Best newer cartridge cabs?

Paul Olson

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I recently added a Neo Geo MVS cab to the garage, and I am really enjoying it. I think it will be fun for guests as well. My older games tend to be a little too hard for most of my friends.

Are there any other newer systems that have a lot of fun games? I am starting to investigate Atomiswave, but it looks like that system might be a little pricey. Any suggestions?
 
I would think any setups newer than Neo Geo MVS, CPS1 and CPS2 would be pretty pricey. I think having your Neo Geo with a 150-1 gives a great selection of games for friends to play already. Other than that, I can't think of anything that would be affordable.

I do eventually want to get a Blue Elf 2 or something similar to put in my SFII:WW cab (CPS-1). 300-1 isn't bad at all (although some games lag or don't run very well) and you would get many of the MVS games in there as well if more than one person wants to play Neo Geo games at a time. But that's talking multigame carts/boards that you probably already know about.
 
Having just purchased a Nintendo Playchoice 10, I'd say this would be perfect for your requirements. It's similar to the Neo cab but holds up to 10 Nintendo games. The games are generally easier to play than the coin gobbling arcade games of the early 80's.
 
My 150 in 1 should be here soon. I like that it uses the actual hardware. I am not too interested in the other multi boards that are emulated. I already have a MAME cab for that. I think I will probably start looking for a vertical 25" cab. I like the vertical shmups, and they just aren't big enough on the horizontal monitor in the MAME cab.

Are there any other multi boards or carts that use the actual hardware?
 
Having just purchased a Nintendo Playchoice 10, I'd say this would be perfect for your requirements. It's similar to the Neo cab but holds up to 10 Nintendo games. The games are generally easier to play than the coin gobbling arcade games of the early 80's.

Yeah, the PC-10 is cool. But technically, it gobbled quarters too since it was basically an NES on a timer. I can't imagine how much someone might have paid BITD to beat Metroid (without a code), SMB 1/2/3, Rygar, etc. Luckily, PC-10 owners can just set it to freeplay. But again, unless you have all the space in the world, it's not practical to have an NES in an arcade cab that can only play 10 games at a time with a limited game library. Also, Paul probably has NES games on his MAME cab which is technically an unlimited Playchoice.

My 150 in 1 should be here soon. I like that it uses the actual hardware. I am not too interested in the other multi boards that are emulated. I already have a MAME cab for that. I think I will probably start looking for a vertical 25" cab. I like the vertical shmups, and they just aren't big enough on the horizontal monitor in the MAME cab.

Are there any other multi boards or carts that use the actual hardware?

Good point. Having it run off actual hardware is a plus. I can't think of anything else that does. I'm not as familiar with newer cart systems that aren't ridiculous in price as you mentioned.
 
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My 150 in 1 should be here soon. I like that it uses the actual hardware. I am not too interested in the other multi boards that are emulated. I already have a MAME cab for that. I think I will probably start looking for a vertical 25" cab. I like the vertical shmups, and they just aren't big enough on the horizontal monitor in the MAME cab.

Are there any other multi boards or carts that use the actual hardware?

There's an 18-1 or 19-1 CPS1 board that uses the actual hardware, there *may* be a cps2 multi that uses the hardware as well, but it's late and my brain is fried. Nixs and armi0024 in the for sale forums have the cps1 boards, might have the cps2 if it exists and i'm not just imagining things. Other than that, none that I can think of that are using actual hardware other than like Naomi systems (I think you just need to change the gd-rom and the security cart to switch games) and whatever the latest Guilty Gear games are on, if that's not the Atomiswave you were talking about. The GG system doesn't have a hell of a lot of titles available for it as I recall and the price makes even the multiboards look cheap. Naomi is still spendy, but moderately less so.

*e* Too many bloody maybes, I'm going to stop posting when I'm this tired, night all.
 
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I hated that timer on the playchoice cabs. Now a lot of games are time limited, but I grew up with games that rewarded you with longer playing time for improving.

The only Nintendo game that I regularly play other than DK is Excite Bike. SMB, and a lot of others, were console games to me, so they feel weird in a cab.

I am glad I bought the MVS though. A lot of decent games on there. The sound is great, which is what the old games really lack. I was hoping that the newer ones would be good, but after looking around a bit, I think I will wait for the prices to drop...a lot.
 
if it's a dedicated MVS then it's a win. I thought it was just a standard thing to own till I got a ded 4 slot. Then it became like one of my favorites.

A Sega ST-V may fit the bill also. Imagine a Sega Saturn as a cartridge system. There are only like 8 good games but one of them is one of the very best. Radiant Silvergun is a top tier vert shooter with 3D graphics and genre changing gameplay.

I also like Die Hard Arcade, Baku Baku, and VF Remix. STV stuff is reasonably priced also. (accept for RS)

There's also a Mega Tech by sega but it's really rare.
http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=706

Any thing after MVS is really just Naomi... pricey stuff but lots of good fighters.
 
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What about the Taito F3 system it was cart based. Not many games but it had some remakes of good taito franchises Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble, Puzzle Bobble, Elevator Action
 
The IGS Poly Game Master, or PGM, is also a really nice cartridge based system. It doesn't have the biggest library out there, but there are some very fun fighters, beat 'em ups, run n' gun, and shooters on the platform.

Also, the Sammy Atomiswave is a decent cartridge based machine. The only real drawback to owning one of these is almost all of the games released for it that were worthwhile have been ported to the PS2 perfectly, which takes some of the fun out of owning the hardware, considering the limited number of games.

The good thing about both of these platforms is that they are both pretty cheap. PGM motherboards can be had for roughly a hundred dollars on average, with an Atomiswave and game bundle usually landing somewhere just under the 200 dollar mark.
 
I recently added a Neo Geo MVS cab to the garage, and I am really enjoying it. I think it will be fun for guests as well. My older games tend to be a little too hard for most of my friends.

Are there any other newer systems that have a lot of fun games? I am starting to investigate Atomiswave, but it looks like that system might be a little pricey. Any suggestions?

Don't bother with anything else , Neo Geo is the best cartridge arcade system . All the others don't have as nearly as many good games and are way more expensive compared to Neo carts .
 
The MVS is a great bang for your buck system with most of the games being fairly affordable. I just sold my dedicated 4-slot yesterday, got a Japanese Neo Candy to replace it.

As far as newer hardware I would say the Naomi is fairly affordable to own, with a handful of games commanding money, mainly the shooters. If you get into the GD-ROMS it expands the library a lot, but the GD-ROM setup will set you back a few hundred dollars.

Dennis
 
Even the MVS is getting expensive. I bought it for $200, then bought a 150 in 1 and 2 other carts. I am into it for close to $400 now. That is still cheap compared to the other ones though. I will keep an eye out for the Naomi 2. Since the Naomi 1 games work on it, that sounds like a good choice. The PGM sounds interesting too. I don't think I will rush for those though. Just too much money going out.

I finished Metal Slug for the first time the other day. Took 31 credits. I wasn't being very careful, so I think I can improve on it quite a bit. I finished MS3 a while back with a friend, and I think we both used over 50.

Thanks for the replies.
 
You should update your vaps page . You can list all the Neo carts you have .
 
Even the MVS is getting expensive. I bought it for $200, then bought a 150 in 1 and 2 other carts. I am into it for close to $400 now. That is still cheap compared to the other ones though. I will keep an eye out for the Naomi 2. Since the Naomi 1 games work on it, that sounds like a good choice. The PGM sounds interesting too. I don't think I will rush for those though. Just too much money going out.

I finished Metal Slug for the first time the other day. Took 31 credits. I wasn't being very careful, so I think I can improve on it quite a bit. I finished MS3 a while back with a friend, and I think we both used over 50.

Thanks for the replies.

If I were you I would make sure that there are games you want on the Naomi 2 first. The Noami 2 mother boards are about double what a Naomi mother board costs, and there are only like 6 games or so for it.

Check out Sega-Naomi.com if you haven't already, they have a pretty good list of games and what is required to run them.
 
If I were you I would make sure that there are games you want on the Naomi 2 first. The Noami 2 mother boards are about double what a Naomi mother board costs, and there are only like 6 games or so for it.

Check out Sega-Naomi.com if you haven't already, they have a pretty good list of games and what is required to run them.

I just took a look, and you are definitely right. Some decent looking games, but not for a standup cab. They are mostly drivers. Ok, scratch that one off the list. Good to know. :)

Thanks
 
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