Another Man’s Trash is Jango’s Treasure! Jango Rambles…

It’s been a very busy week for me this week. Hell, it’s been a very busy couple of months and I must say it’s getting MORE DIFFICULT to come up with something interesting to write, truthfully. While I’ll be the first one to say my writing style is rubbish and a tad bit dull, I push forward and hoping I can come up with interesting antidotes and a different perspective on gaming. So allow me to ramble about my passion that is gaming and neat junk I was able to pick up for free because another man’s garbage is Jango’s treasure (after many hours of work, lol.)

You see, my passion is gaming and some would say that I’m a little obsessed with video games, but let me get this one point out of the way. I’m a huge console gamer and just because game on the weekends and listen to gaming compositions on my iPod doesn’t make me strange, does it? Back to the point: I’m a classic console gamer/collector. I find the simple beeps and bops of the original Nintendo/Famicom to be very soothing to my soul and I never got into the whole PC thing (too bad too because I find the mod scene to be quite invigorating and a breath of fresh air to gaming.) I guess that’s one of the reason I like the whole roms hacks and mods on emulators.

Earlier this week, I found out about a user made Mario game called Mario Adventure that almost rivals the awesomeness that is Super Mario 3, or so says the article. I still haven’t got around playing the game since I don’t have a USB controller for my Mac. I tried it on my PowerPak but it wasn’t compatible. A shame really, that would have been awesome playing a little Mario Adventure action on my NES. The PowerPak is freaking sweet but I’m gonna need to write a review about this wonder device a little bit later.

Anyways, I love retro consoles. I have a very deep place for my NES/SNES and loathing towards Nintendo’s failure: The N-64. How can a company control the gaming industry with the NES and SNES and get the N-64 all wrong! I guess that’s why I not a firm believer of brand loyalty because I ignored the N-64 like the plague and was playing myself some awesome PlayStation 1 action. You see during the end of the SNES life span, I really wanted those arcade “perfect” games and I found a few home ports to be better than the arcade games, but majority of them were very pathetic in comparison. I had very little money and I could afford to waste my cash on new IP’s so I focused my attention on games that I had already played in the arcades or the sorry example or arcades found in North Las Vegas in the early 90’s, like three or so machines located throughout numerous 7-11’s and Smith’s Grocery stores.

My favorite genre has always been fighter since that was one of the few games that Decepticreep and I could play together (more like against each other) so when Street Fighter II was finally released on the SNES I was in heaven and that passion for arcade ports is what drove me to purchase the PlayStation (for the SF: Alpha series) and also import the Capcom VS. games to my Sega Saturn. I was started to get a little discouraged spending the big amounts of cash import the “perfect” games onto my various system. I slowly started to change my taste in games due to titles like Metal Gear Solid which eventually drawn me into the 3rd dimension of gaming. I’m slow to change and I kick and scream the whole way.

I’m still not a huge fan of 3D games and sadly my first “3D” game was Tomb Raider and that just gave me a bad taste for the 3rd dimension. Because of avoiding the N-64, I completely missed out on the Mario/ Zelda hype and the only 3D games I played were more in the vein of Resident Evils and Tekken games. You know games where I don’t have to fuss with the camera.

Eventually I grew to love the 3D games and forgot all about my old systems as most of us did. I boxed up my original NES which I eventually gave away, yet I held on to my SNES. I definitely played it less and less and focused my time on RPS’s that I missed out on the SNES and played through the inferior PS sequels just for the damn cut sequences ala: Final Fantasy VII. Like a good consumer, I replace my overplayed dying laser PS 1. The damn thing could only read games when the console was upside down. I jumped into the Dreamcast and had bought every single system since.

I can ramble about the console wars for a whole 5 pages but basically, I obtained all of the modern consoles and eventually (via eBay and gaming forums) I started to purchase old retro consoles and Japanese consoles, like the PC Engine. My philosophy was that if I had all of the systems then I was in a better position to pick and choose between the best ports amongst all of the systems and (of course) the exclusives games for each system. It was my anal tendencies that transcend my perception of game collecting. My focus was no longer on the future but focused in the past. Simple games with limited capabilities that had to get the “fun factor” right and it were because of that attitude that caused my focused shifted to arcades “collecting”.

I was sitting on about $800 from my tax refund and I wanted to get something amazing, something that wasn’t just a DVD player or a big TV. I wanted a show piece; a fucking conversation starter. My now wife, Bruyere, suggested going to see Sean at Game Repair and see if he had any cabs for sale. Being a little shy and sheepish, I was hesitant because I didn’t want to come off as a leeching douche but Sean was cool and had a great “deal” for a Defender cab that was converted to a Neo-Geo one slot with a 19” screen and it came with 7 games: Metal Slug 2, Metal Slug 3, Puzzle Bobble, Super Dodgeball, Shock Troopers 2, Kabuki Klash and King of Fighters 96.

This was a slice of heavenly pie, I instantly became a Neo-Geo fan and I longed to save up and purchase more games. The only problem with that cab was the joysticks were so damn close to each other. Player 1’s hand was always smacking into the side of the cab. Even with all the flaws in that cab, it still sparked my love of all things Neo-Geo and arcade gaming. Eventually, I traded that cab and gave back 5 of the games back and ended up with an Area 51 25” screen cab and a copy of Marvel vs. Street Fighter. I studied long and hard and eventually got the hang of converting cabs not out of necessity but for fun.

You see, most arcade cabinet post 1986 are all wired to the Japanese Amusement Machine Manufactures’’ Association’s standard or just JAMMA for short. The 25 inch cabinet use to be an Area 51 and I had to add to the wiring so I can get the 4th added to my control panel. Over time I’ve own several cabs and I even given a machine to Decepticreep as a Christmas gift. I find the hobby to be challenging and relaxing. There’s a deeper connection I have to my games. I devoted many hours getting my machines converted and some needs a little bondo and paint, that are mostly in good shape and plays great. I’m thinking next summer; I’m going to clean up all of my machines and completely redo a lot of my older cabs and make them show worthy.

My interest in arcade gaming had tapered off due to no new SNK games for the Neo-Geo and Atomiswave and that most of my money is funneling back into my house. Well, earlier this week I got a call from Sean and he asked if I was interested in 2 empty cabs. Before I could even think, I said yes. I was more honored that he would ask me to take his junk before trashing it. Not caring about transport, I could always use another project machine. The first cab that I picked up was a decent shaped NARC cab. While the game is bad, the cab hold a 19” monitor and those are fairly cheap to come by unlike the Rampage cab that was converted into a Mortal Kombat III cab. This cab needs a 25” monitor and unlike the NARC cab, the monitor are expensive. Which would you prefer to pay: $130 for a 19” monitor or $499 for a 25” monitor?

Not bad for free. I have a broken 19” monitor that may be repairable but the Rampage cab is another story. I have a feeling; I’m going to be sitting on that cab for many months. Because of the new additions to the boneyard, I have to clean my garage and make more room to work on these. My goal is simple: rebuild the cheaper cabs first and focus my attention on the 25” cab for the big money. Whenever I get around rebuilding these cabs, I’ll make sure I post pictures. This hobby is not as expensive as everyone thinks and it’s nice to puff your chest out when the topic of “inferior ports” becomes the main topic amongst the gamer crowd. Hopefully, if everything goes to plan, I’ll have a few more cabs added to the Pineconeattack arcade. I’m still contemplating on picking up a Trojan cab for $100 because even a crappy game is cool if it’s original. I still need to fix up my “Sunset Riders” cab. Damn so many project and so little time…

Any suggestions on what I should turn these cabs into? I know one of them will become a 4 player Turtles in Time or X-Men but I have no idea what to do with the other two. Any suggestions will help!

–Jangofatt

Posted by Jangofatt