What's a supergun?

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Originally Posted by Tragic

Ok, a few more questions:

1) Are these things legal or do they fall under the same laws of piracy?

2) How much do they generally cost.

3) How much are the JAMMA games that run on them?

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1) Perfectly legal; they're just adaptors to use PCBs in a non-standard monitor.

2) Not much.

3) Depends on the game's year, rarity, and who's selling them. A "jamma game" is almost any arcade game you can think of. From MVS games to Naomi dedicated machines. "Jamma" is just the standard cabinet conection.

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Originally Posted by Click_Stick

According to Matt [from a previous thread], a Taiwan-based company produced a JAMMA box named "Supergun" and the name just stuck.

Glad it did, too. Such a slick-sounding name for a simple piece of equipment.

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That had to be long ago. I remember a 1993 issue of CVG showing it under this name. It should be the very first (and only?) Western mag to do it.

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Originally Posted by OmniGear

The fact that it's free about evens it out.

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If someone is interested in my opinion, an emulator with a big VGA monitor and the possibility of using real arcade joysticks or good console joysticks in the computer can give a better experience than actual PCBs in the TVs; you always get some problems with the image adjustments or the PCB's status.

Using appropiate graphic effects on emulators (fake scanlines, for instance) will always give a better picture quality than a non-RGB TV signal. You can even buy a graphic card to use your PC in low-res, RGB TVs, if you want.

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Originally Posted by padman

A supergun is like a beautiful lady.

A cabinet is her beautiful sister.

An emulator is like their brother who's had a sex change. He might look like a beautiful lady in every way and cause pleasurable friction but he sure as hell ain't no real woman.

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Yet another padman quote for my sig.

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Originally Posted by Recap

If someone is interested in my opinion, an emulator with a big VGA monitor and the possibility of using real arcade joysticks or good console joysticks in the computer can give a better experience than actual PCBs in the TVs; you always get some problems with the image adjustments or the PCB's status.

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Not really. Emulators can be pretty close, but when it comes down to it playing an emu doesn't really feel like an actual arcade PCB. In my experience (from trying the two side by side), the game speed is often off, and the graphics rendering doesn't look the same.

Control is a mixed bag - sometimes they get it right, but more often than not, it's nowhere near accurate. I tried playing Dimahoo on MAME a few days ago after a long session with the PCB, and I was slipping all over the place and crashing into stuff. Not good!

And there's nothing to stop you from using good joysticks with a supergun, or even a large VGA monitor, either (if you buy an XRGB). The only real benefits that emulators have is that they don't cost anything and take up less space.

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Using appropiate graphic effects on emulators (fake scanlines, for instance) will always give a better picture quality than a non-RGB TV signal. You can even buy a graphic card to use your PC in low-res, RGB TVs, if you want.

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Composite video does indeed look bad. But, if your TV does a good job of processing S-Video, the picture is actually really good and looks a lot better than the anti-aliased, fuzzy picture that MAME gives you. Of course, investing in an RGB setup would be perfect.

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That had to be long ago. I remember a 1993 issue of CVG showing it under this name. It should be the very first (and only?) Western mag to do it.

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That timeframe sounds about right. As I remember, it dates from around the same time the SF2 craze hit. The SNES port of SF2 was a long time coming, which must have been good for business.

When I lived in Toronto, there was one local shop that had the box from an original "Super Gun" in the store. Sadly, when I asked if I could buy it they told me that it was empty :(

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Originally Posted by Tragic

2) How much do they generally cost.

3) How much are the JAMMA games that run on them?

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A ready-made supegun will cost you somewhere in the neighbourhood of $300 or so. It's very possible to make one yourself for less, but be aware that if you want to make something that is solidly built and looks professional, it takes an awful lot of work, and the parts will cost more than you think.

Used JAMMA boards can vary in price from $20 or so for older games that nobody cares about, up to $100-200 for popular and recent boards. Don't even think about buying newly released games - they'll run you a couple grand each! Typically, PCBs become affordable (relatively speaking) a year or two after release.

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If I ever get the chance to obtain one of Matt's work of arts should I just fork out the money or is it anything special outside of power stepdown converters I need to know?

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Whether I build it or not, you'll be fine as long as the supergun has RGB scart output and your TV supports it. Actually, most power supplies are switchable to 220v, so you may not even need a stepdown converter.

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On a side note, even the former Iraqi regime apparently liked playing JAMMA boards:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...10/wirq110.xml

Can you imagine it? "UN inspectors have been told that President Hussein is just trying to enjoy a perfect game of Bust-A-Move".

Around $300? Ok, a bit outta my league for now.

If space isn't an issue...just get a cab.

Even a candy cab can be had for $300 or less. Shipping though, that's another thing all together.

My Neo cab cost more to ship than I paid for it, but that's part of the nature of the beast.

Buddy of mine actually has a cab that he'd probably give you if you asked nicely and didn't mind driving to Atlanta to pick it up.

Good cab:

http://www.hardmvs.com/html/iremCabinet.htm

I'm not promising you anything, but he mentioned that he wanted to get rid of it. And if you mention my name...all the better.

But really, if you can spare the space (they're not THAT big), just getting any old JAMMA cab is so very rewarding and you can play your games on that.

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Originally Posted by Blaine

If space isn't an issue...just get a cab.

Even a candy cab can be had for $300 or less. Shipping though, that's another thing all together.

My Neo cab cost more to ship than I paid for it, but that's part of the nature of the beast.

Buddy of mine actually has a cab that he'd probably give you if you asked nicely and didn't mind driving to Atlanta to pick it up.

Good cab:

http://www.hardmvs.com/html/iremCabinet.htm

I'm not promising you anything, but he mentioned that he wanted to get rid of it. And if you mention my name...all the better.

But really, if you can spare the space (they're not THAT big), just getting any old JAMMA cab is so very rewarding and you can play your games on that.

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While I much appriciate the offer of sorts, my parents would absolutly kill me if I put a cabinet in my room (I'm only 18, still living at home). Perhaps someday I'll have a cabinet of my own...

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Originally Posted by padman

A supergun is like a beautiful lady.

A cabinet is her beautiful sister.

An emulator is like their brother who's had a sex change. He might look like a beautiful lady in every way and cause pleasurable friction but he sure as hell ain't no real woman.

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Good thing I wasn't drinking when I read that.

[QUOTE=Blaine]

Buddy of mine actually has a cab that he'd probably give you if you asked nicely and didn't mind driving to Atlanta to pick it up.


[QUOTE]

Give... as in free?

If I can fit it in my Rav 4 I will totally go pick it up.

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Originally Posted by Blaine

Good cab:

http://www.hardmvs.com/html/iremCabinet.htm

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I want that cab....

Damn being broke :D

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Originally Posted by Matt

Not really. Emulators can be pretty close, but when it comes down to it playing an emu doesn't really feel like an actual arcade PCB. In my experience (from trying the two side by side), the game speed is often off, and the graphics rendering doesn't look the same.

Control is a mixed bag - sometimes they get it right, but more often than not, it's nowhere near accurate. I tried playing Dimahoo on MAME a few days ago after a long session with the PCB, and I was slipping all over the place and crashing into stuff. Not good!

And there's nothing to stop you from using good joysticks with a supergun, or even a large VGA monitor, either (if you buy an XRGB). The only real benefits that emulators have is that they don't cost anything and take up less space.

Composite video does indeed look bad. But, if your TV does a good job of processing S-Video, the picture is actually really good and looks a lot better than the anti-aliased, fuzzy picture that MAME gives you. Of course, investing in an RGB setup would be perfect.

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I really don't know what do you mean. If the game's emulation is in a perfect status, playing it is no different than playing the PCB. You can use some graphic modes that give a VERY similar image presentation to the RGB, 15Hz monitors'. A lot better to the one you can get with any S-Video.

MAME doesn't give you any "anti-aliased, fuzzy picture" if you don't want to. Just don't use any filter and enable 50% scanlines; or even, better, buy a 15Hz-compatible video-card and use your low-res, RGB monitor with the emulator running in actual low resolutions.

It's true that many games lack correct emulation, but CP-S II ones (as CP-S or Neo-Geo ones) have almost perfect emulation now. If Dimahoo doesn't run properly on MAME, try Nebula or Final Burn Alpha (don't forget to disable any filter and enable 50% scanlines). If you're accustomed to a real RGB image (not many people are) you'll be pleased with the result. Tell me your impressions after you check it.