To phoenix or not to phoenix, that is the question

Drogulus

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Hey guys, big fan of several of the Capcom CPS2 games from the 90s. I have quite a few blue boards sitting around and up until now have never owned a phoenixed board. I just finally got myself a SFA3 board that has been phoenixed and is on its way to my house as we speak. Are there any drawbacks from having a phoenixed board and if so what are they? Also, does having a phoenixed board increase or decrease the value of a board?

My second question is if it is possible to put more rare ROMS on a board with the phoenixed method than the board actually is. Say putting Hyper Street Fighter ROMS on an actual Street Fighter Alpha board? I don't actually plan to do this I was just wondering what all this phoenixed stuff was all about.
 
From what I understand:

On paper, the Phoenix mod adds to the value of a cart because it removes the suicide battery so it won't spontaneously die without a legitimate failure.

In practice, there's more than a few bootleg carts being circulated as "phoenixed" carts, and most people that have these carts don't know they're bootlegs. This is easy to determine if you actually crack open the cart, but that's kinda hard to do on an eBay auction. This drives down the value of "phoenixed" carts.

Personally, I'd pay significantly more for a real Phoenixed cart, but I'd demand a picture of the cart's insides so I can be sure it's not a bootleg. I won't even touch bootleg carts -- if I want an illegal copy I'll go get myself set up in MAME.
 
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Most of the big time collectors prefer original non pheonixed boards. It also shows you can take care of your stuff if you can change your own batteries etc. It isn't that hard anyway to change the cps2 batteries. If I had a choice I would choose non pheonixed. Although, whichever was cheaper is the one I would pick. lol
 
The only ones I keep batteries in are the rare ones and ones that can lose some options if phoenixed such as US Alpha 2.

That's only a handful I would keep batteries in. I have like 50 carts so there is no way in hell I'm changing all those batteries.

Only a few games are bootlegged a lot. Hyper Anny and Progear are almost certainly conversions if the price seems good.

Bottom line. I don't care either way.
 
I prefer original, but I don't plan on collecting the whole set like Mitsurugi, so changing a few batteries every 5 years is no biggie. Just out of curiosity, what do you lose in SFA2 with the phoenix edition?
 
I'm voting for "either way". I don't own any of the really expensive CPS2 games, but for 60-80$, I'd rather have something idiot-proofed even if it's a boot.

To me, the point of being anti-bootleg at this point drops completely when you consider the companies aren't getting any royalties from the sale or purchase of these things for quite a while now...if it functions 100% like the original, I really don't care what hardware it's running on as long as it functions correctly, plays right, and is fun.

Guess I'm a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to that, because in theory, I should just have 1 MAME cab and be done, but there's something awesome about plunking a Big Blue in your living room on the right, a 50" TV in the middle, and a Space Shuttle pin on the right.

Now, excuse me while I go give my wife a footrub. ¬_¬

*edit* Anyone got pics of a "boot phoenix" board? I checked mine out when I got em, and I'll be damned if I can tell if they're boots or not, but from what I saw on Razoola's page, didn't seem to be. No wierd daughterboards or any of that. My game's monitor doesn't actually light up fast enough to even see the Phoenix Edition logo or not, so never been able to verify it that way!
 
It's simple.

If the board still works... change the battery and keep it original.

If it's dead then phoenix it.
 
I see it as a black and white issue. I do not want an ounce of highly corrosive PCB killing chemicals anywhere near my games, especially using a storage device that is known to leak over time. My games were expensive enough to purchase in the first place and if I can do something to ensure they will work for another 20 to 30 years, I'll do it!

For me it would be like keeping a termite infested beer barrel filled with water directly above a cab. It may be fine for now, but eventually something is going to give and then you have a world of trouble.

Another example that my Dad told me about: Early Jaguars had their battery stored in the front fender. Eventually it would leak and ruin the tray it was in and the front running gear and suspension. Now, if I had one of these early Jags that still had the original battery, I wouldn't hesitate to get one of the new sealed, leakless batteries and do away with what was there.

If batteries on these old boards have lasted this long without leaking, I consider myself very lucky, the part did its job. Now it is time to for it to retire in the trash can.

No one wants an an Omega Race situation on their hands.
 
*edit* Anyone got pics of a "boot phoenix" board? I checked mine out when I got em, and I'll be damned if I can tell if they're boots or not, but from what I saw on Razoola's page, didn't seem to be. No wierd daughterboards or any of that. My game's monitor doesn't actually light up fast enough to even see the Phoenix Edition logo or not, so never been able to verify it that way!

Boot up your game, let the monitor warm up, and then flick power to recycle the game board. The monitor should still be warmed up and display the boot screen.
 
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