Supergun question

Tech Talk
1

Sorry if this has been asked a million times. Where are some good places to get a supergun?

2

http://www.massystems.com/SuperNOVA.html

This is a pretty common one and it’s the only commercially available one I can think of off the top of my head. Most are custom made, you just have to look around. Check out neo-geo.com, it’s where I got mine.

3

www.neoamusement.com or you can check with Per at akihabarashop if you want to import one www.akihabarashop.jp

4

my homeboy THCHardcore has one for sale–very nice and compact and features the JROK converter (yes that really makes a difference)

5

How much?

6

http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=156712

japanese style

good stuff.

if you’re looking for american style, try mas systems.

7

You could always build one yourself too.

I miss making them sometimes.

8

What would it take to build one and how much would it usually cost to build?

9

IHMO commercial superguns tend to be overpriced oversized crap. Better to find an enthusiast who can custom build according to your requirements, or simply make one yourself. A supergun is after all pretty much just a shitload wires, a PSU and (optionally) a video encoder. Hardly rocket science! Currently working on my first 'gun, even if it turns only half as good as my vision it’ll still be the slickest thing ever… :looney:

10

Lets just add it up really quick. Prices are not 100 percent accurate.

  1. Jrok Encoder ($60-$90). I say don’t spend the money on the v4.1 with component unless you have games that run at a higher resolution like the newer versions of Golden Tee. IMO, S-video looks just as good, if not better than the component. Plus, many modern TV are expecting a high resolution signal when plugged into the component jacks, and the arcade boards don’t put out in high resolution so you will just get a black screen.

  2. Power Supply - $20-35. Depending if any of your games requier -5v or not. If they don’t, you can get a pretty cheap table top power brick from Jameco for around 10-20 bucks. If it does, get a real power supply from Happ for about $35

  3. Jamma Harness - You can get cheap ones, or you can get good ones. I love the ones from Happ and they run about $15.

  4. Arcade joysticks and Buttons.

That basics of a supergun. To get sound you will want either an 8ohm speaker, or wire the sound wire from the jamma harness and the ground to an RCA jack. Just make sure the volume is down on your tv/stereo before starting a game.

It’s not that expensive to build one. As you can see, the Encoder is the most expensive part.

I’ve built close to 50 Superguns back when I used to sell them. I would be glad to help.

Here is a picture of the inside of one of mine.

http://www.arcadeinabox.com/stuff/jiab.jpg

It’s an earlier version, but you get the idea.

11

Would I have to build a supergun that is specific to one type of board(MVS,CPS2,etc.) or could I have one that will run multiple ones?

12

It depends really. MVS is a bit of a different animal. I would get an MVS to Jamma board from Jammboarsd.com
http://www.jammaboards.com/store/jamma-to-neogeo-adapter/prod_228.html

They have a nice description explaining why you should use this. I used them on my MVS builds.

Besides that, most Jamma stuff will work. Thing you have to account for is the fact that Jamma is only 3 buttons per player. Game boards that use more than 3 buttons per player have a seperate wiring harness. Generally called a kick harness (as it connects the 3 kicks buttons on most fighters). You will need to make those for your boards if they didn’t come with them. There are some common ones. CPS, CPS2, Killer Instict and Mortal Kombat. Though MK most likely will not work with your supergun. That another story.

I hope that helps and doesn’t confuse you more.

Also, combining a system to work with both MVS and Jamma can be tricky unless you plan on building seperate controllers for each. The D button on the MVS can throw things a bit out of wack if you want the NeoGeo layout.

13

Well, it’s not that crazy. You coudl have your layout like this:

ABCD
KKK

it’s a little awkward, but, it beats having to swap cables around when you swap boards out.

14

Yeah, you can do that. Like I said, it just gets tricky if you want the Neogeo layout with the A button slightly lowered.

You could do a curved layout and add the D button to the right. That would be pretty close.

15

Single slot MVS motherboards are already near JAMMA compliant, just adds the fourth button to the unused pins next to the other buttons. While multi-slot motherboards do need an adapter they’re not difficult to build, though the result might not be as pretty as the one sold by JAMMAboards of course.

Are you kidding me? An adapter that remaps the buttons is dead simple to construct. Just a JAMMA edge connector, a fingerboard, a few inches of wire and some solder that goes between the supergun and MVS - no modifications needed whatsoever to the joysticks, supergun or motherboard. :rolleyes:

16

I don’t know why I never thought of using an edge connector to get that done. Good idea!