Anyone own a SuperGun?

[Captain Wrong]

After a long dark tea time of the soul, I think I've decided collecting boards is where I'm headed. Not that I don't still like console stuff, I'm just getting an itch for the real deal and since I'm in an apartement, I don't have room for a big cabinet. So I'm thinking a supergun might be the soultion.

Anyone here using one? I know I've seen 2 (MAS systems and GW Trading) but I really can't tell what the difference is between them. Also, I imagine I'll be interested in mostly Jamma boards (fighters and shmups), but is there a way to use older boards with one of these units?

Basically, I'm looking for information on how one of these (or any other) guns is working out for someone who is actually using it.

[buttasuperb]

people over at neo-geo.com could probably help you out. i think achika has one as well.

[Arcade Antics]

but is there a way to use older boards with one of these units?

I don't own one of these units, but I would imagine you could play older boards through them the same way you could through a JAMMA cabinet setup. That is, by simply creating a JAMMA-____ (fill in the blank with whatever board series you have) converter and then hooking that into the supergun. Wish I could be of more help, superstonic might be able to throw in his .02 as well, he's remarkably talented when it comes to this type of stuff.

[Tetsu]

Older boards than JAMMA would require some custom work on each one: not terribly elaborate but there is a possibility of frying your board if not careful. Furthermore, you'd need a power supply to provide those exotic voltages older games use, such as 9v, 3v, 7v and the ever popular -5v.

[Captain Wrong]

I'm bringing this topic back up becuase I'm looking at a board I REALLY want and the temptation is too great.

Anyone build a 'gun? I've seen some instructions and all that, but I'm trying to figure out if I'm up to it. I can solder and I'm ok with minor electronics. If someone had like a "heathkit" version, I think I could do that.

Good places to get one? I know there's MAS (who I've seen mixed reviews about) and GW Trading, but I'm wondering if there's anyone else.

I read your pages Adrienne and that 'gun you have looks cool, but I can't find anymore info on it anywhere.

Thanks.

[bargora]

Wish I could help you out, but I don't know any more about it than what's on the sites already mentioned. But I am curious--what is this board you're lusting after?

[Goblin]

Anyone build a 'gun?

I haven't since I own a cabinet, but if/when my monitor goes I will. Construction should be fairly straight forward and power supplies and a JAMMA harness' are easily obtained through ebay. The hardest part is the video conversion: Going from RGB to NTSC. Boards to do this conversion run around $100 or you can do it your self. National Semiconductor has an IC which does most of the conversion. You need to weigh your time versus cost. The GW Trading units are sharp aesthetically and for $300 are probably not a bad deal.

[Captain Wrong]

But I am curious--what is this board you're lusting after?

Armored Police Batrider.

I love Raizing/8ing (tied with Cave in my book) and MAME just isn't cutting it.

[Achika]

Yeah, I've had several people ask me about it,and despite all my emailing and searching for the guy's site, it's gone, just gone. And I haven't found anyone that sells that brand. I'll second neo-geo.com forum's as a source of info for the superguns. They are the crowd that helped me in the right direction with them.

Well, if you've read my page about the Supergun, then I'm sure you've seen how I felt about MAS & GW. The difference is between mine and their's right now is that it's made out of metal and not partical board & other cabinet building supplies like MAS & GW.

I know you can get the older boards to work on superguns, it seems when I was looking for mine I ran across a few sites. Didn't book mark them, but I'll look into it more.

[bargora]

Right-O. I wish that one had come out for a console...

You are going HARD CORE.

[Arrrhalomynn]

I have one that comes from England. It has a scart-output, so it's useless for an american (unless you can find a convertor).
It's pretty cool stuff, although I haven't played it much recently. I'm building my own controller for it and had to trash the controller that came with it for that.
I have 2 games for it now. Street Fighter 2' and Soul Edge. Soul Edge is great. Unfortunately I don't have soul blade for the psx to compare it to, but I prefer soul edge over soul calibur.

Here's a link to a site that explains how to build one yourself:
http://www.chads.arcade.btinternet.co.uk/Supergun/supergunIndex.htm
It doesn't seem too hard, but I still rather get one build for me. It's more expensive, but at least you can be sure it's working.

[Mr-Monday]

Here's a link to a shop near London that sells them:-

http://www.ravengames.co.uk/super.htm

[Arrrhalomynn]

That's the one I have.
I got it of ebay though, so I didn't pay that much.
It works great, but the controller is horrible.

[maxlords]

FYI Cap'n, I had a MAS systems Supergun for a while...absolutely HATED it! Shoddy construction, no ventilation, so it overheated and burned out the power supply inside. Pissed me off. They're REALLY solid, but badly designed, and I feel that the controllers are far too bulky unless you have a convenient-level table to set them on. I really didn't like it at all. Ended up selling it for $200 to someone. Their customer service is shit too. Since I bought it used, then had problems, I called them, and they basically said "screw you, you didn't buy it new from us so we won't help you." In fact, they didn't even understand that I bought it used. They couldn't fathom that someone would buy a used supergun apparently. Anyway, I don't recommend that model at all, if for none other reason that the ventilation and heat exhange systems are non-existent.

Oh..and you know how their site says it has S-Video? Well..it doesn't. No S-Video out on the unit at all. It has some funky port that MIGHT work with S-Video if you had an adaptor from Botswanaland or something. Grrrrrrrr.

And yeah, it's really cool to have a Supergun.....IF you can work on the boards. PCBs tend to randomly take a header, and it takes a bit of knowhow to fix them....the other reason I decided not to pursue it, much as I love all the unbelievably cool arcade-only shmups. Drove me nuts when PCBs went bad....

Hope that helps man!

[AB Positive]

I'd love to help, but mine is for MVS use only, and it's basic JAMMa anyway...

-AG

[Captain Wrong]

Wow, who dug this topic up?

Heh, I built a 'gun about a month after this post. :D

[Keir]

The hardest part is the video conversion: Going from RGB to NTSC. Boards to do this conversion run around $100 or you can do it your self. National Semiconductor has an IC which does most of the conversion. You need to weigh your time versus cost. The GW Trading units are sharp aesthetically and for $300 are probably not a bad deal.
Is it possible to mod an Amiga 520 unit to do this? It's basically an RGB-to-NTSC converter for an Amiga computer.

[digitalpress]

Good old threads never die!

Here's the good Captain's journal, in case you have not seen this before.

http://www.digitpress.com/archives/arc00093.htm