NEWS: Videolink online; IBARA und Raiden 3 arrived

Raidenfighter Kirkov · Thu Jun 30, 2005 9:10 am

Hi !

LINK to the "welcome Video":
http://members.inode.at/akozar/The%20kings%20return.wmv

Both arcade pcbs arrived yesterday.

Here are some pics of the pcb and some artwork:

Both games are masterpieces.
Ibara is much more a raizing game than a typical cave game.
Graphic details are incredible (on the same levels as mushihime sama).
The difficulty is very high, and the games has some really nice score system.

Raiden 3 is superb too.
You have to play this game in HIGH RES (31 khz).
There are NO slowdonws (not even in the 2 player mode), and the explosions are gigantic.

The gameplay is much faster as in Raiden , 2 and DX and the game is much more fair than the old raiden titles.

As i said before, both games are superb shmups, and worth every single cent.

I really hope developers from MOSS and CAVE read this forum.
Let me say thank you for this splendid work.
I hope you will never stop making such great games.

And also let me say thank you to EXCELLENT.COM for the best service in arcade business.
Especially Miss Tang who answered all my emails faster than lightning, and helped me out with the raiden 3 problem (i got the raiden 3 pcb two weeks before, but it doesnt work; Excellent.com sent me a replacement kit as fast as possible...incredible service => AAA +++)

Happy Shmupping
RFK[/url]

TGK · Post by **TGK** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 9:22 am

Need more money... how to make more money... to buy pcbs... money... no meal... must work... ramen...

cigsthecat · Post by **cigsthecat** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 9:37 am

It's times like these that I find myself wishing one of the money guys was a player, too.

Raidenfighter Kirkov · Thu Jun 30, 2005 9:46 am

cigsthecat wrote:It's times like these that I find myself wishing one of the money guys was a player, too.

Dont worry, we will play that games "to death".

BTW: I am not sure if i will take both games to the next arcadeshooter tournament (which will be held on 9. July).

One thing is for sure:
There will be the "Clash of Giants Tournament" held in a month or two.

All Cave pcbs and all Seibu Kaihatsu pcbs.

Hell ! I think the tournament will take two days.

Greetings
RFK

ill6 · Post by **ill6** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 10:30 am

How do you change games on the Type X (is it practical?)

Raidenfighter Kirkov · Thu Jun 30, 2005 10:53 am

ill6 wrote:How do you change games on the Type X (is it practical?)

Hi !

Its very easy.

You have to change the hd.
Can you see the metal plate on the top of the taito type x ?
You have to unscrew the plate.
So you can change the game hd.
Just plug in the usb stick (dongle) of the new game, and thats it.

The only problem will be the different versions of the taito type x motherboard (first generation = celeron 2,6 ghz).

Greetings
RFK

Bishamon · Post by **Bishamon** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 11:41 am

I'm jealous. Being able to play those games must be heaven!

I could never justify spending more than a few hundred on a single game.

It's interesting that the Type-X games are stored on hard drives. That would seem to limit their physical longevity. Not that it matters to arcade operators, but it certainly does to collectors.

ill6 · Post by **ill6** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 11:50 am

I suppose it would be easy to make a back up of the software on the HD though.

My concern from a collectors perspective is having to upgrade bits of it and determining if its backward compatible.

Raidenfighter Kirkov · Thu Jun 30, 2005 11:58 am

ill6 wrote:I suppose it would be easy to make a back up of the software on the HD though.

My concern from a collectors perspective is having to upgrade bits of it and determining if its backward compatible.

Or you buy a complete kit for each game.

Greetings
RFK

druuna · Post by **druuna** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:09 pm

Thx for all your photos RFK....simply incredible!
Can you send us photos of the pcb? I mean the Type-X motherboard and the hard-drive.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:10 pm

Bishamon wrote: I could never justify spending more than a few hundred on a single game.

Nicely put. Same here.

Bishamon wrote:It's interesting that the Type-X games are stored on hard drives. That would seem to limit their physical longevity. Not that it matters to arcade operators, but it certainly does to collectors.

So hard drives don't have a good shelf life? I didn't know about that. Please explain if you know more.

zaphod · Post by **zaphod** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:26 pm

as far as I kow hard drives have a great shelf life when not abused.

That said, manufactureres warranty their hard drives from date of manufacture, and not from date of sale. There probably is a reason for this....

Post by **system11** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:31 pm

Bishamon wrote:I'm jealous. Being able to play those games must be heaven!

I could never justify spending more than a few hundred on a single game.

It's interesting that the Type-X games are stored on hard drives. That would seem to limit their physical longevity. Not that it matters to arcade operators, but it certainly does to collectors.

I refer the honourable gentlemen to exhibit A.

A Type-X machine at the Casino arcade in London, which failed its hard drive only a month or two after being installed.

I'd say it does matter to arcade operators. That Gigawing Generations machine went offline permanently. Really HD is the worst medium in the world for these machines - you know how many office IT departments request that people log out but NOT shut down their machines at night? It's because spinning up and slowing down cycles stress HDs out. Hopefully they can be dumped and are generic drives, and the USB key is the unique part.

Agreed on the price - you can get a brand new pinball machine for the price of an Ibara PCB. Think about that. An ENTIRE MACHINE full of mechanical and electrical components, artwork, and no immediate depreciation. When they break you -can- repair them. I wouldn't even entertain for a moment spending that much on a single arcade PCB that contains parts that will most certainly break over time, and will be worth maybe a third of its value in only one year. Not unless I was seriously rich anyway.

Post by **Icarus** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 2:06 pm

bloodflowers wrote:Agreed on the price - you can get a brand new pinball machine for the price of an Ibara PCB. Think about that.

Yeah, but there are only a few pins that I'd be interested in getting (Terminator 2 being one of them). I'd give my right arm and all my internal organs for Ibara, though.

Post by **system11** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 2:20 pm

Icarus wrote:
bloodflowers wrote:Agreed on the price - you can get a brand new pinball machine for the price of an Ibara PCB. Think about that.
Yeah, but there are only a few pins that I'd be interested in getting (Terminator 2 being one of them). I'd give my right arm and all my internal organs for Ibara, though.

As people will for diamonds - and those are artificially expensive too

That was my point.

SFKhoa · Post by **SFKhoa** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 2:23 pm

bloodflowers wrote:
Icarus wrote:
bloodflowers wrote:Agreed on the price - you can get a brand new pinball machine for the price of an Ibara PCB. Think about that.
Yeah, but there are only a few pins that I'd be interested in getting (Terminator 2 being one of them). I'd give my right arm and all my internal organs for Ibara, though.
As people will for diamonds - and those are artificially expensive too That was my point.

I guess it just shows people have different tastes for what's worth the huge amount of money and what's not. and I'm pretty sure spending so much on a PCB is ridiculous to the not-so-harcore gamers.

The artwork for the Raiden III and IBARA artwork is sexy, is it possible to scan them?

TVG · Post by **TVG** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 2:58 pm

that flyer for ibara is awesome, give it to me ;p

Post by **system11** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 2:59 pm

SFKhoa wrote:
bloodflowers wrote: As people will for diamonds - and those are artificially expensive too That was my point.
I guess it just shows people have different tastes for what's worth the huge amount of money and what's not. and I'm pretty sure spending so much on a PCB is ridiculous to the not-so-harcore gamers.

That's the thing though - I am a hardcore gamer, I had one of the biggest and rarest PCB collections known for a while. I turned my entire garage into an arcade filled every corner of the house with arcade boards and pinball machines, must have spent (EASILY) over 30,000UKP on arcade/pinball gaming in total, over 3 years. Not counting console stuff.

Even at the height of madness, I would never have considered dropping $3k on a single PCB. Note: the above is true - and I would not recommend people follow the same path, it leads only to debt and depression.

SheSaidDutch · Post by **SheSaidDutch** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 3:39 pm

bloodflowers wrote:That's the thing though - I am a hardcore gamer, I had one of the biggest and rarest PCB collections known for a while. I turned my entire garage into an arcade filled every corner of the house with arcade boards and pinball machines, must have spent (EASILY) over 30,000UKP on arcade/pinball gaming in total, over 3 years. Not counting console stuff.

Even at the height of madness, I would never have considered dropping $3k on a single PCB. Note: the above is true - and I would not recommend people follow the same path, it leads only to debt and depression.

Just..WOW

Bishamon · Post by **Bishamon** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 3:39 pm

SFKhoa wrote:I guess it just shows people have different tastes for what's worth the huge amount of money and what's not. and I'm pretty sure spending so much on a PCB is ridiculous to the not-so-harcore gamers.

I guess I'm just not hardcore (or rich

) enough.

bloodflowers wrote:That's the thing though - I am a hardcore gamer, I had one of the biggest and rarest PCB collections known for a while. I turned my entire garage into an arcade filled every corner of the house with arcade boards and pinball machines, must have spent (EASILY) over 30,000UKP on arcade/pinball gaming in total, over 3 years. Not counting console stuff.

Even at the height of madness, I would never have considered dropping $3k on a single PCB. Note: the above is true - and I would not recommend people follow the same path, it leads only to debt and depression.

I hear that. I tend to go overboard on spending, myself, but would never go into four figures on a single game, especially when the price will drop rapidly in short order. I don't think the Type-X hardware will drop quite as quickly as other PCBs, though, but still...

I've really had to cut back on my spending (I'm really trying, honest

). I hope the PS2 port of Raiden III is damn close to perfect so I won't be tempted to buy the 'real' version when prices drop below $1000.

Post by **system11** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 4:20 pm

Bishamon wrote: I hear that. I tend to go overboard on spending, myself, but would never go into four figures on a single game, especially when the price will drop rapidly in short order. I don't think the Type-X hardware will drop quite as quickly as other PCBs, though, but still...

I've really had to cut back on my spending (I'm really trying, honest ). I hope the PS2 port of Raiden III is damn close to perfect so I won't be tempted to buy the 'real' version when prices drop below $1000.

The Type-X prices could go either way really - and nobody will know for a little while yet - as few are in the hands of collectors, and few will have filtered from site->collector too. If there are no longevity problems, the prices should come down. If however they are proved to half a short lifespan, we could be looking at price increases as people fight over surviving units.

Ex_Mosquito · Post by **Ex_Mosquito** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 4:23 pm

I guess it just shows people have different tastes for what's worth the huge amount of money and what's not. and I'm pretty sure spending so much on a PCB is ridiculous to the not-so-harcore gamers.

The artwork for the Raiden III and IBARA artwork is sexy, is it possible to scan them?

I would'nt say that makes you a hardcore gamer, a bit mental maybe:) Hardcore gamer to me(damn i hate that word) is someone who can play at an above average level regardless if they own the game or emulate. Take Bern-D for example, he owns fuck all as regards to cabs pcbs console games, and yet he's one of the most accomplished shooting game players on this board, respect to the guy.

a gamer's worth is determined by his play, not his purchase. But if you're a collector then it's fine:)

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 4:55 pm

that sure is some artwork.

gunbird18 · Post by **gunbird18** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 6:26 pm

"Warning: More praise for the Ibara art!!!"

That Ibara poster needed to be shipped to RFK in a custom frame! That thing is a masterpiece!

Post by **system11** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 6:40 pm

I'm surprised Cave don't print and sell those posters seperately. Once the units are sold to distributors the value of rarity means no money to them at all - they could make a nice little amount from them - more than the soundtracks for sure.

japtor · Post by **japtor** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 6:46 pm

The only problem will be the different versions of the taito type x motherboard (first generation = celeron 2,6 ghz).

know what video card is in your raiden 3 kit? i remember the type x page showing available cards as anything from like a radeon 9200 up to an x800 or something. the non standardness of the system (cpu/gpu) bugs me. not a problem for full kits or anything, but sorta puts running different games into question for a particular system.

as for hd reliability, it reminds me of this thing i saw on system16 a while ago while looking at naomi stuff:

The GD Rom system has a very clever way of getting around the loading delay time. When the game is initially installed, the GD ROM loads its content into the Naomi RAM. Once this is completed, the GD ROM goes into standby unless the RAM gets corupted or the game gets shut off for 72 hours or more. This does two things,

1) Eliminates loading delays completely, (after initial power up.)
2) Minimizes the on/off cycles of the GD ROM drive and greatly increasing the life of this mechanical device.

From Sega R+D - "We learned a lesson watching our coin-op competitors go through hardware hell. Many have been using off-board storage devices for years - hard drives, CD's, etc. with great success in increased content but at a tremendous cost in realiablity. These storage devices simply could not withstand the constant on/off cycling a coin-op application demands. Add to that the dirt and smoke a game has to put up with on location vs. a normal computer application and you can see how this was a problem waiting to happen"

BUHA · Post by **BUHA** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 7:32 pm

.....And I felt bad for plunking down 15 bucks for R-Type Final.

Valgar · Post by **Valgar** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 7:36 pm

bloodflowers wrote:I'm surprised Cave don't print and sell those posters seperately. Once the units are sold to distributors the value of rarity means no money to them at all - they could make a nice little amount from them - more than the soundtracks for sure.

My thoughts exactly.

SheSaidDutch · Post by **SheSaidDutch** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 7:46 pm

How much did both of those titles cost Raidenfighter Kirkov?

Must be nice playing those via a cab though I must say

gameoverDude · Post by **gameoverDude** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 9:08 pm

Thank goodness for Raiden III coming out on PS2, so I won't have to start my own Ocean's Eleven to scare up the funds for that game.

I'd hedge a bet that Taito will probably have Ibara coming to PS2 by February, considering the timing of Mushihimesama.

Now if Ibara dropped to $600, I'd probably think about it. That's about where Ketsui stood when I decided to snag it. Normally I don't splurge into multiple hundreds for a PCB, but if I had a 6-figure income I'd be going for these suckers on PCB right now.

[quote=bloodflowers re: Type X HD]
Really HD is the worst medium in the world for these machines - you know how many office IT departments request that people log out but NOT shut down their machines at night[/quote]

That's one thing that scares me with Type-X. If I had paid $2K (what coinopexpress wants for it used) or more for a Type-X Raiden III kit only to have it fail like that, heads would roll.

I think DVD-ROM would be a much better format than HDD. If an HDD fails, you're inevitably fucked. If a DVD-ROM drive croaks, it can be replaced easily- and the game media is still safe and sound, ready to put into the fixed system (that's assuming the DVD-ROM drive would be a generic type and not some proprietary job).