[doc eggfan]

Ever since the Dreamcast was discontinued, I've always wanted to own a NAOMI Arcade cabinet for all those NAOMI games that never got ported. It seemed like an impossible dream - for one thing I don't have the space, but mainly I thought it was prohibitively expensive. Seems I was wrong.

NAOMI


The full cabinet is about $900, which isn't too bad. But I still don't have the space


So why not just buy the motherboard for a measly $110. How beautiful is that. And you just plug in carts like a regular console. Of course, it's not as easy as that. You need a GD Rom drive, a power supply, arcade sticks and various other paraphernalia. It seems like there are also dramas with region lock-out, different BIOS incompatibilities and security chips. But still, how awesome would that be under your telly.

NAOMI 2


Of course, you need to go for a NAOMI 2 to play all NAOMI software, and they're currently going for a very reaonable $200. It's a shame, because I prefer the clean white look of the original NAOMI.

Atomiswave
Technically not by Sega but deserves a special mention


This is almost designed for home use. Look at it, it looks awesome.


And the games come like this, ready to impress on a collector's shelf.

Ring Series



I know there is a lot of wild and unfounded speculation about this becoming a home console. But why does it matter? If this becomes a long-lasting platform like the NAOMI, can't I just buy one of these?


It doesn't even look that hard to adapt to home use. There's a digital monitor output, PSU is clearly marked although the plug looks unfamilar. Perhaps it's wishful thinking to think a windows compatible control pad will work in that usb port, but surely a JAMMA/Neo Geo Joystick will work in those 9-pin Input sockets.

Hopefully, they'll do what Sammy did and release games in retail-like cases. That would be freaking awesome.

This post has been edited by doc eggfan: 21 May 2011 - 06:08 PM

[Namo]

And the games come like this, ready to impress on a collector's shelf.

Wow, I didn't know most arcade games came in cards WITH cases. (I don't know much about arcade systems to begin with, though). I know that's how the NeoGeo worked though.

But those prices aren't bad considering what you're getting. If you can afford the whole machine, you should definitely make some room, I say.

Also, what's ringwide? Is it something like "The Current Gen" arcade board? I saw a light-gun arcade game for Terminator Salvation that had PS3-level graphics and I wondered what hardware it ran on.

EDIT: derp.

This post has been edited by Namo: 21 May 2011 - 06:37 PM

[Andlabs]

Out of those, only the Ring series boards are not based on Dreamcast hardware — the Atomiswave is effectively a Dreamcast with arcade stuff on it, while the NAOMI, NAOMI 2, and Sega Aurora (not mentioned in your original post) have expansions or something like that. Ring series, as well as Lindbergh and Europa-R, are PC-based. (Chihiro is XBOX based.)

What we really need are more of these games dumped... 69 NAOMI games? Some of which are only certain revisions? :/ But that's just me...

Finally, does someone know what month in 2009 Sega Bass Fishing Challenge for Atomiswave was released? I don't know, but I do know when Radirgy Noa was released — one of these two would be the last officially licensed game released on Dreamcast-based hardware...

This post has been edited by Andlabs: 22 May 2011 - 11:22 AM

[doc eggfan]

I'm sort of coming at it from a home use perspective. Since there is no new home consoles developed by Sega, the next best thing you can turn to is arcade hardware. The NAOMI is the perfect follow up, it's now fairly cheap and has lots of games, but I'm not sure how many aren't already ported to Dreamcast and the ones that aren't are hard to find. If I was going to start with NAOMI I'd want a copy of Exzeal - Shooting Love 2007 or Senko No Ronde, but can't find them. Atomiswave doesn't have many games, but the games are very collectible in their fancy cases.

Chihiro, Hikaru, Lindbergh, Europa-R, Tri-Force are all pretty sweet, but it's not really worth the effort because they only have a handful of games. If you're going to invest in something like this, you want a fairly decent library of software. Hopefully the Ring Series has a long shelf life and develops a strong library, so that in a few years time it will be ripe on the second hand market.

This post has been edited by doc eggfan: 21 May 2011 - 07:41 PM

[Afti]

I dunno. From a home use standpoint, Triforce has F-Zero AX. It's the ultimate peanut butter/chocolate situation, that game. That's worth at least a few points.

(other than that- drawing a blank... Was SCII running on Triforce?)

[doc eggfan]

The current king of arcade boards would probably be the Taito X2 (Street Fighter IV, KoF XII, Raiden IV)

But just look at how ugly it is


At least Sega puts some effort into it's casing design.

[Andlabs]

Keep in mind: ALL arcade systems today use PC hardware; those few that don't use home console hardware :|

(other than that- drawing a blank... Was SCII running on Triforce?)

What SCII?

This post has been edited by Andlabs: 21 May 2011 - 08:15 PM

[doc eggfan]

Keep in mind: ALL arcade systems today use PC hardware; those few that don't use home console hardware :|

(other than that- drawing a blank... Was SCII running on Triforce?)

What SCII?

Soul Calibur II, which was on the Namco System 246 board (PlayStation 2 tech).

Again, ugly

This post has been edited by doc eggfan: 21 May 2011 - 08:25 PM

[Andlabs]

Also, what game is being represented in that cabinet you posted in the first post? I know NAOMI games bitch at you if you don't set the board's configuration settings (# of players, screen orientation, etc.) correctly. In fact, I should add those to Sega Retro...

[doc eggfan]

Also, what game is being represented in that cabinet you posted in the first post? I know NAOMI games bitch at you if you don't set the board's configuration settings (# of players, screen orientation, etc.) correctly. In fact, I should add those to Sega Retro...

I have no idea - it's just a generic image from an arcade distributor

I wish I had a spare 180 euros



It's a shame there was no "all-encompassing" Dreamcast based board. Like a "NAOMI 3" that also accepted Atomiswave and Hikaru software, although it looks like Hikaru games were all custom built into the board.

This post has been edited by doc eggfan: 21 May 2011 - 08:58 PM

[Namo]

The current king of arcade boards would probably be the Taito X2 (Street Fighter IV, KoF XII, Raiden IV)

But just look at how ugly it is


At least Sega puts some effort into it's casing design.

Goddamn, looks like a 90's pc. That was probably the one that ran that Terminator game I saw.

Oh, just curious, what board did House of the Dead 2/Typing of the Dead run on?

[Andlabs]

The Terminator: Salvation game was developed by a company Raw Thrills, who I guess uses custom hardware or PC-based? IDK... I did play H2Overdrive very recently; that's really all I can say.

The House of the Dead Sega Model 2
The House of the Dead 2 NAOMI
The Typing of the Dead NAOMI

This post has been edited by Andlabs: 21 May 2011 - 09:40 PM

[Afti]

Could do a casemod to improve the aesthetic of the Taito X2. Would even let you stick a converter inside the case and have HDMI or component output.

[Black Squirrel]

I'd have thought the aesthetics of arcade boards were a bit negligable... seeing as they're designed to be hidden away.

I think in 99% of cases you're going to find an "ugly" looking arcade system. That or one that just stems from PC hardware. You've probably named all the "pretty" ones from the last ten years.

[Clutch]

I dunno. From a home use standpoint, Triforce has F-Zero AX. It's the ultimate peanut butter/chocolate situation, that game. That's worth at least a few points.

(other than that- drawing a blank... Was SCII running on Triforce?)

I think Mario Kart Arcade GP and its sequel ran on it. Can't speak much for quality of either though, since I've only played the first one a short time due to the machines being incredibly scarce.