Looking for arcade PCBs

The game development club I formed at my university decided that a rather fun/neat fundraiser would be to purchase an arcade machine to keep in our student union. We managed to secure $510 for purchase funds, and our original idea was to try and get a four-player version of the original Gauntlet, however, looking at various online distributors, it looks like it could be a bit spendier than we had hoped, with the newer Gauntlet Legends machines going for four digits. Does anyone have any resources where I could find a machine for something close to my price range? I'd even be willing to just get a 2-player machine, or even just the original PCB.

Barring Gauntlet, it would be nice to get either Street Fighter Alpha 2 or 3, or a 2-slot MVS with Puzzle Bobble, Metal Slug X, or King Of Fighters 2002. The prices I've found seem to be about $120 for the SFA2 boards, $150 or so for SFA3, Metal Slug and KOF2k2 at about $70 each, and Puzzle Bobble at $40. MVS units seem to be around the $100 mark. Does anyone know where I might be able to get any of that gear cheaper, or have one themselves they'd like to sell?

 

You can get Raiden DX for $500 from this ebay seller in California. That's a great game that I'm sure will raise money. Of course though a fighting game like you mentioned already would be more popular in the student union. My college, last semester, had Gauntlet Legends, the 3DFX one. Had some fun times with my college buddy. Too bad it isn't there anymore.

 

Yeah, I personally would like to have a shooter as well, but seeing as the full amount of money coming out of this is going back to the student council until we've payed them back, and then we're splitting the profits 50/50, we'd need something that would draw a lot of players. The co-founder of the club really likes the idea of 4-player classic Gauntlet, which would be fun if we could get one cheap, but I'm personally inclined to a two or four slot MVS, as then we could pack things like Puzzle Bobble, Metal Slug, KOF, and maybe a Samurai Showdown - a little something for everyone, and relatively cheap as well. Gauntlet Legends would be nice, but there would definately be some cool points to be had if we could find an original Gauntlet/Gauntlet 2 in good condition.

 

As your attorney I advise you to lurk in the "Everything Else" section of the Neo-Geo.com forum (great community btw). I was offered a Marvel Versus Streetfighter A+B board for $75 but shipping would be heinous so I declined :smt009

Anyhow, arcade stuff turns up pretty often there.

 

You want to make money? Put a Cave shooter in there. If you got one coin-feeder a day, it'd make some cash. I've got Ketsui, but not ready to part with it.

 

Make a MAME cab if you don't mind being sneaky Then you can switch games every week.

 

While I'd LOVE a Cave shooter - Dodonpachi, Guwange, or even trying to get ahold of Mushihimesama - we're planning on having this in our student union, in some high traffic area, and we want to attract the largest amount of players possible. Sadly, I'd be surprised if two other individuals at the university other than me even knew who Cave was, so we'd really have to cater to the lowest common gaming (intellectual?) denominator and have something even the meatheaded prettyboys, Hawaiian longboarders, and valleygirls would recognize and be compelled to play :smt009 , hence the looking for a Neo or the four-player action of Gauntlet.

Assembler: While Dimahoo wouldn't work for what we're trying to set up, I would love to buy that off of you in the future when I'm a little more solvent in my accounts. I'll chat with you about pricing some time. :smt023

And MAME would definately ease the problems of finding the games, but being a club-funded machine in the busiest area on campus... If someone decided to get nosy, I'd be in shit over my head.

 

Talk to me sometime and I'll se what I can come up with for you.

By the way, talking about it being on uni soil and being in shit.....

Yeah, MAME is a no-no. However, have you checked into your state's laws on running those machines? In some states, you need a gambling license or whatever. I know it isn't gambling, but it falls under that, or amusements or whatever. You're making money from it, that's what it boils down to.

Oh, and of course, it needs to be PAT tested or whatever testing you have out there for electrical safety ;-)

Not trying to put a downer on things, just don't want your Uni pulling the plug (literally!! haha).

 

Mushihime-sama = bling bling
Damn thing retailed for over two grand. Not sure if it's come down at all... I assume it'll be quite pricey for a LOOONG time.

I was able to grab this diggity-dog flyer though

Obviously not from the states. If you're a student, you can get away with murder.

 

Students, maybe... Universities, I doubt.

If the Uni stood to get in trouble over something, then I doubt they'd allow it. Uni radio stations still need broadcasting licenses, don't they? I doubt Joe Schmoe can set up in his bedroom and say "hey I'm a student, its student radio!!"

Oh, and you should know by now I'm from the UK, not least because I've asked you about shipping to the UK before on your stuff for sale, but also because I actually fill out the location part of my profile with my actual country ;-)

 

Yeah -- I saw that (it says your location).
We had a few games in our student union (Texas). I've never heard of needing a gambling license for video games... namely b/c gambling is illegal except for a few places.... IE -- there are no licenses.

 

Videogames aren't considered gambling as far as I know. Here in Oregon, we've got pretty damn strict gambling rules - bars have to go through miles of red tape just to get a few video poker machines, as gambling is mainly reserved for the tribes - some sort of fucked-up ass-kissing for the federal government ruining/displacing their lands centuries ago that still continues today, despite their near total integration into modern society. That's like giving all Asian-Americans big tuition boosts because we invaded Okinawa (among other things) in WWII. :angry

But I digress. Arcade games aren't considered gambling.

 

Not out here. ^__^ Basically, you're just paying to play, not paying for a chance at winning money/prizes/etc., so arcade games aren't classed as gambling and so are tax- and license-free. :-D

 

I'm going to go out on a limb here and going to say that states that have strict laws against gambling won't require a "gambling" license for an acard game (since it's illegal).

 

Ok so gambling is the wrong word.

Still, an AMUSEMENT license. I'd stick check up on it, GSL, just to cover your own back.

This is from a Nevada lawyer's site about hotel licensing:

I can't find anything on the Oregon License page at
http://lic.oregon.gov/cfmx/lic/index.cfm, but you never know.

Also, it may not be a state law but a county or city bylaw...

The Lewisboro license....

Montgomery County license

*edit*

Some states may not require a license if you have under a certain number of machines, e.g. 5, when it is considered an arcade.

Also, check that the college's Public Liability Insurance covers having a machine on the premises. They will probably require the machine to be tested for electrical safety by a qualified electrician, possibly their own.

I know it is unlikely and you'd be careful and everything, but worst case scenario - someone electrocutes themselves on the machine, or falls and puts their hand/head through the glass, or the machine shorts and causes a fire - you'd want to be covered in those circumstances.

 

New post as this is a somewhat different topic.....

Firstly, the idea of a 6 slot Neo Geo board would be a good one. You could then put in several carts that would appeal to all sorts of people.

you could have a beat-em-up, sport game, puzzle game, platformer, SHMUP and something else.

And the other idea....

Well, either get a cheap generic cab (please not a dedicated!) and do it up, or build one yourself! Your uni must have a technology department, maybe they'd be willing to lend a hand should you need it? Plans are readily available online - why not make up your own machine based on those plans, changing to suit your spec?

Of course, make sure the locks are good on the machine - you don't want your carts going walkies!!

MVS carts are a good alternative to boards, as you don't have to take the board out, maybe make new mount holes in the cab, perhaps wire a new harness etc. just to play a new game! Also, a 6 slot is ideal because you can leave the games in.

You know where I am if you need any advice ;-)

 

Thanks for all the advice, everyone. A gambling license is indeed not required, and as far as I know there are no amusement licenses or anything to get in the way, either. Aside from the fact that I've never heard of an amusement license for single games in places like restaraunts, movie theatres, etc., there is also a bit of insistance by the state government that things like liquor licenses, gambling licenses, etc. be displayed in a conspicuous location on the premises, and I've never once seen one anywhere. I did several different searches through state laws, and did not come across anything even remotely concerning an amusement license. And the Montgomery County, Maryland code on videogames has something about it that screams unenforceable - maybe on account of it's a different state on the other side of the nation. ;-) Neither the City Of Ashland nor Jackson county have any sort of license required for this sort of thing. Believe me when I say that there REALLY is no license needed - I'm not lying, I promise. :smt023

As far as insurance goes, the machine is owned by the game development club, which is a campus organization, and as such, the machine is technically campus property anyways so it's covered under their insurance for what it's worth. As far as electrical testing goes, I'll ask, but I doubt they'll require it - I've heard no stories of people getting electrocuted by arcade games (unless they have been sticking their hands in the back and poking around or something :smt043 ) and the machine will be fully tested out by myself before we attempt to install it permanently, so if there's a problem, it will get fixed.

A Neo Geo 6-slot actually wouldn't be a good idea - we have a budget of $510, which needs to cover the cabinet, board, miscellaneous shipping fees, and any repairs and maintenence that needs to be done. Unless we stocked the machine with 6 copies of Puzzle Bobble or Metal Slug X, there's no way we'd be able to afford it.

Basically, it would be a lot of work, the school's woodshop is less-than-adequate where tools and safety (!) are concerned, and I don't have the time to oversee something like that. And oversee I would, as this has been a project I've been working on for a while, and I'd prefer to to the brunt of the work when possible.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by this, but if it's what I think it is, I don't like the suggestion. :smt014

 

Cave Shooters

Heh.

Tell me I'm not the only one who saw "Cave Shooter" and thought "wow, that'd be damn cool but no way is a student group going to be able to afford the half-mil for a proper CAVE setup."

Twas only after that I realized you were talking about Cave the game company and not a CAVE running a FPS.