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Unfortunately Craigslist doesn't seem to be in supply of fighting games-based machines all that much. The cheapest I saw was Tekken Tag Tournament for $649. eBay didn't seem to provide much help either when I searched by location :(

Your idea doesn't sound bad otherwise, though. I'm ok with starting out with something old and then upgrading as I learn more.
Unless you crazy like I was, check other states and see if you can chain multiple cabs if you looking for more than one. Two days of no sleep wasn't so bad unless you doing it by yourself, those cabs get heavier the less you sleep.
 
Unfortunately Craigslist doesn't seem to be in supply of fighting games-based machines all that much
You're in PA... next to NY that's probably the best location for sourcing arcades on the East Coast. I see lots of great machines pop up there all the time.

Here's the thing, you can't just look on CL and say "well, nothing there today, I'll check back in a week".

Good deals will be gone within HOURS, not even kidding. if you want a great machine at a great price you need to setup CL email notification and then be willing to call, drive, and pick up the machine that day.

That's the nature of the hobby, a high production machine from the 90s was like 30K units... most were closer to 10K or 15K and "rare" machines only saw a few hundred units made world wide. fast forward 20 years where 75% of those machines have been scrapped so you might have 20 or 40 of a high production machine left in your whole state so the chance of one popping up for sale and at a good price means that it's going to happen infrequently and not last very long before someone else grabs it.

CL Email notifications are your friends.

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On another note Legit "Tekken" cabs are exceedingly rare in the USA. Tekken 1 and Tekken 5 cabs actually saw decent production but all of the other Tekken games were sold mostly as conversion kits. so 99% of the time if you see a "tekken arcade machine" it's really a Killer Instinct or Street Fighter II that someone painted black and throw a Tekken PCB inside.

If you want a legit Tekken cab then check out this thread of mine on KLOV where I have pictures of all the legit Dedicated Tekken/Soul Calibur cabs: http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=336386

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One more thing... you don't technically need to know how to solder, there are people who can do monitor repair if you're willing to remove the monitor board (aka the "chassis") and ship it to them... costs are in the $120-$175 range plus shipping. but knowing how to solder can save you a lot of money as most of the time the same repair done yourself will cost $10-$40 in parts.
 
S246/256 will NEVER work in MAME. The hardware is just too powerful and there are too many secrets locked up in custom chips. forget it and forget Model 2/Model 3/Lindbergh etc etc.
Just buy a S246/256 box and a S246 JAMMA/JVS I/O board. Plug it in and play. It really is that simple.
There are many many games that will never be playable in MAME. If you look at the history, MAME is basically done or dead (depending on your take) and very few improvements are being done nowadays (actually since about 2012). If you want to play 80's/90's games, MAME works ok but you need an i7 6700K to cover everything that does work. For newer stuff forget MAME.
To play MAME in a cab all you need is a JPac, a FAST PC (i7 6700K) with any Geforce video card and either a piece of software called 'Soft15k' so you can use it in an old cab, or a VGA-capable monitor like the Wells D9200 etc.
I did it using my Taito Egret II cab and fitted a Wells D9200. With a JPac it's basically plug and play.
I have a "Build a MAME Cab The Easy Way" tutorial on my site. Read it and you will be MAME'ing in a cab in minutes.
well you just made my day.. I did not know that a D9200 fit on the Egreet II.. I have a 9200 and a 9800 that I have offered for sale twice and had retreated or remove the ad after firing groovymame and looking at how beautiful they look. Those monitors will be my spare if something happens to my Egrets 2.
 
I'm not really looking for Tekken specifically. I just want anything that will help me play System 256 games and MAME with an Arcade feel. I'm a big fan of the Gundam Vs series and also love Soul Calibur.

Yeah, I'm going to have to set up those notifications. As far as driving is concerned, I drive a sedan and 90% of my friends drive sedans or not at all. Usually I have to get my stepdad involved because he has a truck.

I saw a cool Ehrgeiz machine on Ebay for 250 but it's not close to me and delivery fees are insane. A lot of people hated that game but I thought it was charming and I'm also a big FF VII fan.
 
Another possibility is to have a Supergun, a TV with RGB output (but I was told they are not so popular in the states) and an arcade stick.

With this setup you can experiment all you want.. you will be restricted to 15Khz thought (if you opt for a regular TV)
 
I've honestly never soldered a thing in my entire life haha. I don't even have supplies for that.
I would recommend finding a WG trisync CRT then Lear about groovymame and set it up.. For monitor issues maybe following my principal.. I am not an electrician and with CRT issues post for a service on Craigslist.. A full recap is $100 in my local area and I pay it without hesitation.. If you like candy cab then move on and get one.. Research which one you like. People like the New Net City but I do not like that style cab so fine one that you like.. If candy is not your thing then a fighter Wood cab with a jpac does the trick and will cost you less than $500 for a ok looking one. I have say this on the past and I will say it again.. If I can do it all over again I would just grab two 19" computer CRT from Craigslist and an old computer, a cheap game pad and call it a day.. Will save you a lot of money.. Once you get into this arcade hobby thing money will be flaying out of your pockets.
 
The really nice thing about a Tekken 5 like this...
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It comes with a CRT monitor called the Sanwa PFX, my pal Roger (300wins) calls this one of the greatest CRTs ever made!
 
Shipping usually costs between $400 and $600 depending on the distance and depending on how badly you want the machine can be totally worth it or not worth it at all.

Literally half of my arcade machines have been shipped, for the rest I either got a friend with a truck or rented a U-HAUL.

When you're buying a machine you need to consider if it is a "dedicated" cabinet or not. A "dedicated" cabinet means that the game was shipped originally in that cabinet from the manufacturer. if it's not a dedicated cabinet then it's either a generic cabinet (originally sold as an empty cabinet that a game could be installed into) or a "conversion cabinet" which was a dedicated cabinet for a different game that was converted.

Think of it like buying a classic car. an "all original" corvette is going to be worth a lot more money than a home-built chassis with a corvette motor, which is worth more than a chevy cavalier that someone installed a corvette motor into.

when you see a "tekken" or a "Ehrgeiz" machine you need to figure out what the original cab is.. if it's a dedicated cabinet and in good shape then it's probably worth $600-$1200 depending on the game and the condition... but if it's a conversion cab or a generic cab then it's really just like buying a collection of parts... you have to consider the value of the cabinet alone, usually $100-$400 depending on the style of cabinet (candy cabs notwithstanding), quality of the monitor and overall condition, as well as the value of the game PCB alone when determining the real value...

IMO a conversion cab is worth LESS than the sum of it's parts because you're essentially buying a bundle of parts and bundles or lots should be sold at a lower price than all the parts individually.

however when buying a dedicated cab it's usually worth MORE than the sum of it's parts because you're buying a truly complete unit and it will save you time from hunting down individual parts to make it complete.

I'm assuming this was the $650 Tekken you saw: https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/for/5664228313.html



That's a Dynamo cabinet, it's a generic cabinet made by the Dynamo company. It's a 25" model which is good and looks really clean which is also good and looks to have a good monitor as well. even still I'd value that cabinet around $250 maybe $300 if I saw it in person and it was flawless.

The game board is Tekken Tag which is worth about $100-$120. So really that cab should be priced around $300-$400.

The reason it's still for sale is because it's overpriced. if he re-listed it for $450 and was willing to be talked down $100 it'd be gone by the end of the week.

This Ehrgeiz machine on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/EHRGEIZ-GOD...735892?hash=item51e8011494:g:L38AAOSwGtNXiYEK


That's a Konami 4-player cab (not sure what game a number of games used that cab design) that's been converted to Ehrgeiz. I'd say that's a fair price given the value of the cab and the value of the game PCB but 100% not worth shipping.
 
That's a Konami 4-player cab (not sure what game a number of games used that cab design) that's been converted to Ehrgeiz. I'd say that's a fair price given the value of the cab and the value of the game PCB but 100% not worth shipping.
I'd be willing to bet that's the converted remains of a TMNT, only because it was far more popular/common than any (Cow Boys, TMNT In Time, Simpsons, Sunset, Bucky) of the others.
Def not a X-men, the body style had already been changed for the 4-player version.

I don't think that beast would fit into my tiny game room, the CP would need to come off before I could even get it past the door jam.
 
I'm not really looking for Tekken specifically. I just want anything that will help me play System 256 games and MAME with an Arcade feel. I'm a big fan of the Gundam Vs series and also love Soul Calibur.
so, first off, your name's wrong (shouldn't it be GatoGP02A?)
Second, I can help you with your Gundam vs. fix pretty well on the 256- I dropped you a PM this morning.
I've got both spare 256's and can probably cut you a deal on a setup with the PCB, all the games, and an I/O board solution depending if you're using it in a Cab or jus with a controller connected to a monitor.
Gundam vs. is the reason I also got interested in System 246/256.

I can't help much for your MAME interests, sorry!
 
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I'm not really looking for Tekken specifically. I just want anything that will help me play System 256 games and MAME with an Arcade feel. I'm a big fan of the Gundam Vs series and also love Soul Calibur.
so, first off, your name's wrong (shouldn't it be GatoGP02A?)Second, I can help you with your Gundam vs. fix pretty well on the 256- I dropped you a PM this morning.
I've got both spare 256's and can probably cut you a deal on a setup with the PCB, all the games, and an I/O board solution depending if you're using it in a Cab or jus with a controller connected to a monitor.
Gundam vs. is the reason I also got interested in System 246/256.

I can't help much for your name interests, sorry!
It's nice to see a fellow Gundam fan in here. I used Char in the name because he is my favorite character while the GP02A is my favorite MS. I combined my two favorites into one.

Regarding your deal, I'll have to think about it. I wasn't planning on buying everything I needed *right away* anyway but it's under consideration.

I could probably live without a cabinet for now but I do want the whole experience at some point.
 
No pressure- I'm just getting rid of my spares at this point.
As far as cabinets go, and what you're looking at, I agree highly with others previously- definitely grab a trisync capable cabinet (or one with 31k only if you don't have a need to do old JAMMA boards). If it's already wired with JVS, this would also make your life a lot easier, as Naomi, 2X6, and newer are pretty much all JVS based (single USB cable for IO boards), and you can use Invizm's great JVS-PAC to interface JVS to a MAME PC.

dealing with JAMMA and 15k is a bit messy.

If you're going down the cab route, grabbing a good 31k-capable cabinet is probably your best first step- getting MAME setup isn't particularly hard, and sega and namco pcb's for the gundam games aren't exactly rare :)
 
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No pressure- I'm just getting rid of my spares at this point.
As far as cabinets go, and what you're looking at, I agree highly with others previously- definitely grab a trisync capable cabinet (or one with 31k only if you don't have a need to do old JAMMA boards). If it's already wired with JVS, this would also make your life a lot easier, as Naomi, 2X6, and newer are pretty much all JVS based (single USB cable for IO boards), and you can use Invizm's great JVS-PAC to interface JVS to a MAME PC.

dealing with JAMMA and 15k is a bit messy.

If you're going down the cab route, grabbing a good 31k-capable cabinet is probably your best first step- getting MAME setup isn't particularly hard, and sega and namco pcb's for the gundam games aren't exactly rare :)
I'm ok with avoiding JAMMA entirely if it means that I can run System 256 and MAME. Speaking of NAOMI, I was kinda interested in that too since I love Federation vs Zeon but I don't wanna jump all over the place with my interests yet haha. How would I look for a trisync capable and JVS-specific cabinet? What do I look for?
 
You'll still want a Tri-sync CRT JVS based cab, or a scaler board with a LCD JVS based cab.
Now more than ever I'd say you want either a New Net City (tri-sync CRT JVS), or a Vewlix (LCD with scaler JVS).

New Net advantage; The monitor will look awesome without having to fake things like scanlines, tri-sync displays a wider range of classic (320x240@15khz ~ 640x480@31khz) resolutions, it's cheaper.
Vewlix advantage; zero CRT maintenance EVER (this is actually a huge deal IMO), a higher/better for emulation (640x480@60hz ~ 1366x768@60hz) resolution screen, light/thin easier to move around a small apartment or condo.
 
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You'll still want a Tri-sync CRT JVS based cab, or a scaler board with a LCD JVS based cab.
Now more than ever I'd say you want either a New Net City (tri-sync CRT JVS), or a Vewlix (LCD with scaler JVS).

New Net advantage; The monitor will look awesome without having to fake things like scanlines, tri-sync displays a wider range of classic (320x240@15khz ~ 640x480@31khz) resolutions, it's cheaper.
Vewlix advantage; zero CRT maintenance EVER (this is actually a huge deal IMO), a higher/better for emulation (640x480@60hz ~ 1366x768@60hz) resolution screen, light/thin easier to move around a small apartment or condo.
Aren't these machines generally over 1200 each at the least?
 
Aren't these machines generally over 1200 each at the least?
If 1,200$ seems like allot of money for a video game hobby, you might want to rethink getting into this whole thing. ;)

I've got single game boards worth over 400$, and my collection is considered modest.
 
Aren't these machines generally over 1200 each at the least?
If 1,200$ seems like allot of money for a video game hobby, you might want to rethink getting into this whole thing. ;)
I've got single game boards worth over 400$, and my collection is considered modest.
I understand. I'm just trying to figure this out. Appreciate your honesty. Part of me wishes I could just drop 1500 on a completed effort but I don't have all that. I might have to get what I need in pieces then.
 
well, JAMMA cabs can play anything you listed, just with caveats at times.
almost all normal JVS games can be run on JAMMA cabinets via JAMMA-JVS IO boards if they support 15k output-everything you listed does, but it adds unnecessary complexity to the setup if your main focus in JVS and PC games.
FYI, FvZ and FvZ DX for naomi are also one player per cabinet like the games on 246/256, but they support at maximum two networked players total, as compared to the 4 on the newer games. Also, the original game (not DX) is available on Naomi cartridge, usually for quite cheap- 20-30$ so you wouldn't have to invest in a DIMM or GD-ROM drive.

there's a lot of JVS cabinets on the market, but we live on the wrong coast for this hobby, so we get the "scraps"...
ANY cabinet can be converted to JVS, but you'll probably be happier getting a system preconfigured. I've made a list of cabinets you'r likely to find on the East coast that might fit your needs:

Sega:
Naomi Universal (31k only)
Net City (Trisync)
New Net City (Trisync)
Blast City (Trisync)
(I don't necessarily recommend this cab, but it is convertible with a Sega cable and IO board kit to Trisync JVS)

Namco:
Cyberlead II (Trisync)
(A really wierd looking cabinet, with a lot of wierd parts, and a lot of plastic)

There are PLENTY of other suitable cabinets, but you're looking at far more "enthusiast" cabinets (Egret, etc.) or ones that are higher priced, and likely to need importing unless you have amazing luck (Sega Lindbergh Universal, Taito Vewlix series)

One remaining option if you like the prefer of the Vewlix and more modern cabinets, and are up for a project to save some cash, is to go with a Kraylix (or similar) kit machine, and wire it for JVS out of the box.

Because making a system "JVS Compatible" requires very few "arcade specific" parts outside of the buttons, joysticks, and JVS IO board, wiring a DIY cabinet for JVS from the get-go would be quite simple.
 
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