My home-built Neo Geo MVS console

Well, it's finally finished, my Neo Geo MVS home console is now fully playable. It features an MV-1FZS motherboard, a NeoBitz-S video encoder, power supply from an Apple IIe, and an attractive *cough* wooden base. Made lovingly with a table saw, sabre saw, and gorilla glue.

Pictures!










This next picture shows how huge a Neo Geo MVS cartridge is- truly gigantic compared to an NES cartridge.


For those who are wondering, the MVS cart shown is Samurai Shodown, Japanese edition. Also shown in the pictures above is my current MVS collection- Metal Slug, Metal Slug 2, Samurai Shodown, Samurai Shodown 2 with shockbox, Bust-A-Move, Neo Turf Masters, and King of Fighters 94. All of which are pretty good games in my estimation.

mini-review: Samurai Shodown 2

Since I am on a Neo Geo trip lately, with my recent project being to build a Neo Geo console and all, I'll review another game for the Neo Geo. This one is called Samurai Shodown 2.

Published in 1994 by SNK, Samurai Shodown 2 was also known as Shin Samurai Spirits, or "New Samurai Spirits." I think it's a more appropriate name, as this game is more than a sequel usually is, and takes possibly the biggest step upwards of any of the games in the long Samurai Shodown series.

The game increases the roster of playable characters dramatically, and includes some of my personal favorites, which do not appear again in any of the later games. The most notable of these is Neinhaldt Seiger, who has a giant gauntlet/cannon combo arm and also happens to be Prussian. The notoriously cheap Tam-Tam from SS1 has been replaced with Cham-Cham, who is not only less garish in appearance, but also more fun and balanced to play with or against. Kyoshiro, the red haired kabuki master, shows up much improved, and Wan-Fu has been given a big overhaul and an appropriate attitude adjustment. All of which is very good.

The game is still graphically impressive to this day, with very smooth animations and scrolling, and an appropriate amount of slowdown and zoom during critical hit moments, which not only provides a bit of drama but also aids in performing time-critical combos. Unlike some Neo Geo games of the time, like *shiver* Art of Fighting games, the zooming is not sickening nor do the characters noticeably pixelate. Detailing is of course top notch, as is to be expected from a Neo Geo game.

But, all this aside, the biggest advantage of Samurai Shodown 2 is it's immense playability. 1 player mode is admittedly boring, like most fighting games, and there are some incredibly cheap fights towards the end which literally require you to pump in the quarters like there's no tomorrow. But 2 player mode is where this game really shines. The characters are all pretty evenly matched, but despite this they are all widely varied and each character is really unique. Each has his own set of combos, style of fighting, and even different combo systems. Choosing the right character in a 2 player match is more of a matter of personal taste, style, and ability than anything else, unlike some games where you simply play a fancy version of rock-paper-scissors to find the fighter that will win you the match.

There are only two weak points with this game- first, it's hard to find. It was released on the Neo Geo in both home and arcade versions, but was never released in the United States in any other medium until 2008 on XBox Live Arcade. However, given the prevalance of emulation and the high-selling nature of this game in arcades it shouldn't be too hard for a serious gamer to track down something he can play.

The other weak point is the really bad, truly abominable translation this game got. Going from Japanese to English has always been bad for SNK, but this game really got screwed up badly. if you like a nice bit of Engrish then all the better (I happen to enjoy it some of the time) but if you are looking for something deadly serious, which by all respects this game is supposed to be, you won't find it. I personally feel that the Japanses version is really the definitive version because of the lack of hilarious Engrish and some other cosmetic changes, but every now and then a little Engrish does some good for a game.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate this an 8, mainly it's lower because of age, scarcity, and really bad translation. I have played better games overall, but this is truly one of the finest 1 on 1 fighters out there.

Update: I am not dead!

For those who actually deign to spend time on my blog, a little update.

I survived my midterm examinations and such, and things are beginning to flow a little better here at school. I still have lots of work, but nothing more than what I am expecting. Lots of reading and papers, as is the norm for any philosophy major.

I have had some time for projects lately, mostly tinkering with my new Neo Geo project. Essentially what I have accomplished in my spare time is to get the arcade board working with an old Apple II power supply (from a dead IIe) and I also made a fairly simple RGB to NTSC adapter, which is based on a chip from Analog devices. I used a kit from a guy named Jeff Kurtz, known as the NeoBitz-S encoder. It works like a charm, and was pretty easy to build.

I have one controller and 1 controller port for the unit, so I need to finish my second controller and wire up a port for it. The first controller is a regular Neo Geo home system controller, which has a DB-15 connector on the end, pretty straightforward. I have been working on a second controller of much higher quality, with real arcade parts from Seimitsu and a plexiglass overlay and everything. Once it's done it should be very nice.

So, honestly, most of my lack of posting is because I have been doing other things, mostly school, tinkering. I'll post some pictures of my project once I feel the first really complete version is done.

mini-review: Metal Slug

This is the first article in (what I hope will be) a series of short reviews of video games I have played extensively. Unlike big magazines, I will not be going in depth or have any fanboy attitude, but unlike some online reviewers (like Angry Videogame Nerd) I am not simply going to shred every game I come into contact with.

Today's review: Metal Slug for the Neo Geo

First, before I begin I must say that Metal Slug was the first arcade game which really grabbed my attention, and subsequently a large amount of my quarters. It's really the game that changed the way I looked at games, and forged my subsequent interest in video games. So this review might be a little bit biased.

Alright, first to begin with the stuff I don't like about this game. First, it has a complete and utter lack of story line. Yeah, there are some fan websites that try to tack a story on, but the game itself has no story, except that an evil guy named General Morden is evil, and therefore you must kill him and all his minions. Typical video game plot, really. Oh, and General Morden really looks alot like Saddam Hussein. Really.

Secondly, some of the sound effects can get a bit repedetive. Many of the enemies have one and only one sound they make when they die, depending on how you kill them. So sometimes you can mow down a large crowd of enemy soldiers and hear the same death screams being played about 10 times a second. I don't mind this too much, but some people really dislike it, especially if they are only listening to the game and not playing it.

Alright, enough already. This game rocks. The lack of story isn't a problem at all, and the sound effects are negligible compared to all the rest this game has to offer. I will enumerate the best points of this game in no particular order:

1. You spend the entire game killing anything and everything that moves.
2. You accomplish #1 with an arsenal of the most destructive weapons you have ever seen.
3. You can drive a tank, which not only has huge guns but can also crush nearly anything.
4. You singlehandedly destroy hundreds of enemy soldiers, toast dozens of armored vehicles, demolish giant war engines, and rescue loads of hostages- on every single level.
5. There are six of said levels- not too long, not too short.
6. Even if you are a bad player it's still a ton of fun. If you are a good player it's even more fun.
7. Unlike your average RTS or RPG, you do not have to spend hours playing in order to have fun at this game. But you could play for hours if you wanted to...
8. The graphics rock, the music rocks, the level design rocks, and it even has sequels that rock!

And last but not least, this game has nearly infinite replay value. Yes, you can see it all in 30 minutes or less. Or can you?? I dare you to find every secret by yourself, even on the 5th play through. And once you know where everything is, can you beat the game without dieing even once? I eventually managed to accomplish this feat, and have yet to repeat it. Because the game is only designed to be played in 10-30 minute intervals you can just pick it up again and again, whenever the need for some non-stop wanton destruction strikes your fancy.

Finally, the #1 reason why I like this game: it's a heck of a lot of fun with friends. After all, if killing an evil dictator and his army of henchmen is so much fun, think how much fun it is to bring a friend along for the ride! So what are you waiting for? Find this game, and get your daily recommended dose of destruction and insanity today!

Demos and music

Well, here comes another strange and seemingly random post, but you'll see how it ties in with the theme around here in a minute.

I just want to point something out, to anyone who has lived in a hole. (or is too young to know about it) The Demoscene is something which I have noticed many young people today seem to entirely miss, and which older geeks seem to have abandoned. However, it's still around, and still very strong. Of course, if you don't know what the 'scene is about you need to visit Pouet now and see for yourself.

For those who know the 'scene, here are some things which I find to be of special interest to people with the following interests/tastes:

For Linux users, or anyone who knows how to work CDRDao, check out the Demovibes series of disk images in MP3/CUE format. Gapless demo music CD's = bliss.

For retro computing enthusaists I would suggest looking at the latest Demovibes album in particular, Demovibes Live, which consists of live remixes of old-school and new-school demo music from Willbe and Moonove, two excellent musicians. Overall a much more "consistent" sound compared to other Demovibes releases, and very nice to hear the classics redone in such a tasteful manner.

Lastly, to anyone who loves the "Zen" aspect of retrocomputing (simplicity in form and function, etc) check out Paniq and Xerxes for some really appealing music. I enjoyed Paniq's album "Advertising for Metaphysics" and his single "masagin," which I consider to be one of his best works. From Xerxes be sure to check out "The Mirror Formula" and "Chillosophy 3," both of which are very ambient and perfect for those late night programming flings in Applesoft. ;)

(Note, Chillosophy 3 is not available as a music-only download, but as a music disk on Pouet. I'm sure you can figure out how to listen to it.)

Hacking up bootlegs

Heh, as if a bootleg wasn't hacked up enough...

My latest project will involve the documentation, dissection, and modification of one or more bootleg Neo Geo MVS carts. Yes, they are frowned upon and detested by the Neo-Geo.com community, but I intend to make something cool and/or useful out of them. After all, nobody really wants them around, people throw them away, but nobody in the community really knows how they work or what can be done with them. I intend to find out. A list of hypothetical uses for bootleg carts I have come up with should be helpful to clarify:

- document MVS memory mappers for homebrew developers
- salvage original PCB's for doing repair jobs on legit carts
- fix 'em up for personal enjoyment (I like fixing things)
- any other situation which requires an MVS cartridge that nobody cares if it gets broken

Most bootlegs are said to be buggy and it is often said that they seem to have reliability issues. The main reason for this is amateure soldering skills. Yup. Most bootlegs are done by one-man operations, working out of a basement with some flash chips or eproms. Most of the reliability issues have to do with poor soldering, which can be fixed easily in most cases. Most damage is caused by jarring the cartridge, which cracks the solder joints. With a proper heat-controlled iron these joints can be reflowed and the main problem solved.

Back to school technology PART 2

Well, I am now finished going "back to school," so to speak. I have discovered a solution to the problem I mentioned below, about how my University wants to authenticate with MAC addresses and Javascript and how my Lantronix can't do that. Well, I found something called Firestarter, which allows me to use my "modern" laptop as a gateway for other devices. My wireless hooks up to the 'net and authenticates, and my Lantronix gets hooked to a router which is attached to the ethernet port on my laptop. It's a little like the "bridging" in Windows, but much more secure. All the devices behind my laptop get a full firewall and both MAC and IP "cloaking" in a way, since they are using the same MAC and IP as my laptop.

Retrocomputing Forever!