Neo Geo MVS 2/4/6 Slots Advice

[Porco McRosso]

Hi all,

As I continue my search for a cabinet, I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts or advice on the 2/4/6 slot Neo Geo MVS cabinets. Having measured, I think my games room doorway is just a fraction too narrow for a 6 slot, but no problem for a 2 or 4 slot. Is it a case of the more the better when it comes to these, or do the extra slots create problems of their own? Is there a model that's generally regarded as the best of the bunch and what are they like from an ownership perspective in terms of reliability, parts etc? Thanks as always.

 

[paulie]

Firstly, where are you based? As the one in the flyer is a US cab so not particularly common here in the U.K.

You can put any sized slot motherboard 1,2,4 or 6 in any Jamma cabinet providing it will physically fit in there but you may need a cheap Neo geo to jamma adaptor board, they’re about £25 as mvs is wired slightly different on some motherboards.

My preference is a 2 slot motherboard as it has a built in memory card slot. I’ve read quite a bit that 6 slots are the least reliable but I don’t know if it’s just down to having more slots = more slots to potentially go wrong.

Cab wise I guess it’s where you’re based here in the U.K. lordsvale and electrocoin cabs are what a lot of Neo owners have here. there’s variations on both cabs, I’ve owned both and both were excellent but the lordsvale is a much more compact cab. Japanese candy cabs are also very popular and they come with various different sized monitors, I’ve a sc19-4 and I personally think it’s a lovey cab but if I wasn’t going Neo dedicated then Aero, Astro, Egret 2 would probably be my choice as they are more versatile cabinets.

 

[Porco McRosso]

Hey Paulie,

Thanks very much for the detailed reply. Whilst I'm in the UK, I'm currently looking at the option of importing a cabinet from the US as I'm having very little luck with finding anything here (although I've got my fingers crossed on one potential cabinet (a Super Neo 29)). I also just love the aesthetic of these cabinets, I think they're absolutely stunning- although I would maybe opt for the slightly shorter version with the speakers just above the monitor. I would love to own a dedicated Neo Geo cabinet, it's something that was simply unobtainable for me until more recently and I love the fact that it would open up a whole new library of games for me to discover for the first time on original hardware, despite my advancing years!

Alternatively, I'm also keeping an eye out for something more generic like an Astro or Blast City (as you mentioned) but again, not much luck with finding something that doesn't require a significant amount of time and money to get up to a spec I'd be happy with.

PS I had a quick look at the link for your collection, it's incredible! Some stunning cabinets in there, you've obviously put a lot of time and effort in. Great work!

 

[ChrisBEANS]

Hello Porco, I’ll try to answer in a bit more detail when I get time later, but in the mean time I’ve got some questions that might help steer the conversation… although to be fair, most of what I’ll say will only echo what Paulie said above.

First things first, do you have a budget in mind? That might give us somewhere to start.
If you’re looking for a Neo Geo Candy Cab, you’re probably going to be spending more than if you go for a Euro style, stand up, wooden Neo Geo cab. In which case you’re looking at ElectroCoin or Lordsvale. The ‘Big Red’ in the flyer above is a US cab, and if it’s your bag then you should consider the Electrocoin Arcade.
I’ve recently refurbed one, and while it’s a big, heavy, and imposing beast, it’s narrower and I was able to get it upstairs (with some very able help!).

That’ll give you to multi slot, individually lit mini marquee, head higher speakers experience, just like the ‘Big Red’. Mine is dedicated to the six Metal Slug games and is a joy to play on.

The Lordsvale will be smaller and easier to manage for sure. Probably common to have a two slot in there, but I’m not actually sure??

Candies will be pricier, with this varying on model. The U4 is an older, smaller, all metal affair, with three screen sizes 25,29,33, although the 33 is extremely rare and quite sought after).

The Neo 29 is plastic and has a larger body, much like a Blast or an Egret.

Smaller still is something like a Neo 19, which is a fantastic little cab. Brilliant, portable little beastie, but very pricey, very rare, and if one comes up for sale I’ll fight you for it

If you’re a real Neo Geo fan, then there’s nothing like a dedicated Neo Geo cab!! You can get an adapter to play normal JAMMA standard games on them too, but you need to consider that you won’t be able to play SF, MK, or anything with more than four buttons and because the Neo doesn’t have any vertical games the screens aren’t made to be rotated, so no tate games.

If you’re limited to one cab, and might want access to tate or six buttons, maybe a JAMMA as Paulie says.

As for the varying slots, the consensus is that the six slot is the least reliable. Just personal experience here, and I might just be lucky, but my six slot (repaired by Dave on here) is bullet proof, where as I’ve got two faulty four slot boards and one perfect one in my second cab.

I’m certainly not saying I’m looking to sell either of my cabs right now, but I do need to have a think about whether I can keep both, plus the six button cab I have coming, and then potentially a tate cab too. So if you’re really keen on a dedicate Neo cab, I might have one coming up soon.
I’m pretty attached to them though, so don’t count on it

ChrisBEANS2021-08-21 20:04:29

 

[paulie]

Edit: Great advise from Chris! I was typing this when he must have posted.

You’re very welcome. There’s a lot of lovely Neo cabinets so you’ll be spoilt for choice. It’s a bit like buses though… wait ages and then two come along at once. A nice Neo 25 sold a month or so ago on here for about £1300 and tbh if I had more space I’ve have bought it.

Importing a single cabinet can be expensive so just make sure if you go that route that you factor everything into the price. Personally I’d hold out for something already in the U.K. and it’s a big bonus if you are able to view it and collect which isn’t a bad idea unless it’s from a trusted seller, especially if it’s your first cabinet purchase. Remember a lot of a cabinets value is in the monitor. Buttons, sticks, wiring are a doddle and cheap to fix/ replace but get a monitor with heavy burn then you’ll always have a monitor with heavy burn. Geometry etc can be faffed around with and you can learn. However if you’re new then get something that you’re happy with from the start unless you enjoy tinkering but remember tinkering time is time not playing games.

If you’re after a candy then sign up to Arcade Otaku as that’s very Japanese oriented and I’ve bought a few cabinets from members on there some nice folk too. If you’re after a wooden cabinet then you’ve found a great forum already

If you’re only going to get 1 cabinet and you’re going to get a candy then I know I’ve already said this but I’d strongly recommend getting something like an Aero or Astro. Not all Neo cabs have monitors that can be rotated and they only have 4 button layouts. Get an aero or new Astro city with a 2l12b layout and you can the play both horizontal and vertical games, also games like street fighter 2 etc that need 6 buttons and you can still play all the Neo games on it too and there’s more about so spares are easier to find for example if I need something for my sc19 then it’s a long long game of searching yahoo and likely paying a small fortune, if it’s for an Astro stick up a wants post and someone will likely have what you’re after and they are cheaper than a Neo candy too.
paulie2021-08-21 18:50:08

 

[neo-geo-mvs]

Hello, I think Paul and Chris have pretty much covered it.

I wouldn't personally import one at the moment. Freight/shipping cost have gone up a fair bit and then all the additional import costs on top.

Traditional UK fans would get an Electrocoin or Lordsvale. I only ever saw an Electrocoin back in the day and so that's the one I always wanted and managed to get.

Played Candys in Trocedero and around London as well but never dedication neo. I do like the U4 especially and the Neo 29. Unless you can get a U4, I wouldn't go for a Neo 29, I would go for a Astro/Aero/Blast City so that you can use for Neo Geo and CPSI/II and other 6 button games

So things to think about;

1) Budget
2) Games you want to play
3) Number of cabs

Good luck!!neo-geo-mvs2021-08-21 19:27:42

 

[ChrisBEANS]

As above, probably not the best idea to import right now. I imported a U4 in March, and just this week was stung for a £460 VAT bill!

 

[paulie]

Ouch! It’s a beautiful looking cab though.

 

[TheDaddy]

As above, probably not the best idea to import right now. I imported a U4 in March, and just this week was stung for a £460 VAT bill!

Holy S**T snacks !

Dave.

 

[Porco McRosso]

Hi guys,

A huge thanks for all the great advice. Lots to think about! I've answered the main questions/points below and hopefully that gives a better idea as to where I currently stand...

1) Budget: I don't really have one at this point. It's more a case of trying not to pay over the odds for what I'm hoping to find (which is where a forum like this is invaluable). I hope that doesn't sound flippant, it's simply because I've been putting money aside for a cabinet for a LONG time in the hope that I would one day have the space and circumstances to allow me to own one. A house move has finally given me the space, and combined with recently turning 40 and all the events of the past 18 months, I'm of the mindset that this is something I always have and always will want, so I might as well get on and do it!

I was having a look at a few listings and pictures of the Electrocoin cabinets and I absolutely love them, something like that would be just perfect. I'm definitely less keen on the Lordsvale cabinets, if only because I want something that looks and feels really substantial (which is what I like so much about the big reds). I appreciate they're quite different, but I do still like the look of the Super Neos, and would very happily buy one of those too.

I've also had a look at previous listings both here and on every website I can find in the UK and overseas in an effort to find ballpark figures for what cabinets sell for. Condition is really the key factor for me, so if it was the case that a pretty much perfect cabinet was available and was selling for what it was worth, then I would certainly try to buy it. I've had to make a few guesses and assumptions, but does somewhere around the £1500 to £2500 mark sound about right for a cabinet that's in excellent condition all round (subject to model obviously)? As I mentioned, I will happily pay the money for a perfect cabinet, should one exist.

2) Games: Neo Geo! This is a tricky one, but after a lot of soul searching and initially looking at the MAME PC route etc on a generic Jamma cab, I've pretty much done a 180 and am now leaning towards dedicated and original hardware. One of my few regrets in life is selling my console collections over the years, not keeping CRTs etc and I feel like this is a way of getting that back into my life. Like everyone else, I've access to just about every game going through various means but I think I'd like to keep my arcade experience as the one area of my gaming that's focused and authentic.

I love the thought of being able to play these games as they were meant to be played, on the machine they were meant to be played on. I know this might sound strange (especially given the money I may end up spending) but I've actually got very little history with Neo Geo games, although this is where the attraction lies for me. These games were so rare and exotic to me whilst growing up that I never really got a chance to experience them. I absolutely adore the Metal Slug series, having spent a lot of time playing MS3 through a podcast (I think I still have the one credit high score on Arcade Sidekick from that, my one and only gaming achievement!) but there's so many other franchises in there that I know I'd enjoy and get excited every time I think about playing them- Neo Geo is one of the few undiscovered territories in gaming for me and the thought of unearthing retro games for the first time at 40 years of age really, really appeals to me. For me, it would almost feel like actually being in the 90s, rather than revisiting them to play familiar games.

It's a small thing but the standard format of it's button layout across all the games really appeals to the OCD in me too, and with 2 young kids in the house, I'm hoping it's something that I can get them involved in without it being overly complicated for them. Some of the games I've seen look like they'd be brilliant fun to play with the family.

I also love the physical nature of the cartridges and marquee cards. I really enjoy the collecting/curating side of gaming and I'm sure there's a lot of enjoyment to be had on that side of things too.

3) Number of cabs: At this point, my focus is on getting one cabinet and getting it right, but I'm sure everyone else here started out saying the same! At a push, I could fit a second cabinet in my office/games room, so perhaps that could be the jack of all trades, 6 button Jamma cab somewhere down the line. If I had to choose one cab and one only right now, then I'm pretty sure I'd like to have as an original and authentic experience as possible, which this would give me.

So I guess in summary- and after all that waffling- it's a dedicated cabinet I'd like to buy, with the final decision being driven largely by whichever I can find in the best condition. If there's a fully restored or very well maintained original, with a great monitor, then I'd happily pay the going rate to get it into my games room and start enjoying all these amazing games I've yet to discover! Thanks very much again for helping me out, and please do let me know if you hear of anything you think might fit the bill.

Cheers, Andy

 

[paulie]

This isn't afullreply but I wanted to get in there as thats big money and you DON'T need to spend anything like that! Sure you can spend big money on the really desirable candy models such as a cute, pony, sc19, canary and others but if your'e new to the scence avoid them. They do nothing differnt to what an Astro or an electrocoin NeoGeo or pretty much any JAMMA cab can do, sometime less. For example my neo has a tiny control panel with 4 buttons, even if I spent a fotune on having a custom control panel made there isn't space for 6 buttons and I can't rotate the screen, parts are super rare and if you can find them they cost a fortune. Use the search funciton on here and just trawl through the sales threads see what models sold for what price over the last 12 months and do the same on arcade otaku.

2. Well if you like cartridges there many other cartridge based arcade platforms Taito F3, IGS PGM 1, 2 and 3, CPSII, STV, Naomi 1 and 2 and all come with their own artwork and you could play any of them in any JAMMA wiried cab.

3. You said you have a budget of upto 2.5K and possibly room for 2 cabs so if it were me I'd go for a nice 6 button, JAMMA cab with a rotatable 15K monitor be it a woody, Astro, Aero whatever asthetically apeals to you, and look at £400-£1250 depending on model and condition you might get somthing for less. That way you'd have maxmum versatility from a single arcade cabinet, a New Net City would also add 31K to the mix. You've got a big budget and it could go a very long way despite it being an expensive hobby so I'd say please spend a lot of time researching, and spend the money wisely.Put a wanted add up here and folk will respond. Then you have a ton of cash left over to spend on games or a nice MVS cab when one pops up for sale.

A dedicated cab would something like pac-man thats dedicated to pac-man and nothing else. A MVS cab is pretty much JAMMA maybe some MVS bells and whistles, artwork, memory card slot, el panels for mini marquees etc, As I said previously you may need an adaptor but as a general rule you can play MVS in a JAMMA cab and vice versa. In many cases you can also play non JAMMA with adaptors and a bit of tinkering in both a JAMMA and MVS cab. It's mostly down to the monitor so anything 31K is out unless you have a tri sync but other than that you'll run out of money way before running out of games to play.

And good luck, you'll get somthing nice just do your research and be patient for the right cab to come along!

 

[Porco McRosso]

Evening all,

Just thought I'd provide an update on my search for my first cabinet, but also to thank you guys. I came very close to buying a really nice Super Neo 29 last week, but ultimately decided against it in part due to the really great advice passed on in the thread above. Whilst I'm still keen to both play and own a Neo Geo cab, I couldn't escape the fact that it probably isn't the best one to get as my first. After a bit more mulling over and research, I think the advice on something like an Astro is absolutely sound. As you've stated this would allow me access to pretty much everything, including (importantly) all the Neo Geo stuff. If I find that I enjoy it as much as I hope I will, then that's probably the point at which I'd look at picking up something like a Super Neo 29. It also gives me an excuse to buy another cabinet further down the line!

I've put up a post in the "Wanted" section, but if anyone knows or hears of a nice, clean Astro for sale then please do keep me in mind. I'm hoping to find something that's 100% working, with as good a monitor as possible and in generally good shape.

Thanks again for all the help and I'm hoping I'll be able to join in on the ownership side of things one day!

Cheers for now,

Andy

 

[Mowerras]

I've tinkered around with the Neo Geo MVS systems, so here's my take on it! If you're starting, the 2-slot setup is perfect for home use—it's compact and easy to manage. Moving up to the 4-slot gives you more game options without taking up too much space. Now, if you're a die-hard collector or setting up a sweet arcade room, the 6-slot could be right up your alley, offering a wide selection of games at your fingertips. Consider how many games you want available at once and how much room you have to spare. Ultimately, it's all about having a blast with it!