Candy Cab in the Wild

While in Toronto I noticed a retro game shop that compelled me to take a quick peek. As I walked inside, I found an Astro City with Hokuto no Ken!!!!! As it was only 25 cents a play, I couldn't help but briefly kick some ass with Kenishiro. 

Purge 2015

I just recently sold two of my better games. First up is Aliens vs. Predator, the most expensive game in my collection and probably the best as well. As with all CPS2 games, it has a suicide battery inside which renders the game inoperable when it dies. Sure there is a technique to revive or "phoenix" these games after they die, but its not the game in its purest original form. I could change the battery now, but I lack the necessary tools and expertise and, most importantly, it'll just lead to more hassle and paranoia down the road.

Next is Konami's X-men, another fine example of a beat em up based on a licensed property. It is also another ticking time bomb.

The Konami hybrid sound caps are the problem here. These capacitors are known to eventually leak, damaging the board and causing the sound to go. It seems that most/all Konami arcade games from this game onward used these, so I'll be looking to avoid those too.

Happy Holidays!

Though I do have a brand new chassis for the Atomiswave SD, I won't be installing it just yet. I've figured it out and it's really a straightforward process, but I'm just not up to discharging the monitor yet. This cab has a really awkward and potentially dangerous design for discharging, removing, and replacing the anode cap. Just my luck.

Movie Theatre Games

While going to the movie theatre I was happy to find a game corner with some arcade cabinets, even if the games weren’t the greatest and I didn't bother playing them. Actually, the best of the bunch, Time Crisis 3, appeared to be out of order.

They also had a working Ghost Squad and another Sega game I’d never even heard of before, Motor Raid, along with a few other machines not worth mentioning. It seems that movie theaters and establishments like House of Targ  (see my previous post), are the last bastions of hope for old arcade lovers in this part of the world.

House of Targ

Ottawa's House of Targ is a cross between a concert hall, restaurant/bar (specializing in perogies), and video arcade. They are well stocked with various classic pinball machines and retro arcade cabinets. Most notably, they had a dedicated Mortal Kombat cab!

The crappy video below from my iphone shows the complete line-up of games, save for a few cocktail cabs I missed. I think that a Neo Geo 4 slot and Konami 4-player cab would really put this place over the top.

                            

Atomiswave SD

There are two things I heard upon first entering this hobby. Firstly, one cab is never enough. True enough, when I miraculously found an Atomiswave SD locally I just had to have it. Secondly, this is the hobby where everything breaks. The seller of  the cab warned me that there was a monitor issue with some red color bleeding, but it was at a fair price, I had the cash to spare, and I wasn't sure when I'd ever get the chance to buy another candy cab again, so I couldn't resist. 

The Atomiswave SD is essentially a re-branded Taito Egret 3. Mine even came with an Egret 3 control panel, which is great as I hate the stock Atomiswave SD control panel due to it's ugly card reader. I got a new ball top and buttons (Taito Hey colors!) and, as it was missing a 100 yen sticker, I bought a NOS Egret 3 sticker to match (not to mention a step down converter too. Stupid, finicky PSU). 

These cabs have a bad rep due to the flat tri-rez CRT monitor, which is made of cheap wei-ya parts and is better suited to high rez 31khz games than the low rez 15khz games I enjoy. This is further compounded on my cab due to the red color issues. It's perfectly playable but the red color sometimes bleeds and/or makes the screen appear darker than it should be. I do find it annoying, but can live with it for now. A cap kit or chassis replacement may be in order someday, but my skill/comfort level with monitors isn't even close to attempting that right now.

Anyway, while you can never truly replicate the arcade experience at home, with two cabs blaring I'm that much closer to doing so. I think I've maxed out on cabs for now, unless I can somehow get my hands on a Taito Egret 2 or a Capcom Mini Cute.

Spring Purge

I'm getting the hang of this hobby with regards to buying and selling things on forums. It's fun receiving packages in the mail, and I even get some enjoyment selling off, packing up, and shipping out games at the post office.

Recently,  I sold much of my console stuff. I'm going 100% arcade! I also sold off some of my arcade games.

Sadly, the Atomiswave and Dolphin Blue had to go. I love the game, but it didn't get much use, and I wasn't interested in any other Atomiswave games, which is quite ironic...

Next update coming soon.