Where to begin with my arcade questions (I have a lot)......

gamingjustin · Post by **gamingjustin** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 6:27 pm

Hmm... So many questions. I've played so many good shmups on MAME, and want to experience the real deal, now. There'd be nothing better in the world to me than playing some Batrider, ESP Ra.De., Battle Bakraid an' Rayforce on a real arcade machine, with a real joystick, with real speed!

...But where do I begin?? I'll just ask my slew of questions now...

By the way... You can just give me websites if you don't feel like typing a 3 page explanation to me...

*Would I need only one arcade machine, or multiple ones?
*What are the "guts" of an arcade machine... What do the games run on? Will certain games only play on certain machines? Would I need to get different "guts" to play certain games? Is there a "magical" device which plays all the games I mentioned above?
*Where would I go about getting an arcade cabinet... The junkyard? An old warehouse sale? Ebay?

Maybe it'd be easier if you could just give me a lowdown on what i need. Maybe some of you already have arcade cabinets with games... Perhaps you could let me know how you obtained and set them up.

Just say anything that would start me off on the right track.
Any (and I mean any) and all help is greatly, no, immensely appreciated!!

japtor · Post by **japtor** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 9:03 pm

*Would I need only one arcade machine, or multiple ones?

just one...for the most part. most games since the late 80s or so use a standard connector/wiring/harness, jamma. control wise, the basic jamma setup supports 2 players, 8 way joystick, 3 buttons and a start button per player, and i think a coin switch/player. the other wires/contacts on the jamma harness are for audio/video/power, not sure what else if any. for more than 3 button games/setups (neogeo, street fighter, etc) theres additional wiring.

sorta went off on a tangent there, but the gist is that most games should work fine with a single basic jamma cab. only other thing to be concerned about is screen orientation. other than horizontal/vertical, older non jamma games (for which theres usually a jamma adapter available), the older verts seem to be upside down compared to most jamma games. not a concern unless you want old school stuff. the japanese taito egret cabs are easy to rotate, but for other cabs, you usually have to lift the monitor out and rotate, then put it back in. which can be a bitch with a bigger tube.

*What are the "guts" of an arcade machine... What do the games run on? Will certain games only play on certain machines? Would I need to get different "guts" to play certain games? Is there a "magical" device which plays all the games I mentioned above?

sorta answered in the last answer, jamma games will play on a jamma cab basically. many games are just a standalone board, and you attach the jamma connector to it, turn on the machine and play. otherwise theres motherboards that contain all the cpus and stuff, and the games themselves just have game data, sorta like consoles. for these the games can be carts or discs, depending on the system.

all the games you mentioned are single board games, except maybe rayforce. im not sure which hardware that is (was always confused by the series names, which was which, etc).

*Where would I go about getting an arcade cabinet... The junkyard? An old warehouse sale? Ebay?

pretty much. also look around on here and some other forums. i got my astro city off another person here. just good timing on that one. depends on where you are too. if youre in southern california, arcade infinity is supposed to be ok if you can go and pick a machine yourself (they have a questionable reputation online). depends what kind of cab you want, japanese ones come up on ebay pretty often for decent deals. for american cabs, junkyards, auctions, where ever you can find them (along with forums/ebay/etc).

Maybe it'd be easier if you could just give me a lowdown on what i need. Maybe some of you already have arcade cabinets with games... Perhaps you could let me know how you obtained and set them up.

just need working jamma cab, and jamma games. 'cab' consisting of powersupply, monitor, jamma wiring harness, controls, coin stuff i guess.

as i said, i got my astro off another person here, luckily he was close by so i just went and picked it up. i got dangun off him while i was there. otherwise i think all my stuff ive gotten from either cosmic or excellent:
http://home.netvigator.com/~cosmicco/
http://www.excellentcom.net/
do not go by their webpage lists. email them for a price list. the webpage lists dont get updated much. the prices are pretty good, but other fees bump it up a little (transfers, paypal, whatever). usually its still a good deal though.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 9:22 pm

To play arcade PCBs, there's also another option called a Supergun that several people here use as an alternative to a complete arcade cabinet.

I actually just recently built one myself, with the help of forum members raiden & neorichieb among others, I'm sure they can explain things to you a bit more if you like.

llaoyllakcuf · Post by **llaoyllakcuf** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 9:49 pm

japtor wrote:all the games you mentioned are single board games, except maybe rayforce.

I believe that one is on TAITO's F3 system hardware, as a single PCB (I've never seen a cartridge of it).

gamingjustin · Post by **gamingjustin** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 10:06 pm

WOW!! Thanks so much for all the help... Things are finally starting to make sense!

Gozur · Post by **Gozur** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:26 am

If you decide to go the supergun route PM me. I have one which I'll be selling.