />
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<b>[Update!] </b>Since this original posting, I received a set of low profile Power, VGA, and HDMI cables from GameCenter Arcade, which now allows me to rotate the monitor proper without having to flip the chassis on the back. So in total, rotating takes about 2 minutes (just unscrew 4 hex bolts from the back, rotate, and screw back in. This is actually faster than rotating an Egret II if you consider the time it takes to also rotate the bezel.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s6IZjA0Hw20/T3em6u5rFzI/AAAAAAAABKw/RY3eNf-N5oo/s1600/RedStormInside1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s6IZjA0Hw20/T3em6u5rFzI/AAAAAAAABKw/RY3eNf-N5oo/s200/RedStormInside1.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eqvGrVmJuyw/T3em6kluHLI/AAAAAAAABK0/tSFOeqZvPTo/s1600/RedStormInside2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eqvGrVmJuyw/T3em6kluHLI/AAAAAAAABK0/tSFOeqZvPTo/s200/RedStormInside2.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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Now lets take a quick look under the hood. You'll see in the pictures above, a very convenient light when the cabinet door is open, a shelf for your PCB, an adjustable main jamma power supply, and a stereo amp with its own independent power supply. Behind the coin door (not shown) is a modern coin mech with electronic coin comparitor, and illuminated power switch with standard test and service buttons. Wiring is for straight jamma (no JVS) with a VGA cable for the monitor.</div>
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Under the lighted control panel, you'll find a typical Chinese CGA2VGA scaler. This version is seriously budgeted to only take RGBS input and VGA output, although the firmware supports component input. I added my own SGL3000 to add realistic scanlines at 640x480 which does make a world of difference when playing low res PCBs. Button and sticks on the panel are typical Sanwa JLF controls.</div>
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On the back of the cabinet (not shown) are 4 fans, two large 4 1/2" and two smaller 2 1/2". This creates a large amount of cool airflow inside the cabinet, which is good news if you want to put a console or PC inside. Also on the back are a set of versus connectors (and cable included) for hooking two cabinets together.</div>
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Light up marquee and instruction strip are a nice touch, although both use non-standard sizes, which really sucks for the instruction strip as its significantly shorter than the typical Astro City size.
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W7AyF4MaZ1Q/T3em7D1aOQI/AAAAAAAABLI/i4XIsgs1GaQ/s1600/RedStormXB360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W7AyF4MaZ1Q/T3em7D1aOQI/AAAAAAAABLI/i4XIsgs1GaQ/s200/RedStormXB360.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tkFzWmHNQVw/T3em6nBKGeI/AAAAAAAABK4/B0-S9dwBvj4/s1600/RedStormXB360-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tkFzWmHNQVw/T3em6nBKGeI/AAAAAAAABK4/B0-S9dwBvj4/s200/RedStormXB360-2.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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LCD cabs are not known for displaying great pictures for low resolution 15khz PCB games, and this holds true with the cheap scaler included in the Red Storm. However, I was pleasantly surprised that the cabinet was able to sync and display a picture for oddball refresh rates like 54hz for Seibu games!</div>
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Of course the cabinet really shines when displaying HD games for Taito Type X/2 and modern consoles. I especially like that most vertical arcade games for XB360 allow me to rotate and position the 4:3 picture with a background image filling in the remaining area. Of course you'll need to supply your own console-to-jamma solution to hook up he controls, but there are many options available on the market or <a href="http://arcadefever.blogspot.com/2009/12/weekend-project-360-to-jamma.html">homebew</a> for doing this.</div>
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Overall construction of the Red Storm is surprisingly good, with quality components, and well thought out access panels and hatches for the back and monitor/LCD. Some corners were cut when constructing the base, where I found screws holes that were not tapped properly (they were just drilled holes with screws), and the paint job around the speakers pods looked amateurish. I'll likely be investing in a better stereo amp (the sound is quite thin), as well as a better scaler for the 15khz mode. I didn't notice any LCD lag, but I've herd this model may have 1-2 frames of lag for pro's playing SSFIV, although it appears the chassis can be easily upgraded/replaced.</div>Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-69462838017507200372012-03-10T14:09:00.000-08:002012-03-10T14:13:34.898-08:00Jaleco (NMK) shmupsReceived these two Jaleco PCBs over the weekend. Both were actually developed by the team that would later form NMK, and their difficulty prove it, especially Saint Dragon!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h3waOOLNVGc/T1vJMNHQ0xI/AAAAAAAABJs/fvcLN_Xza18/s1600/P47.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h3waOOLNVGc/T1vJMNHQ0xI/AAAAAAAABJs/fvcLN_Xza18/s200/P47.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wiSl2ogZaik/T1vJL2WA9SI/AAAAAAAABJk/YtmrpN8RVUM/s1600/saintdragon.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wiSl2ogZaik/T1vJL2WA9SI/AAAAAAAABJk/YtmrpN8RVUM/s200/saintdragon.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oup8EA0Chn8/T1vJMP4N8HI/AAAAAAAABJ8/b4LbaSZ1O5g/s1600/saintdragon2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oup8EA0Chn8/T1vJMP4N8HI/AAAAAAAABJ8/b4LbaSZ1O5g/s200/saintdragon2.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FaeCuP_9CNI/T1vJLy6A69I/AAAAAAAABKE/J8Z-31mt8T8/s1600/jalecopcbs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FaeCuP_9CNI/T1vJLy6A69I/AAAAAAAABKE/J8Z-31mt8T8/s200/jalecopcbs.JPG" width="200" /></a>Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-31394864502715879232012-02-19T10:11:00.001-08:002012-02-19T10:15:22.352-08:00Sega Naomi video problemHere is a quick fix to what I believe is a common Sega Naomi video problem. I've seen this happen on two Naomi motherboards I own, as well as on a Hikaru motherboard. Video looks to be smeared or ghosting, like in the picture below.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vboi4YjIdMg/T0E1T6t7zdI/AAAAAAAABHU/yndGtmcCNxE/s1600/Naomi_Repair_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vboi4YjIdMg/T0E1T6t7zdI/AAAAAAAABHU/yndGtmcCNxE/s200/Naomi_Repair_2.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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I don't know exactly how it happens or why (I'm too lazy to really investigate at this point), but the problem is with the filter board (not the motherboard).<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wPIVZ8j_tOE/T0E1T5Ha1hI/AAAAAAAABHo/n01CiHuGN-U/s1600/Naomi_Repair_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wPIVZ8j_tOE/T0E1T5Ha1hI/AAAAAAAABHo/n01CiHuGN-U/s200/Naomi_Repair_1.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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After removing the filter board, turn it over and you'll notice a burned trace just under one of the long connectors. This pin is one leg of an RC network that goes to the VGA port, and then runs under the connector to another set of pins above it.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YmFiCGgXbE4/T0E1TorLkGI/AAAAAAAABHQ/v7fl18nCOL0/s1600/Naomi_Repair_3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YmFiCGgXbE4/T0E1TorLkGI/AAAAAAAABHQ/v7fl18nCOL0/s200/Naomi_Repair_3.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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The fix is simple, jumper the two connectors to bypass the burned trace, and your video will look crisp as new.<br />
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Happy gaming!Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-24547862641756217222012-01-08T18:26:00.000-08:002012-01-12T19:17:21.980-08:00New Years resolutionWith the new year comes resolutions, and this year I am pledging to learn how to diagnose and fix common PCB failures. Over the years I've been steadily contributing to a collection of broken PCBs, some that I think could be fixed easily, and others that I think require deeper investigation. Not having an EE background, I've had to learn much of what I know on my own, and will try doing more of that this year in troubleshooting circuits.<br />
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The most common failures with PCBs I've noticed, happen during handling: be this incorrect packaging during shipment, or incorrect storage, or even the act of plugging them into a jamma harness inside a cabinet. In all these cases, the PCB flexes, causing solder joints or traces to crack, or pins on SMT chips to lift from their pads. Very few failures happen due to static electricity (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_discharge">ESD</a>) while handling...of course this is my own observations, maybe I'm just more careful than most when it comes to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_discharge">ESD</a>. Lastly, environmental situations can cause a PCB to corrode, or capacitors and batteries can simply leak over time. There isn't much we can do about this, other than look for the warning signs and then take action.</div>
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So I kicked off the new year with buying a Weller WESD51 soldering iron, as my previous Radio Shack 15/30 iron wasn't up to the task of soldering delicate SMT chips. I also invested in building a bench top supergun consisting of PC power supply, jamma harness, CGA-to-VGA upscaler, and rotatable small/cheap LCD monitor. I'm not worrying about input controls at this point as the broken boards I have can't boot up or have graphical glitches that are noticeable without playing the game.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hcHx0irbYZc/Two7zm45nqI/AAAAAAAABFo/FGcZr8Im6Hs/s640/BenchSuperGun.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hcHx0irbYZc/Two7zm45nqI/AAAAAAAABFo/FGcZr8Im6Hs/s320/BenchSuperGun.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Above is a pic of my bench with a broken Alcon PCB. The monitor is a small 15" HP 1502 that I got for $30 shipped, I then mistakenly bought an incompatible HP rotatable stand, and had to hack the monitor up a bit to make it bolt to the stand. I would recommend finding an HP 1530, as its the same small monitor but comes with a rotatable stand and stereo speakers built in.</div>
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Next is a standard CGA-to-VGA upscaler you can find on eBay for $35-$40. I bought one that came with a jamma adapter and RGBHV and power wires for an additional $25. This makes it very easy to hook up to any jamma harness with an LCD or VGA monitor.</div>
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Last, I bought a jamma harness with PC power supply, and provided my own 8ohm stereo speaker I had laying around.</div>
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So far I've noticed this setup isn't compatible with games that use a refresh rate below 60hz such as the Raiden series, and a few miscellaneous games. I am investigating some really fun alternatives to this setup, so stay tuned.</div>
</div>Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-14154449937471461732011-12-04T09:41:00.001-08:002011-12-04T13:28:31.010-08:00Reset highscore table on Cave SH3 PCBsIf you bought Mushihimesama or Espgaluda II Cave SH3 boards used, chances are you have a bunch of very high scores logged in the permanent hishscore section, with no chance of entering your own initials - outside of "Today's Highscores", which erases when you power down the board. So what's a mediocre shmup player to do? Well thanks to kernow for starting <a href="http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=39330&start=0">this thread</a> on the shmups forum, and to rtw and idc for replying with an answer, I bravely tried the procedure on my Mushihimesama PCB.<br />
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<b>**** WARNING! **** I take no responsibility if these instructions lead you to frying your PCB. Proceed at your own risk!</b><br />
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What you need is a 100 ohm resistor (pictured below is actually a 97 ohm precision resistor).<br />
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With the PCB turned OFF, first remove the battery, then put one end of the resistor to ground. You can use any ground. I found the hole of pin 5 on the missing serial connector a good place so it wouldn't move. Then carefully hold the other side of the resistor to pin 9 (Data Output) of the RTC/EEPROM (U10), and power on the PCB. The bootup sequence will first check the program code, and then checksum the EEPROM. Its at this point, the checksum will fail, and the board will re-initialize the EEPROM, so quickly remove the resistor as soon as you see the EEPROM "initializing".<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f8-nPFP8P_4/TtukDfgio5I/AAAAAAAABDY/ivwt1bx1ACQ/s640/SH3-ScoreReset.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f8-nPFP8P_4/TtukDfgio5I/AAAAAAAABDY/ivwt1bx1ACQ/s320/SH3-ScoreReset.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Since these surface mount chips are very small, and you don't want to accidentally ground other pins on the RTC chip, I used an exacto knife to cut and place small squares of electrical tape to isolate pin 9.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tLj4ocgSKkQ/TtupRSkqFLI/AAAAAAAABDo/Mr5pu9hQTQc/s640/cautious.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tLj4ocgSKkQ/TtupRSkqFLI/AAAAAAAABDo/Mr5pu9hQTQc/s320/cautious.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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You can verify the procedure worked by going into the operator menu and checking the ranking display. Here is the before and after shots of Original mode scores on my PCB.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JwrK7a8rZgk/Ttsrsft8XBI/AAAAAAAABDM/cH5HYd0tlXw/s512/mushi_before.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JwrK7a8rZgk/Ttsrsft8XBI/AAAAAAAABDM/cH5HYd0tlXw/s200/mushi_before.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EYmXOB14B48/TtsrsWm2egI/AAAAAAAABDI/GLZ6Slk0tHo/s512/mushi_after.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EYmXOB14B48/TtsrsWm2egI/AAAAAAAABDI/GLZ6Slk0tHo/s200/mushi_after.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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Note: Ibara, Pink Sweets, and Muchi Muchi Pork have an operator menu setting to clear the ranking display (thank you Mr. Yagawa!). Deathsmiles also has a reset ranking option. I do not know if Mushihimesama Futari or DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu boards have this option as I do not own these yet. :)<br />
<br />Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-22644956282817286622011-11-12T09:37:00.001-08:002011-11-12T11:37:13.712-08:00DIY Speaker SheildingI've always loved vector games of the 80's, and spent many a coin on Asteroids and Battlezone back in the day. Plus, the vector graphics looked ahead of their time back then, so that only made these games seem much more appealing.<br />
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Anyway, over this past summer I had an opportunity to buy a vector cabinet locally, and jumped at the offer, considering the game was in such great condition.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eKHDN7OEoxM/TipeAOw74aI/AAAAAAAAA9M/rTr3_vtrftA/s512/SpaceDuel.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eKHDN7OEoxM/TipeAOw74aI/AAAAAAAAA9M/rTr3_vtrftA/s200/SpaceDuel.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dUNVDzamlcQ/TipeAHtd5NI/AAAAAAAAA9I/WVHdoSrzb2M/s640/SpaceDuel2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dUNVDzamlcQ/TipeAHtd5NI/AAAAAAAAA9I/WVHdoSrzb2M/s200/SpaceDuel2.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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Space Duel is an interesting two player cooperative take on traditional Asteroids. Plus its a color vector game! There was only one problem I noticed with the cab, and that was a color blooming issue in the lower left corner of the vector tube. Actually it was more than just color, the convergence of the tube was pulling in that corner, but he adjusted the picture to be smaller in the center of the screen so the vectors weren't as affected as the colors were. This defect helped me in negotiating the price on the cab, and in my mind I thought it was really just a degaussing issue.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-31BO4ExXdiM/Tr67w9ThbNI/AAAAAAAABCQ/QNIYNAO25yM/s640/before_large.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-31BO4ExXdiM/Tr67w9ThbNI/AAAAAAAABCQ/QNIYNAO25yM/s200/before_large.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q-xa95J--yA/Tr67vwLE3bI/AAAAAAAABBo/s40qmerR9Xg/s268/before-small.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q-xa95J--yA/Tr67vwLE3bI/AAAAAAAABBo/s40qmerR9Xg/s200/before-small.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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After getting the cab home, and using an external degaussing ring, the color blooming was not going away. I open the cab and inspect around the tube to make sure there was proper shielding, and noticed the original speakers under the control panel, and above the monitor were swapped out for larger size cones, presumably to give it better bass response. Larger speakers also means larger magnets attached to the back of the speakers, which were upsetting the magnetic balance the cab was originally designed for.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sWFdihdg8ks/Tr67vj7_zII/AAAAAAAABBs/TODNTWHFv2w/s512/SpaceDuel-speakers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sWFdihdg8ks/Tr67vj7_zII/AAAAAAAABBs/TODNTWHFv2w/s320/SpaceDuel-speakers.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Since these are not high end car audio speakers with protective shielding, I would with have to either replace the speakers with original spec, or try to shield them myself. I chose the latter since the four larger speakers makes this cab sound tremendous!<br />
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A quick googling led me to <a href="http://andrewrondeau.com/Voight%20Pipes/shielding.html">Andy Rondeau's Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Speaker Project</a>. Although at the top of the article, he states this information is now outdated (as you can now buy expensive speaker shielding kits), I liked his DIY approach with cheap Home Depot supplies. <br />
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So I measured my speaker drivers, and went to Home Depot to look for those same steel pipe cap/ covers (which were about $5 a piece). I also found some electrical boxes (for $1.50 a piece) with much thicker steel and approximately the same size, which fit quite snugly inside the cap covers.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YrbogATgPDI/Tr67xVQlhgI/AAAAAAAABCg/M-gYa_uCE20/s640/sheilding1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YrbogATgPDI/Tr67xVQlhgI/AAAAAAAABCg/M-gYa_uCE20/s200/sheilding1.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4hi1pi0q7d0/Tr67xHy3gmI/AAAAAAAABCc/VfC73At7gt4/s640/sheilding2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4hi1pi0q7d0/Tr67xHy3gmI/AAAAAAAABCc/VfC73At7gt4/s200/sheilding2.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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I decided to return the more expensive cap covers, and just stick with the cheap electrical boxes as combined they didn't seem to add any additional shielding from my testing. The boxes were a bit larger than the two speaker drivers behind the marquee, but fit perfectly over the speakers under the control panel.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zXBiS5hqjwY/Tr67w057jaI/AAAAAAAABCM/bGMuxJEQZ20/s640/speakers1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zXBiS5hqjwY/Tr67w057jaI/AAAAAAAABCM/bGMuxJEQZ20/s200/speakers1.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MmoMr3Qslas/Tr67wnubIVI/AAAAAAAABCE/32sabFdwEfs/s640/speakers1a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MmoMr3Qslas/Tr67wnubIVI/AAAAAAAABCE/32sabFdwEfs/s200/speakers1a.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sNVrSASMbT0/Tr67wIEeY-I/AAAAAAAABB0/7HTkTkOCrgI/s640/speakers2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sNVrSASMbT0/Tr67wIEeY-I/AAAAAAAABB0/7HTkTkOCrgI/s200/speakers2.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FkVMqnaSjfk/Tr67wGtMv0I/AAAAAAAABCw/a5AoDJrx1_s/s640/speakers2a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FkVMqnaSjfk/Tr67wGtMv0I/AAAAAAAABCw/a5AoDJrx1_s/s200/speakers2a.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(Note how close one speaker under the control panel is to the chips on the PCB!) </span></div>
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I used electrical tape to ensure the boxes didn't fall off, and to insulate the edge next to the speaker terminals. The results were amazing!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y9qhwKKE50Q/Tr67wOQ6y4I/AAAAAAAABCA/7v5v0rZSSoQ/s640/after-large.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y9qhwKKE50Q/Tr67wOQ6y4I/AAAAAAAABCA/7v5v0rZSSoQ/s200/after-large.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q-LpUi9FA28/Tr67vooW5uI/AAAAAAAABBk/NpOQTdtKCo4/s283/after-small.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q-LpUi9FA28/Tr67vooW5uI/AAAAAAAABBk/NpOQTdtKCo4/s200/after-small.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-71429375969894793892011-10-01T09:42:00.000-07:002011-10-01T09:52:15.705-07:00How not to cause a fireA couple weeks ago, I made a second XB360 to Jamma adapter for a friend, same as my previous project <a href="http://arcadefever.blogspot.com/2009/12/weekend-project-360-to-jamma.html">here</a>. In testing it out on an Astro City cab, I noticed a faint electronics smell, you know that smell from the back of an old dusty television? [Apologies for those not old enough to have owned a tube television.] Well I thought nothing of it, and continued to show him how he could configure controls on an XB360 game when all of a sudden a ton of smoke starts pouring out of the converter box! I quickly shut off the cab and pull the converter off the jamma loom to notice it was actually the jamma connector that was burning.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p8PgByOWP_Q/TodBqSoYLAI/AAAAAAAABBM/fRDh0t8-Ce4/s300/burned-connector.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p8PgByOWP_Q/TodBqSoYLAI/AAAAAAAABBM/fRDh0t8-Ce4/s300/burned-connector.JPG" /></a></div>
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In the pic above, I dug out the burned pins, which basically melted inside the plastic housing.<br />
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My guess is I did not put the jamma connector on completely straight, and the ground and +5 pins were making contact with the same tooth on the fingerboard, resulting in a short that started burning the trace as well as the two pins inside the Jamma loom. Well needless to say I was quite embarrassed by this rookie mistake, and realized this could have started a fire if not noticed soon enough. Since this converter box is only used in converting the controls, I didn't need +5, -5 and +12 being connected, so I decided to sand off the contacts [via a dremel] on both sides of the fingerboard to prevent the possibility of this ever happening again.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XEwY0MmhTY8/TodBqV_9VZI/AAAAAAAABBI/X45IUfkOyA4/s300/safe-converter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XEwY0MmhTY8/TodBqV_9VZI/AAAAAAAABBI/X45IUfkOyA4/s300/safe-converter.JPG" /></a></div>
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I hope others learn from my stupid mistake, and make your converter boxes a little safer to operate!Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-45443635156995173042011-08-14T10:07:00.000-07:002011-08-14T15:44:00.775-07:00Monkey HarriersI picked up a Monkey Ball GDRom on the shmups forum recently (thanks fuko!). Normally this requires the expensive "banana panel", but given I have a Planet Harriers cab with analog stick, I figured it should be compatible - not to mention a lot less phallic than a banana stick.
<br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BHOcErBLSQE/Tkf_O20cSWI/AAAAAAAAA_M/FLCT9RIqmrA/MonekyBallGDRom.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BHOcErBLSQE/Tkf_O20cSWI/AAAAAAAAA_M/FLCT9RIqmrA/s300/MonekyBallGDRom.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></center>
<br />Swapping out the Hikaru for a Naomi GD was no problem at all, everything hooked right up perfectly! Booted up the game, calibrated the analog stick, and gave it a spin, only to find the vertical axis (up/down) on the analog stick was reversed. Not sure why Planet Harriers analog controls would be any different than other Sega games, but hacking some disconnects for the vertical pot and swapping the wires around solved it quickly.
<br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-CfDxPkiTB5I/Tkf_Ops65GI/AAAAAAAAA_I/IFq56_cy6FU/MonkeyBallHack.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-CfDxPkiTB5I/Tkf_Ops65GI/AAAAAAAAA_I/IFq56_cy6FU/s200/MonkeyBallHack.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UzvX8nPhWSw/Tkf_Ou-dFzI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/gT-xknC0iKk/MonkeyHarriers2.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UzvX8nPhWSw/Tkf_Ou-dFzI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/gT-xknC0iKk/s200/MonkeyHarriers2.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></center>
<br />Obviously Planet Harriers is a much better game, so I won't be keeping Monkey Ball in there for long, but it does make for a nice change of pace, and I have always wanted to play the original arcade version of Monkey Ball. :) It's also fitting that both games were developed by Sega's AV division.
<br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-f0PxMRI6A_Y/Tkf_OlWgIeI/AAAAAAAAA_E/2YnDzpp-FeI/s512/MonkeyHarriers.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 384px; height: 512px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-f0PxMRI6A_Y/Tkf_OlWgIeI/AAAAAAAAA_E/2YnDzpp-FeI/s512/MonkeyHarriers.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></center>Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-27592087314573765892011-07-29T21:48:00.000-07:002011-07-30T08:15:05.131-07:00Cabinet Linking: Gundam DX (Naomi)As mentioned in a previous blog post, I never had much interest in Gundam anime or games, but some cool <a href="http://arcadefever.blogspot.com/2011/06/mecha-shmups.html">mecha shmups</a> are slowly turning me. After seeing Gundam v.s. Gundam Next in a 4 linked cabinet configuration at <a href="http://www.gamecenterarcade.com/">Game Center Arcade</a>, I became much more interested in how this particular series plays.<br /><br />As most Naomi collectors probably know, "Mobile Suit Gundam - Federation VS Zeon DX" on GDRom is one of the cheapest titles you can get for the platform, and gets boring pretty quickly, hence the cheap price. But how does this series continue to exist, and garner such excitement in Japan? Well it seem multiplayer is what really makes this game fun, and being such an arcade hardware geek, I decided to see if I could link two of my own cabinets together for some Gundam action!<br /><br />Now, I already owned a copy of Gundam DX (like pretty much everyone), and I also have a pair of Naomi GDRom setups, so what I needed to buy first was a second copy of the game. No biggie, it was only $20 on eBay.<br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8LrVq-BmmTI/TjLn6azi3II/AAAAAAAAA9g/P1WeGNuT71o/GundamDX1.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8LrVq-BmmTI/TjLn6azi3II/AAAAAAAAA9g/P1WeGNuT71o/s400/GundamDX1.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br />Next I needed the all important "communications board". This sits in-between the GDRom DIMM board and the motherboard. I seriously don't understand why the Naomi motherboard has fiber optic connections, yet requires this extra communications board to actually work. Anyway, you'll need two of these boards, and two fiber cables to link the motherboards together.<br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--HIvvMB6GaY/TjLn65onXQI/AAAAAAAAA9k/jXwi0H5FDx4/GundamDX2.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--HIvvMB6GaY/TjLn65onXQI/AAAAAAAAA9k/jXwi0H5FDx4/s400/GundamDX2.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br />Checking the brilliant <a href="http://sega-naomi.com">Sega-Naomi</a> website, you'll find the bios list mentions you need EPR-21576F or greater to link Naomi cabinets. I happened to have the latest JPN H bios in two mother boards. Note: you do not need the Network version of the DIMM board to make this work!<br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-UlQDn3r6Ni4/TjLn611MDTI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/eMRSUAFQGFM/GundamDX3.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-UlQDn3r6Ni4/TjLn611MDTI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/eMRSUAFQGFM/s400/GundamDX3.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br />Next is the dreaded part of hooking a Naomi system up to a standard jamma Astro City. Needless to say its quite painful to get all the parts required to make this happen, but you should have no problem finding everything on eBay. <br /><br />My New Astro City has the same power supply as a Blast City, and I also have Naomi cables for this bad boy allowing me to run a Naomi motherboard directly without need for a second power supply or audio amplifier. My original Astro City is not as lucky, so I had to run the entire lot with Sega Power supply, Sega Amplifer with sound pot, etc. Of course both require a JVS to Jamma I/O converter. <br /><br />The resulting mess, is something that would take a lot of work squeezing inside the cabinets, so I just left them outside for now.<br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ZSE5CQdfZbQ/TjLn7Iz77VI/AAAAAAAAA9s/pgC6ZS2SwF8/GundamDX4.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ZSE5CQdfZbQ/TjLn7Iz77VI/AAAAAAAAA9s/pgC6ZS2SwF8/s400/GundamDX4.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br />At this point, powering up both systems, with the fiber optic cables hooked up, would do nothing more than run both games independently. You need to go into the game configuration, and set the networking assignment to "Master" on one, and "Slave" on the other. "Max Operations" and "Side Select" are used if you still want people to be able to play independently of each other, and choose which side of the battle they wish to be on. I just left these to their defaults since I wanted cooperative play.<br /><br />Now after restarting both systems, you should get a message saying its checking the network, and after 5-10 seconds of this blinking message, they should show they are linked, and the games should start in parallel.<br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u-6Qi_TOTlI/TjLn7fnLikI/AAAAAAAAA9w/WoIzhjVLHLU/GundamDX5.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 175px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u-6Qi_TOTlI/TjLn7fnLikI/AAAAAAAAA9w/WoIzhjVLHLU/s225/GundamDX5.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h3gd74wY1As/TjLn7e6D9_I/AAAAAAAAA90/1wP5ayBCzj8/GundamDX6.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 175px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h3gd74wY1As/TjLn7e6D9_I/AAAAAAAAA90/1wP5ayBCzj8/s225/GundamDX6.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br />Now all I need is to invite a few friends over and convince them to play this game instead of some shmups. This is probably the most difficult part of the experiment.<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KSjGUXKIpuI/TjLn7sOWuRI/AAAAAAAAA94/ltlb61oxYU8/GundamDX7.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 200px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KSjGUXKIpuI/TjLn7sOWuRI/AAAAAAAAA94/ltlb61oxYU8/s225/GundamDX7.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-mprro_G-Sw4/TjLn6RFgIPI/AAAAAAAAA9c/-_uyVDzsvLI/GundamDX8.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 200px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-mprro_G-Sw4/TjLn6RFgIPI/AAAAAAAAA9c/-_uyVDzsvLI/s225/GundamDX8.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /></center>Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-32666820073025754412011-06-17T23:01:00.001-07:002011-06-25T11:51:44.300-07:00Mecha shmupsI've never been a huge fan of Gundam type mecha games (or anime for that matter), but these two high class mecha shmups are quickly winning me over with their incredible soundtracks, and highly detailed hand pixeled renderings.<br /><br />First up is Rohga Armor Force by Data East (also known as Wolf Fang in Japan). The international version is equivalent to the "special mode" of Wolf Fang (if you hold down buttons 1 and 3 while pressing start on Wolf Fang). Special mode cuts out the story line elements between stages (there is still story chatter at the beginning and ending of each stage), and combines all 4 branching paths to an unabridged 12 mission marathon. <br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Vj6xli1VDkk/Tfw4ilysS_I/AAAAAAAAA6w/GIL8NvNCF6c/rohga.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 188px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Vj6xli1VDkk/Tfw4ilysS_I/AAAAAAAAA6w/GIL8NvNCF6c/s225/rohga.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Fs-9zzxVi3k/Tfw4it2hmgI/AAAAAAAAA6s/ydPdRQRxq0Q/rohga2.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 188px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Fs-9zzxVi3k/Tfw4it2hmgI/AAAAAAAAA6s/ydPdRQRxq0Q/s225/rohga2.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Kf7WvKsAW6k/Tfw4iZz0rLI/AAAAAAAAA6k/1e0CaUZYcUo/rohga_pcb.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 188px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Kf7WvKsAW6k/Tfw4iZz0rLI/AAAAAAAAA6k/1e0CaUZYcUo/s225/rohga_pcb.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br />Completing Rogha/Wolf Fang with a single credit is a herculean feat, as the 12 consecutive stages will run you about 60 minutes!<br /><br />Next up is Cybattler by Jaleco. A vertical mecha shmup, and primary inspiration for Grev's latest (last?) shmup for <a href="http://nesica.net/">NESiCAxLive</a> arcade platform and XB360 - <a href="http://www.grev.co.jp/str/index.html">Strania</a>.<br /><br />Jaleco wasn't typically known for releasing very detailed or high quality titles, but they really put everything behind this game. The soundtrack is outstanding, boss designs are innovative, and mecha control scheme quite intuitive with a two button shot/sword and strafe while holding either button down. I'll reserve final judgement until I spend more time with it, but needless to say its quite difficult as I couldn't get past stage 2 boss without a lot of practice.<br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-UTjWOnSckVc/Tfw4iTATA4I/AAAAAAAAA6g/JNj-2I-Unw4/cybattler.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 188px; height: 250px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-UTjWOnSckVc/Tfw4iTATA4I/AAAAAAAAA6g/JNj-2I-Unw4/s250/cybattler.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-tH0b8etzPr8/Tfw4iLIxxXI/AAAAAAAAA6c/gVstuJurOnE/cybattler2.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 188px; height: 250px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-tH0b8etzPr8/Tfw4iLIxxXI/AAAAAAAAA6c/gVstuJurOnE/s250/cybattler2.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5ct_wswd0Z8/Tfw4isxuDtI/AAAAAAAAA6o/GEjbliksDwk/cybattler_pcb.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 188px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5ct_wswd0Z8/Tfw4isxuDtI/AAAAAAAAA6o/GEjbliksDwk/s250/cybattler_pcb.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></center>Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-39140359155163301882011-05-15T15:34:00.000-07:002011-05-30T16:14:19.842-07:00The ShmupmeetThe underground arcade fighting scene has made a magnificent comeback in recent years, with local tournaments featured in bars, hotel conference rooms, and a handful of arcades left in existence, ultimately leading to a final showdown in Las Vegas (<a href="http://evo2k.com/">EVO</a>).<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.desele<br />ctBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TdBbmb68nII/AAAAAAAAA5o/9TLJeIA9zLE/s500/shmupmeet.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TdBbmb68nII/AAAAAAAAA5o/9TLJeIA9zLE/s500/shmupmeet.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br />The above picture may look just like one of these fighting events, except its not. These people are not crowding around opponents beating each other to a bloody pulp, or trash talking one another with gripes about button mashing or forbidden combo hacks. These people are playing "shmups". Yes shmups, that ugly word used to describe the genesis of arcade games, the shoot-em-up. One ship against an armada of invading enemy. They shoot, you dodge, you shoot back. Simple in principle, yet amazingly satisfying.<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TdBbmfT_mXI/AAAAAAAAA5w/nyjU0sUFUkI/s500/shmupmeet2.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TdBbmfT_mXI/AAAAAAAAA5w/nyjU0sUFUkI/s500/shmupmeet2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br />Modern shmups have evolved quite a long ways from the original Space Invaders of the late 70s. In fact they've more accurately mutated into a sub-species of score based challenge that have nearly caused their own extinction, save for a very few die-hard obsessed fans. With only a few companies left today making shmups for arcade and console, its hard to believe anyone much cares about the genre, but these dark grainy cellphone pictures you are seeing here show there is still an active underground following, and not just in the SF Bay Area, but around the world [see videos included at the end of this post].<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TdBbme29dSI/AAAAAAAAA5s/kTVpC5_oY9s/s500/shmupmeet3.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TdBbme29dSI/AAAAAAAAA5s/kTVpC5_oY9s/s500/shmupmeet3.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br />Will shmups one day be lifted from its cult following to be recognized as a legitimate tournament sport like fighting games have? Unlikely, as score based single player games typically don't fair well in tournament style events. Although I've been successful in the past running shmupmeet challenges, its not anything like the Player vs Player excitement of a spectator's sport. Still, there are a few hybrid style fighting-shmups, and other interesting ways to pit two players against each other in a normally co-operative shmup, which make for some great smack talk and elbow jabbing between opponents.<br /><br /><center><br /><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2_jj8LIsmcI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/e3dO_ugaJ54" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gukVRmIoBiY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /></center><br /> <br />More shmupmeet videos on youtube <a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=shmupmeet&aq=f">here</a>.Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-31198984341271240822011-02-27T21:10:00.000-08:002011-02-27T22:24:27.235-08:00February GETsI've started picking up a few PCBs again. This time I'm filling in the gaps in my collection with ones I've passed over before, or in the case of Shikigami No Shiro, buy back something I had previously sold. With all of these being cheaper than typical XB360 games, its was hard to pass up.<br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TWdHwvO45OI/AAAAAAAAA1U/tHyrWFltzkY/IMG_9211.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TWdHwvO45OI/AAAAAAAAA1U/tHyrWFltzkY/s200/IMG_9211.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TWs3LDbJ1EI/AAAAAAAAA2A/hbdTgHfKD_s/IMG_9216.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TWs3LDbJ1EI/AAAAAAAAA2A/hbdTgHfKD_s/s200/IMG_9216.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br />Shiki and Raystorm are games I consider my least favorite of their respective series, but I'm surprised to be digging Raystorm's atmosphere (mostly because of the Zuntana BGM).<br /><br />I'm also gaining an affinity for older Visco shmups.<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TWs3K2E9ZMI/AAAAAAAAA18/rwbgs3Rh7dY/IMG_9214.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TWs3K2E9ZMI/AAAAAAAAA18/rwbgs3Rh7dY/s200/IMG_9214.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TWdHwYmWhWI/AAAAAAAAA1Q/hgDm-x0zrrI/IMG_9209.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TWdHwYmWhWI/AAAAAAAAA1Q/hgDm-x0zrrI/s200/IMG_9209.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TWdHwhpFwUI/AAAAAAAAA1Y/MOS90S35I1I/IMG_9175.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TWdHwhpFwUI/AAAAAAAAA1Y/MOS90S35I1I/s200/IMG_9175.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a> </center>Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-24720371721056264202011-01-26T22:49:00.001-08:002011-01-26T23:12:42.600-08:00Plus Alpha (Jaleco)While not one of the best shmups that came out in 1989, this rare Jaleco "cute'em-up" sports some nice pixel art, and challenging boss battles (mostly due to the huge hitbox).<br /><br />The Jaleco Mega System 1-A hardware slows down quite a bit when there are a lot of sprites on the screen, giving a little breathing room for tight dodging, but I don't think that was intentional (ala Cave).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TUEVE-IP38I/AAAAAAAAA00/vThRvYpMbCA/PlusAlpha.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 300px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TUEVE-IP38I/AAAAAAAAA00/vThRvYpMbCA/s300/PlusAlpha.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TUEVE085ofI/AAAAAAAAA0w/3XCvQgmHOGY/PlusAlphaPCB.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 200px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TUEVE085ofI/AAAAAAAAA0w/3XCvQgmHOGY/s300/PlusAlphaPCB.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Between stages, there is an interesting slot machine challenge for obtaining shot power-ups, bombs (they call hypers), and 1ups. <br /><br />Thanks to robivy64 for letting this PCB escape his collection. :)Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-12924318461085925052010-11-27T09:24:00.000-08:002010-11-27T09:29:44.476-08:00Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu X360I got this yesterday morning, and my eyeballs have been bleeding all different kinds of colors ever since. Cave really pushed this game to the visual limit, and made the Xbox 360 port fun with extra modes. A definite buy of any fan, regardless if you own the PCB or not.<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TPACNlxp6XI/AAAAAAAAAyU/sPgwpIZ9NTM/s512/DFK360.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 384px; height: 512px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TPACNlxp6XI/AAAAAAAAAyU/sPgwpIZ9NTM/s512/DFK360.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />I'm really looking forward to the special package version of DFK BL + Ketsui BL in February.Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-51251368086709562712010-11-12T11:12:00.000-08:002010-11-17T17:37:26.373-08:00More D9200 neckboard problemsThe Wells-Gardner D9200 continues to be a source of problems for me, despite the neckboards being modified per <a href="http://www.wellsgardner.com/pdf/Service/SERVICE%20BULLETIN%2030A%20NECK.pdf">this service bulletin</a>. Its no wonder these monitor chassis were recalled a long time ago. <br /><br />You may remember me <a href="http://arcadefever.blogspot.com/2008/01/planet-harriers-monitors-fixed.html">fixing this issue before</a> when some of the colors would randomly stop and start working. But this time, rather than loosing colors, the Red gun seemed to be stuck on at 100% and wash out the other colors. I confirmed this by going into the digital controls and trying to lower Red to no effect.<br /><br />Following the <a href="http://www.wellsgardner.com/pdf/Schematics/D9204_D9205_Schematics.pdf">neckboard schematics</a> I visually traced the Red signal pathway through the components, and spotted this bulging/blown transistor at Q203.<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TN2RJSYT7_I/AAAAAAAAAxA/yb8zWEnR-oY/bad-ksp2222a.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 300px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TN2RJSYT7_I/AAAAAAAAAxA/yb8zWEnR-oY/s300/bad-ksp2222a.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />According to the schematic, Q203, which is a KSP2222A transistor, is what limits the Red signal, so I'm sure its the culprit in this problem. I placed an order with <a href="http://www.mouser.com/">Mouser Electronics</a> for a bunch of these, and a few more NTE2501's just in case. :)<br /><br />[11/17/10 Update] Well that didn't fix it, so back to troubleshooting. :( [/update]Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-86960848854705727322010-10-24T11:07:00.000-07:002010-10-24T11:21:03.673-07:00Great Mahou Daisakusen item collectionI may not be great at item collections in Dimahoo / Great Mahou Daisakusen, but at least I was able to complete this full art set. :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TMR260sTeqI/AAAAAAAAAww/MzGdLbw5rzA/IMG_8985.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TMR260sTeqI/AAAAAAAAAww/MzGdLbw5rzA/s400/IMG_8985.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />(With special thanks to Mikhail, Tom, and Laurent for helping me obtain a few of these pieces.)Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-73583630764574904622010-09-18T19:34:00.000-07:002010-09-18T23:58:18.590-07:00Hacking the MGCD (Part 2)The Dreamcast version of the MGCD has a similar issue to the PS2 version, of not being exactly JAMMA plug-in play. The last two edge pins on either side of the connector are mapped to joystick buttons rather than grounds (per the <a href="http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/spies.cgi?action=url&type=pinout&page=Jamma.html">JAMMA</a> spec). If these are grounded when you power up the MGCD, it will not accept any inputs from the joystick or other buttons, which is a pretty bad design flaw. So like the <a href="http://arcadefever.blogspot.com/2010/05/hacking-mgcd-part-1.html">PS2 MGCD in Part 1</a>, a simple adapter is needed to isolate these from the edge connector. If you actually need to use buttons 5 & 6 from both players, you can manually connect wires to the adapter and run them up to your control panel.<br /><center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TJWqTOgmICI/AAAAAAAAAvs/6ZGxjI2ycDs/IMG_8709.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TJWqTOgmICI/AAAAAAAAAvs/6ZGxjI2ycDs/s300/IMG_8709.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /></center><br />Above we have the MGCD, with edge adapter, mounted to a Dreamcast, and ready to be connected to any 15khz JAMMA cabinet. I should mention that the same hack used to disable the timer overlay on the PS2 version also works on the Dreamcast version. Also note this MGCD comes with an extra cable to attach a DC memory unit.<br /><br />If you are like me, you relish the fact that the Dreamcast can output high resolution (31khz/VGA) natively, and I happen to have some JVS/JAMMA cabinets with tri-sync monitors. So you might think that simply using a DC-VGA adapater in place of the MGCD AV cable would work. Unfortunately its not that easy. The MGCD seems to stop working if there is no input video sync present at the MGCD AV connector. So a small hack is required to the DC-VGA box.<br /><center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TJWqTQfM3CI/AAAAAAAAAv0/ML0kTDrX4Iw/IMG_8712.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TJWqTQfM3CI/AAAAAAAAAv0/ML0kTDrX4Iw/s300/IMG_8712.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /></center><br />Shown above is my DC VGA box, which has its Composite Video Output connector modified to also be connected to composite sync, which is <a href="http://www.gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:dreamcastav">pin #10</a> on the Dreamcast AV input cable. You do not need to disconnect composite video <a href="http://www.gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:dreamcastav">pin #13</a>, having both connected to the RCA jack at the same time will work fine. The blue video sync plug, shown above, is then soldered directly to the MGCD AV connector input pins (as shown below), along with Left and Right sound outputs from the VGA box.<br /><br /><center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TJWqS39PU9I/AAAAAAAAAvk/xXEvxSDkCtw/IMG_8703.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TJWqS39PU9I/AAAAAAAAAvk/xXEvxSDkCtw/s300/IMG_8703.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /></center><br />So now I have a choice of using the MGCD amplified mono sound out of the PCB, or using the DC-VGA box's stereo headphone output if my cab has its own stereo amplifier. BTW: only the "Madness Gameware" or "DC Blaze VGA" box has headphone output and volume controls.<br /><br />Lastly, you may have noticed a toggle switch on my Madness Gameware VGA box, this is a <a href="http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_consoles.shtml#dc2arcade">non-related hack I wrote about back in 2002</a> to force it into either 15khz RGB or 31khz VGA output. This is not needed for the MGCD, since you can get great 15khz RGB output by using the original MGCD AV cable.<br /><center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TJWqTHSeUdI/AAAAAAAAAvo/q5z1c4H-KzA/IMG_8708.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 300px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TJWqTHSeUdI/AAAAAAAAAvo/q5z1c4H-KzA/s300/IMG_8708.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /></center><br />So, below is the completed MGCD with Dreamcast VGA and stereo output connectors ready to go on a JVS/JAMMA cab.<br /><center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TJWqTQ-7urI/AAAAAAAAAvw/gZykeazw9xE/IMG_8711.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TJWqTQ-7urI/AAAAAAAAAvw/gZykeazw9xE/s300/IMG_8711.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /></center>Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-31070835384938934822010-09-13T14:20:00.000-07:002010-09-13T14:44:39.869-07:00Bakraid Love<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TI6U87w5lfI/AAAAAAAAAvI/RFOMVlJfbDM/s512/Bakraid.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 384px; height: 512px;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/TI6U87w5lfI/AAAAAAAAAvI/RFOMVlJfbDM/s512/Bakraid.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />(With special thanks to Seth and Paul for helping me obtain a few of these lovely pieces!)Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19529025.post-44261133727523264922010-05-23T16:11:00.000-07:002010-09-18T23:46:27.481-07:00Hacking the MGCD (Part 1)<center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_nHZKpnabI/AAAAAAAAAqM/KH38yKU1_Ao/MGCD-case.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_nHZKpnabI/AAAAAAAAAqM/KH38yKU1_Ao/s200/MGCD-case.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br />The MGCD is a console to JAMMA converter created by Taiwanese company <a href="http://www.frolicker.com.tw/">Frolicker</a>, and distributed by many Taiwanese arcade resellers. Several versions of the MGCD were produced for Dreamcast, Playstation2, Gamecube, and Xbox. What makes the MGCD unique to other pay-to-play console timer PCBs, was the MGCD could be programed to recognize the start game screen of a particular title, as well as the end game screen, allowing it to disable all input, sound, and even video, until the game was fully loaded and start game screen ready. So in a sense, the MGCD could disguise the fact that you were playing the console version of an arcade game. Here is the manual for the <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.starcab.net/ressources/docs/conv/MGCD-B.pdf">MGCD-B Version</a>, showing all the nifty features and settings.<br /><br />For a pretty stupid reason, the MGCD isn't exactly plug and play with most JAMMA setups. The problem is in the fact that the MGCD maps 12 player action buttons to the jamma finger board, utilizing the last 2 pins on each side, which are typically tied to ground on most JAMMA looms. If these connections are tied to ground, the MGCD will not boot up properly, and simply not work. To get around this, you must either modify your JAMMA loom connector of your cabinet, detaching the ground wires to these last pins, and connecting them to player buttons 5 & 6, or just leave them off completely. So instead of modifying my cabinet, I just created a fingerboard which lifts these last two pins on each side, allowing me to play on any JAMMA cab. If I wanted to use these last two buttons for fighting games, I could simply run a wire to the fingerboard up to the control panel.<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_nFkW5SkpI/AAAAAAAAApA/AYOiQpoYuCo/MGCD-JammaGND.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_nFkW5SkpI/AAAAAAAAApA/AYOiQpoYuCo/s400/MGCD-JammaGND.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Leave the last two pins on either side disconnected.</span></center><br /><br />Similar to other pay-for-play "timer" PCBs, the MGCD can also play credits for time, although with an annoying timer countdown that is displayed once per minute at the bottom of the screen. With the limited number of games recognized by the MGCD firmware, the timer feature is primarily used by most people, where you can setup a single credit to play for a maximum of 256 minutes. The problem, of course, is that that annoying time displayed at the bottom of the screen.<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_m2n_Pqh-I/AAAAAAAAAoY/ofFKli1g2e8/gradiusv-counter.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_m2n_Pqh-I/AAAAAAAAAoY/ofFKli1g2e8/s400/gradiusv-counter.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />Figuring out how to remove the timer overlay took some trial and error. At first I tried re-routing the RGB video signal from the console output, directly to the front of the fingerboard. This did work, but the signal was unamplified, and too dark/weak to be displayed on an arcade monitor. So the only other option was to figure out which chip on the MGCD was doing the video overlay, and disabling it. This took a lot of probing around, but eventually I found the chip, and grounded one of the legs to effectively disable it.<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_m2oe8aF7I/AAAAAAAAAqk/0bBCKdE9YCc/MGCD-Jamma.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_m2oe8aF7I/AAAAAAAAAqk/0bBCKdE9YCc/s400/MGCD-Jamma.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Video timer overlay chip highlighted in red.</span><br /></center><br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_m2oiOWsXI/AAAAAAAAAog/GhprLe7j86w/MGCD-videochip.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_m2oiOWsXI/AAAAAAAAAog/GhprLe7j86w/s200/MGCD-videochip.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_m2pQPJX2I/AAAAAAAAAos/6iUTL5Wb6Y8/MGCD-videohack.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_m2pQPJX2I/AAAAAAAAAos/6iUTL5Wb6Y8/s200/MGCD-videohack.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Connecting these two pins (highlighted in red) will disable the video timer overlay.</span><br /></center><br /><br />Now here is what the output looks like without the timer.<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_m2pjEnbhI/AAAAAAAAAnc/3Psn5WNtEyQ/Gradiusv-nocounter.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_m2pjEnbhI/AAAAAAAAAnc/3Psn5WNtEyQ/s200/Gradiusv-nocounter.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_nU1C_p9GI/AAAAAAAAArE/hP0tY49iKRk/GradiusCab.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_nU1C_p9GI/AAAAAAAAArE/hP0tY49iKRk/s200/GradiusCab.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></center><br /><br />Finally, here is the MGCD installed on my PS2, and ready to be played on any JAMMA machine.<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_nXRhN-DyI/AAAAAAAAArg/tFACNfIja-M/MGCDPS2.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_NVIPkPRJdAM/S_nXRhN-DyI/AAAAAAAAArg/tFACNfIja-M/s400/MGCDPS2.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /></center><br /><br />Next, I'll talk about how to take the MGCD Dreamcast version and hook it up to a cabinet at either 15khz or 31khz. (<a href="http://arcadefever.blogspot.com/2010/09/hacking-mgcd-part-2.html">Go to Part 2 here!</a>)Arcade Feverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16247088992903998915noreply@blogger.com33