Where do I start?

[CMPXCHG8B]

Greetings to all!

I'm new here, as evident by my post count, and I have a few questions for you guys if you don't mind.

I am relatively new to the shmup community. Up until a few weeks ago, the majority of my experience with any shooter basically consisted of Raptor (DOS), Raiden (DOS again), and some variant of Raiden Fighters at the local movie theatre (this was about 14 years ago). I've been a long time PC gamer- my journey with such entertainment started around 1996 with the usual classic MS-DOS games of that era (C&C, Raptor, Crusader, etc) and has spanned up to the most recent triple-A titles like Portal 2, and even a few PS3 exclusives like MGS4 and KZ2/KZ3.

Nevertheless, I'm finding that modern day gaming... Well, it just isn't as fun as it used to be. Everything is a sequel, shat out by some mega-corporation from the franchise cookie cutter factory. And it's all the same. People don't innovate and they don't invent that much anymore, it's all just mostly rail shooters disguised in "immersive" environments with excessive texture resolutions and this bizarre fixation on "realism". I could care less about gimmicks like the Kinect or PS Move. I'm tired of dealing with a controller that has 30 buttons on it and requires a 10 minute reading session in the game manual just to figure out.

I just want to sit down, have some fun for 30 minutes to an hour, and go do something else.

So I'm going to say something that most of you are probably going to frown over- I recently discovered MAME. Yeah yeah. I've noticed that acronym brings both delight and terror to these parts of the internet. Hear me out before you whack reply and hit me with "OMG too close for comfort!" though, because it gets a lot worse before it gets any better.

Along with MAME, I, uh, obtained a few ROM sets to see what the fuss was all about. No, I don't own the actual games. Nor do I care, and you'll find out why shortly. The games I "borrowed" consisted of the usual Raiden series (sans the ones currently broken due to the Seibu COP protection), Radiant Silvergun and it's successor Ikaruga, Donpachi/Dodonpach/Ketsui, and a few others based on the Naomi/Naomi 2 hardware (though these were ran under Windows using an emulator that I take it isn't very welcomed on this forum right now).

Frankly, it's been a bloody long time since I've had that much fun in such a short period of time. Modern day entertainment feels a lot like "work"- go grind XP for 4 hours to unlock XYZ and get achievement ABC, or take a 30 minute walk across some expansive sandbox just looking for stuff to do or blow up. This... Well, this was unlike anything I've ever experienced recently. The odd thing is that despite the fact that most of these games only consist of a few stages, I still want to play them in a way that "achievements" on the PS3/360/PC never made me want to come back and play a game again.

So now that I know I like this stuff (I don't think the english language allows for the level of expression I'd like to place behind that word- "downright obsessed" might suffice), I want to go legal. I want to buy -the- hardware and play -the- actual game the way it was meant to be played. I'm well aware that this stuff is not cheap and I really don't care. I don't spend a lot of money on gaming (I maybe buy one, two titles for the console or PC per year- combined) so I have relatively little quams forking over $1000 for a PCB of Ketsui.

My only question is... Where do I start?

I know nothing about arcade hardware. I know I'd like some sort of modular free-standing unit, preferably with a joystick and a few buttons to mash, maybe in a 2P configuration. Coin operation is a must, even though I'll be the guy with the keys to the coin bin- I still want to have to insert quarters. That's part of the experience.

At this moment, I'm apparently looking at the CAVE CV-1000 PCB for the newer Dodonpachi game, Polygame for Ketsui, Sega STV for Radiant Silvergun, and likely a Naomi 2 + GDRom for Ikaruga (I'm aware that it's a Naomi 1 game, but I'd like to have the ability to play other games as well).

This is where the influx of questions start, so here they are:

1) The CV-1000 PCBs and a lot of others have some sort of seemingly standardized edge connector. What is this? What does it do? Power + Video + Audio + Input?
2) Does the Naomi run off a similar standard? Or is it a whole different system entirely?
3) Is there such a thing as a cabinet where all these PCBs/systems can be installed, then switched between easily?
4) Is there such a thing as a cabinet that doesn't have any wood in it? I know that sounds silly, but i'd prefer a cabinet built out of metal then something built out of wood. Just a personal niggle.

Again, I really don't know much about the physical hardware here. Actually, I don't know anything at all. What I do know I've read on System16, and everything software related from reading the source code in MAME (I'm a programmer during my day job, incidentally, writing low-level stuff for hardware). I have no idea how any of this stuff fits together, but I'm willing to bet it isn't as easy as buying a PC tower and plugging a VGA monitor into it.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
-CMPX

[mrsmiley381]

Greetings to all!

Hi!

I'm new here, as evident by my post count, and I have a few questions for you guys if you don't mind.

I've been answering questions like the Fist of the North Star all day, so I don't mind a bit.

I am relatively new to the shmup community. Up until a few weeks ago, the majority of my experience with any shooter basically consisted of Raptor (DOS), Raiden (DOS again), and some variant of Raiden Fighters at the local movie theatre (this was about 14 years ago). I've been a long time PC gamer- my journey with such entertainment started around 1996 with the usual classic MS-DOS games of that era (C&C, Raptor, Crusader, etc) and has spanned up to the most recent triple-A titles like Portal 2, and even a few PS3 exclusives like MGS4 and KZ2/KZ3.

I came down a different route, but I see where you're coming from. I like some of that exclusive stuff too.

Nevertheless, I'm finding that modern day gaming... Well, it just isn't as fun as it used to be. Everything is a sequel, shat out by some mega-corporation from the franchise cookie cutter factory. And it's all the same. People don't innovate and they don't invent that much anymore, it's all just mostly rail shooters disguised in "immersive" environments with excessive texture resolutions and this bizarre fixation on "realism". I could care less about gimmicks like the Kinect or PS Move. I'm tired of dealing with a controller that has 30 buttons on it and requires a 10 minute reading session in the game manual just to figure out.

I've adapted to so many controllers over the years that nothing phases me any more, but you're right about the Hollywood-esque game industry.

I just want to sit down, have some fun for 30 minutes to an hour, and go do something else.

See, now you're definitely in the right place. Alternative right places would be brothels and strip clubs. But this place, it's the best!

So I'm going to say something that most of you are probably going to frown over- I recently discovered MAME. Yeah yeah. I've noticed that acronym brings both delight and terror to these parts of the internet. Hear me out before you whack reply and hit me with "OMG too close for comfort!" though, because it gets a lot worse before it gets any better.

Unless the developer is still making money from the game, I blame no one for using MAME. If there is a local arcade operator, though, you really should visit them. That is, of course, assuming they have a decent game or two. Don't worry, you're not hurting sales for the most part.

Along with MAME, I, uh, obtained a few ROM sets to see what the fuss was all about. No, I don't own the actual games. Nor do I care, and you'll find out why shortly. The games I "borrowed" consisted of the usual Raiden series (sans the ones currently broken due to the Seibu COP protection), Radiant Silvergun and it's successor Ikaruga, Donpachi/Dodonpach/Ketsui, and a few others based on the Naomi/Naomi 2 hardware (though these were ran under Windows using an emulator that I take it isn't very welcomed on this forum right now).

Shit yeah, NAOMI arcade games are boss. I'm more of a CPS-2 guy myself, but more on that later.

Frankly, it's been a bloody long time since I've had that much fun in such a short period of time. Modern day entertainment feels a lot like "work"- go grind XP for 4 hours to unlock XYZ and get achievement ABC, or take a 30 minute walk across some expansive sandbox just looking for stuff to do or blow up. This... Well, this was unlike anything I've ever experienced recently. The odd thing is that despite the fact that most of these games only consist of a few stages, I still want to play them in a way that "achievements" on the PS3/360/PC never made me want to come back and play a game again.

Achievements and trophies are a measure of e-penis, potentially addictive due to their nature of reward, and only drive me to insanity with OCD compulsion. Don't get me started on exclusive DLC either.

So now that I know I like this stuff (I don't think the english language allows for the level of expression I'd like to place behind that word- "downright obsessed" might suffice), I want to go legal. I want to buy -the- hardware and play -the- actual game the way it was meant to be played. I'm well aware that this stuff is not cheap and I really don't care. I don't spend a lot of money on gaming (I maybe buy one, two titles for the console or PC per year- combined) so I have relatively little quams forking over $1000 for a PCB of Ketsui.

One grand to start on your arcade hobby? You might be a little crazy. I'd suggest starting small or going for console ports, but I sure as hell won't push you away from going after games you want.

My only question is... Where do I start?

With research and asking questions in a well-organized and well-written manner, which you have already done. See how I'm replying to every point? It's because I read your whole post and realized you didn't sound like a moron.

I know nothing about arcade hardware. I know I'd like some sort of modular free-standing unit, preferably with a joystick and a few buttons to mash, maybe in a 2P configuration. Coin operation is a must, even though I'll be the guy with the keys to the coin bin- I still want to have to insert quarters. That's part of the experience.

You're in luck. As far as I know, nearly every arcade game ever runs on JAMMA. If your Google-fu is even mildly strong you will find a lot about JAMMA. One machine with three buttons will allow you to use nearly any game you could imagine aside from fighters, which you haven't mentioned at all, so I just assume they're not part of the equation.

At this moment, I'm apparently looking at the CAVE CV-1000 PCB for the newer Dodonpachi game, Polygame for Ketsui, Sega STV for Radiant Silvergun, and likely a Naomi 2 + GDRom for Ikaruga (I'm aware that it's a Naomi 1 game, but I'd like to have the ability to play other games as well).

Sounds like solid choices. Personally, I'd go for the Saturn port of Radiant Silvergun, but again, that's just me.

This is where the influx of questions start, so here they are:

Questions are good because they lead to learning, and learning is good!

1) The CV-1000 PCBs and a lot of others have some sort of seemingly standardized edge connector. What is this? What does it do? Power + Video + Audio + Input?

As mentioned, that's JAMMA. Standardized button inputs, power, video output, the works. One cab, limitless games. You just have to make sure your power supply can supply all the proper power settings, which should not be a problem except for most older games, though I may be wrong on this because I'm more of a mid-nineties guy and not a current PCB guy.

2) Does the Naomi run off a similar standard? Or is it a whole different system entirely?

The NAOMI does not use JAMMA by default, but there are methods of making it JAMMA compatible, usually just a converter board. Never had any experience with this, though.

3) Is there such a thing as a cabinet where all these PCBs/systems can be installed, then switched between easily?

There are devices that allow remote PCB switching through a connector, but most people seem to be concerned about switching PCB's while there is still power running. JAMMA-compatible games can be changed easily, though, so the best thing to do is keep your boards stored nearby and have easy access to the back of the cabinet. Please note, however, that constant switching does put wear on the connectors of the board, so you might want to build extra connectors that you attach to the PCB once and then those connectors are the ones you plug and unplug. It's hard for me to explain right now, but just note that they're probably less than $20 to build and can help protect your investment.

4) Is there such a thing as a cabinet that doesn't have any wood in it? I know that sounds silly, but i'd prefer a cabinet built out of metal then something built out of wood. Just a personal niggle.

My cabinet is primarily steel and that bitch is HEAVY. If you have access to some sort of fabrication lab or power tools you could probably come up with an aluminum solution, though I have no idea how reliable that would be. I imagine otherwise such a thing would work. What about plastic? It's not as durable, but it's still nice.

Again, I really don't know much about the physical hardware here. Actually, I don't know anything at all. What I do know I've read on System16, and everything software related from reading the source code in MAME (I'm a programmer during my day job, incidentally, writing low-level stuff for hardware). I have no idea how any of this stuff fits together, but I'm willing to bet it isn't as easy as buying a PC tower and plugging a VGA monitor into it.

Ironically enough, my monitor got busted in transit so I had to buy a VGA converter and get a free monitor from Craigslist. In the end, it's not that hard even if you build your own. If you get a lucky Craigslist ad, though, take it! Just do research on it beforehand. I'm a coder, too, though I'm a game design student currently employed at my school working on their support services database.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

I can only hope I've helped.

Thanks in advance,
-CMPX

Have fun participating in our terrifying CAVE and Touhou threads! Now go play Mars Matrix (or Raiden).

[CMPXCHG8B]

Unless the developer is still making money from the game, I blame no one for using MAME. If there is a local arcade operator, though, you really should visit them. That is, of course, assuming they have a decent game or two. Don't worry, you're not hurting sales for the most part.

Unfortunately, there isn't .

I used to live in Calgary, AB. There was one decent arcade located in Eau Claire Market up north, but it evaporated a very long time ago. I spent some time in the arcades that used to be at West Edmonton Mall during work trips (this was probably 12 years ago), though they never really had anything fantastic- certainly nothing worth remembering.

I moved to Victoria, BC last year and haven't found a decent arcade since. There was one downtown, but it didn't have much more then the standard "OMG win a prize1111" machines, some racing stuff, and of course DDR. I am unsure if it's still there- probably not, given the condition of the place when I went. I asked the one guy I tracked down working there if they'd ever had or were planning on getting something like Dai Fukkatsu, and he gave me a look in reply like I was speaking Japanese. Then again I may have slightly butchered my pronunciation of it. Nevertheless, I left rather disappointed.

One grand to start on your arcade hobby? You might be a little crazy. I'd suggest starting small or going for console ports, but I sure as hell won't push you away from going after games you want.

Crazy as in... "That's nowhere near enough", or "You could buy a console and those games for under $350"?

You actually reminded me that I happen to have a spare set of inputs on my workstation equipment (a HP LP2475W and a Logitech Z-5500 speaker setup), prime for hookup to an older console like a Dreamcast or a PS2. And I have a friend who has a nearly untouched Dreamcast sitting in it's box somewhere. So I will likely jump on Ebay and grab a few copies of anything I can find that will run on DC.

That might save me from running a Naomi, at least, for a while.

I'm still hell-bent on getting my hands on a CV-1000, likely Fukkatsu or Ibara. Would love a PCB of Ketsui, even though I've been reading there's two versions (PGM, and a single board solution). I'm not too apt to buy into a modern day console like the 360 or my PS3 anymore then I already have. Given the latest "please bend over" tactics from Sony, my PS3 is mostly just a Bluray player and a 'station for what few games I own. At least with PCBs you're investing in something that is potentially worth as much, slightly less, or definitely more then what it cost when you bought it.

You're in luck. As far as I know, nearly every arcade game ever runs on JAMMA. If your Google-fu is even mildly strong you will find a lot about JAMMA. One machine with three buttons will allow you to use nearly any game you could imagine aside from fighters, which you haven't mentioned at all, so I just assume they're not part of the equation.

That's what I was looking for. JAMMA. It looked like a common bus of some sort, that was the only way I could justify all these systems sharing the same edge connector on System16's photos.

There are devices that allow remote PCB switching through a connector, but most people seem to be concerned about switching PCB's while there is still power running. JAMMA-compatible games can be changed easily, though, so the best thing to do is keep your boards stored nearby and have easy access to the back of the cabinet. Please note, however, that constant switching does put wear on the connectors of the board, so you might want to build extra connectors that you attach to the PCB once and then those connectors are the ones you plug and unplug. It's hard for me to explain right now, but just note that they're probably less than $20 to build and can help protect your investment.

That's why I was asking about a switch- preferably some sort of isolated solid state unit. Being a firmware developer, I've dealt with a lot of hardware over the years and I've seen my fair share of worn down edge connectors. Hence my original question- I would rather load up a cabinet with 4 or 5 games/systems, and leave them that way for at least 6 months, then rotate them around twice a year if I -really- have to.

Nevertheless, now that I know what the bus is called, I should be able to see if there's anything available.

My cabinet is primarily steel and that bitch is HEAVY. If you have access to some sort of fabrication lab or power tools you could probably come up with an aluminum solution, though I have no idea how reliable that would be. I imagine otherwise such a thing would work. What about plastic? It's not as durable, but it's still nice.

What cabinet is it, if I may ask?

I could care less if it's heavy, if it has the quality to back up the weight.

I can only hope I've helped.

You have, and I thank you for your reply.

Cheers,
-CMPX

[chempop]

Welcome to the forum, always nice to see enthusiastic people who want to get in on some proper shooting game action. I personally don't use arcade hardware, consoles and ports are more in line with my income, but I have learned about cabinets and jamma from mainly these sites:

http://hard--candy.com/

http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/forum.php

The most popular cabs for shooting games are:

Taito Egret 2
Sega Astro City and New Astro City
Sega Blast City

Good luck and enjoy!

p.s. For $1000 you could get a Sega Saturn, Japanese Xbox 360, proper Joysticks for each, and several of the best games on each console. Just throwing that out there for consideration.

[CMPXCHG8B]

p.s. For $1000 you could get a Sega Saturn, Japanese Xbox 360, proper Joysticks for each, and several of the best games on each console. Just throwing that out there for consideration.

This might be a stupid question, but what's the best way to support a company like CAVE?

Buy a PCB, or buy the 360 version?

Or does a single PCB sale simply not matter?

-CMPX

[mrsmiley381]

p.s. For $1000 you could get a Sega Saturn, Japanese Xbox 360, proper Joysticks for each, and several of the best games on each console. Just throwing that out there for consideration.

This might be a stupid question, but what's the best way to support a company like CAVE?

Buy a PCB, or buy the 360 version?

Or does a single PCB sale simply not matter?

-CMPX

Buying a PCB helps CAVE if you buy it from their initial production run through whoever handles the original PCB sales. Basically, if you don't buy it used, it might help. I've never tried buying a brand new PCB kit, so I can't really help you there. I don't even know if you can get one easily without actually being an arcade operator. Buying the 360 ports would definitely help CAVE, as higher sales make publishers happy, and if publishers are happy then developers like CAVE tend to have a future. In the end, CAVE wouldn't make ports unless those ports turned a profit, so support them if that's what you want to do.

I personally wouldn't go for a 6-in-1 switching JAMMA board. Like I said, I don't think switching between boards while powered is a good idea. Switches claim to cut power before switching, but I don't know how true that is or what the risk of breakdown is. The only machine I would trust to do that is a Neo Geo, and from what I hear the six-slots are terribly complex and potentially unreliable. However, here's an example of what you'd want.

http://www.jammaboards.com/store/6-in-1 ... d_250.html

On the other hand, I still would suggest using JAMMA extender harnesses. Building them is probably cheaper than straight buying them. Toss one on each of your boards and connect/disconnect the extender harness from the JAMMA connector rather than disconnecting the board itself. If you somehow manage to destroy the connectors on the extender harness, you only have to disconnect it from your board once and put a new one on, which should lengthen the life of the board. Here is an example of one.

http://www.jammaboards.com/store/jamma- ... d_247.html

As for my own cabinet, I have no idea what it is. I think it's a conversion of some crappy hockey game. It's a steel frame with wood sides. I'll post some pictures of its amazing glorious ghetto-ness when I get back home.

[Blackbird]

Cave does run an online store where you can buy products directly from them (at least, I assume that's how it works). This is probably the closest we can get to putting money directly into their pockets, if that's what you want to do.

Cave Store

They do have a few recent PCB kits up for sale, notably the awesome DDP DFK Black Label, but of course that will set you back an arm and a leg =D.

Personally, I would start by getting some games for whatever consoles you already own, but that's me, and budget is more important in my situation.

[burgerkingdiamond]

You can get a cab with a multisync monitor that will allow you to connect your 360 through a VGA connection. Wire the controls to a hacked 360 controller PCB and you're playing CAVE ports on a real deal cab.

the difference in experience between doing that and playing the real PCB's is negligible. It's definitely going to be a lot cheaper, and in terms of convenience it's a lot better. It's certainly easier to switch out games.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Welcome CMPXCHG8B,

If you want to get a Cave CV-1000 SH-3 based Dodonpachi Dai Fukkatsu version 1.5 PCB full kit, plan on spending in the neighborhood of $900-$1150 USD for one. Just gotta be at the right place at the right time to snag/score one on the Trading section here on the Shmups.org site though.

There does exist a Sega ST-V cartridge version of Radiant Silvergun running on a standard Jamma Sega Titan ST-V motherboard setup. It is a leaner & meaner version of RSG (compared to the original Sega Saturn CD-Rom version running on a Saturn gaming console).

It's recommended to pick up a used Dreamcast and said DC GD-Rom disc based shmup titles like Ikaruga, Border Down, Triggerheart Excelica, Shikigami No Shiro II, Under Defeat, Psyvariar 2: The Will to Fabricate, Gigawing 2, etc. and play them inside your favorite Japanese candy cab setup. Saves quite a bit of $$$ rather than by going the Sega Naomi motherboard/Naomi cart/Naomi GD-Rom disc(s) + security chip dongle route.

Either by picking up an Taito Egret 29 or an Taito Egret II candy cab, with their super ease of rotating the Nanao 29" arcade RGB monitor from horizontal (yoko) to vertical (tate), you can play any Jamma based PCB you'd like to your heart's desire. A typical Egret 2 cab has support for both mono & stereo based Jamma PCBs. Some the well known arcade motherboards listed below support stereo output:

Neo Geo MVS (some of the newer MVS mobos require further modding to output in stereo though)

Taito G-Net

Sega Titan ST-V

Sammy Atomiswave

Capcom CPS2/CPS3

Seibu Kaihatsu SP1

and some single layer dedicated Jamma boards from Konami are known to have support for both stereo & mono sound output like: A-Jax/Typhoon PCB, etc.

Hope this additional info helps you out getting your feet wet delving into the cool world of Japanese candy cabs and Jamma PCB collecting. Once you get bitten by the PCB hobby bug, there's no turning back. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[cools]

http://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/w/Beginners ... Candy_Cabs

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Also, a Dodonpachi Dai Fukkatsu 1.5 PCB or even a DDP-DFK Black Label PCB will require that you setup the candy cab's control panel to utilize 4 buttons per player (rather than the traditional 2 or 3 buttons layout for most old-school Jamma based arcade shmup PCB titles). Just a heads up if going the DDP-DFK 1.5/BL PCB route.

When it comes to selecting either Sanwa Denshi or Seimitsu based Japanese arcade joysticks/push buttons to install on said candy cab's control panel, it's a matter of preference as to if you want a bit tighter joystick throw or not when playing your favorite arcade shmup PCB titles. Some shmuppers prefer Sanwas & others, prefer Seimitsu based ones instead. My suggestion is to pick up a pair of both brands & decide for yourself which would be more beneficial for your playing style. Something to consider if & when a candy cab source is found/purchased.

It's possible to have a candy cab with a dual-sync arcade monitor to display both low-res 15.7kHz and 24.5kHz PCBs but would need either a Utracade UVC (Universal Video Convertor) device hooked up to a Jamma fingerboard to convert a high-res 31khz PCB to 240p singal range or a tri-sync monitor chassis upgrade. The only minor thing is, you'd lose the razor-sharpness of having a dedicated arcade monitor for displaying true low-res based arcade PCBs -- some folks aren't happy about such tradeoff but this is the tradeoff issue to contend with.

I'll have to admit that it's eye-popping/jaw-dropping to see/play a high-res 31kHz arcade game on a high-res 31lkHz arcade monitor. After seeing the Atomiswave game cartridge of Dolphin Blue running on a Atomiswave mobo setup/Astro City cab with a high-res monitor at this year's 2011 California Extreme classic arcade game/pinball game show in Santa Clara, CA this past weekend, it's super razor sharp indeed. Much sharper than a traditional 15khz/24kHz dual-sync arcade monitor setup.

If you want to play the Sega Naomi version of Ikaruga GD-Rom disc at it's best, it's best to play it in high-res 31kHz mode on a high-res arcade monitor setup. There's no other comparision than if you were to play it on a dual-sync 15kHz/24khz monitor setup.

The Taito Egret 3 candy cab only supports 15kHz/31khz with it's dual-sync monitor but you get the best of both worlds of playing both low-res & high-res PCBs. Some folks have a dedicated low-res candy cab for just playing low-res games like DDP-DFK 1.5 at it's best.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Frenetic]

Hey there, it’s cool to see someone excited about shmups/STGs. Your well written post was refreshing and it echoed some of my own thoughts why I am into these games. As someone who got into the subculture pretty recently, I can describe my own experiences. Hopefully they’ll help you. I want to warn you though, given that you want to buy a metal Japanese candy cab and not an american woody AND a Cave PCB your budget of $1000 is not enough, and I think people in this thread have pointed it out. I think you are looking more at $1400-$1700 to get Ketsui and a decent candy cab, more for DFK 1.5 and a decent candy cab. Sega NAOMI are easily wired into Sega candy cabs like Naomi Universals, Sega Net Citys, and Sega New Net Citys. Sega Naomi motherboards run $70-$100, more for Naomi 2, and about $100-120 more for a GD-ROM. Tack another $100 for adapters to allow them to play on JAMMA cabs without JVS wiring. Ikaruga for Naomi runs $200-$300.

Here's a guide that I wrote up which documents my journey, I hope this will help you into getting into shmups and arcade cabinets, etc.


1. Get an arcade stick (or if you’re comfortable with your pad controller [XBOX 360/PS3 controller can go right into your computer], keyboard, or input device of choice, please feel free to skip this)
I first started off getting an arcade stick. It really made a big difference, being able to move from a pad controller to an arcade stick that I remembered using from back in the arcade days. Given the resurgence of fighting games, many arcade sticks are on the market for a good price. The most important part is getting a Sanwa joystick. Some controllers have both Sanwa joysticks and Sanwa arcade buttons which are top quality arcade parts. Some people like different parts (Seimitsu, Suzo, etc.) but since Sanwa arcade stick controllers are most readily available without mods, I’d recommend those. When you want to experiment with different buttons and joysticks, save that for the future and play shmups for now. I found a good deal on a Hori Real Arcade Pro 2 for PS2 and subsequently bought an Xconverter for XBOX 360, Inpin for PS3, and a Dream Connection for Dreamcast so I could have the widest access to the shmup libraries. This costs around $200 to setup. For you, I’d recommend buying an XBOX 360 arcade stick which should cost you under $50-$100. It will be compatible with MAME (Don’t forget about doujin computer games some are even free like Blue Wish Resurrection, Eden’s Aegis) and most of the CAVE shmups which you like are on the Japanese XBOX 360).

2. Download the newest copy of ShmupMAME by nimitz
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=30659
nimitz has created a great resource for the shmup community. He’s made a version of MAME specifically for shmups, reducing much of the lag delay which had rendered so many of the shmups almost unplayable. Kudos to him and reap the benefits and rewards of his hard work. Truly a stellar accomplishment.

3. Enter the Shooting Game Tournament.
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=37306
Registration has started for the annual shooting tournament, and it’s a blast. Unfortunately due to the niche nature of our subculture, there aren’t many tournaments to participate in. dex runs a great tournament with easy to read score tables and has a dynamic scoreboard to boot! I participated for the first time last year and it was really fun competing and talking about strategies with the rest of my shooting team. You can register as a free agent and join a team. It’s free and and I really get the feeling like I’m attending a CAVE/Hudson Soft Matsuri Festival. Don’t be worried about your performance/and level of participation. You’ll be on a team with similar commitments and you can track your own progress. It’s great to play a specific game with specific scoring goals in mind. It’s thrilling to read the forum topics about people’s experiences with the games/asking for strategy tips, etc. The most important thing is to be a part of the community!

4. Read PROMETHEUS’s guide “The Full Extent of the Jam”
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=34497
Read BulletMagnet’s Shmups 101: A Beginner’s Guide to 2D Shooters.
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/shooters ... oters.html
Not only is PROMETHEUS one of the top players, he’s taken time out to write the definitive strategy guide and reflect on the subculture. This is great reading and provides profound ways to practice, get better, and realize your personal goals. BulletMagnet and others from this forum have come together and put one of the best histories of the genre. If you can get a hold of Arcade Mania by Bryan Ashcraft, is a good description of Japanese arcade game centers, with a good chapter on shmups. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3960756-arcade-mania

5. Watch this great Shmup Documentary
Gameone has done a shmup documentary, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AHhkq7p3Qw
I especially loved hearing SWY’s thoughts on shmups and have taken it to heart. It’s in French with English subtitles and very entertaining. There are a lot of other cool shmup related videos on YouTube as well, from superplays/to top 10 lists/reviews. I really enjoy xoxak’s shmup reviews. http://www.youtube.com/user/xoxak


6. Buy some of the region free shmups and XBOX Live arcade.
Elixir has put together a great thread (look at the titles highlighted in green). Deathsmiles has had a North American release, and it’s great. You can also import the region free game title and just play it on your XBOX 360. I personally would recommend Mushimesama Futari 1.5. The graphics and gameplay are amazing. It has many modes and you can buy Black Label as DLC which is also a great variation. Strania and the Side Vower DLC have gotten great reviews.
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=23501

7. Buy a JP XBOX 360.
After you have played some of the region free shmups and want to get further, get a JP XBOX 360 and follow Elixir’s great guide. You can buy all the awesome CAVE ports. A JP XBOX 360 can run you $300-$400 depending on the model used or new. Try to get Jasper or the new Slim versions. Later when you get an arcade cabinet you can get pad hacks and install them into your arcade cabinet.

8. Play a doujin game--some of them are freeware.
Blue Wish Resurrection, Eden’s Aegis by x.x, and ChoRenSha are great shmups and free to download. You can find a list at rancor's Tokyo Shmups (great place to order doujin games straight from Japan) http://www.sk8tokyo.com/shmup/free.htm. Play some of the Touhou series for yourself. I also really enjoy Kamui and Crimzon Clover is a great doujin shmup. Rockin’ Android has put out some great doujin collections Suguri and Gundemonium. A lot of these doujin shmups and other shmups have Score Attack and Caravan modes which pack a lot of gameplay in a short time.

9. Arcade cabinets and PCBs are expensive. If you start moving down this road be prepared—it is not cheap.
Many of the great players here do not own arcade cabinets and PCBs. They play on MAME and are great players. If you do decide to get into the collecting part know that a single Japanese candy cabinet can run $800-$1000, and this doesn't include shipping which can run into the hundreds of dollars. Sure you can buy some cabinets for cheaper as my buddy AKRATEN says--DON’T BUY JUNK. I can’t stress this enough. Measure twice and cut once. When you do take the plunge if you aren’t good with arcade hardware/restoring don’t sink money into something that you can’t and will never fix. As for PCB prices CAVE PCBs goes for $350-$1500 for full kits each. Raizing and Toaplan PCBs are also getting up there as well. Figure out what you definitely want to play, buy the PCB and play your board. If you have enough money to buy as many cabs and PCBs you want more power to you, buy what you like. Unfortunately, I don’t and have a limited budget and given your budget of $1000, I suggest going getting JP XBOX 360, an arcade stick, and ports before you go into candy cab purchasing. Play the games while looking for your own candy cab from someone who's local to you. Who knows, you might get somethings for cheaper but that's only with many hours and hours for looking. Don't get into rat race of buying boards, flipping boards, and rebuying boards. Sure you’ll make a little bit of money here and there, but most of the time you’ll lose money and at the very least just spend time pouring over the trading forums and being a laughingstock.

That being said, I own two arcade cabinets and I love playing on them. It is really magical. But I play games on MAME w/my laptop computer tated. I love playing shmups on my consoles.

As far as forums--Arcade Otaku has a great forum and wiki on arcade cabinets. KLOV is good for classic arcade games. Build Your Own Arcade Controls is great for technical discussions.

10. Don’t let anyone else interfere with your enjoyment of shmups.
Unfortunately, I have to bring this up. There are some bad apples in this forum. Just like life. Don’t let the haters here bring you down. Haters of certain games that they deem “broken” or hate doujin/older/newer shmups--play the game and decide for yourself. There are haters of people having a PCB/game that they don’t have. Haters that knock other people’s ability (oh that's an easy 1cc, etc.) Haters that cause drama just to troll. These are player haters. n00bs vs. hardcore is locker room drivel. Be a player and not a hater. It is kind of comical to read some of the drama here and on some of the other forums, but don’t let it get you down. Take it as an example of a type of behavior that you should watch out for. Which also brings me to another point. There are great players on this forum, but don't be constantly comparing your beginning scores to their scores and get discouraged. They've been playing for a long time, and their scores show that fact. Also, just like celebrities and sports athletes--some aren't role models. Make your own goals and achieve them. Keep your spirit alive!

Hopefully this will help you a starting player into this amazing subculture. I thought I had to give up gaming due to the length/commitment required of them, but now I can keep my game going and still be a player!

[Blackbird]

I was going to add to this this morning, but as of this afternoon you seem to have a wall of text to read already =P. Hit me up on PM if you have any specific questions. As everyone else mentioned, it's always great to see enthusiasm.

10. Don’t let anyone else interfere with your enjoyment of shmups.
Unfortunately, I have to bring this up. There are some bad apples in this forum. Just like life. Don’t let the haters here bring you down. It is kind of comical to read some of the drama here and on some of the other forums, but don’t let it get you down. Take it as an example of a type of behavior that you should watch out for. Haters of certain games that they deem “broken” or hate doujin/older/newer shmups--play the game and decide for yourself. There are haters of people having a PCB/game that they don’t have. Haters that knock other people’s ability (oh that's an easy 1cc, etc.) Haters that cause drama just to troll. These are player haters. n00bs vs. hardcore is locker room drivel. Be a player and not a hater.

Haha, yeah.

[CMPXCHG8B]

Hey, thank you all for the wonderful replies.

It's really nice to know a group of people who give straight up answers and well formatted opinions.

$1000 was just an example for the PCB. My actual budget is somewhere around $3000, which is the direct result of an unspent entertainment budget that has stacked up. Ever since I abandoned PC gaming out of boredom and bought a PS3, I've bought maybe 2 games for it in just as many years. It wasn't until recently that I was flipping through the books and realized just how much I used to spend on this stuff. There was always a reason to run out and buy the latest ATI Rage 128 "video card" with some enhanced T&L features or double the VRAM, just to play something like Millennium Soldier (formerly "Expendable" in NA). I went from spending anywhere from $750-$1K/year on entertainment- sometimes more, to just over $120/year.

Which is why I'd love to invest in something new, and more importantly, different.

Anyways, for the time being, I've decided to go down the console route for a bit.

The reason for my decision is that while JAMMA and JVS seem to be accepted standards, the cabinets themselves aren't as uniform. There's so many to pick from, but no standardized PCB mounting solution. For some reason this bugs me, to the point that I'd rather get my own cabinet fabricated and based around a standardized "blade" system for utilizing multiple PCBs off a common backplane (containing the required electronics to safely switch between boards while powered on). Each PCB would be mounted in the centre of a steel plate with a JAMMA extension cable running to a blind-mate connector on the rear. Each steel plate would slide into 1 of N slots in the lower half of the cabinet, allowing me to swap PCBs without wearing down the JAMMA connectors. Obviously this would require not only a custom chassis, but a boatload of custom electronics as well (mostly on the board that the arcade blades mate with).

I know some people who could potentially help me pull this off (I'm comfortable with everything except the metal fab)- but this is a project I'd rather deal with in a bit. Right now I want a set of arcade buttons to mash and a joystick to tap on (or reef on, depending on the game), and some system to play games on. Given the level of recommendation here and the assurance that the console ports ~= the arcade versions, a Dreamcast + PS2 and possibly a 360-J seems to be the way to go, and I'll consider the aforementioned project when I have the time and will to do so.

So, one last question.

As far as arcade gaming on a console (or consoles) goes, what do you recommend as a good hardware controller? I'm honestly unsure if X-Arcade is any good, I just know of them because they support nearly every console under the sun, plus anything that speaks to a USB HID device.

Cheers,
-CMPX

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I got my feet wet delving into the arcade PCB hobby by buying a supergun setup blind not knowing what Jamma or PCBs really were. I, eventually, gained some experience and understanding associated with this newfangled hobby. Eventually, I wanted to own a candy cab setup after visiting a few Japanese game centers (that's what the Japanese arcades are called over there). After trying out a couple of game sessions of Cave's Dodonpachi & Success' Psyvariar Medium Unit at a couple of game centers, that sealed the deal. I knew that one day I'd be able to play those particular PCB offerings in the privacy of my home. Fast forward to a few years later, I do have those two particular arcade shmup titles in my PCB stash alrighty.

If you can attend a local shmupmeet and try out some arcade shmup PCBs to get an idea of how they play, then by all means attend them (so you can get an idea if you'd like them for yourself). I have no regrets taking my plunge directly into the world of arcade PCBs despite being one of those grizzled old-school arcade gamer veterans from the early-1980s era.

Sure, some shmuppers have been known to go all out with a bang and purchase a DDP-DFK 1.5 PCB kit as their very first PCB purchase. More power to them by joining the elite ranks of the hardcore shmupper PCB hobbyist crowd.

Most hard-core gamers will say that the X-Arcade is a piece of crap. You'd be better off getting a solid world class arcade stick for, say like the 360 console, with a Hori Real Arcade Pro EX-SE (with all Japanese Seimitsu parts for the joystick and push buttons) or an Hori RAP EX variant joystick. Plus it's compatible with a PC setup to use on Mame, Mame32, ShmupMame, etc. Can't get any better than that.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[mrsmiley381]

Threads like this are good resources for people who ask the same question later. CMPXCHG8B clearly knows the right questions to ask and also has some good ideas about building custom hardware. If you get it working, show it off and give us a tutorial! You'll become legendary in no time if you do. A friend of mine has access to a fabrication lab, so if you need anything done easily and perfectly involving just about any material, let me know and I'll see what we can do. The use of the lab is free aside from materials and I'm always interested in incredibly well-designed modular interfaces, so this is something I would gladly support. In the meantime, the console route is excellent. I personally enjoy the Dreamcast library because it's not supremely huge but does have a lot of variety. Of course, it's completely devoid of CAVE releases, which for most people here is a complete downer. Of course, no other console has Zero Gunner 2, so keep that in mind.

As for an arcade stick, the 360 ones are good, definitely. X-Arcade is shit. You could also wire your own using the Universal PCB (if Toodles on Shoryuken even has any left) like I did, or get your hands on a Cthulhu board (still available) you can have one stick wired for damn near everything. For someone like me, it's awesome. Get a sick acrylic case and go nuts.

Again, if you need metal or wood or anything cut, I'll ask my good friend and see what we can do. He's more of an arcade enthusiast than I am, so he'll definitely be interested.