What to look for when buying a NEO GEO Arcade

[mojoeskateco]

I have the opportunity to buy a NEO GEO arcade.

Person is asking $250.

Says it works well.  I can try it before I pay for it obviously.

Just wondering what to look for when testing it out as I know a few others on here have them.

The games that come with it are:

Bubble Bobble
Final Fight
Fatal Fury
Samarai Showdown

More games but seller can't remember what they are.

Is this a good deal?

[Dr.Agon]

could you post some pics?

$250 for a machine and a bunch of games sounds like a good deal, cheapest ive seen for just a machine was £300

beware of screen burn, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_burn-in

"...With phosphor-based electronic displays (for example CRT-type computer monitors or plasma displays), non-uniform use of pixels, such as prolonged display of non-moving images (text or graphics), gaming, or certain broadcasts with tickers and flags, can create a permanent ghost-like image of these objects or otherwise degrade image quality. This is because the phosphor compounds which emit light to produce images lose their luminance with use. Uneven usage results in uneven light output over time, and in severe cases can create a ghost image of previous content. Even if ghost images are not recognizable, the effects of screen burn are an immediate and continual degradation of image quality."

example image;

[Dreamcast99]

Check the dial knobs that adjust the monitor, make sure they all change the screen display as they should.
Check the wiring going to the joysticks and buttons, a joystick is 10$, buttons are 2$. If the wiring is good, you can get new controls for cheap. Make sure to test each slot.
Dont test the buttons by playing a game, if you hit the neo geo hardware options menu, there is a screen to test all the hardware functions, including every button and joystick direction. It can also show you red/blue/green blocks to help adjust the video.

Check both coin slots, and make sure the credits appear on the screen and the lcd above the joysticks. seems like a no brainer, but remembering the coins is the big part.

Locks are 4$ each at lowes or home depot, its common to have them removed before selling if they share a key with other machines in the route it came off of.
so dont worry if those are gone.

[mojoeskateco]

Thanks for the replies. 

Here are the links to the add:

http://ottawa.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-video-games-consoles-other-neo-geo-upright-gameing-arcade-system-W0QQAdIdZ559896984

Planning to go see it tomorrow morning.

[Dreamcast99]

doesnt look to be a real Neo Geo machine, looks like they put the marquee and MVS board in a jamma compatible cabinet.
The controllers aren't in the neo geo layout, and the sides are wood panel. Cabinet looks older than MVS ones too, maybe an old atari cab?
Im not saying i wouldnt buy it, but id def use these points to get a lower price. I got an original mvs cabinet for 200$ last month.

I could be wrong, im more familiar with 2/4slot cabinets

[mojoeskateco]

Good points. 

I noticed that it didn't look like an original one and also looking at a list of games Final Fight and Bubble Bobble aren't neo geo games.

[BadChad]

Yeah, that's definitely an Arcade cab, rigged up to run an MVS. I believe there is an official wood panel MVS, but its nothing like that.

Still, $250 isn't bad if everything is working properly. Especially if it comes with a bunch of games.

And my guess is the seller just isn't too familiar with what he has. Bubble Bobble is probably actually meant to be Puzzle Bobble (Bust-A-Move - which you can the see the mini-marquee in the pic), and Final Fight is probably meant to be Burning Fight (just like Final Fight) and are both actually for the MVS.

[Dreamcast99]

I want to say the real wood panel one has obnoxious giant speaker right in front of you, and the monitor sits up high where the marquee would usually go. that could have also been a conversion i saw though

[BadChad]

That's the one I'm referring to. I believe they refer to is as the Gold 2-slot or something like that.

But I'm with Dreamcast, still worth picking up but try to get him to come down a little. Check it out, pick out the flaws and see where things go. I bought my MVS in September, and its easily become my favorite thing to collect for in my collection. Hands down. Plus it comes with a certain amount of jealousy and envy from the people who come over and notice you have one! Which is a nice bonus!

And if he sais he has more games, maybe get him to look into which games those are. The deal could get pretty sweet depending on that...

[mojoeskateco]

I may go check it out.  It's an hour drive and I can visit the inlaws ( who I actually enjoy seeing  )

If it's converted to a neo geo does that mean that I should be looking for it to have carts that can easily be changed. 

Bad Chad:  Would you mind posting a pic of what these carts should look like?

[BadChad]

I'm almost positive its converted to an MVS. With the games he's listed, it has to be. The games listed were not released in any other arcade form other than the MVS. The cab will either have a 1-Slot, 2-Slot, 4-Slot or 6-Slot motherboard in it. And the carts should be pretty simple to swap out.

There's a pic of couple MVS games I got in the mail this week you can check out here for reference:
http://www.thecoverproject.net/forums/index.php?topic=14448.105

Generally, the majority of them are black. But some games do come in color variations.

[Dreamcast99]

im sure it has an mvs board inside, the key word there is "Easily be Changed" the real mvs cabinets are made to open to the game slots, one mounted in a different cabinet might require a different way to access the carts.

[BadChad]

That's a good point. I would imagine swapping out the games should still be somewhat easy. The coin door looks like it's a decent size, and if your lucky the cart slot(s) will be within reach from there. If not I'm assuming the cabinet will open up from the back and the slot should be reachable from there.

[irvgotti452]

WCW FTW!!! 

[BadChad]

Further inspecting the photo, I'm noticing there doesn't seem to be a Game Select button anywhere on the control panel. With this, I think it's safe to say what you have here is most likely a 1-Slot MVS.