About six months ago I discovered a user on the forums at neo-geo.com by the handle shadowkn55 who makes very high quality replacement labels for Neo Geo MVS cartridges. At that time I purchased eleven label which really improved the look of those games. All those details can be seen here.
More recently I purchased another batch of labels and I’ve managed to clean four carts and apply the new stickers. And again the transformation is awesome.
Nice new labels by shadowkn55 from neo-geo.com.
Above are brand new reproduction labels for Bang Bang Busters, Ironclad, Kizuna Encounter and Super Sidekicks 3. When you see the images below you’ll know why I decided the original labels had to go.
The new and the old.
Beat up labels or entirely missing labels!
For starters both Bang Bang Busters and Ironclad are games that were originally developed for the Neo Geo but never actually got released. It was only later when the ROMs were found in the wild that people started putting the games on cartridges. Which is why these two games didn’t have any labels at all.
Bang Bang Busters is an excellent game that is very similar to Snow Brothers. Ironclad is also a good game and is very similar to R-Type; complete with charged shot and a detachable pod. I haven’t beaten these games but they feel very complete and polished. They are really nice additions to my Neo Geo collection.
On the Kizuna Encounter label you can see two tears; one tear to the left of the title and one to the right. Originally the sale SNK game cartridges were restricted to a particular region and the carts could be tracked by their serial numbers. So if someone who purchased a game later wanted to sell it they would often remove the serial number so that SNK could not track the cart back to them. Seeing two tears like this is pretty common on Neo Geo MVS carts.
The label on Super Sidekicks 3 looks like it might have already been a reproduction. It did not have rounded corners, seemed to be thinner paper and was matt like regular paper (That’s just a guess). That suspicion combined with how beat up the label was made it easy for me to decide to replace it.
Nicely applied.
Looking almost like new!
Above is the final product. I love it. They look fantastic. I’m always a little conflicted when altering an original product but I feel the two labels I removed here were beat up enough to warrant the reproduction labels.
I’ve really enjoyed fixing up my Neo Geo MVS Arcade cabinet. At this point all of the really important stuff like the PCB, joysticks, buttons, monitor and sound are working great. So before I tackle why my Memory card isn’t always seen by the Neo Geo I’d like to do something a bit more fun and something that will help make the cabinet a little bit more pretty.
In an arcade cabinet where you’re able to play one of four games you need a way to select your game of choice. Across the top of my Neo Geo MVS arcade cabinet is a marquee made up of four Mini Marquees. A Mini Marquee is really just a small poster displaying the name of the game and some artwork to give you a quick idea of what it might be. Pressing the Neo Geo’s Select button will cycle between each game lighting up the currently selected poster/game so that it is illuminated and stands out from the rest.
Four games ready to go. Bust-A-Move, NAM-1975, Metal Slug X and Samurai Shodown.
Even though it’s entirely unnecessary I would like to have a Mini Marquee for each game I have. So when I switch cartridges I can also slide in a Mini Marquee that will match the game.
Below are a few that I’ve made. Keep in mind I can’t take any credit. All I’ve done is some cutting and pasting of other peoples work. I searched the Internet for a large high resolution image that I liked for a particular game and make it the backdrop. I would then find a high resolution title for the game and paste it on top.
You can click on any of these custom Mini Marquee’s to see the full sized image that is ready for printing.
I’ve had a bunch of these mini marquees printed on 12mm backlit film. They are 4.44 inches by 5.44 inches and they cost about $8 CAD each. It’s not cheap but it really makes the cabinet look excellent.
So far I’ve whipped up four Metal Slug Mini Marquees. I think they all look great thanks to the high resolution artwork and graphics available online.
Metal Slug Mini Marquee
Metal Slug X (a remake of Metal Slug 2) Mini Marquee
Metal Slug 3 Mini Marquee
Metal Slug 5 Mini Marquee
NAM-1975 turned out really well. I was concerned that it might be too dark to see well when it’s not lit up but as it turns out it looks great in both states. Same with Metal Slug 5 (above). It’s a dark image but it is still clear and easy to see and read.
NAM-1975 Mini Marquee
Burning Fight printed very well. I just wish I could get the Title a bit larger without loosing quality but the source is not big enough. I also wish there was a better place to position the title so that it’s not covering faces. So far this is the best I’ve come up with.
Burning Fight Mini Marquee
There are so many King of the Fighter games (KOF 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003) that I’ll start with one mini marquee as generic as possible to represent the series. I had this one printed and I think it looks excellent!
The King of the Fighters Mini Marquee
Ninja Commando is one of the more recent Mini Marquee that I’ve worked on. This one was tough. I had to remove the Title from the image (which was in the upper right corner) and cover up what I cut out. I used Photoshop’s smudge feature to blend the yellow to orange covering the white gap I left after cutting out the title. When I get a chance to print it I’ll know for sure if it will be good enough. Typically the bright and vibrant images always look great when both lit and not lit.
Ninja Commando Mini Marquee
I tried really hard to find a sharp and large resolution title for Ninja Master’s but I just couldn’t do better than what’s below. I very slightly increased the size of the title image, placed it on the background image and sent if off to the print shop. Both Ninja Master’s Mini Marquees printed really well. Turns out the title image is just fine. I’m really happy with these two. There is only one Ninja Master’s game but I could not decide which mini marquee image I liked more so I printed both.
Ninja Master’s Mini Marquee
Ninja Master’s Mini Marquee
There are six Samurai Shodown games for the Neo Geo (SS1, SS2, SS3, SS4, SS5, SS5 Special). So just like King of the Fighters I started by making one as generic as possible for use with any Samurai Shodown game.
There is a lot of really nice artwork out there for this series. It was easy to find a bunch that look really good.
Samurai Shodown Mini Marquee
Samurai Shodown Mini Marquee
Samurai Shodown Mini Marquee
Pretty much any artwork you find for Neo Geo games was drawn for one particular edition of a game. This one above was meant for Samurai Shodown 5 so when I found a good high resolution title I made it again.
Samurai Showdown 5 Mini Marquee
This one below was also too cool not to use!
Samurai Shodown 5 Mini Marquee
Bust-A-Move is pretty good but it’s lower resolution does show a bit. When printed the title suffers the most. I will try to find something better but it does print OK and I will use it.
Bust-A-Move Mini Marquee
Just like Bust-A-Move, the image quality of Crossed Swords is a little on the low side. But since I’ve been playing and really enjoying this game I decided to print it anyways. As it turns out it printed very well and looks very nice in the cabinet. The title is a bit hard to read but that’s mostly because of the font and not because of the image itself.
Crossed Swords Mini Marquee
I’ve made others but above are the only ones that I think are worth printing. Eventually I’d like to have at least one Mini Marquee for each of my Neo Geo MVS games.
Below are some that I’ve printed. They look as good under close inspection as they appear here. I think they turned out really well.
The first printed batch.
World Heros in the image above isn’t good enough yet. The title is just too small. I’ll have to find a better source.
The second print batch.
Unfortunately taking a picture while they’re lit doesn’t really work. But in real life these Mini Marquees are working perfectly; just like the old originals.
A closer look at the new Mini Marquee’s in Big Red.
A closer look at a few others.
Original Neo Geo Mini Marquees.
Above are what original MVS Mini Marquees look like. In addition to the name of the game and some artwork you would also find instructions on how to play the game. I like the cleaner look of the custom Mini Marquees that I’ve made. However, I understand that some people will always prefer more authentic reproductions.
I tried recording each marquee getting lit-up but video also has the same trouble as pictures. In this short video below each Mini Marquee looks washed out when it’s lit. But in person this is not the case. They keep their vibrance and detail while been illuminated.
For a good long while now I’ve found a very nice distraction in playing and collection games for the Neo Geo MVS.
**Disclamer** I hope you’re immune to ‘drawn-out’ and boring… because I’m about to get real wordy.
For anyone not familiar with the Neo Geo there are two primary flavors of the original hardware.
Neo Geo MVS stands for Neo Geo Multi Video System (MVS). This is the version found in the arcades (throughout the 90’s mostly) in a classic 225lbs upright cabinet. Many Neo Geo arcade cabinets could support more than one game at a time. Either 2, 4 or 6. Allowing a player to select one of the installed cartridges(games) to play. There is also a version of Neo Geo arcade cabinet that can hold only one game at a time which was instead called Neo Geo System.
My Big Red: Neo Geo MVS 4-Slot Arcade Cabinet
Shortly after the release of the Neo Geo MVS came the Neo Geo AES; which stands for Advanced Entertainment System. This version is the in the form of a classic video game console that plugs into your home television. The hardware and games are identical. The AES will play the exact same games with the same performance as the arcade MVS systems.
This was my Neo Geo AES before I sold it. I still miss it!
However the cartridges for the MVS and the AES are different sizes and are not interchangeable. If you have a Neo Geo MVS you need to buy MVS cartridges and if you have the Neo Geo AES you need to buy AES home cartridges (there are adapters but I wont get into that today).
I decided to switch from collecting AES game to MVS games because MVS carts are so much cheaper. They’re still not cheap but with very few exceptions MVS carts are a good magnitude cheaper than AES carts.
And you can bring the price down a little bit more if you’re willing to purchase nasty beat up carts; which are sometimes referred to as ‘gamer condition’ carts.
And that is exactly what I do. Check out the image below… NASSSTTTYYY!!
Bonafide Gamer Condition MVS Carts!
The games work perfectly but the plastics are scratched, marked and dirty. And the labels are in worse shape. Some you can’t even read anymore and Art of Fighting Path of the Warrior is actually labeled incorrectly as World Heroes (Top left). But saving anywhere from $20-$40 USD (or more) per game I feel is worth it.
As I continued to collect Neo Geo games I discovered shadowkn55 over on the neo-geo.com forums who sells beautiful reproduction labels for $1 USD each. Not only are these labels brand new but they look just like the original MVS labels. The quality is perfect.
shadowkn55 reproduction labels.
Now I have a way to restore these carts into reasonably good condition.
But I do have a few reservations. After spending some time on the neo-geo.com forums I’ve learned that a lot of people really want to keep these carts stock and not change them in any way. I understand this point of view and I feel it has merit. The three games in the middle (The Last Blade, KOF96 and KOF2003) have labels that are not terrible. They’re not good but they’re mostly whole and I can still read them easily.
Should they have been replaced or should I have left them alone?
As it turns out I did feel it was better to replace them. And I think they are looking very nice. But this is something I keep in mind when I buy new labels. I want to be sure the cart really needs a replacement. Because I would prefer to have an original label if possible.
It took a lot of effort to remove most of the old labels. I must have spent 10 minutes scratching at each one with my thumb nail. Once the paper was mostly gone I found that rubbing a little bit of WD-40 where the label was did a great job at removing the left over residue.
Replacement Reproduction labels by shadowkn55.
Close up of New Labels.
**As it turns out the King of the Fighters 2003 is actually a bootleg version and not authentic. Thanks to a fellow gamer who commented below about this. I’ve since sold this boot for $25 and I got myself an authentic version to replace it.**
I think they look great and I’m very happy I did this. For this selection of games only one had a serial number on the cart. And I saved that challenge for last.
You can see that The King of the Fighters 2003 (Top Center) had a small yellow sticker on the original label with it’s serial number. Normally serial numbers are a part of the label just like the title but SNK was very inconsistent and you’ll see them doing many different things with their carts.
This time it worked out very well for me. I was able to use a blow drier to heat and cleanly remove the yellow serial number sticker and apply it to the reproduction label. This allowed me to preserve the serial number instead of losing it. *I wish I had thought of using the blow dryer sooner on every label and not just this serial number sticker. **And it’s a bootleg… ah, wasted effort!**
Not all Neo Geo MVS carts had a serial number but if they do it will only ever appear on the cart label and the original cardboard box that it came in.
Click here for an example of a complete MVS kit with matching serial numbers on both the cart label and on the box label.
SNK also used many different colored carts for their games. Not only will you find color changes from title to title but it’s probable that a single title can be found in several different colors. The same is true for cart labels. Most often they are black and white but sometimes you’ll see colored labels and other variations.
Since I was completely removing the old labels I took the time to open the cartridge, remove the two PCBs (Printed Circuit Board) and I completely washed the plastic cart with soap and water. Before applying the new label this would be my only chance to give the cart a very thorough cleaning. Most of them really needed it. Twenty years worth of dust and grime really shows! This cleaning didn’t help the existing scuffs and scratches that are very common on gamer condition cartridges but the cleaning was still very worth while.
Check out these excellent after market storage boxes called Shockboxes.
Now that I have applied these perfect and very authentic looking reproduction labels to each of the carts it’s time to hide this fine work inside some beautiful looking storage boxes called Shockboxes; sold by Southtown Homebrew. You can buy these snapcases in various colors (I always choose black) and you can also purchase a Neo Geo MVS cover sleeve/insert to go with the case.
These Shockboxes are a dream come true for collectors like myself. They give a way to display Neo Geo MVS games and make them look really good. The downside is they are not cheap. Each Shockbox with an insert has cost me about $15 CAD each after shipping. I still need about 20 more but I’ll just have to wait until I can afford them. The current strength of the US dollar to the Canadian really isn’t helping my cause at all!
I sometimes surprise myself at how busy I can keep with my video game collection by doing stuff like this; let alone the time spent playing them. There is a lot of unexpected diversity to this hobby.
I do know that this site is called The Sega Collection but it’s hard to exclude a video game system that cost me $650 CAD. I feel compelled to show it off. 😀
Weighing in at 250 lbs (113 Kg) and standing 6′ (183 cm) tall this is my new SNK Neo Geo MVS Arcade Cabinet.
Also known as Big Red.
My Big Red: SNK Neo Geo MVS Arcade Cabinet
Neo Geo (ネオジオ?) is a family of video game hardware developed by SNK. The brand originated in 1990 with the release of an arcade system, the Neo Geo MVS and its home console counterpart, the Neo Geo AES. Both the arcade system and console were powerful for the time and the AES allowed for perfect ports of games released for the MVS.
–wikipedia.org
Why didn’t I get a MAME box? I still might someday but for me I really enjoy having the real thing. And this beast actually lived out is glory days in actual bonafide arcades. Maybe you’ve played on my Big Red! Who knows?!
$650 is a lot of money to drop on anything. Especially something that is such a pain in the butt to move. But it did come with four games to help soften the purchase price.
Included games:
NAM-1975 Custom Case Cover Art
NAM-1975 Screen Shot
The Super Spy Custom Case Cover Art
The Super Spy Screen Shot
Fatal Fury 2 Custom Case Cover Art
Fatal Fury 2 Screen Shot
Baseball Stars Custom Cover Art
Baseball Stars Screen Shot
These are all common and cheap (for Neo Geo) games but it was still nice to get some throw-ins. And NAM-1975 is one that I really wanted. NAM-1975 was the first Neo Geo game I saw when the system was new and it blew my mind. It’s hard to describe how much better the Neo Geo looked compared to the Genesis or SNES. Back in the day the distinction in the graphics felt massive.
Today the gap in graphical fidelity feels very small. But in the late 90’s the Neo Geo was a boheimeth that could not be touched; or afforded by most of us. Unless you were content feeding quarters to a Big Red in the arcades.
But if you did have the money you could purchase the home version of the Neo Geo called the Neo Geo AES (Advanced Entertainment System) which was exactly the same hardware as the Neo Geo MVS (Multi Video System) in the arcades.
The arcade version was called MVS because many Neo Geo arcade cabinets could hold more then one game; either 2,4, or 6 games. And by the use of the ‘Select Game’ button you could cycle through the selection and pick the one you wanted to play. This was a very unique feature in the 90’s.
I found this Neo Geo MVS 4-slot (can hold 4 games at once) from Kijiji. The previous seller had done a fantastic job restoring it. As a result it’s not entirely stock. The cabinet was sanded down and re-painted. And the lettering you see are vinyl stickers. Originally the lettering would have been painted on. But the important thing is my Neo Geo looks perfect… Even though its not.
There is some work left for me to do. Here’s my ‘to do’ list for my Big Red (keeping in mind I don’t know how to do anything of this):
1) Replace capacitors on the Monitor 2) Fix Slot Two 3) Fix Mini Marquee 4) Install Power Switch
1) The monitor is old… really old. And despite looking pretty good there is an issue. On the top 1/5 of the screen there are some faint lines and a bit of distortion. On some games you really don’t notice it at all but on other it’s more apparent.
I’ve opened up the cabinet and found many different dials and magnets to adjust the picture quality and none of them seem to help with this issue. So I think (even though I really have no idea) that the capacitors on the monitor need to be replaced. This involves buying what’s called a cap kit for my specific monitor and de-soldering the old capacitors and soldering on the new ones from the cap kit. Since I’m very inexperienced with soldering I think I’m going to hire someone to do this for me.
You also have to be very careful about discharging a CRT monitor before working on it. And I mean seriously careful. Discharging a CRT monitor incorrectly could give you an electrical shock strong enough to kill you. Seriously.
2) This next issue is also going to be tough but I am going to attempt it myself. Any game cartridge that is inserted in slot 2 will show vertical lines through all the character sprites on screen. My guess is that there is a capacitor (or a few) that need to be replaced or possibly one (or several) traces that are damaged. On Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) the traces are the thin copper lines that travel from on location on the board to another connecting the different components. They are pathways.
I may not be able to do this myself but I am going to try.
3) The Marquee at the top of the cabinet contains four mini-marquees to show the player what games are installed. When you press the Game Select button the Marquee will light up the mini-marquee poster that corresponds to the selected game.
Currently mine will not light up at all. I don’t know yet what’s involved. It’s not an essential feature but it’s a cool one that I would like to get working again.
4) Arcade cabinets were originally meant to be left on almost all the time. Turning them off was often done by just pulling the power plug. Since mine is very hard to get behind because of how I’ve positioned into a corner of my retro game room I’m currently using a power bar that’s long enough to sit right beside the cabinet. With my big toe I can flip the system on or off. It works perfectly but someday I’d like to install something a bit more polished.
The reason why the Neo Geo MVS has become my first Arcade Cabinet is because of the multiple slots for games. Almost all Arcade cabinets required changing out the mother board in order to change the game in the cabinet. But the Neo Geo MVS used the familiar cartridge; albeit very large! The game cartridges are plentiful and for the most part affordable (with the exception of ebay).
This single giant box does take up a lot of room but it’s very easy to swap out the games. Allowing me to continue to collect for the Neo Geo MVS and enjoy the purest of Arcade experiences for each and every SNK Neo Geo MVS games I purchase. And it looks really awesome 🙂
Retro Megabit 