X Men vs. Street Fighter 1CC

I was sorting through some of my PCB's today when I came across this. I've not played it in quite some time, and decided to give it a quick bash to see if I could still get through it. I played a couple of credits to get used to it, then decided to get the camera out for a 1CC video. I think I played 5 credits before completing it. It's a short game (I only played for about 10 minutes from hitting start to winning the last fight), and it's also quite easy. Anyone with some fighting game experience should be able to get through it after a few credits. Here's the video:

Sega Blast City 2l8b Control Panel

The wonderful thing about most of Sega's Candy Cabinet control panels is that they will fit any other Sega Candy. It's not unusual to see imported cabinets such as an Astro City come in with a Sega Naomi control panel. I've taken some pictures of a 2l8b (2 lever 8 button) Blast City control panel to show what they look like from the side you don't usually see. This was one I imported from Japan, and it actually came fully populated.

Here's a look from the front:

And here's what they look like underneath:

This particular panel has 8 30mm buttons attached, I'm not sure of the brand, but they seem to be quite popular on panels that get sold in Japan. These buttons feel cheap, and using them isn't nearly as nice as Sanwa OBSF30 buttons. There's also 2 24mm buttons used for the start buttons, same brand as the 30mm buttons. Finally there is some good news about this panel, the sticks are Sanwa JLF's, which are in my opinion the best regular sticks on the market. These are the newer type of JLF sticks, which has an onboard PCB which means you only need to clip in a 5 pin JST connector. The other type, the JLF TM8 sticks have a lighter throw, and connectors for each microswitch on the stick. I find the TM8's are better for shooters, and those needing the JST connectors better for fighting games, as you do need a little resistance. The green wires sticking out of the middle are earth wires to stop you getting shocked by any stray electricity!

These panels, at least the official Sega panels are not made out of stainless steel, and have a habit of rusting, particularly around the bottom edge of the control panel. If you're ever looking to buy a panel, you should always make sure you see pictures of the back as it can be hard to tell how badly rusted a panel may be from just a shot of the front.

Deathsmiles II Cave B1 Poster

I managed to get my first official Cave B1 poster on the cheap just before I went away last week. Ironically it's a of a game I'll be very to lucky to own should I ever manage to get one. Deathsmiles II was put out on proprietary hardware by Cave, and was primarily a leased game, so very few of them are out there in the wild ready to be purchased. It's a game I'd love to own, but as stated it will be pure luck if I ever find one.

The poster I got has been on display before and the colour is slightly faded, although it looks worse on the picture as there is light shining on it. I only paid 2200 yen for it, which comes in at around £12.50.

The size of the poster is Japanese B1, which are hard to find frames for in the UK, but I'm not currently in a rush to get one, so I'll keep my eye out for one at a decent price.

Here's a quick look at the poster: