aging MVS owners: here comes a new challenger?

the binary c0de

Kasumi Todoh's Training Partner
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I had to ditch my big red 4 slot years & years ago after the CRT completely failed & I had to move, so I let it go, but kept my prize carts.

Years later, I really would like to buy another cab, but am realizing I have no one to play with in this phase of life, so it doesn't make sense.

How many of you owners still have challengers to help warrant keeping it around, or is solo playing enough for you?
 

mehguy

Haomaru's Blade Shiner
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Mar 7, 2014
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Fighting games are seldom worth 1ccing imo so that takes a large chunk of the neo library away for single player. Stuff like metal slug and the shmups keep me busy. Puzzle games are always fun too.

I don’t have a lot of people to play either, and I usually end up using fightcade whenever I want to play the neo’s catalog of fighting games to face another human. Lots of good competition there.
 

BIG BEAR

SHOCKbox Developer,
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Solo has always been good for me on various levels,mainly -8 because I play for a short period of time exploring different strategies and move on with life..the fun factor doesn't really compare to when you have challengers involved though but I'm good.
My advice would be purchase a consolized unit and continue to hold on to your stuff since you've held on to it this long.
BB
 

yagamikun

Art of Typing Wiz
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I second @BIG BEAR At the same time, here's why I still have a few cabs around to give you some more ideas.

Like you, I don't have many folks around to play these games with, but I've always been fine popping in a fighting game or what not and playing through a dollar or so against the CPU. I just enjoy revisiting the games in the ways I'm most comfortable with these days despite not having much local friendly competition like I did back in the day. I prefer Capcom arcade games on my Dynamo cabs, but I prefer playing Neo games on my AES - this is a pure nostalgia angle for me. I'm not much of a competitive person, really, so I've always been okay playing fighters single player just to experience them.

These days I probably play more shmups than fighters to get my arcade fix and have a Supergun around for non-Capcom and SNK games as well. While I like my options, if you're looking to streamline and just focus on SNK stuff, a consolized MVS is probably the way to go.
 

GutsDozer

Robot Master., Master Tasuke, Eat Your, Heart Out
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I play alone a lot. Sometimes it's just having fun playing the games and enjoying what it is. Plus, whenever someone comes over, they always seem to gravitate to it. I guess it's still doing it's job even know it's no longer in an arcade. Whenever I have guest I always have Red running demonstration mode ready to rock.
 

Neo Alec

Ned's Ninja Academy Dropout
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There is no practical reason to own a cab. If you just want to play your carts, get an MVS setup for your TV. If it's really about the arcade cab experience for you, then I guess you need a cab.
 

Fygee

Bewbs! Z'OMG, Teh BEWBS!,
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Been playing Neo games mostly solo for most of my life. My friends either don't bother with these types of games, or games at all. Best I'll ever get is someone playing one of my cabs out of curiosity when I have a shindig at my house.

That's fine though. There's something special about having your own cab, firing it up for a quick fix, and pretending 30 long years haven't passed.
 

donluca

Ninja Combat Warrior
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Aug 19, 2015
Posts
529
There is no practical reason to own a cab. If you just want to play your carts, get an MVS setup for your TV. If it's really about the arcade cab experience for you, then I guess you need a cab.
When I first got my MVS I used to play it on my Sony BVM monitor but somehow, even with a very precise replica arcade stick I made, it wasn't the same thing.

Neo needs to be played on a giant 29" CRT monitor with your face just inches from it and a proper arcade control panel, otherwise, for me at least, the magic isn't there.

YMMV.

EDIT: and I want to add one thing. Thanks to eviltim (Tim Worthington), I got a video adapter to convert SCART-RGB to JAMMA so I could play Mega Drive and other consoles on my Astro City cab.
Guess what? It just didn't feel right.
Yes, it was amazing, but for me, old consoles like NES, Mega Drive and such, have to be played with their original controllers on regular small CRT TVs.
That's what I used back then and I loved it so much (after all, it was all I had) that playing on anything else just doesn't feel right to me.
 

Neo Alec

Ned's Ninja Academy Dropout
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When I first got my MVS I used to play it on my Sony BVM monitor but somehow, even with a very precise replica arcade stick I made, it wasn't the same thing.

Neo needs to be played on a giant 29" CRT monitor with your face just inches from it and a proper arcade control panel, otherwise, for me at least, the magic isn't there.

YMMV.

EDIT: and I want to add one thing. Thanks to eviltim (Tim Worthington), I got a video adapter to convert SCART-RGB to JAMMA so I could play Mega Drive and other consoles on my Astro City cab.
Guess what? It just didn't feel right.
Yes, it was amazing, but for me, old consoles like NES, Mega Drive and such, have to be played with their original controllers on regular small CRT TVs.
That's what I used back then and I loved it so much (after all, it was all I had) that playing on anything else just doesn't feel right to me.
I guess it depends on whether the Neo feels right to you as an arcade machine or a console. I have a big red, but I lean console on this debate.
 

donluca

Ninja Combat Warrior
Joined
Aug 19, 2015
Posts
529
Yeah, this is a very personal thing and probably related to how you played whatever you had back then.

For me arcade games were played in the arcade, which means giant cabs with huge monitors and my face right up to it.

Console games were always played in my bedroom with a small 14-15" TV, and that's how they felt "right" to me, but I can totally see others preferring other ways to play their favorite games.
 
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