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Very nice! It's a shame another 054539 is required though. I'm guessing Martial Champion pcbs will now rise in price :P
 
I'm guessing Martial Champion pcbs will now rise in price
Needing a part you can only grab off of another board, plus having to solder that big boy in makes me think it won't rise /too/ much.

Or people will buy a ton of them with intent of doing the conversion, then just sit on them for ages and never touch them.

Guess it could go either way.
 
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I think this one is probably an "unfavoured" one to do.
So much work, extra custom needed, price of Martial is already by few years above the 100$ range.
But if you considering that you got that game, you don't like it much, and have an extra custom, it's probably worth a shot.
I honestly don't care what people will do with it, i just wanted to share it.
 
Or people will buy a ton of them with intent of doing the conversion, then just sit on them for ages and never touch them.
This.

I've been aware of this conversion for a while though I'd not really looked into the details of what's involved.

this guide makes it quite clear except for the blue circle, what exactly is being changed here?
 
Or people will buy a ton of them with intent of doing the conversion, then just sit on them for ages and never touch them.
This.
I've been aware of this conversion for a while though I'd not really looked into the details of what's involved.

this guide makes it quite clear except for the blue circle, what exactly is being changed here?
Blu Circle: Same as rams, but you just need to swap them in the bottom solder row.
Just put them in mask below where they are.

I get that "aware part" few months ago i think. People here do know stuff (and very well indeed) but they don't share. It makes me wonder what's the purpose of having this forum if people keep informations for theirself.
I've read this "i've been aware" quite many times...
I mean, you not gonna stop that by hiding stuff... they will always rise up at some point.
 
Blu Circle: Same as rams, but you just need to swap them in the bottom solder row.
Just put them in mask below where they are.
oh, I see there are two sets of holes and they need to be moved. I didn't realize that from the photo.

I get that "aware part" few months ago i think. People here do know stuff (and very well indeed) but they don't share. It makes me wonder what's the purpose of having this forum if people keep informations for theirself.
I've read this "i've been aware" quite many times...
Well by "aware" I mean that someone told me they figured it out and gave me the basic information about how it was supposedly done but I didn't really look into it. The person that told me about it isn't on this forum so that's why they didn't share it here, and It wasn't my information to share, nor had I tested or verified any of it which is why I never posted about it myself.

Honestly though I pick and choose what conversion information I share because some of this information can have very bad/negative effects on the market.

When I shared my patches for Jaleco Mega System 1C conversions, the $30 donor PCBs shot up to $300 almost overnight.

There have been some conversions that I figured out that I have not shared simply because I believe that doing so will cause people to destroy the market for the donor game. I'm talking donor games that are great games that are uncommon but you can buy for maybe $150-$200 that could be converted into $500+ games. there's one I figured out that's a really awesome but hard to find $300 game that can become a $1000 game. I don't post about these because if I did we'd probably never be able to find an unmodified donor game again. I'm not keeping that info for my own profit I'm keeping it to help preserve those games. So to answer your question, that's why some people keep that information to themselves.

I'm sure you know I've posted quite a few conversion guides too, but I've seen first hand the damage some of my information has done to the market after releasing it, so I do take that into consideration before I release conversion info. Maybe someone else will figure it out and post about it? I'm not going to stop them, but it wont be on my conscience that I was the one responsible for committing "genocide" against that donor pcb.

In the case of Magical Drop to Osman, I had it all figured out on paper but hadn't tested it on hardware yet and was waiting to do so before I released a guide, but you were headed down that road and I wanted to save you from having to duplicate the effort. with that game, as with Martial Champion, I don't think there is much worry about the donor games, they're not very good games and they're quite common, so while the price will go up it wont run the risk of wiping those games off of the face of the earth.
 
There have been some conversions that I figured out that I have not shared simply because I believe that doing so will cause people to destroy the market for the donor game. I'm talking donor games that are great games that are uncommon but you can buy for maybe $150-$200 that could be converted into $500+ games. there's one I figured out that's a really awesome but hard to find $300 game that can become a $1000 game. I don't post about these because if I did we'd probably never be able to find an unmodified donor game again. I'm not keeping that info for my own profit I'm keeping it to help preserve those games. So to answer your question, that's why some people keep that information to themselves.

I'm sure you know I've posted quite a few conversion guides too, but I've seen first hand the damage some of my information has done to the market after releasing it, so I do take that into consideration before I release conversion info.
I'm really glad for this. I have a couple things that have either worked out or know about from others that I'm not mentioning either for the same reasons. And besides, the whole market is messed up badly enough, no sense in making it worse, ha.
 
Blu Circle: Same as rams, but you just need to swap them in the bottom solder row.
Just put them in mask below where they are.
oh, I see there are two sets of holes and they need to be moved. I didn't realize that from the photo.
I get that "aware part" few months ago i think. People here do know stuff (and very well indeed) but they don't share. It makes me wonder what's the purpose of having this forum if people keep informations for theirself.
I've read this "i've been aware" quite many times...
When I shared my patches for Jaleco Mega System 1C conversions, the $30 donor PCBs shot up to $300 almost overnight.
Wait, WHAT!?! There were $30 donor PCBs? Which one? Where!?! LOL

Thanks for what you guys do. I undoubtedly drives up prices, but the reality is, they are going up anyway. One day the bubble will burst, but that's how it is now, regardless.
 
but the reality is, they are going up anyway.
Most, sure. But Quiz Gakumon never would have gone up, and really this wouldn't have either (not that we really know if this will or has yet, but ALMOST no one has cared about Martial Champions up until today).
Well, I think you're right about it just going up on its own (it won't), but as awesome as A-P is, there are plenty of other people working on stuff and if it doesn't get released publicly, the prices keep going up and just a few people make money on them. It's better to get it out in the open and let everyone drive the price of MC up equally! :P

You know what's interesting to me? It seems a lot of the people who do this kind of work (figure out conversions) are in Italy/Spain/France, and I maybe generalizing here, but seem to be people of color. I think that's actually pretty cool. Goes to show you resourcefulness I think (and makes me smile as a POC), and nothing but a tangent for this thread!
 
but the reality is, they are going up anyway.
but ALMOST no one has cared about Martial Champions up until today).
Oh, and I'm SURE there is a thread on here where I was saying MC is one of the shittiest games I've played and tons of people jumped in to say, nuh-uh! LOL, maybe they meant MW instead... LOL.
 
I have one of these for trade currently, if anyone wants one but doesn’t want to risk it. Swapping over a Konami custom is not easy. Mine used a broken donor for the sound pcb, if that makes you feel better!

Will put it up for pure sale at some point.

edit: traded
 
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this wouldn't have either (not that we really know if this will or has yet, but ALMOST no one has cared about Martial Champions up until today).
I thought the Martial Champion -> Mystic Warriors conversion was common knowledge? while I've never seen a guide I know I've lots of people mention it publicly here and on other forums. I mean heck ekorz has had his listed for sale for a little while now and no one has batted an eye.
 
I thought the Martial Champion -> Mystic Warriors conversion was common knowledge? while I've never seen a guide I know I've lots of people mention it publicly here and on other forums. I mean heck ekorz has had his listed for sale for a little while now and no one has batted an eye.
Totally. But I don't think most people want to bother working these things out for themselves, so if it's not explicitly explained how to do it then it doesn't gain any real traction.

But I really just meant that no one cares about the game in general.
 
I thought the Martial Champion -> Mystic Warriors conversion was common knowledge? while I've never seen a guide I know I've lots of people mention it publicly here and on other forums. I mean heck ekorz has had his listed for sale for a little while now and no one has batted an eye.
Totally. But I don't think most people want to bother working these things out for themselves, so if it's not explicitly explained how to do it then it doesn't gain any real traction.
But I really just meant that no one cares about the game in general.
This is that kind of mods i’d like to do :saint: . When comes around a word about just a simple roms swap arent so exciting ! ^^
 
Wow, lots of answers, i don't know where to start :D
Well first, the funny one, i know all the italians here and they are defenetly well-ground up white people (not that i have something against black guys anyway) mine included.

I'll tell my point of view. I'm actually collecting since almost 17yrs now, and i've always been a "console" guy. I have nearly 200pcbs and that is even my smallest part in the whole collection.
This stuff is growing daily, no matter if someone found out something new about it. To be honest, starting from mid 2010 every one jumped in and even my granma is a collector today, this became a mood very easely and anyone i know jumped in for several reason, many came just for the money and some for the passion itself.

Speaking of jamma, when i started because i wanted to have what i used to play in my local arcades, this stuff was literaly crap, no one wants them. Hell i even remember when i bought an original SplatterHouse for 10Euros to a ex-arcade rental. Thats just one example, there's tons of them.

I understand the point and i've probably misunderstood the "aware" part, thinking the knowledge was directly from you first. But you know what? that doesn't change. I bought a MC 3 years ago for 60 euros, now it's already 120/150Euros by its own. It's a crappy game, however it grow up like all the other stuff.

I mean, Super Mario World on Super Nintendo (one of the BIGGEST sold games in the world) is worth 300$ in the american market, cib. This game sold 20 MILLION. What the fuck.

Speaking on preserving this stuff (wich i partially agree), in this forum the base logs, daily, are 500/600 people. Generally, 30/40 people are the one who actually really interacts with it, and this is going on since i came here. Many are just here for that, it doesn't matter anyway, they will always be.
A real solution would be hide this kind of topics section to people who contribute the most or are really worthed a trust, if you really wanna go deep. But that you not change it anyway, this stuff will eventually being figured out, soon or later. We are just delaying the fact, your not hiding it anyway.

I mean, lets' be honest. I have figure out the osman conversion (partially) just by looking at "that" picture and previously Charlie Ninja just by swapping around. I've also do this one because i had both MC and MW and i thought it could probably worked out.
How hard that was? Almost close to nothing, and i haven't speak to someone or had an "aware" spot to begin with. I mean, again, this will eventually pop up at some point, it doesn't matter when or who. It's inevitable.

Last, when money came in out of your pocket, people are generally smart with it. It's the same example for Neo Geo Aes or super expensive Super Famicom games, they just don't throw in 2000$ without being sure on what they will buy. I mean, some purchases nowdays must have almost a study behind. You can probably gain a little bit with it but no one is gonna pay a full price for a fake, no one.
 
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this stuff will eventually being figured out, soon or later. We are just delaying the fact, your not hiding it anyway.
Maybe that's true, or maybe the few people who are capable of figuring it out all decide to not speak of it because they don't want to be the person who ruin's the market. Like I said, if someone else figures it out and decides to release that information that's their decision, but it's not going to be me. It's like saying you might as well smash up your car because it's going to eventually end up in a junk yard. Maybe it will get smashed up eventually but I'm going to do what I can to make sure I am not personally the one who causes that.


Last, when money came in out of your pocket, people are generally smart with it. It's the same example for Neo Geo Aes or super expensive Super Famicom games, they just don't throw in 2000$ without being sure on what they will buy. I mean, some purchases nowdays must have almost a study behind. You can probably gain a little bit with it but no one is gonna pay a full price for a fake, no one.
I think you missed the point here. Why do people convert? it's so that they can play an expensive game while spending less money. Why do people buy converted games? for the same reason.

I don't think there is any risk about fakes being sold as real boards, HOWEVER. look at Quiz Gakumon, it was a $40 game, and now it's a $150 game because it can be converted to TMNT2. TMNT2 is still a $600 game but people can sell conversions for $400 because it's still cheaper than the real one and some people don't have the skill to do the conversion themselves. Now you have people who are buying all of the Quiz Gakumons they can find and converting them all so they can make a profit, like a factory. Look on KLOV or eBay you will find people who have sold DOZENS of TMNT2 conversion PCBs for buyers who are too lazy or unskilled enough to do the conversion themselves. Look at eBay and you will find hundreds of converted PCBs being sold out of China.

if this was limited to just a handful of experienced/curious people here on A-P it wouldn't be a problem, but when you have people here on A-P to take this information and then use it to setup conversion "factories" it results in a real problem for the arcade market.
 
this stuff will eventually being figured out, soon or later. We are just delaying the fact, your not hiding it anyway.
Maybe that's true, or maybe the few people who are capable of figuring it out all decide to not speak of it because they don't want to be the person who ruin's the market. Like I said, if someone else figures it out and decides to release that information that's their decision, but it's not going to be me. It's like saying you might as well smash up your car because it's going to eventually end up in a junk yard. Maybe it will get smashed up eventually but I'm going to do what I can to make sure I am not personally the one who causes that.

Last, when money came in out of your pocket, people are generally smart with it. It's the same example for Neo Geo Aes or super expensive Super Famicom games, they just don't throw in 2000$ without being sure on what they will buy. I mean, some purchases nowdays must have almost a study behind. You can probably gain a little bit with it but no one is gonna pay a full price for a fake, no one.
I think you missed the point here. Why do people convert? it's so that they can play an expensive game while spending less money. Why do people buy converted games? for the same reason.
I don't think there is any risk about fakes being sold as real boards, HOWEVER. look at Quiz Gakumon, it was a $40 game, and now it's a $150 game because it can be converted to TMNT2. TMNT2 is still a $600 game but people can sell conversions for $400 because it's still cheaper than the real one and some people don't have the skill to do the conversion themselves. Now you have people who are buying all of the Quiz Gakumons they can find and converting them all so they can make a profit, like a factory. Look on KLOV or eBay you will find people who have sold DOZENS of TMNT2 conversion PCBs for buyers who are too lazy or unskilled enough to do the conversion themselves. Look at eBay and you will find hundreds of converted PCBs being sold out of China.

if this was limited to just a handful of experienced/curious people here on A-P it wouldn't be a problem, but when you have people here on A-P to take this information and then use it to setup conversion "factories" it results in a real problem for the arcade market.
I agree with you, but at the end of the day, that's gatekeeping it. Those conversion factories are doing everything you said, but at the end of the day, that just means more people are able to buy and play the game.

In fact that helps people like me, who:

1. Don't want to do a conversion, so will pay someone for their time/knowledge (I try to buy from creators of the conversions if possible, such as members from here)
2. Don't care about "art work", "originals", "Japanese only versions", "sitting a on shelf to brag". No, I just want to play the game. (excepetions to this are if there are game differences)
3. Hmm, I guess I don't have a 3!

At the end of the day, there is no perfect answer. I'm staring to look at finally getting a MiSTer so I can still play games (the real goal after all) and leave the PCB collecting to collectors. If they start porting more shmups to MiSTer, it''s going to be amazing!
 
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