Double Wings highscore

Double Wings is a Raiden clone, but with ships that move at modern shmup speeds. This makes the game a lot easier, and (in my opinon) more fun. As such, it only took a couple days to clear the first loop (with the aid of an autofire board). The second loop contains a strange combination of the same levels plus some new sections if you do not die. The moment you die, the rest of the level returns to the same as the first loop.

Here is my best score, the star indications second loop, stage 3 section 2 (there are 4 sections to each stage).



DJK - 1,857,100 3-2 (2nd loop)

Mushihimesama ALL (original mode)

Done (for now). No bombs left, and two lives in stock to get this score.


DJK - 30,229,811 - ALL - S-Power - Bx0 Lx2

Mushihimesama ALL (original mode)

I'm not a big fan of Mushihimesama, but started playing this again after a long run on original Raiden. For some reason training on Raiden really quickened my reaction times.
So this is not a big deal to most, but I 1CC'd Original mode recently with W-Power. If I can adjust to S-Power's speed, I'm sure I could end with at least 1 life in stock adding another 10M.


DJK - 10,553,274 - ALL - W-Power Bx? Lx0

Things slowly returning back to normal

Well its finally over! Months of planning still didn't prepare us for all the work that goes into a wedding. Anyway, my only advice to anyone who may be about to go through this, is to pay for a wedding coordinator to take care of as many of the details as possible (and not just "day-of" coordination), it will be worth every penny!

Lack of updates

The good news is I'm getting married this summer. The bad news is any available free time is going towards the planning of this "once in a lifetime event"...so don't expect any blog/gaming updates until the fall.

Side blog

With all the copious amount of free time I have (yeah right!), I started a small side blog to document my thoughts on "Dual Play" also known as "Double Play". This alternate way of playing certain shmup games has rekindled my interest in older (early 90s) shooters, and has given me a new appreciation for some games I got burnt out on (i.e. Viper Phase 1). I find it quite challenging and exciting to be able to pull off some cool looking runs with symmetrical patterns. Of course I'll never be as good as VTF-INO and his awesome Ikaruga double play, but I never try to emulate superplays either.

My definition of Double Play

In the truest sense of the term, "dual play" or "double play" to me means walking into an arcade, sitting down (or standing) at a machine, and playing both Player 1 and Player2 at the same time. No fancy joypads, or rewired buttons, just a regular game in an arcade cabinet. Obviously the point here is to be able to accomplish this feat in public, without any special preparation. I'll get to this last point in a moment.


(Dual Play Tetris pictured)

Double Play was born in Japanese arcades by fans who were constantly looking for increased challenges during the 1990s. Now given today, inside the United States arcades are pretty rare, and ones that have vertical shooters are even rarer, its understandable that people also attempt this feat through emulation (Mame), consoles, and with dual shock joysticks, remapped buttons, or some other gadgetry. Although this is still a pretty amazing accomplishment, its still not as skilfully performed as on an arcade control panel, which requires a larger amount of hand dexterity ( versus thumb dexterity on something like a dual shock joypad). So my definition of Double Play will pretty much center around what would be possible inside a public arcade in Japan.

Now certain games lend themselves to Double Play easier than others, say for example shooting games that have only two buttons. Some Japanese arcade operators install rapid fire circuits on button C, and some do not. Some arcade PCBs have options to turn on C-Shot (rapid) through dip switches and some do not. Its mostly hit and miss based on the game and arcade operator. Generally if there is an advantage to higher scoring, operators in Japan try to please their patrons by allowing C-Shot or install rapid fire circuits.

Ok given the above setting, and not being allowed to open up or change arcade machines in public, the only other preparation that goes into Double Play may be some tape or toothpick or paper wedge to keep certain buttons held down during the entire run. This is usually to keep your hands from cramping if you constantly need to hammer on a fire button while controlling your ship.

(Next post will be on hand and finger positioning.)

Raiden DX double play sighting in the wild!

Check this out, while eating Pho with my fiancee, I spotted a coffee shop right next door which had what looked like an arcade cocktail table inside. After going in, I was surprised to find a Sega Aero Table with Raiden DX!

This alone was a pretty rare find, but upon closer inspection, I found both P1 and P2 sides had their 3rd button (which is normally autofire on Raiden) stuck down with what looked like a torn up cigarette box jammed into the edge of the button. This was a good indication that someone was probably having a double play run with both ships.

I went back to the coffee shop today to take a pic with my camera, but the buttons were unstuck, making it somewhat difficult to have a dual play run stretching my fingers to the 3rd button of each player. Next time I go, I'll bring a toothpick to jam in there to hold the buttons down.

New Planet Harriers highscore

With my PH machine repaired, I jumped in for two test runs, and beat my last highscore by a little bit. I still died in Stage 3, around the same place, only difference was I entered the stage maxed out on everything and with 6 hearts!


I'm just realizing that some of the projectiles are guided! So you need to keep your player moving to avoid them. Only problem is if missiles are fired from opposite sides of the screen, which is when you have to do some fancy roll maneuvers (mentioned before that only work if the stick is calibrated properly).

DJK - 445,570 - Stage 3

Planet Harriers monitors fixed!

During the last Bay Area Shmupmeet, Segasonicfan pointed out what might be wrong with my Planet Harriers monitor colors. Turns out these are both Wells Gardner D9200 monitors, which apparently have been discontinued because they were poorly designed. It seems the neckboards would fry some transistors used to buffer the R/G/B video signal to the tube.

To confirm this might be the problem, I did a quick test. I swapped the neckboards between both monitors, and sure enough the color problems also swapped. Segasonicfan pointed out these three transistors as the culprit, which just so happens to have some burn and resoldering underneath, a clear indications that they have been replaced before.


Being the original transistor used is pretty uncommon, I was able to fine a suitable NTE replacement. I think I'll have to order a couple more just in case any other colors go out on me. Now finally I can actually get back to playing this cool game!

Double Play or Dual Play?

I'm not exactly sure if the term is "Dual Play" or "Double Play", but the menu option in Raiden III (and most likely in Raiden IV) call it Double Play, but I refer to it as either.
Anyway, Dual Play Shooting will be a side topic for me to document my thoughts and experience playing vertical shooting arcade games (also known as shmups) while controlling both player 1 and player 2 ships at the same time. Even though this technique of playing has been around for over 15 years (since the original Raiden days), it was made much more public/popular by VTF-INO with his Ikaruga replays (see youtube example below).

Gun Frontier PCB

I just received a new (well its actually used) PCB this week. The game is called "Gun Frontier" made by Taito in 1990. The story line is pretty strange: space cowboys and mechanical tanks on a distant settlement planet like the old west. There is a nice writeup by Mike Bevan here for the sega saturn version.

Anyway, this is the grandfather of all that is Yagawa/Raizing!



I read how this inspired Yagawa to create Garegga, but after finally playing it in person, I can see Yagawa took MANY things from this game and continues to pay homage in all his Raizing/Crazing games since! You've got the bomb rack, cartridge bullets and casings, flock of flamingos, enemy shrapnel, enemy explosions curling off, enemy/boss point-blanking, swiveling girder arm, destructible scenery, destructible boss parts for extra points, a shimmering cloud background exactly like Ibara & Pink Sweets, ... probably much more since I've only made it to the start of level 4 on a few credits so far. Playing this is almost like digging into the roots of modern music.

The only thing that sucks about it, is the huge hitboxes and rank increase autofire deterant.

DOJ serial number

So having sold my Dodonpachi Dai-Ou-Jou PCB to a friend, I got around to plugging in my spare DOJ board to play a few rounds. Unfortunately this is the first time I booted it up since winning it on YAJ almost 6 months ago (mostly wanted it for the original artwork that came with it). Turns out player 2 bomb button did not work. :-( Whats worse is that this was actually a sealed DOJ, in that the blue case still had the cave sticker fully intact! So I did the dirty deed, broke the seal, and found something pretty cool inside.



Turns out I have PCB number 0014 of god knows how many. Being one of Cave's most popular games in Japan means this is a real treat thinking which game center this board was originally installed at, how long it sat there, and how many Japanese pro's played on it.

Getting back to the problem at hand, turns out that the battery had leaked acid and must have cut through one of the traces (not really noticeable being inside the blue case). I was able to easily solder a wire from the edge connector to the coupling capacitor to restore the connection, even though visually it didn't look like the trace was broken. Damn old batteries. I'm tempted to just unsolder it and leave it without the battery since I never change the defaults anyway, and always use coins to start my games.

And hilarity ensues...

I don't normally IRC, but decided to log into #shmups while doing my daily rounds of shmup reading on the net. Usually I don't see people chatting, outside the occasional grunts and screams from shoe-sama, but tonight there was action, and one very funny video.

Shoe-sama was attempting to replicate this 19 chain puyo puyo fever combo after watching a Japanese replay on youtube. Here is the original replay. Note near the end the guy keeps flipping the puyo puyo's in the air above the bar and somehow gets them to disappear so the next set comes in. Not sure if this is a known feature or bug, but its what allows him to pull off this 19 chain combo.



Now watch shoe-sama attempt to replicate this feat. The sound is crappy because he captured it using an external microphone, but makes this all the more funny when you hear him wailing the controller at the end trying to pull off that move, then learns why emulators suck.

Sanwa and Seimitsu mounting plates

I was digging through my arcade junk boxes and found a total of six different types of joystick mounting plates. To help me remember, and to share with anyone else who cares, I snapped some pics and added descriptions of which plates work with which machines/panels/sticks.

Disclaimers: I do not know the actual part numbers of these plates for ordering, and the names I use may not be official product names. I am not offering any for sale here. This is just a pictorial reference to understand what type/shape of plates are out there for Japanese arcade control panels (Sega/Namco/Konami).



1: Sanwa flat mounting plate which fits my Namco Exceleena square control panel (with four mounting posts welded to the panel). Note: this plate should come with 4 small nuts which go INSIDE the sanwa stick, and 4 small screws. This is used to secure the plate to the stick.

2: Sanwa S-Plate used to mount a Sanwa stick to an original Sega Astro City (type 1) panel. Note: this plate should come with 4 small nuts which go INSIDE the Sanwa stick, and 4 small screws. This is used to secure the plate to the stick.

3: Chinese flat mounting plate (also has 2 holes for Sanwa) which fits my Namco Exeleena square control panel (with four mounting posts welded to the panel). For Sanwa sticks, use the 2 above/below holes, for Chinese sticks, use the 4 holes.

4: Seimitsu flat mounting plate which fits my Namco Exceleena square control panel (with four mounting posts welded to the panel).

5: Seimitsu shallow S-Plate used to mount on an original Sega Astro City (type 2) panel.

6: Seimitsu S-Plate used to mount on an original Sega Astro City (type 1) panel.

For further reference, here are some pics of my panels with various sticks/plates mounted.

Astro City (type 1) panel, with Seimitsu Stick and plate #6.
Astro City (type 2) panel, with Seimitsu Stick and plate #5.
Namco panel, with Sanwa Stick and plate #1.*
*This also fits perfectly on an Astro type 2 panel.
Astro City (type 2) panel, with Chinese Stick and plate #3.**
**This is a hack, note the two orange zip ties on the bottom since the holes did not exactly line up.
Konami Windy panel, with Sanwa Stick.***
***No plate needed, as this panel has built in metal mounting points for above/below screws).

Its Mame-o-licious

My Namco Exceleena Blue cab has gone through several major changes over the years. When I first got it, I completely gutted the insides, replaced the monitor, converting it into a 31khz Dreamcast machine (poor man's Naomi GD system). About a year ago I restored it back to Jamma compatible, and bought an MGCD and JPAC so I could play all three: Jamma, Consoles, and Mame/PC games. I never paid much attention to Mame though, since it didn't match up to the real PCBs I already own, except for the fact that you can practice using savestates. But recently, I started playing more hidden jems that were either hard to track down the PCB, or not worth adding to my already bloated collection. Thats when I decided to get more serious about my mame setup.

So I updated the cab once more, before the last shmupmeet. Its still Jamma compatible (and console compatible via MGCD), but is now running Windows XP with the Mala front end. Mala not only supports vertical displays, but it also has a plug-in architecture allowing other developers to write add-ons, like this cool Serial LED display plug-in. And it just so happens that I had a Beta Brite LED sign that I knew would come in handy some day. :-)

Pink Sweets bug, I mean feature confirmed

Apparently the reason why nobody plays this game in Japan anymore is because of a bug which causes players to get infinite lives when you roll the ship count (at the top of the screen) past 5 extra ships. Cave says they fixed this and are allowing Game Center operators to send in their boards to be serviced

(probably for a nominal fee of $300). Whats makes this worse, is that Arcadia magazine, which records all the top world records for Japanese arcade games, continues to accept scores obtained on PCBs with the bug.

So these strange set of circumstances have led players to stop playing the game, stating its a hallow victory to cheat through to the end, while at the same time giving no motivation to game center operators to upgrade their boards if Arcadia still accepts these bugged scores.

Getting to the actual bug conditions is not an easy matter, even when making some changes to the default settings to allow extends to come quicker. So after much playing this weekend, I finally confirmed my board is the first version with the bug. I guess I'm ok with the bug, as this will open up a new way of playing the game for less skilled players like me. Its still possible to play through to the end without activating the bug, but is something pretty far out of my reach.


* This score obtained by changing default extends to every 1M

[update]Its been confirmed that the infinite lives thing is not a bug, but rather an intended feature by Yagawa. How do we know this? Well apparently Cave reverted this "fix" of infinite lives back to a feature in their latest set of boards updates they are sending out to operators! Unfortunately the damage is done, and the masses have moved on to playing Futari, which is pure Cave mechanics.[/update]

Arcade Posters

If collecting rare Japanese arcade posters wasn't expensive enough, trying to frame them for hanging will surely put you in the poor house. The problem is two fold, Japanese B1 poster size is larger than American B1 poster size, and no store in America carries pre-made frames larger than B1. This leaves you with two options, trim the poster to fit American B1 size (unthinkable by most!) or have a custom frame built.

Custom framing is great business in the US with huge markups because you have no where else to go. I've priced a custom frame with the cheapest frame border, and cheapest/thinnest plexiglass at Michael's Art Supply which came out to $275! That price does NOT include mounting or anything, just the metal frame, backing, and plexi front. Unbelievable! Of course the sales person said "for this week only" there was a $99 off custom frames over $200...so the price would have dropped to $176. No thanks.

Since I was very reluctant to trim these rare posters, I decided to try and make my own frames. Since I'm no carpenter, have no woodworking tools, I didn't feel like making 50 pound wood/glass frames from homedepot (so not sure what that would cost total). What I did was visit a local plastics store called Tap Plastics. There, I ordered a 1/8 thick plexiglass square cut to 40"1/2 x 28"3/4 size (thats Japanese B1) for $30, then a 1/8 think foam-core backing of the same size for $15. My ghetto solution for holding the pieces together were small office binder clips (19mm in size) found in Walmart for $0.79 a box of 12. After clipping the backing to the plexi (with poster sandwiched in the middle) I removed the front side metal wing-tabs on the clips. To hang the poster, Tap Plastics had this very cool Uniframe 40" kit for $10. So total cost of my custom frame came out to about $55.

Notice the two foam-core blocks I taped to the back, these were instructions that the Uniframe kit gave to give the frame better support. Two simple picture frame nails is all that is needed to hang via the plastic parts just below the supports. Since the entire thing is pretty light weight (about 5 lbs), nothing would be damaged if it happened to come off the wall (never happened yet).

The true test of this design was fitting a similar frame for my Espgaluda II poster, which is a double B1 size of 79" x 28"3/4! Price for the plexi and foam-core obviously came out to twice as much ($90) but there was no framing system suitable for this extremely long length. So again, I went ghetto, headed back to Walmart, and bought several more boxes of those small size binder clips. This time, I didn't use any framing system and just used the single side of the binder clip tab-wing to attach to the wall via small poster nails. The result was perfectly secure to the wall! Since hanging all my extra large posters this way, I've since seen some new internet framing shops in the UK that offer > 40" custom frames around this same price, but I'm not sure what the shipping costs would be on such large pieces of plexiglass overseas. I don't have the link handy, but its been mentioned in several of the poster threads on the shmups message board.

First Espgaluda II high score

Please excuse the low score first attempt. :(

First Planet Harriers high score

My first high score posting for Planet Harriers. Lavaa is stage 3, and I barely got half way though, so lots of room for improvement.