How much does a Progear board cost + some other questions..

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Sun May 01, 2005 12:42 pm

Have finally played Progear for real at the London shmupmeet I came away quite impressed by it.

So I was just thinking about how much the board goes for at the moment!?
I won't be able to buy it now (since the E3 trip costs me a fairly large ammount of money) but was wondering about it.

Also: how could I hook it up to my (Jamma) supergun (well after it's been repaired...)? I believe this isn't a Jamma board so I just thought I'd ask.

elbarto · Post by **elbarto** » Sun May 01, 2005 1:13 pm

Progear is a CPS2 game, which means you'll need the game board (B board) and a CPS2 motherboard (A board). Be careful about which region you get, as not all the A/B boards are compatible.
Green (Japanese) and Blue (US/Euro) boards are interchangeable and seem to be the most common in my experience. I've got a mix of Green and Blue B boards with a Green A board.
Grey (Asian) boards also turn up every so often, but only work with Grey A boards.

The other thing you need to be aware of with CPS2 games is the sucide batteries, which have to be replaced every few years, unless you get someone to permamently "fix" the board.

You should have no problem connecting it straight to your supergun (once you get it fixed

), as the A board has a JAMMA connector, and as its only a 2 button game you don't need any extra harnesses or wiring.

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Sun May 01, 2005 2:00 pm

^^ thanks for clearing that up a little bit!

About the suicide batteries: Are they just needed for high-score saving or do they HAVE to bereplaced in order to play the game once they're dead?
Also: are these readily available and easy to replace?

Thanks in advance for any help!

elbarto · Post by **elbarto** » Sun May 01, 2005 2:31 pm

I've never come across a CPS2 game that saves scores (one reason why I asked you to take a pic of my Mighty Pang score when we met up), but it does save game settings IIRC.

You have to change the battery BEFORE it dies. Once the battery runs out of juice and the board sucides, you're screwed unless you can either return it to Capcom (not sure if this is possible for home consumers) or pay someone like Razoola to perform the board modifications.

Changing the batteries isn't as tricky as I'd been led to believe, but it all depends on how confident you are with a soldering iron. The batteries are 1/2 AA size.

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Sun May 01, 2005 3:10 pm

So all I would need to do to keep the board from suiciding is swap some batteries? I was kinda worried once I got a CPS2 I'd have to go through a bunch of extra shite to make sure it didn't kill itself.

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Sun May 01, 2005 4:08 pm

elbarto wrote: You have to change the battery BEFORE it dies. Once the battery runs out of juice and the board sucides, you're screwed unless you can either return it to Capcom (not sure if this is possible for home consumers) or pay someone like Razoola to perform the board modifications.

Changing the batteries isn't as tricky as I'd been led to believe, but it all depends on how confident you are with a soldering iron. The batteries are 1/2 AA size.

Hmm with my luck I will probably have the batteries die before I even get a chance of replacing them. How long do these batteries last anyway?
And soldering myself doesn't sound like a good plan as I've got 2 left hands when it comes to this stuff...

Again thanks for the info!

Anyone know about prices?

oxtsu · Post by **oxtsu** » Sun May 01, 2005 4:27 pm

The suicide battery can last 10+ years. I wouldn't stress over it too much on a newer board like Progear. Better safe than sorry though.

VSA (The Sheep's arcade shop) is offering the battery change service.
http://www.vsa-ag.ch/data/Stocklist_web_e.htm

Progear price for Japan version is around $300-350 for A+B boards right now. Shipping from Japan or HK should be another $50-70.

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Sun May 01, 2005 11:22 pm

I paid about $450 for mine back in October, it was well worth it. Got it from Eynon Philippe ( sales@videogamecentre.co.uk ) Highly recommended PCB dealer, I hope they're still in business cuz I am currently having trouble finding their site.

oxtsu wrote:The suicide battery can last 10+ years. I wouldn't stress over it too much on a newer board like Progear. Better safe than sorry though.

VSA (The Sheep's arcade shop) is offering the battery change service.
http://www.vsa-ag.ch/data/Stocklist_web_e.htm

Progear price for Japan version is around $300-350 for A+B boards right now. Shipping from Japan or HK should be another $50-70.

10 years? Are you sure? I thought it was around 2-5. And is the sheep even still around? But if he is, yeah I will definitely be sending my board (eventually) to him or someone who can do a battery swap.

BIG · Post by **BIG** » Mon May 02, 2005 12:18 am

Battery-change shouldn't be a problem (only 2 solder points). In anycase,you can contact Razoola,should your board goes kaputski.

B-

raiden · Post by **raiden** » Mon May 02, 2005 4:16 am

the only tricky part about changing the battery is opening the B board as it has torx screws. You can open them with a regular screwdriver with some effort, but that ruins the screws in the long run, so you should better get a set of torx bits for the process. How to do it is descirbed here:

http://cps2shock.retrogames.com/suicide.html

when buying a B board, just ask when the battery was changed last time, most sellers are aware of that, and it´s not uncommon to replace it before selling.

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Mon May 02, 2005 7:24 am

Thanks Raiden and Big. I have a friend who is really good at soldering and fixing game related items. I will show him a print out of what needs to be done and if he thinks he can do it. Still, since Progear is a newer game I am a little less worried. But better safe than sorry.

oxtsu · Post by **oxtsu** » Mon May 02, 2005 9:46 am

Dylan1CC wrote:10 years? Are you sure? I thought it was around 2-5.

Yes, though it's not recommended, just possible (hard to say the degree of possibility without more data). I have a board that is 9 years old now without change and others have said similar reports, longest I've heard was 12 years. The factory recommended change is at 5 years. Here's a page from a fellow arcade hobbyist in Japan about CPS-II suicide battery:

http://onamasa.at.infoseek.co.jp/masa/d ... index.html