Consolized MVS Solutions?

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zenimus:

--- Quote from: insektmute on November 21, 2013, 03:57:31 pm --- know someone on neo-geo.com does them, but I'd like to avoid that crowd if possible, especially if it's something I can do myself.
--- End quote ---

I'm from that crowd. 8)

By far, this is the most elegant solution you'll find: http://www.analogueinteractive.com
It's expensive at $649 for the console, but the quality of the craftsmanship simply can't be beat. I have one of their early models, and it still runs like a champ, and the picture quality is perfect. They also come pre-installed with the Universe BIOS, an invention by a guy called "Razoola" that bypasses the original Neo Geo bios. Basically, all Neo Geo games are multi-regional, meaning the cartridges are identical whether they were distributed in Japan or the US or elsewhere. The regional BIOS of the Neo Geo machine is what dictates whether a game will be in English by default, or have censorship turned on, etc. The Universe BIOS lets you pull up a menu and switch the machine's region setting, censorship options, cheat codes. It's awesome.

There's also this cheaper option, done by a guy I've met: http://arcadeworks.net/omega-entertainment-machine.html
You might think it's expensive as well at $500, but you're paying for a custom molded plastic case with working dustflaps, and all the trimmings that the wooden console has. A lot of work goes into them.

I would avoid the Phantom-1. It's slightly buggy, isn't completely compatible with every game and is overly expensive.

The Neo Geo is by far the most expensive console to collect for. It's sketchy too, as there are a lot of fakes of rarer titles out there nowadays too. I used to be an AES guy, but switched to MVS a few years ago. Prices got too high for me!

insektmute:
Haha, no hate toward NG - there are some REALLY resourceful folks over there, but they're unfortunately sometimes lost in the noise of blathering idiots. I have a similar love/hate relationship with the SRK, which is why I tend to only read those forums rather than post :p

That Analogue Interactive stuff looks fantastic, but gahhh, dem prices. I'm sometimes willing to go to pretty crazy lengths on things, but I'm trying to dial in my expectations and lusts the past few months, so I suspect such pretty electronic goodness will remain a dream item. The region aspect is alluring somewhat, but to be honest, I'll probably be sticking with Japanese releases just for simplicity... charming as the horrific translations can be sometimes.

Definitely one to bookmark though, juuuust in case.

kimimi:
To (perhaps) clear up some confusion - the MVS and AES are both region free.

A US or EU MVS will play Japanese MVS games and a Japanese MVS will play US or EU games.
However, the language and censorship options are decided by the *motherboard*, not the game. So a US Fatal Fury will always play as Garou Densetsu on a Japanese MVS motherboard.
Some games have language select options. Some don't. In any case language options on an English motherboard tend to be English/Spanish, etc rather than English/Japanese.

The UniBIOS is a totally separate item from the Analogue Interactive CMVS, and the only link between the two is that AI will pre-fit one into their own CMVS's. You can, and IMO should, buy it yourself and pop it into your own MVS motherboard (as I mentioned in a previous post).

The UniBIOS completely replaces the original BIOS chip and allows you to boot a game using any region setting. This is possible because 99% of MVS games have all information for all languages/regions on the cart.

So you can still enjoy all the benefits of a UniBIOS without having to splash out on a CMVS! I have a UniBIOS in my own MVS motherboard, and I wouldn't be without it :)

zenimus:
Correct, Neo Geo games are a little different than most games.

Suppose you had a Japanese Super Mario 64 cart, peeled off the sticker, and put on a North American label. It would still play in Japanese because you still have a Japanese cart. The English translation does not exist on that cart.

With Neo Geo games (this applies to both AES & MVS), if you peeled off the label of a Japanese cart and stuck an English one on, you would (in effect) have an English cart. A Japanese Metal Slug cart is identical to an English Metal Slug. All that's different is the sticker and packaging.

All* Neo Geo cartridges have both Japanese and English text information. That's why most of the English sounds so wacky: they were translated in Japan by whatever employee at SNK that claimed to know English. It's your Neo Geo machine's regional BIOS that determines which language track to show by default. If you put a JP Puzzle Bobble into your American Neo Geo, it'll show up as Bust-a-Move and be in English. If you put a US Fatal Fury into your JP Neo Geo, you'll be playing Garou Densetsu in Japanese.

*The only exceptions are the quiz games, mah-jong games, and shogi games. Those carts do not contain any English text, so they'll always be in Japanese.

insektmute:
That's about what I figured, given that I'm able to switch seamlessly when running Neo games with an emulator, too.

Which is why it's all the more strange to me that JP released games still tend to be cheaper on the used market, at least when it comes to AES stuff...

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