Overhauling the Sega Astro City – Part 5, roundup

Continuing on from part 4 of this series, let’s move on to part 5 – a short summary!

With all the groundwork done, I’ve whipped up a short summary noting my “to-get” list:

Item Comments Price
Terminal block 2x 12-way 30A blocks, dividable $5.70
3m AC cabling For new AC wiring $7.50
General purpose hook up wiring Better quality wiring for general purpose stuff $4.95
New JAMMA adapter Replace existing, tired JAMMA cabling $19.95
Naomi Molex adapters for: (a) male Model 2/3 adapter, (b) male JAMMA, (c) male and female for 12v/GND lines for accessories Naomi molex plugs included with PSU; if can’t get female Naomi molex plugs, run an extra 12v and GND run from each adaptor to a more generic molex, and use that to hook up to a molex off the 12v patch bay $15.00
Molex adapters for chassis and fluro To be determined $15.00
2 x red SPST 12v switch Used to power fan/negatron $7.90
1 x green SPST 12v switch Used to power audio $3.95
1 x 3PDT switch Audio source switch $7.95
2 x 120mm fan guards For protecting against injury on 12v fan $9.90
Negatron Used to obtain -5v on the JAMMA harness $25.00
Stereo audio volume controller Fit to outside to replace current controller, runs off final volume output $21.95

That’s my theoretical list with pricing, which may or may not change over time – these posts are a little retrospective, so more updates will come as they happen. Note that this list doesn’t cover the big purchases, which are the Sun PSU and the chassis from Jomac, this is more the ancillary goods to help get everything together.

Once everything’s been gathered and finalised, I’ll then prepare a project timeline noting what needs to be done in the correct order to remove the old components, fit the new ones, test, and finalise the project. We can only hope there isn’t too much scope creep ๐Ÿ™‚

So that’s part 5 โ€“ part 6 and onwards will be ad-hoc updates, so to keep track of the whole project, just use the Sega Astro City Overhaul tag, as the whole series will be added to it over time.

Overhauling the Sega Astro City – Part 4, PC addition

Continuing on from part 3 of this series, let’s move on to part 4 – adding a PC to the cab.

This one came as a bit of an afterthought, but after upgrading my old workhorse S478 P4 3.2ghz PC, I thought it would probably be fine getting relegated to the cab. The cost adding this functionality is pretty minimal, as I still have the valid XP license and the video card’s an ATi Radeon, which have good rates of success running Soft15k. All I’ll need is a J-PAC, and I’ll be fine.

To simplify the procedure, I’ll keep the network card in the machine and administer the PC over the network, and run a customised nLite install to trim out all the unnecessary gear. I’ll rig a momentary push-button to take care of powering on the PC with one of the spare slots I have under the CP (or I’ll add it to the project box housing the switches for the fans, negatron, etc) and mount the PC inside the cab. Easy. I’ll have to customise the gamelist to suit the hardware and monitor since I’m only after 15k titles, but it shouldn’t be too tricky. As a bonus, it also means I can use my recently acquired XM1541 adapter to run off the machines LPT port since my new desktop PC lacks that kind of hardware.

So that’s part 4 โ€“ part 5 will note the summary, and the posts thereafter will be ad-hoc updates.

To keep track of the whole project, just use the Sega Astro City Overhaul tag โ€“ the whole series will be added to it over time.

PS3Jailbreak – is it necessary? Could it be something positive?

So the video game news outlets have been following the recent run of details regarding the PS3Jailbreak (and clone) devices on the tip of hitting the market. This poses some interesting questions.

First up is legitimacy. In the past, I’ve been an advocate for getting into the guts of your console and modding it – this could be for adding better a/v outputs, controlling the refresh rates (50hz/60hz), and breaking open region protection. Cue up the PS3 then – all the AV outputs I need, standard refresh rate, reasonably good media playback (with transcoding sorting out the rest, albeit a bit messy), easy backup of the whole system to an external device, out of the box 2.5″ HDD swapping and, most importantly, region-free.

Let’s go back to that last point – region-free.

So, most of the boxes are ticked, especially that last one – I’ve been actively importing my games since the Saturn era when I first got the internet at home and the gaming world opened its doors, and the fact that the PS3 is region-free by default and that the SATA drive can be expanded on demand? Perfect.

So for me personally, I have no need for modding my PS3. I mean, even in terms of the cost of gaming, this is easily the cheapest generation for gaming. With the competition introduced from the discount cycles from specialist and general retailers, readily available imports and favourable exchange rates, it is comparably very cheap to game this generation. Compare even brand new RRPs of $110 for a new PS3 blockbuster, and compare that to the early-mid 90s where the average cart would set you back $100. I can even list specifics – Sonic 3: $140; Super Street Fighter 2: $180; Virtua Racing: $200. Take into consideration inflation, and it’s pretty clear that prices in this generation are extremely favourable if you shop around.

So, given how open the PS3 is, is it necessary? Arguably no, it isn’t, and I base my opinion on the above.

To be honest though, it really isn’t surprising – the moment they took away Linux support out of the box, they raised the ire of their consumer base, but more importantly, they also raised the ire of the Linux community, who are notorious for making Linux available on any/all platforms (bless ’em!). I remember thinking that this decision would come back and bite them, and to be honest, I’m not surprised that this has come out of the woodwork post-Linux cancellation. In this regard, Sony have to take a bit of the blame for the knee-jerk reaction they had with removing Linux support. While I never used it, I liked what this symbolised about the PS3, and was disappointed to see it removed.

But so far this has all been negative – so why not look at this as an opportunity? The old mentality with regards to modding has been iron-fisted, and to stamp out change/challenges to the established order. Why not take this opportunity to make a pre-emptive strike against some of the issues users have raised with the PS3? Here’s a few to think about:

  • Re-introduce OtherOS support
  • Improve PSone emulation to add true high resolutions and nice filtering
  • Add PS2 emulation via software
  • Remove regioning for PSone and PS2 games, and for DVDs and BRDs
  • Add the option to install games to the HDD alla the XB360
  • Create homebrew licenses to allow groups to contribute to the PS3 legitimately
  • For the hell of it, make the system compatible with PSP games downloaded via PSN
  • Update the media playback functionality of the machine – MKV, subtitles (embedded or separate), better xvid/div support, etc
  • Introduce some interesting emulators – Neo Geo, CPS2 and CPS3 wouldn’t hurt for example, especially with some nice netcode

Sony pre-empted a lot of the reasons legitimate users traditionally modded their machines by introducing progressively better media playback, excellent backwards compatibility (well, at first), user-serviceable HDDs with out-of-the-box backup to any USB HDD, Linux support, 60hz performance and region-free gaming. Why not continue this attitude by making some progressive steps forward again?

Note that I’m not advocating piracy or any of that nasty business – if I like a game I buy it, and the reason I mod my machines is because of those points I raised in the second paragraph.

Just my $0.02.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game is genius, GOTY candidate

scottpilgrimvstheworldthegame

So, on Friday nights I check PSN to see what new stuff has come out, and low and behold, after much drooling over screenshots and trailers, Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game is out. I downloaded the demo, Wifey and I fired through the first level, and I bought the full game immediately.

There is so much about this game that is just so right – beautiful spritework (thanks Paul Robertson, you’re my hero!!), amazing chiptune audio, fantastic old school gameplay with a few twists, local co-op, and all in 1080p, razor-sharp low-res style 2D gold. Then there’s all the fan service to the greats of years gone by, and probably heaps of other goodies I haven’t uncovered since we’ve only played through the first level…

I need to spend more time enjoying this game. You should as well. if you have a PS3, download it. If you have an XB360, hang in there, it shouldn’t be too far away. For those unawares, enjoy a trailer:

I really should do a special on Paul Robertson as well, the man is a certified superchamp.

Overhauling the Sega Astro City – Part 3, monitor replacement

Continuing on from part 2 of this series, let’s move on to part 3, which is probably the most expensive one – replacing the monitor in my Sega Astro City.

The problem I’ve had for a while now has been with some persistent issues regarding convergence and clean lines on the existing monitor, but the main issue I’ve had is knocking out some nasty interference on the tube from what looks like some omnipresent unshielded speakers. Despite attacking it with a degaussing wand, I haven’t been able to permanently shift it, and talking to a few ops and techs, I’ve been told the tube’s probably on the way out. Given the machine’s originally from Japan (though the tube’s been changed since it made it’s way to local shores I’d hazard at a guess, given the dodgy chassis driving the tube before I switched to a genuine Pentranic dual-resolution chassis) and has made it’s way across the country, this isn’t surprising.

So, what to do? I floated the idea of grabbing a big 29″ tri-res tube and use that, but the issue with going this way are that 15k games (which are the majority of arcade games out there) generally look a bit rubbish on most tri-res chassis’ compared to a 15k or 15k/24k chassis, and the cost of the tube (well, tube + postage) is enormous. So, what to do?

After asking around at Aussie Arcade, I found out that Jomac can do a 29″ universal chassis that can be used on old TV tubes. So, given a 68cm TV will suit a 29″ tube frame, the prospects get much better. Given the relatively negligible cost of CRTs at the moment (a lot of my fellow arcade fanboys at AA are pros at nabbing working tubes off the side of the road during hard rubbish!), I managed to nab one for pretty much nothing that’s in great physical condition and a prime candidate for plonking into my cab. All I need now is a uni chassis to suit (I’ve already checked in with Jomac and he’ll be able to sort me out), and I’ll be fine to go. Given I’ve already had plenty of practice hooking up chassis components to tubes when my old generic chassis died last year (including safely discharging the tube), the job shouldn’t be too tricky.

So, this means I’ll be able to swap out the old tube for a relatively new one, pair it with a nice 15/24k universal chassis, and be up and running with a great little setup. Definitely makes for an easier and more cost-effective way of swapping tubes around, and will leave me with a working 15/25k Pentranic CH-288 chassis I can either hold on to, or sell off to offset the cost of the new chassis.

So that’s part 3 โ€“ part 4 will deal with more scope creep, this time involving the addition of some old PC parts.

To keep track of the whole project, just use the Sega Astro City Overhaul tag โ€“ the whole series will be added to it over time.