Taito EGRET II mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

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harborline765
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by harborline765 »

Was about to order one of these today as I had a reservation for a European unit which expires in a day...but I decided not to in the end.

While I was willing to give Taito the benefit of the doubt since this isn't produced by the same teams who made the underwhelming Astro City Mini and Neo Geo Mini systems, I think it's worth waiting for the dust to settle on this one.

Particularly the software emulation seems to exhibit some pretty bad input lag on the controls, easily noticeable on videos that haven't been slowed down by much at all:
https://twitter.com/ohfivepro/status/14 ... 7750649856

Not good.
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Bassa-Bassa »

Is it known who's developing this? The Astro City Mini's developers are known, but is it sure they're not developing this one as well?
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Ghegs
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Ghegs »

Got mine yesterday from amazon.jp and been spending a little time with it.

The device is a bit chunkier than the Astro City Mini, but sits nicely next to it in my now rearranged HD Gaming space.

The rotation mechanism is cool as heck, but it's not like I'll be using it often or at all since I've got it plugged into my HDMI switch.

The additional control pad feels great in hand, but the d-pad itself is very mushy which I don't like. Luckily the Astro City Mini's controller works fine with this system as well, though for some reason you can't get to the menu by pressing Credit + Start like you can in Astro City Mini, you have to use either the Egret Mini system's or the controller's (if it's plugged to the second player port) dedicated menu button. Not an issue for me since I have the system at an arm's length when I'm playing, but it might be annoying for somebody else's setup.

The UI is rather plain and even drab, which is a bit surprising considering Astro City Mini's colorful menus. And the game preview loads quite slowly, in Astro City Mini it's like 0.2 seconds of loading the screenshots, here it takes a good two or three seconds. But it does load a short clip of the game instead of just screenshots. I do like how you can mark games as Favorites and then sort the title list with those at the top.

I honestly can't tell about the input lag. With certain games, at certain times, it does feel like there's just enough of it for me to notice, yet at other times I don't feel it at all. I just did a credit of Kyuukyoku Tiger and it felt good and responsive. In comparison, Darius Gaiden feels like it has a hair more input lag. But somebody else with the expertise and the tech to measure it properly will need to say the final word on that. But to me personally, the mushy d-pad on the controller is more of an annoyance.
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Bassa-Bassa »

Thanks for the impressions, it's always interesting. I'd like to know about the emulation bugs it may have with the F3 games, like the special visual effects that are still missing in Darius Gaiden with MAME, as there're rumours this mini might be using either, an old MAME or Final burn.
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Ghegs »

Bassa-Bassa wrote:I'd like to know about the emulation bugs it may have with the F3 games, like the special visual effects that are still missing in Darius Gaiden with MAME, as there're rumours this mini might be using either, an old MAME or Final burn.
If you'll tell me what to look for, I can record footage off the thing for comparison.
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Ghegs »

Here's a quick run through Elevator Action Return's first stage and a creditfeed through Darius Gaiden (A->B->E->H->L->Q->V).

When playing Darius Gaiden for this I felt the input lag more strongly there again, but I also totally forgot about it at times. And for some reason the image looks smoother in those recordings than it actually is, it's sharper when actually playing.
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Ms. Tea
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Ms. Tea »

Re the input lag, it looks like the CPU clocks itself down if the power supply isn't supplying enough wattage; might be worth making sure youre not getting more input lag than you need to. https://twitter.com/gosokkyu/status/1499935078717476866
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Fudoh »

USB specs are generally limited to 2.4A (for 5V output), so I doubt that the unit will actually draw more than that. But the 12W requirement certainly rules out all the 1A/2A chargers out there in the millions. Cheapest option for anybody in need of a proper power supply will be the official Pi4 power supply which delivers a full 3A over USB-C (and it's cheap - something like $10 at Amazon - and available in white to match the cab).
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Bassa-Bassa »


Seems mostly fixed? So if they used MAME they also took the time to hack it for a better experience.


Thanks again.
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Ghegs »

Ms. Tea wrote:Re the input lag, it looks like the CPU clocks itself down if the power supply isn't supplying enough wattage; might be worth making sure youre not getting more input lag than you need to. https://twitter.com/gosokkyu/status/1499935078717476866
Fudoh wrote:USB specs are generally limited to 2.4A (for 5V output), so I doubt that the unit will actually draw more than that. But the 12W requirement certainly rules out all the 1A/2A chargers out there in the millions. Cheapest option for anybody in need of a proper power supply will be the official Pi4 power supply which delivers a full 3A over USB-C (and it's cheap - something like $10 at Amazon - and available in white to match the cab).
Thanks for the tip, I had the device plugged into an extension cord that has USB ports, but just to make sure I went and picked up a Pi4 USB-C PSU. I don't think Darius Gaiden feels any different though. On the other hand, I think RayForce feels just fine, but I think it did that before as well.

This might be a case where including a proper PSU, and not just the cable, with the system would've been warranted, if using an insufficient PSU can have such an effect on the performance. Not that it would've done much good in my case since this is from JP, and including one of those PSU's with changeable prongs for international use would added even more costs, but still.
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Nugs »

Just opening mine now, fIrst thing I did was plug the extra optional joystick into the PC and it just worked!

Image

It is bigger and heavier than I expected and actually very usable. It feels tight and well made.

Image

And a size comparison to my other sticks

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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Nugs »

Just tried the paddle/track ball controller also.
The track ball is recognised as a (very slow) mouse, and the paddle controller as a mouse scroll wheel. So less useful for PC use.
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Ms. Tea »

Nugs wrote:The track ball is recognised as a (very slow) mouse, and the paddle controller as a mouse scroll wheel. So less useful for PC use.
You know, I bet you could map that paddle wheel in MAME or something. Could still be useful.
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Ghegs »

This was dumb, and I didn't even realize it until watching Game Sack's review of the device: In the system settings the Filter option is the wrong way around! You'll want to have it ON for a sharper image. I didn't even test this myself when I got the thing, I just left it OFF like any sane person should do.

Also, this might be my imagination, but Darius Gaiden felt a hair less input laggy with the Filter set to On. I honestly can't be sure, I tested it out a few times back and forth and...maybe? Just a frame? Might be a placebo thing.
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Fudoh »

You'll want to have it ON for a sharper image
but this also defaults to simply next neighbour scaling which introduces quite some shimmering whenever the screen is scrolling.
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by XtraSmiley »

Has anyone done a tear down of the spinner yet? I'd like to see the construction and maybe add that controller to my MiSTer set up!
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Udderdude »

Ghegs wrote:Also, this might be my imagination, but Darius Gaiden felt a hair less input laggy with the Filter set to On. I honestly can't be sure, I tested it out a few times back and forth and...maybe? Just a frame? Might be a placebo thing.
I've never heard of basic bilinear filtering adding input lag, so if it does there's something seriously wrong. lol
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Ghegs »

Fudoh wrote:
You'll want to have it ON for a sharper image
but this also defaults to simply next neighbour scaling which introduces quite some shimmering whenever the screen is scrolling.
I don't really see it, but then, I've never been good at noticing it, my brain just ignores it unless I really focus and pay attention to it (at the expense of paying attention to the gameplay).
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Valtele »

if they added some CAVE games that would be a no-brainer for me to buy. as today, its library is too small and filled with a lot of filler in my opinion.
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by seattlexc »

Does the Amazon.jp version include the game marquee or instruction cards as I've seen them called? I see the plastic holder on top of the cabinet but I don't see the individual game marquees anywhere. I'm not sure if they're only included in more expensice packages. Thanks for any guidance.
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Re: Taito EGRETII mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Fudoh »

I'm not sure if they're only included in more expensice packages.
yes, that's exactly the case.
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DenimDemon
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TATE Astro mini with Batrider, Batsugun, Outzone and more!

Post by DenimDemon »

^^^^ :) yeah I love them both!
There’s an firmware update coming to the Egret on September 5th. And Taito is doing a special steaming today to celebrate 6 months of the Egret Mini.

The stream is on and it seems they will release more games. A Taito Station Volume 2.

Holy shit they will add Gekirindan!Gridseeker!SLAP FIGHT!
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Re: TATE Astro mini with Batrider, Batsugun, Outzone and mor

Post by Ghegs »

Video here.

So if I'm understanding that correctly, they're going to release an SD card with 10 more games? I think they're just making a console at this point.

But they're going to price it at 8778 yen? That's feels pretty pricey.
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Re: TATE Astro mini with Batrider, Batsugun, Outzone and mor

Post by lovecraft »

Ghegs wrote:Video here.

So if I'm understanding that correctly, they're going to release an SD card with 10 more games? I think they're just making a console at this point.

But they're going to price it at 8778 yen? That's feels pretty pricey.
Awesome news ! That Light Bringer / Dungeon Magic was missing in the Mini :D Pulirula and Grid Seeker are great too.
It's Vol.1, so I guess there will be a Vol.2 with maybe Recalhorn and Kyukyoku Tiger II ?! :D :D
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Re: Taito EGRET II mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by SuperDeadite »

Riding Fight is actually included......holy shit!
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Taito EGRET II mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by DenimDemon »

lovecraft wrote:
Ghegs wrote:Video here.

So if I'm understanding that correctly, they're going to release an SD card with 10 more games? I think they're just making a console at this point.

But they're going to price it at 8778 yen? That's feels pretty pricey.
Awesome news ! That Light Bringer / Dungeon Magic was missing in the Mini :D Pulirula and Grid Seeker are great too.
It's Vol.1, so I guess there will be a Vol.2 with maybe Recalhorn and Kyukyoku Tiger II ?! :D :D
They mentioned this release will test the waters. If it’s well received in terms of sales…then more will come.
Wonder how many Egret Mini they sold so far.
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Re: Taito EGRET II mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by Koa Zo »

In none of these recent comments is anyone mentioning lag.
I'd thought the lag was horrible on the Taito Egret II Mini?
Multiple reviews particularly said the spinner and trackball games were unplayable.
Is that not the case?
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Taito EGRET II mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by DenimDemon »

Koa Zo wrote:In none of these recent comments is anyone mentioning lag.
I'd thought the lag was horrible on the Taito Egret II Mini?
Multiple reviews particularly said the spinner and trackball games were unplayable.
Is that not the case?
Lag is not an issue at all, from my experience.
Yeah don’t know the frames, I’m sure there’s some. But it feels fine to me.
But I have the standard edition so no spinner and additional games.
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Re: Taito EGRET II mini cabinet coming 2022 spring

Post by BrianC »

The filtering setting is backwards and even Arkanoid 1 is more responsive with it set to "on". The trackball games didn't seem unplayable, though Plump Pop and Arkanoid felt less responsive than the others. I also noticed a glitch in Qix where the bonus score is too high (thankfully, it's getting fixed in the firmware update). Not sure how lag fares, but Qix did feel more responsive via arcade archives. I noticed some games like Elevator Action Returns have features that work correctly here that don't work correctly in MAME.
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