Found an awesome deal! Anybody have this cabinet?

[Lomar]

Found an "out of business" arcade that is going to sell me Virtual Fighter 4 cabinet - in full working condition including a monitor that is in very good shape - for $300.

It's kinduva bummer to gut a working game - but I have to mame it up

So some quick questions for the forum brains!

1) Anybody have this cabinet and how do you like it?  I like the fact that it's smaller than Golden Tee but a little bigger than a classic cabinet.  The control panel is just a flat piece of wood that will let me replace with a new piece a wood drilled to fit.

2) Regarding the monitor - I was just going to get an ArcadeVGA card for it.  Any reason why this wouldn't work?

3) When I take out whatever is inside - any good ideas what to do with the guts?

[KDOG]

get a jpac and avga for it and kept vf4 in there. that way there is no extra wiring to do

[Matt Berry]

I wouldn't just gut a fully working arcade game. If you do want to Mame it, do all your modifications around the original. Making it so it is 100% reverisible. When you decide to Mame a fully working cabinet that is still in good shape, none of your modifications should destroy the original machine. If it does you should sell it and pick up a non working cabinet. There are plenty of them to go around.

[Lomar]

Excellent idea Matt.

I bought a small form factor PC to put in the cabinet -- so if it's just a matter of unplugging a few things and plugging in my PC - outstanding!

Regarding the J-Pac ...

OOOHHHHHHHH is that what the heck they were talking about?

So I stick the ArcadeVGA in my PC and plug that into the J-Pac and the J-Pac as the interface to go to the monitor in the cabinet.  Assuming I can switch it to 15K --- I'm in business?  Maybe have to do AdvanceMAME as well?

Is it really that easy?!

[TheRed]

just the motherboard and game etc in there are worth WAY more then that price! IMO, you should sell it and start over with a nice empty cab or gutted with monitor. If you like VF4, then do the thing where you can have both, but otherwise, don't mess up a great cab that's worth GRIP!


either way, GREAT DEAL!!!

[AlanS17]

I would have to actually argue that MAMEing this one wouldn't be bad. It's never going to be a collector's item. Of course, I'm not 100% sure of that, but I'm fairly certain.

With this one, though, You can have both the PC and original game board in there together if you use a Multi-Jamma. There are enough buttons to play most games unless you want Street Fighter games or something. You wouldn't have to modify the cabinet or control panel at all to get the vast majority of games working. And making it original again would be as simple as removing the PC.

And no you don't need AdvanceMAME. Yes, it really is that easy.

[Mr-Megalo]

you guys are forgetting that VF4 is on Naomi, the Monitor may be High res so an AVGA may not be needed

[AlanS17]

you guys are forgetting that VF4 is on Naomi, the Monitor may be High res so an AVGA may not be needed

I didn't realize it was NAOMI, but leave it to you to pick it up. 

[Mr-Megalo]

lomar - is the cabinet an official Sega cabinet ?

[AlanS17]

Being NAOMI brings up a good point, though. By leaving the original hardware in there, you can switch out other NAOMI games. So instead of having a VF4, you could have a VF4+.

[Mr-Megalo]

check out the SF3 3rd Strike thread 

[Goz]

VF4 may have also come in the US Universal cab which does have the SVGA monitor.   Irregardless here's a breakdown of what you could sell the individual pieces for depending on a few factors:

NAOMI2 mobo = $400 or more
VF4 cart (if a cart) = $100 - $200
VF4 GDROM (if GDROM) = $400+ for GDROM/DIMM/cable/Game
Sound amp, Power supply, etc... could fetch another $200
I/O depending on if NAOMI or CAPCOM $100 - $200

Please post a pic of the cab.

-Goz

[AlanS17]

So you're saying at the bare minimum that this thing is worth $800 (well, at least in parts)?

That leaves you with a cabinet and monitor that are worth something, too. Of course I'm not gonna go around recommending anyone dismantle it, but that's alot of money.

[CheffoJeffo]

Wow ... couldn't believe it when I saw that $300 ... where are you ? Do they have more ?

Cheers.

[Stingray]

If I could find a complete, working Naomi for $300 the only thing I'd do would be stick it in the game room and plug it in.

-S

[AlanS17]

Wow ... couldn't believe it when I saw that $300 ... where are you ? Do they have more ?

Cheers.

No kidding!

[AlanS17]

If I could find a complete, working Naomi for $300 the only thing I'd do would be stick it in the game room and plug it in.

-S

Yeah, me too. As would most people here.

[Lomar]

ARGH!

So, I came over and did the research.  Measured the doorways, etc.

I organized a truck and somebody to help lift it and I called the guy back.

Ended up talking to his son and he informed me that VF4 *and* a bunch of the other games were already sold to another vendor! 

saljfdl;sadflas;djf;lsakjdlkjsadf

If I would have known what I had in front of me, I would have given the guy $300 on the spot and pushed it home

The price of ignorance.

Thank you for the quick replies fellas.

I ended up buying a bowling cabinet from him that is in good physical condition, but I can just stick to my original plan with that one (PC Monitor).

Thanks again!! You guys rock!

[toolaa]

I would have to actually argue that MAMEing this one wouldn't be bad. It's never going to be a collector's item. Of course, I'm not 100% sure of that, but I'm fairly certain.

What criteria should you use to decide if something might be a collectors item?  This interest me too.  I am working on the Super Sprint Machine making it MAME compatible.  Everything I am doing is intended on keeping the cabinet 100% original.  I have made my own connectors to plug into the existing wiring harnesses so I don't even have to remove them.  I will be making my own cardboard screen bezel because I don't want to modify the original.  During this process I have wondered if SuperSprint will someday be a rare collectors item.

[AlanS17]

Well it's pretty much a judgment call, I guess. I'm a firm believer that some machines become classics and others just get older. It all comes down to a matter of opinion about a machine, but if you add up all the opinions you can reach a concensus. Example: Galaga is collectible, valuable, and "classic". Why? Because everybody agrees.

[tommy]

Don't MAMERUIN it, jeez. 

Mame is crap compared to that game and all the games you could swap into it.

[Wade]

Super Sprint is already a classic in a lot of people's eyes.  I'd consider it a classic and I'd love to have one.

Wade

[pointdablame]

I'm usually right in these threads saying NOT to mame complete machines, but I do that for the simple reason that most people don't realize how easy it is to NOT destroy a machine by MAMEing it.

In the case of a NAOMI machine, I would keep it as is simply because of the great games available.  But really, for any working machine, mame'ing it can be fine. 

- Use the original CP or make a new one to the exact size.
- Use a JPAC/ArcadeVGA combo so as not to destroy any wiring.
- Put in a PC, disable (don't remove) anything in the cab you have to)

If you do this with ANY cab, you can change it back to original in 20 minutes.  Almost all classics  have a JAMMA adapter available, or you could make one yourself.  I just don't understand why people hack up machines and cover up artwork to make it a MAME machine....

[Goz]

So you're saying at the bare minimum that this thing is worth $800 (well, at least in parts)?

That leaves you with a cabinet and monitor that are worth something, too. Of course I'm not gonna go around recommending anyone dismantle it, but that's alot of money.

The monitor is worth another $400 or so. See cabs like this, even if you don't like the game and its good as gold.