What's the deal with PCB collecting?

[ianoid]

Any of you guys into PCB? Is it basically JAMA or bust? I don't know much about this aspect of game collecting.

Anyone have any suggestions of some good vendors or places people hang out?

ian

[Raccoon Lad]

You could always try KLOV.Com's message boards.

[y-bot]

Hi Ian, you in Seattle now? If you ever come down to Portland let me know. I don't collect PCBs but I used to read a few arcade message boards when I was pretending I was going to fix a Space Invaders Deluxe & cocktail Pong-clone a couple of years ago ( I still have a Tron upright but I sold the other two). I think I used to read three of them rec.games.arcade.collecting (and .marketpace and another) or something like that. They were really good about answering questions. There are people who make adapters to make most PCBs JAMMA compatible.

Y-bot

[ianoid]

Nice advice. I posted there. Anyone else in touch with the PCB scene? I don't really get it.

[Achika]

I don't have room for the uprights, but I use a supergun w/about 4 different JAMMA motherboards. Post your questions & I can try to answer them.

(most popular PCBs are JAMMA compatible)

[ianoid]

First off, any good sources for them?

Second, what years does the JAMA standard encompass? Third, fourth, fifth, sixth, etc. Does it include modern games as well? Are controllers a completely different store, given the special controllers of several games? Are power supplies standard?

Thanks, ian

[Sega Hitman]

Power supplies are standard as far as I know. The Jamma years are pretty much everything between 1987 to 1995 or so. I'm not sure what you meant by the controls question. Some games will use different joysticks (Arch Rivals for example uses a 49-way stick), while most games will use an 8-way. If you have a 6-button cabinet, you'll pretty much be set. If you put Street Fighter 2 for example, into a 2-button cabinet, you'd end up only being able to do 2 different punches. If you put TMNT for example, into a 6-button cabinet, you'd either get 4 buttons that did nothing, or 4 buttons that did the same thing as the original 2 that you need.

Monitors can be a whole other issue. Some games require it to be horizontal, while other games, like 1942 for example, would need a Vertical monitor. Go stare at games on klov.com and you'll be able to figure out what you're looking for.

-Hitman-

[Achika]

Games like house of the dead would require a special controller, though I'm not sure how these are wired.

Most other games play standard with the 4 button wired JAMMA harness. Neo Geo games, STV, Hyper Neo, etc.

Games that were built for the Capcom CPS 2 required buttons 4-6 (4 NOT running of the JAMMA). So an auxiliary harness was made to wire button 4-6 & an extra sound (?) wire to the appropriate spots. Unfortunately, if you don't play with your CPS 2 boards every 2 years, they commit 'suicide' :cry: