Blame the US government in the 90's, deciding that measuring based on CRT dimensions was "misleading" to consumers, and forcing manufacturers to make the most visable number be "viewable size" on their marketing materials.
Normally I'd agree with you, I think the USA would be much better off if we started using the Metric system because imperial units are dumb and antiquated..
however, in this instance listing screen size by the viewable area makes the most sense to me, because as Jassin said:
I think the only reason they get away with this outside of the USA is because outside of the USA no one knows what the F an inch is so there was never any significant public complaints about CRTs being advertised as being larger than they actually are.Jassin000 said:
This is mostly a non-issue these days since everyone seems to measure by the viewable area on LCDs... but when you're dealing with old CRT arcade machines that were imported from another country that does things differently... well then you have confusion.
A friend who loves tinkering with arcade machines locally got me in touch with a guy who sells machines. He said he would look into getting me a fighting game cab. He said that he might have some dead ones for sale for 100 each or some better ones for more. He'll let me know in a week or two.
sounds like a solid lead.
I'd say the most important thing to look for is the condition of the cabinet. the severity of any problems all depends on how much work you're willing to put into fixing it yourself/how good are you with wood work. In general water damage or "swelling" (most common around the base and the top panel) or major cracks along the side/significant chunks missing should be avoided at all costs. minor chipping alone the edges is pretty typical and usually be fixed by bondo, this will however ruin any of the cabinet art that's on there though.
Next most important is the condition of the monitor, Really, this is what you're playing for. Anything wrong with the tube itself can't really be fixed (like burn-in, or cracks), and a lot of times a monitor tube alone can be as difficult if not more difficult to find than a whole cabinet (I know many people who have bought whole cabinets just for the monitor).
Monitor board (aka the monitor "chassis") can be fixed but could cost as much as $150 for you to send it somewhere.
Everything else is a very VERY distant 3rd in terms of importance... power supply, wiring, even the game PCB are almost inconsequential unless they happen to be a specific something that's rare.
Take lots of pictures of the whole cab and pictures of the monitor running as well as pictures of the monitor board and we'll be able to give you some advice as to what's worth getting and what's not.
Alright, will do. Since I'm trying to accomplish MAME and System 256 + potentially NAOMI and/or System 357, should I go for something with a JAMMA in it or does that not really matter?
J
jassin000
If you get a older woody/project cab you'll likely only see JAMMA as an option.
SNK-NEO-GEO
Enlightened
tell that friend to set you up with some arcade systems and PCBs and forget about MAME.. I mean if you have a source that can get you the real deal for cheap take advantage and grab what you can
JAMMA is a standard, not a thing. Just like you can't buy a PC with "A VGA" but you can buy a PC with "A VGA Port". You can't buy an arcade machine with "A JAMMA" but you can buy an arcade machine with "A JAMMA connector".
99% of American cabs made after the mid 80s are wired for JAMMA. Even Japanese games made to the JVS standard instead of the JAMMA standard would typically ship to he USA with JVS to JAMMA adapters. The only exception would probably be something like the Virtua Fighter cabs which have their own weird wiring, or other odd-ball games that don't use buttons and sticks.
I really don't have an interest in buying PCB's unless it's for a small set of games. I'd rather have emulation for as many games as I can get.tell that friend to set you up with some arcade systems and PCBs and forget about MAME.. I mean if you have a source that can get you the real deal for cheap take advantage and grab what you can
Ok so as long as I can find a JVS to JAMMA adapter, getting either JVS or JAMMA isn't something I should really sweat?
ask if they have a capcom(dynamo) big blue cab. Need one more to have a set ( the 2 coin slot version). Need to find that unicorn so I can stop searching CL everyday.
Don't help him. He will then have completed the Seventh Seal and human existence as we know it will be over.
For now, if I can get a cab off that guy in a few weeks, I might just take my modded Nintendo Wii and hook it up to that and play MAME until I save more money for better solutions. It would be a decent stop-gap, I think.
Iif you find a JVS ready cab for under $200 it's a steal and you should probably buy it since the JVS I/O boards alone usually cost upward of $100... with that said I'd put odds of you finding a JVS ready cab at nearly non-existent...
They were common in Japan, but in the US pretty much everything was wired for JAMMA with adapters for JVS games that were JVS only, there are a few rare exceptions (like "dedicated" Virtua Tennis cabs).
Keep in mind. you wont be able to just plug in your Wii. Assuming you get a cab wired for JAMMA you'd need AV and Control adapters: https://www.ultimarc.com/wii.html
Then that would need to feed into a J-PAC (another $80). so you're looking at $150-$200 after shipping to hook a Wii up to an arcade cabinet.
Dreamcast, Xbox, Xbox 360, or PS3 adapters you could probably re-sell and make some of your money back because there are a lot of arcade style games on those consoles that people would want to play in an arcade machine... the Wii... not so much.
Last edited:
That's very valuable information indeed. Much appreciated. I'll keep you guys updated as I get closer to trying to get one.
J
jassin000
This!
To hook up a Wii to a JAMMA arcade cab isn't easy.
First problem is the video, JAMMA wants R/G/B/C-Sync/Vid Ground all at 15khz. A USA Wii only outputs composite/s-video/component.
So mission #1 will be video conversion.
My following recommendations are all about getting the highest quality possible, and that's a pretty involved/expensive setup.
Get a Wii Component cable, set the system to 480p (20~40$ for a good one)
Get a component to VGA adapter box to convert into VGA 640x480@31khz (60~100$ for a good one)
Get a UVC adapter to convert VGA 640x480@31khz into R/G/B/C-sync/Vid Ground 320x240@15khz. (200$+ at the time of writing this).
Yup, bout 350!
This only covers video, if you also want controls (you do) get ready to pad hack a Wii VC pad/or Gamecube controller depending.
I don't know anyone currently selling padhacks (maybe Lemonyvengence) so if you can't solder your own (and you said you didn't solder) its not happing.
BTW I can already hear people crying... "but J if he gets a Euro Wii and a SCART cable he could bypass all the conversion, amp it up and directly connect"
Remember I said high quality!
Wii will output Wii Games in 480i over a SCART cable, interlaced video is trash!
By keeping it progressive 640x480, and decimating every other line you'll get a clean (320x240 50%) reduction thats still progressive.
Still seem like a good idea to play Wii in a 15khz JAMMA cab?
Last edited by a moderator:
J
jassin000
A PC would actually be easier to connect to a JAMMA cab then a Wii.
Less expensive too, just get a AIT card and GroovyMAME it up with the hacked EmuCRT driver.
Less expensive too, just get a AIT card and GroovyMAME it up with the hacked EmuCRT driver.
Like the RPi3 idea, dump the Wii to Jamma notion as well. Too hard to connect an arcade machine. See if you have a friend of a friend of a friend that has at least a Core 2 Duo based PC w/4gigs of RAM and about a 200gig HDD that they would be willing to donate. Then pick up a Radeon HD4350 card which you will need to connect to your arcade cabinet. If you are lucky, the PC will be free. If not, it isn't too much of an expense off eBay either.
With this, you will be following this process to connect to an arcade monitor. It is far and away the best possible route to get MAME going on an arcade machine. Anything else really is just a novelty.
With this, you will be following this process to connect to an arcade monitor. It is far and away the best possible route to get MAME going on an arcade machine. Anything else really is just a novelty.
This information is awesome and totally doable. With MAME compatibility and a PC of that standard, how new of a game ROM can I run on there? Would 3D-ish games like Virtua Fighter or Soulcalbur work or is it primarily with 2D games?
3D games are far off in MAME in general, no matter what PC's you have. But as you setup your emulation box, you'll be using a Front End to manage the emulators your games will be playing on. You aren't pigeon-holed to using just MAME as your emulator. Other emulators use hacks and can run 3D games just fine. MAME is all about emulating the machine code of the chips accurately. Other emulators aim just for playability.
For instance, Naomi games don't run in MAME. But there are several Naomi emulators that work just fine on a setup based around a Core 2 Duo CPU. Remember when I said that your biggest hurdle would be your MAME/emulation setup, I wasn't kidding.
For instance, Naomi games don't run in MAME. But there are several Naomi emulators that work just fine on a setup based around a Core 2 Duo CPU. Remember when I said that your biggest hurdle would be your MAME/emulation setup, I wasn't kidding.
