I’ve been reading about using original arcade pcbs and I’d like to get into it and pick up a couple of my old favorites from my 90s arcade days. (Virtua Fighter / VF2, Street Fighter 2, etc)
I think I’ve got a fairly good handle on what I need to get going but I’m having a hard time finding components. The most recommended superguns and frame doublers (e.g. HAS, OSSC) aren’t available even to wait list for. I can’t tell what’s real on ebay versus bootleg and while OSSC is open source seems there’s a lot of community negativity on buying from other suppliers. Got excited and thought a second tier pic, the progamer was within reach but they don’t ship to USA.
Anyway, thought I would try a post here and see what’s for sale if anything after finding that ‘for gamers with more money than sense’ thread which I thought was well written. Also any advice you guys have for buying PCBs would be appreciated. I’ve been poking at a couple on ebay but haven’t taken the plunge since I want to have a setup ready to test it when it arrives. Looking locally in craigslist / offerup gets me nowhere. Thanks!
I have a Smallcab Supergun Deluxe that I bought a couple years ago simply to test a few PCBs I was giving as a gift. The simplicity and price (and availability!) were appealing to me. Simply plugged in an old ATX power supply and SCART and games showed right up.
The actual hobby of collecting arcade hardware is for sure out of my $$ range, although it’s very very interesting to me (I love that thread). The Smallcab might be worth it if you wanted to dip in while you waited for stuff to go on sale or made decisions on what exactly you want for a setup.
Welcome to the community! I love that thread. It is one of my favorites on the site.
My honest advice is that if you know you want to get into collecting PCBs just bite the bullet and get on the list to get a H.A.S. over at the Arcade Projects forum. It’s the best around and worht every penny. Getting into arcade stuff isn’t cheap at all. Might as well start out right.
That said I have a retroelectronic supergun I got with a Neo Geo MVS that I’d be happy to sell you on the cheap. They usually go for $40. I’d be happy to sell you mine for $25 shipped. I haven’t ever used it but it was demoed to me when I bought the MVS.
CPS2 and MVS are the easiest places to start collecting in my opinion. A lot of games can be had for under $200. I’ve even gotten a couple CPS2 games for $100. Just depends on what you’re looking for. Again the Arcade Projects Buy/Sell thread is a great place to look. You’ll usually get things cheaper than on ebay.
I have bought PCBs through ebay though. Sometimes you can get a good deal if you keep your eye out for auctions on specific games you are looking for.
All that said. The title of that tread is what it is for a reson. It’s an expensive aspect of the hobby. I find it super rewarding though. I’ve been having fun designing PCB covers. I never would have gotten into doing that stuff if it weren’t for that thread here.
Thanks a lot for the detailed reply! Since my original post I had some better luck and pulled the trigger on a retroelectronik progamer until I can get on the list for a HAS.
Ordered up some other stuff as well (power supply, ossc, some cables and such). Finally I bought a Street Fighter II World Warrior pcb.
Basically I handed fistfuls of cash to eBay
Fingers crossed everything arrives by end of next week and I can start messing around with it, I’m excited!
Thanks for the advice on the neogeo mvs, I’ve seen a lot of those carts on eBay and they definitely seem to have a lower barrier to entry than the dedicated boards. (Plus a lot of those games are pretty great having played them emulated before). Might get a couple of those and a basic MVS one slot if this all goes well.
Anyway thanks again for being helpful, always fun to read the writings of people interested in these same kinds of things as me in forums like this.
I also started out with a retroelectronik Pro Supergun and while it does its job, it is far from being a great product.
The HAS like everyone else has said is well worth the wait but also DO NOT skimp out on the PSU you will be using and having an adjustable 5v on it is rather important as some PCB can suck up more juice than others and can dip the supply under 5v at load.
With the Retroelectronik I originally used an old but reliable ATX PSU but in general they should be avoided.
I highly recommend using a Meanwell PSU.
I personally use a RT-125A which is great however the newer RT-65A model is probably the best to go for.
Neo Geo MVS is definitely a great place to start out and the prices are rather reasonable.
Virtual Fighter though and pretty much all the SEGA Model1-3 hardware is not a good place to start as they output in 24khz video, have hardware that is very unreliable and can be rather complicated to setup.
Thanks!! Yeah wish I’d seen your advice before ordering a PSU, ah well, I can replace with your suggestion as I get going. I watched an LGR video about this hobby and ordered the same that he was using (EVGA 500 BQ) in part of that vid. He mentioned another more flexible one as well but I wanted something plug and play atx to start.
Yeah VF2 will probably be a long term goal, gotta see how this first attempt goes and if I get hooked. Thanks again!
