Where Do You Draw The Line?

FrizzleFried

FrizzleFried

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For many of us... we regard classic arcade machines as sort of "shrines" for their original games. If/when possible, we will retain and/or restore classic arcade machines ... going out of our way to keep original PCB's with the cabinet or de-converting a converted game, etc...

...but where do y ou draw the line between "classic" and "must retain/restore" and "oh, it's an old JAMMA cabinet... do what you wish with it."?

Case in point... (and I am going to be 100% honest here (even though briefly considered just doing it and keeping it on the DL))...

The TMNT 4-Player cabinet I have sitting here I am mostly complete with. It was originally TMNT that was converted to an NBA Jam. I bought the thing knowing that it was a converted NBA Jam ... and the idea that I was going to make a multi-4-Player cabinet out of it to play all the Konami (and other) 4-Player games (and the odd 3-player game as well). I already figured I was going to run an ARpiCADE in it with their 4-player add-on board... Hell, the original plan was to simply wash it down with a rag too. Things change though. When I got the game it came with the original TMNT PCBs. I was both thrilled and bummed. I was thrilled because... well... what's not to be thrilled about an extra working PCB. I was bummed because... honestly... my "deconvert the classic" itch kicked in and over about a weeks time I went from wanting to "wash it down with a rag" to "I'm gunna strip it and re-paint it black" to "damnit... the cheesy side art MUST be bought and applied".... which is exactly what happened. I bought and installed new side art... a new TMNT marquee... and, still knowing that I wanted to run this as a multigame... I went with a generic "TMNT background" CPO without the labels as there will be a couple extra buttons per player (Start + B3).... here is the result:

SANY0065.jpg

OK. So here I am. The game is mostly complete (still have to add P3 & P4 wiring harnesses)... and it's going to be setup to play Konami games exactly as they were designed (coin location determines which location on the panel you play) ... as well as start buttons for the games that credit location means nothing. The cabinet now plays TMNT ... perfectly ... as well as Turtles in Time .... Sunset Riders ... Simpsons ... etc...

Great!

So now what? Well... I do plan to sell the NBA Jam PCB set that came out of it... but...

What about the TMNT PCB? My initial gut feeling... my gut reaction... well... the damn thing is installed in the cabinet... right behind the ARpiCADE. It just sits there. I'm now staring at my harnesses for P3 and P4. They are NBA Jam harnesses... NOT TMNT harnesses... so they're about 180 degrees backwards (almost) from what I need IF I want to be able to pull the harness from the ARpiCADE and plug directly in to the TMNT (the initial idea).... however, the ARpiCADE 4-Player module has harness inputs for both KONAMI and NBA JAM! So I could plug this bad boy right in to the ARpiCADE as-is... wire up the P3 and P4 as NBA Jam and it would work perfectly... BUT... I couldn't then pull the JAMMA harness and P3 and P4 harnesses and then directly plug them in to the TMNT board as P3 and P4 wouldn't work.

NOW... couple this situation (basically I would have to wire up (or buy) Konami 3/4P harnesses) if I wanted to be able to do what I originally set out to do)... with the fact that every time I look inside the cabinet I see this TMNT PCB just sitting there... un-used... nothing plugged in to it... just longing to be used... and the fact that I can pull some DAMN GOOD COIN for that PCB (I did say I was being honest here... right? Let me be clear... the fact this PCB can pull in some decent coin is actually my #1 motivating factor)... and I'm left really considering (but still on the fence ... hence this post) selling both the NBA Jam and TMNT PCB. What is holding me back from doing so is that damn "SAVE THE CLASSICS" desire that brought me to this hobby in the first place... but man, it's tough.

Like I said... that TMNT which is just going to sit there doing nothing... could finance another project. Or could help with my sons birthday... or... or... or...

SO... where do you draw the line? Is it a year? Is it a era? Is it JAMMA?

How much negative arcade karma do y'all think I would acquire selling that TMNT board?

:D
 
I think it may depend on ones objective. For me personally, I think of the game as a classic car that I'd like to return it to its former glory, with the objective being that it'd be a winner at a Consours like judging for arcade games somewhere in future. I know others that would be equally happy to own a Ferrari kit on a Fiero (keeping with the car metaphor). So I think each to their own, whatever brings you joy in this hobby
 
since you're already out the door on making this a dedicated and trying to live up to what i think the dog show people would call "breed standard", i say you do you! I'd get a riddled switcher and condenser and run both the ARPi and the OG TMNT board. i've done similar things in a lot of my cabs. i may be in a small camp but my opinion is that the audio amplifiers on the TMNT board produce a sound profile that cannot accurately be replicated via the emu kits without some additional amp work. also knowing i'm playing on original silicon gives me a bit of joy. but if you aren't a TMNT fanatic, just run the pi and invest the fruits of your PCB sale on your next project.
 
I deconverted a joust, planning to run a jrok. However also being anal, I sourced all original joust boards and parts, fabricated a wiring harness adapter to plug in the jrok, and did all the upgrades and nvram to the original boards. The original boards are mounted in the cabinet, and there they will stay, unused. Who knows, maybe one day (after im dead and gone) some new collector will get this machine and be surprised that the originals are in there. I believe it adds alot of value to the game itself. It appeases both "collector" and "multigamers". My vote is keep the original board with the cab even if its not being used. Just my 2 cents worth ;)
 
Joust is quite easily on the light-side side of "the line" for me. :) Great job!

That dark-side is just creeping with this TMNT.

:D
 
I don't consider TMNT a "classic" arcade game so I say do whatever to it. Anything pre-1984 I would definitely do my best to keep as original as possible.
 
When i started collecting, I was buying EVERYTHING i could get my hands on. It didnt take too long to realise that games that could be "beat" had no replay value in my arcade. I loved TMNT but after i beat it, in an hour, it was time to go. I saw the same thing with battle toads, simpsons, ect. Unfortunately all of them were sold back in the day before the boom for $75 a board or less. I can understand the dark side though. I stupidly sold my original centipede board because i was running a millipede multi in my cab. Its a tough decision here. If you plan on keeping your multi for a long time, might be easier to sell the tmnt. But if it ends up not having the replay you want it to and you sell it, it would be better to hang on to the board.
 
OdinM said:
I don't consider TMNT a "classic" arcade game so I say do whatever to it. Anything pre-1984 I would definitely do my best to keep as original as possible.
Click to expand...
Not a classic to "us" but it will be a classic to the 90's crowd, theyre right around the corner ;)
 
cysnake said:
Not a classic to "us" but it will be a classic to the 90's crowd, theyre right around the corner ;)
Click to expand...
yup, "classic" is relative to the person. there are quite a few 90s games that i do like though, but turtles was best left in the arcade environment.
 
I'm right there with you on the long-term playability of these JAMMA 4p games. That said, I am pretty good at limiting myself to "X" credits... usually 2 or 4....

:)
 
I feel your pain; I believe we think alike. Someone once told me "it's your cab, do what you want". Personally, I make an effort to preserve if possible. I recently came upon a Ghosts n' Goblins cab that defiantly is desired and can be restored to dedicated. In this case, somewhat like your own I was able to pickup the cab for a reasonable price, but I'm not really into the game. I feel the best effort is to offer it up for trade/sale to someone who really wants it and use the profits or trade it for something you do want. In my case, there are no takers, so I'll probably keep the cab as is (converted to jamma/magic sword). And enjoy it without spending too much effort/money for a cosmetic restore. Someday someone might want it so I'm keeping up the "preservation" mission of the community.
 
As someone who is generally a purist, I say sell the boards, you can get your son something really nice for what the boards go for. 90s games just don't hold the same reverence to me. They were designed as Quarter Munchers, and once you've beaten TMNT or Simpsons, there's really no incentive to go back and replay through.
 
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