DrunkenOverclockers::Cabcreator(); |
Hueg.04/28/2005 @ 1:31 pm |
The 25" monitor made it here intact and alive. I managed to hook everything up and get it working right on the first try, which is nice, because the 19" monitor was pretty much a catastrophe. I took a pic of one of my faves in action:
SVC Chaos kit arrival04/15/2005 @ 11:16 pm |
The SVC Chaos kit arrived in great shape today courtesy of icoNsx from the Neo forums. Check it:
This essentially completes the collection I planned for - I may end up swapping some games out to procure others, but I more than likely won't be documenting it until much, much later. The two I'm looking forward to getting are Garou: Mark of the Wolves and Samurai Showdown V Special.
Shidamn04/13/2005 @ 4:34 pm |
"Stuff" is starting to pour in at an alarming rate, and the progress of the project has gone past what's on the page...so..TIME FOR AN UPDATE KIDDIES!!11
First off, I got some of the items I needed to make my own mini-marquees. The first is a set of clear Avery labels, and a large sheet of Duro-Lar from Dick Blick. (Laugh it up, you sickos.) I'm still missing the solid white labels so I can finish them up. Basically print the image on a clear label, cut it out and place it on the Duro-Lar, cut it out of the Duro-Lar, and then place a white label on the back to help filter the light from the marquee through. Ideally, you'll want to use a color laser printer - But Lithy, the Neo-Geo forumite who came up with this method said his Kinko's wouldn't let him print any more due to copyright reasons. I'm going to try and improvise an inkjet solution but adding a step - place a sheet of laminate over the front to protect the ink from fingerprints and moisture.
I've almost got the marquees all done, but for the sake of my sanity I'm going to post the full report of that once I actually finish them. I still need the white labels and some laminate. Here's a preview pic of all the marquees on the Duro-Lar:
Also, I got three more games today. Metal Slug 3, Zupapa!, and King of Fighters 2001 in kit form:
Finally, I also wanted to post some pictures of the Bob Roberts order that arrived today.
The first pic shows off two speakers, two joysticks, a joystick mounting template, and a spare speaker on the far left that I completey forgot was included. (IT WAS INFERIOR ANYWAY MWAHHAHAHAHA). On the right pic, there's some PCB feet hidden at the top for mounting the motherboard,a buttload o' buttons and their microswitches, a pushbutton screw for mounting them, and at the bottom a fairly well loaded JAMMA harness along with extras for adding Neo Geo functionality. The bag also has a bunch of Molex in-line connectors for quickly detaching and reconnection different parts in the cabinet.
ALSO in that package was the power supply stuff, seen on the left. The leftmost bag has a set of quick-connectors; the middle top bag is the AC line filter, power switch and distribution block; the middle bottom item is the isolation transformer (used for reducing noise for older monitors); and the rightmost items are the switching power supply and AC line cord. In the middle pic is an assorment of wires, cabe clamps, and zip strips, bless Bob's heart. The rightmost gadgets are for crimping the Molex pins for the in-line connectors, and a digital multimeter for checking the power supply's functionality before we actually hook up the motherboard. No need to fry perfectly good hardware, right?
That's all for now - Tomorrow may possibly bring a full report on how to make mini-marquees using an inkjet.
Dealt a Sweet Card04/11/2005 @ 9:30 pm |
Couple of arrivals today, including 4 new games and a memory card reader and card with its cables, and a feature I completely forgot about:
The two jacks on either side of the memory card reader are actually headphone jacks. I could just plug the card in, mount this board internally, and connect the card reader cables and audio cable to the motherboard, and then mount some headphone extension thingers to the front of the control panel below the player one and two controls. This way I could even play this thing while someone is sleeping.
Also, I omitted what the actual purpose of the memory card is, that being to save high score data while the machine is turned off, and for up to 28 titles. Not bad for 2k of space. Also, these carts arrived:
These three games came off of E-bay, and it kinda shows. They were cheap, but look heavily used. From top to bottom: Magical Drop 3, King of Fighters '96, Samurai Showdown IV, and Windjammers (aka Flying Power Disc. No, I'm not kidding). The gallery has been updated accordingly.
P.S.: The card reader data cables are fucking huge.
Gamez Galorez04/08/2005 @ 8:53 pm |
Received a grand total of 6 more games from vwlunatic in the mail today, so I figured it was picture-worthy. I also tossed in the Metal Slug X cart on top that I got earlier since I hadn't taken a pic of it yet.
From top to bottom, the games are Metal Slug X, Aero Fighters 2 (aka Sonic Wings 2), Crossed Swords, Magician Lord, Big Tournament Golf (aka Neo Turf Masters), Sengoku 2, and The Last Blade (japanese label, obviously.) Crossed Swords came with the mini-marquee laying off to the right.
The final games list has been updated/finalized as well, and the Bob Roberts order placed. The new list is as follows, along with mini-marquees linked: Samurai Showdown 1 , 2 , and 4,
King of Fighters '96, '99, 2001, and 2003,
Metal Slug X and 3, Puzzle Bobble, Magical Drop 3,
Windjammers,
Neo Turf Masters,
Blazing Star,
Aerofighters 2,
Super Dodge Ball, Zupapa,
Magician Lord,
Crossed Swords,
The Last Blade,
Sengoku 2,
and SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom.
The Gathering Phase could possibly be completed in about two weeks time, with the Bob Roberts order having been placed, and all games and game hardware ordered. All that leaves is a small Happ Controls order for mostly cabinet finishing, and a modest Home Depot run. You may have noticed on the Bill of Materials a seemingly random addition of two sets of Avery labels and Dura-Lar - those will be used for creating hand-made mini-marquees using a technique described by lithy in the Neo-Geo.com forums. Link-tastic!
Crap, I'm gonna need a bigger drawer....
Triple Whammy04/04/2005 @ 2:52 pm |
Here's today's mail arrivals; 5 monitor bezels (So I can muss one or two up if I so feel), a 4-slot MVS motherboard with Japanese BIOS, and a King of Fighters 2003 kit. I originally anticipated a cart only for the price I got it at (it and the motherboard was $300), so this was a fairly pleasant surprise.
Super Dodge Ball kit04/04/2005 @ 11:59 pm |
I typically have been staying away from buying full kits for the MVS games, because the added materials and "collector" factor seem to bump up the price a bit. In the case of Super Dodge Ball though, it doesn't seem like I had much of a choice. People liked this game so much that they weren't really willing to separate the carts from the kits, and most free carts you find are bootlegs that look like crap. The kit had two flyers, a dip settings sheet, and monitor bezel sticker with all of the characters' moves, the game itself, and the mini-marquee.
Final Games List04/04/2005 @ 12:43 am |
Here is a listing of the potential final collection of Neo Geo catridges, in No Particular Order©:
Samurai Showdown 1 , 2 , and 4
King of Fighters 2001 and 2003
Metal Slug X and 3
Puzzle Bobble
Magical Drop 3
Windjammers
Neo Turf Masters
Blazing Star
Aerofighters 2
Super Dodge Ball
Zupapa
Magician Lord
Crossed Swords
Last Blade
Sengoku 2
SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom
The carts will end up being stored in a small set of shelves lodged into the side of the cabinet, hopefully with one of those push-to-open doors, so there's no protruding handles. Not all of the marquees are up for these just yet (i.e. Samurai Showdown 1 & 4, Neo Turf Masters, and Magical Drop 3), I'll add that tomorrow. Also, I picked up a used coin door and cleaned it up a little bit. Hopefully I can grab a pinout for the molex connectors, as it looks like a pretty common model.
Update: Missing marquees added, along with two games.
Box with a package inside (kinky, no?)03/30/2005 @ 2:16 pm |
I ran out the check the mailbox and found a delivery inside - two credit LEDs courtesy of eBaY. The guy apparently shipped them out monday, and they're here already. Not bad for coming from Arizona.
If you caught my first entry, you may remember me saying that pretty much everything in a JAMMA compliant cabinet connects to a JAMMA harness, and then the harness connects to the game PCB. Notice that these have their own connectors - They actually connect directly to the PCB itself. Of course, a credit counter isn't really a necessary feature, so even if it's omitted the game can still be labelled as "JAMMA compliant". The marquee backlight down below also has similar connectors that connected to the PCB as well. I think those are relly the only two "non-JAMMA" connectors this cab may have, aside from the way the Neo Geo actually uses extra entries on the harness that are just left blank in the JAMMA standard.
By the way, it stands for "Japan Arcade Machinery Manufacturers Association". Yeah, not knowing that bugged the hell outta me too. At first I thought it was some kind of reggae slang.
Blazing Away03/30/2005 @ 9:56 pm |
Received a Blazing Star cartridge today - I'm not going to post pics of it just yet, because I have multiple other carts coming. I think I'm going to come up with some kind of rack/shelf for these, then just take pictures of them all on the shelf at once. I'd be pretty sweet if I could just mount it on the side of the cab somehow, I think. I know people who sell "shockboxes" for the MVS carts, but I'm not sure that's something I want to spend cash on just yet. Also, the payment for the motherboard has been sent out. In about two weeks or so, I'll be placing the order for the Bob Roberts invoice listed on the BoM , and then I can start assembly for testing purposes. The plan will be to piece together a functional "power board" (a 12" x 12" piece of plywood with all of the power equipment), the control panel (the box that holds all of the joysticks and wiring, and sits on the front of the cab), and then the frame for the cabinet itself.
I'll try to come up with some type of game-rack scheme today.
Hurr Hurr01/01/20XX @ 6:66 pm |
Added marquees for Magician Lord and Crossed Swords . I probably won't be getting ALL of these games, but hey, a guy can dream right? .
Mini Marquees R teh updated03/26/2005 @ 11:11 pm |
I updated the marquee pics located through the link to the left - I added a few more and downsized the entire collection for easier viewing. A few of the marquees, namely Zupapa, Samurai Showdown V Special, and KoF '01 and '03 weren't actually created by SNK, but by Neo-Geo.com Forum members. SNK never made minis for these games, so the fans took it upon themselves to do so. I simply resized them for my personal marquee use. My tactic was to snag the images provided either for the forum or from MAWS, then open up Photoshop and resize the image to 4.5 inches wide and about 5.5 inches tall at 300 dpi. Then, I would try to use the "auto-levels" adjustment to see if it could make the color tones less harsh or bland. I then saved that as a PDF file for future printing, and saved a smaller sized jpg for the site here.
ebay, Ebay, eBay, E-Bay, I hate them all. (yay!)03/25/2005 @ 11:17 pm |
The postman probably went crazy today - three packages at once. Of course, I was only expecting one, so this is just icing on the cake; I get to drive the postman insane AND get cabinet stuff. I've got the 4-slot marquee that holds my 4 mini-marquees (see links to the left for some examples), a light panel that lights up the selected game's mini-marquee, and a control panel overlay. All of the following have come from eBay auctions. Notice that in every single post I've made, "E-Bay" is capitalized differently. This is done on purpose, because I Hate Them©.
big stickharrrzzzz03/23/2005 @ 12:30 pm |
Side decals arrived from Ebay today in pretty good shape. Pics:
Monitorz0r03/19/2005 @ 9:00 pm |
First Arrival03/15/2005 @ 3:00 pm |
The first package arrived today courtesy of VWlunatic from the Neo-Geo.com forums. Three cartridges; Samurai Showdown, King of Fighter's '99, and Puzzle Bobble (a.k.a. Bust-A-Move). Total price including shipping was $130. The packing job he did was pretty nice - looks like the carts were each in a bubble wrap envelope, then placed in a small box with styrofoam peanuts. I get the impression he's done this before, heh.
I just got the bare carts, no kits; if I want the mini-marquees for the 4-slot marquee on the cabinet, I can download some, photoshop them up, and print them on photo paper. Why? Because those original artwork materials jack the price of the cartridge WAY up. At that point you're not paying to play the games of yore, you're paying to play Antiques Roadshow. Me?I play games.
