Good jamma boards

[chadtower]

What are some good, inexpensive jamma boards? I'm looking to grab a couple to play around with in my jamma cab. I'm thinking top price of around $25...

EDIT: I just found this one... what is that?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3250648213&category=13718

[Raccoon Lad]

Neo-Geo board, lets you play Neo-geo arcade carts.

[chadtower]

Neo-Geo board, lets you play Neo-geo arcade carts.

Suhweet, I didn't know those were jamma. What are the differences between that and the snk pcbs, then? Just easier to switch in and out? How much should a board like that go for? The carts? I'm new to a lot of this arcade stuff.

[Captain Wrong]

Suhweet, I didn't know those were jamma. What are the differences between that and the snk pcbs, then?

SNK PCBs aren't Neo Geo. Neo Geo is the cart based stuff. There are several cart based arcade systems (Neo, CPSII, ST-V) where the actual unit you plug the carts in is JAMMA.

As to your first question though, patrol the auctions, find a game you like, and, if it's JAMMA, go for it.

[chadtower]

SNK PCBs aren't Neo Geo. Neo Geo is the cart based stuff. There are several cart based arcade systems (Neo, CPSII, ST-V) where the actual unit you plug the carts in is JAMMA.


Yep, knew this. What I was wondering, though, is that since SNK produced both, why are some cart and some pcb? Or is it just a timeline thing where at some point they began producing carts instead of pcbs?



As to your first question though, patrol the auctions, find a game you like, and, if it's JAMMA, go for it.

That was the point of my original question. I'm not that familiar with arcade games so I was asking for suggestions as to what some of the better inexpensive jamma boards would be... I just poked around ebay and didn't even see all that many jamma boards up there.

[video_game_addict]

Yeah I think some of it is a timeline thing. Before Jamma PCBs were often made to different specs and setups, even from the same manufacturer! So it was not always easy to convert cabs, Jamma made it a standard. Then dedicated motherboards came about, where there was a basic cpu, and then many games could be released on cartridge format, easy to swap, and in SNKs case, Multi slots were released so more than one game can be played from the same cab. There are several that have come out since where there's a motherboard cpu, that accepts carts.

One thing to consider, I know you have a POW, you probably only have 2 or 3 buttons in it right now if it's original. For alot of Neo games you will need 4! Fighters basically, most of the puzzles & shooters you will be fine with your current setup. But that's something to think about if you start into other things. You may have room to add another button or two, maybe not I don't know.

Also just something to make sure of before you bid on something you can not use, is the monitor orientation! Some games are horizontal and some are vertical. So if you pick up a jamma that is not orientated they way your cab is set up, you're not gonna be able to play. Well unless you can lay the cab on it's side. :P

You should probably bookmark KLOV (http://www.klov.com) if you haven't already so you can check out any prospective boards you run across on the bay.

[chadtower]

Thanks for the info... I'm beginning to understand now. The POW does have the original control config and everything so you're right, three buttons. I'm not that much into fighters so not having them isn't that big a deal. I'm not going to do anything that alters the POW cab itself from its original state, so any game that can't be played with 8 way stick and three buttons won't be going in there. I'm not going to go nuts with that one, anyway, since sometime next year I'm going to track down an empty 25" cab with monitor and mame that sucker, as well as sticking a lot of console emulators in there.

I've been trying to get to mame.dk to get the roms to some of the pcbs I keep seeing on ebay, but mame.dk seems to be gone... is it just down or gone completely?

[video_game_addict]

Yes I heard Mame.dk was gone. :( There are still the newsgroups and IRC as well as http://www.usburners.com/ if you are lazy like me. ;)

[Ed Oscuro]

SNK PCBs aren't Neo Geo. Neo Geo is the cart based stuff. There are several cart based arcade systems (Neo, CPSII, ST-V) where the actual unit you plug the carts in is JAMMA.


Yep, knew this. What I was wondering, though, is that since SNK produced both, why are some cart and some pcb? Or is it just a timeline thing where at some point they began producing carts instead of pcbs?

There was just a run of SNK vs Capcom Chaos PCBs...apparently the games are still made in PCB format as an easily installed alternative to using a proper Neo Geo MVS cabinet.

[video_game_addict]

There was just a run of SNK vs Capcom Chaos PCBs...apparently the games are still made in PCB format as an easily installed alternative to using a proper Neo Geo MVS cabinet.

This was more of an issue to deter bootleging, and originally it was thought an actual MVS cart would not see the light of day. Isn't this the First MVS game to be released as a jamma PCB rather than a MVS cart? It is kind of an dated platform thou, so I'm just happy to see any Neo Geo games are still coming out! :)

[Ed Oscuro]

I can't tell you the answer, but I'm pretty sure it's a Yes. If not that, pretty close. I wonder if Samurai Shodown 5 is out on PCB?

Folks here have said the PCB run was a bit limited so those PCBs should become collectable quickly.

[maxlords]

Hmmmmm...I picked up a Ninja Gaiden JAMMA PCB for $25 shipped a few months ago. Just gotta wait for the deals :)

[Ed Oscuro]

Lemme guess...best beat-em-up ever ;)

[Tom61]

Don't expect that NEo-Geo to go for much less than $100. (probably more, but I haven't been keeping up with prices on Ebay) Most of the time the bidding is done in the last few minutes of the auction on ebay.

What kind of games are you into? Punch and hit your way through bad guys games are usually less than $25 for older ones, whereas vertical shooters typically only rarely dip that low.

As far as modifying your POW, if it's an orginal dedicated, it's a Dynamo cab. You can change control panels by unlatching a couple of latches and removing 4 bolts. Also, the monitor is rotatable. Pretty cool if you like vertical shooters.

http://tom61.arcadecontrols.com/collect_pics/Feb18%2305.jpg