rec.games.video.arcade.collecting
Credits
This is the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list for the Usenet newsgroup
rec.games.video.arcade.collecting
(hereafter abbreviated to rgva.collecting)
This FAQ is posted every 20 days and the current copy should be considered to
supersede all previous postings.
This FAQ was developed by Tony Jones, and reviewed by Doug Jefferys and Steve
Ozdemir. This document may be freely distributed, as long as the above credits
remain in place.
I welcome all comments and suggestions for improvement via email to
tony@sunquest.com.
Information about UK sources was kindly provided by John Keay.
WWW version by Frederic
Vecoven
veco@montefiore.ulg.ac.be
Index of items
- What is rgva.collecting
- Guidelines to posting to rgva.collecting
- Answers to some frequently asked questions (FAQs)
- Other FAQs available for this group
- Further sources of information
- Some commonly used terms and acronyms
rgva.collecting
is a forum for discussion related to the collecting
of arcade video games. The main topics of discussion are the various
methods available to purchase games, technical discussions of game
hardware, issues relating to the maintenance/repair of games, and
game conversion, which is the process of converting or augmenting
an existing game to play one or more additional games.
Discussion of all games is welcome on rgva.collecting, as long as the
discussion is related to collection (as defined above).
Postings relating to game play, game history, game features and game
advocacy (the various merits of a game or games) should be directed to
the parent group, rec.games.video.
arcade (rgva), unless a clear link to
collecting can be made.
rgva.collecting is
a Usenet group, no different from any other.
As such, most if not all of the usual guidelines for posting
articles apply.
Remember that before posting to rgva.collecting you should already be
familiar with the posting conventions and guidelines that are posted
periodically to the newsgroup news.
announce.newusers. If you cannot
find these guidelines by reading the group, wait a while and a copy
will be posted, or try asking fellow users or the system administrators
at your site for a copy.
In addition, newcomers are strongly advised to read
rgva.collecting
for at least a few weeks before posting for the first time.
You are, of course, free to ignore all of this advice. You should,
however, remember that your postings reflect upon yourself. If you
choose to pursue collecting video games further, you will be dealing
with people who read your postings, and first impressions can often
be lasting.
Answers to some frequently asked questions (FAQs)
How can I get the list of moves for the game "latest&greatest"?
I was playing "punch&kick" last night and this happened, has anyone else ever seen it?
Does anyone know of an arcade which has the game "old&dated"?
My favourite arcade game is "classic". What is yours ?
Please don't post these questions to rgva.collecting. These are
"gameplay"-related questions; they belong in
rec.games.video.arcade
First, do some research before posting. You'll learn a lot in the
process. The knowledge in this FAQ, for instance, came from doing
the same kind of research.
Games can be bought from four main sources :
- from operators
- Operators are the people who provide the games you see in arcades
and movie theatres. Older games cease to make money, and often
get "warehoused". The "Amusement Devices" section of your Yellow
Pages is the best place to find a list of operators. Many operators
also place stickers with their name and phone number on games they
operate. You can also try asking the people who work at the local
arcade where they get their games.
Often dealers who specialize in "Home Sales" will advertize
alongside operators in the Yellow Pages. Usually their prices
are far higher than those of a true operator, so it pays to shop
around.
A cool head and "don't appear too eager" are the keys to getting
a good price. Visiting in person combined with a degree of
"disinterest" towards the games present, rather than telephoning
to ask "do you have game X" almost always results in a better deal.
There is a detailed FAQ available on buying machines from an
operator; you should probably read this before you start hunting.
Check Section 4 of this FAQ for details on where to find it.
- from auctions
- Auctions are held periodically around the country. These are where
operators sell their surplus games, either to other operators or to
collectors such as yourself. You can find out about auctions in your
area by reading
rgva.collecting (Chris McBride [mcbride@cs.arizona.edu]
posts biweekly 'Coin-Op Auctions Lists', see Section 4
for details. There is also a fairly constant discussion relating
to future auctions in the group.), by checking a "Miscellaneous Games"
section in your local paper, by asking a few operators in your area
(since they may be selling games at the auction, you can often get a
rare showing of helpfulness).
If you live in the USA, you might want to consider obtaining a copy of
the trade magazine "Replay". You can get a copy of Replay by sending
$5 to:
Replay Magazine
PO BOX 2550
Woodland Hills
CA 91365
Readers from the UK, should obtain a copy of the newspaper
'Worlds Fair' which contains a smaller paper called 'Coin Slot'.
This contains information about upcoming auctions, and also many
adverts for complete games and boards.
There is a detailed FAQ available on buying machines from an
auction; you should probably read this before you start hunting.
Check Section 4 of this FAQ for details on where to find it.
- from ads in your local paper
- Most papers have a "Miscellaneous Games" or equivalent section
in the classifieds. Prices are often artificially high, as the
sellers are hoping to find "gullible" first time buyers. This does
not, however, prevent you, as an informed buyer, from haggling the
price back down. Often the sellers will be the same people as the
dealers listed above who specialize in "Home Sales".
- from the net!
- You can buy a game from another reader of rgva.collector, bearing in
mind that shipping is NOT a cost-effective option (see
Section 3.5
for shipping details), though shipping just the game circuit board
is fairly cheap.
There are frequent "For Sale" and "Wanted" adverts for both complete
games and just circuit boards posted to the group.
If you post your own WANTED/FORSALE advert **PLEASE** mark your
Subject line with either FORSALE or WANTED and your LOCATION.
If you were in the UK and looking for a PacMan pcb use a SUBJECT
line similar to:
"WANTED (UK): PacMan pcb"
If you were in California and selling an upright Space Invaders
use a SUBJECT line similar to:
"FORSALE (CA): Space Invaders upright"
PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO STATE YOUR GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION, as it is
often difficult to tell from looking at your Internet address.
If you cannot specify your location in the Subject line, or you
need to elaborate, please do so in the text of your posting (after
all, in the examples above, California and the UK are BIG places)
Learn something from how you would advertise in a newspaper - make your
posting stand out. When you advertise in a newspaper, you wouldn't
leave out information such as price and condition, and expect people
to call you for details. Its no different via email, if you are selling
state the price you want, whether this includes shipping or not, what
the condition of the game is and anything else you feel will help you
attract a buyers attention. Unlike a newspaper, you are not paying by
the word, so you are free to be a little more descriptive.
If you are posting a "Wanted" ad, state as precicely as possible what
you want (sorry, but "Games wanted, email me your list" just doesn't
cut it), state what you are prepared to pay, if condition is important,
mention the desired condition. If you have other criteria be sure to
list them also.
Finally, remember, that method of shipment and packing is usually left
up to the seller, if you want a specific method employed, be sure to
mention it.
I want to sell a game by advertising on rgvac, are
there any tips?
Yes, buying and selling games on the net is discussed in details in
section 3.2.
How much does a game cost?
Brand-new games can cost $2500 and up. A typical old game will go
for $100-$200 in decent condition, and old, broken games (which may
be trivial to fix!) can go all the way down to $25.
Experienced collectors often find it cheaper to buy a game circuit
board and adapt it into an existing cabinet, rather than buying the
complete game. It's cheaper, and it also saves a lot of space. Most
boards generally sell for between $5-$25 "as-is" in a bulk deal with
an operator and $30-40 guaranteed from a fellow rgva.collector reader.
See Section 3.6 for more details.
John Distant has a game I want, but lives far away.
Can I ship it?
Yes. Of course, but since a game weighs 200-300 lbs, it'll cost you.
Usually this translates into about $200-$250 to deliver the game to
the shipping company's closest warehouse (relative to your home).
Add extra bucks if you'd like it delivered to your doorstep. The
seller will also have to "crate" the game before taking it to the
shipper, which costs additional money, to say nothing of his time.
Expect to pay extra to ship very long distances, or to ship larger
cabinets (i.e. 4 player or sit down cabinets). Shipping smaller
cabinets (i.e. coctails) or shipping very short distances (next state)
may end up slightly cheaper, but not much.
Still want to ship the game? Okay, but remember we warned you first.
Finding one locally is a far better idea.
I have the game "earlygame" and someone just gave me
the board for the game "latergame". Can I use this board somehow?
I want all these games, but I don't have room for this many cabinets! What can I do?
This is generally referred to as "conversion", the process of taking
a new game (usually just the circuit board) and installing it into the
cabinet from an older game.
This is perhaps the most complex subject for video game collectors.
Fortunately, there is a detailed FAQ dedicated to the topic; you will
likely want to read this before you start brandishing your soldering
iron. See Section 4 for more details.
I just bought a game, but there is no documentation,
can someone send me some?
Don't expect rgva.collecting readers to answer your post until you've
checked the sources of information outlined below and in Section 5.
If the information you are looking for is not present in the archives,
information on how to locate the manufacturer should be, and they are
often willing to supply documentation for around $10-15 per game.
If that doesn't work, your local operator will often have filing
cabinets full of documentation. Sometimes they will let you leave
a deposit and borrow some. Develop a relationship with your local
operator(s); it can really pay off when the game's manufacturer has
gone out of business or discontinued support.
If you locate some documentation which was not in the archives,
PLEASE take the time to type in some useful sections and make
it available to the rest of us! (See Section 5.1 for details)
Where can I buy parts for my game?
Call the operators listed in the "Amusement Devices" section of your
Yellow Pages and find out who your local distributor is. They'll be
able to help you (for a price). You can also try operators for spare
parts -- if the game is old and they have spares, the price can often
be quite a bit cheaper.
Failing this, see Section 5 for help in finding the addresses of parts
suppliers.
Other FAQs available for this group
The following additional FAQs are available. See Section 5 for
information on where they can be found:
- Addresse FAQ
-
- Addresses and telephone numbers for game manufacturers and
parts suppliers.
- Buying from an Auction FAQ
-
- How to buy a game from an auction
- Buying from an Operator FAQ
-
- How to buy a game from an operator
- Conversion FAQ
-
- How to convert "game A" to "game B"
- How to make "board A" play "game B/C/etc"
- How to run "boards A/B/C" in the same cabinet
Look for it to be posted periodically to the newsgroup.
It's a good idea to exhaust these sources of information before you
post a question. Readers are much more likely to answer a post when
it is clear that the poster has already put in some effort themselves.
FTP archives
The rgva.collecting
anonymous FTP archive at wiretap.spies.com
is kindly provided by Al Kossow (aek@apple.com).
Gopher access
on port 70 is also available.
Additions/corrections to the archive are welcome, especially
information about pinouts and switch settings.
The following information is available via FTP in the "game_archive"
directory. In each directory, there is a README file containing
further instructions.
- tradingPost
- a directory containing wanted and forsale information
- gameList
- a directory containing the Killer List of Video Games (KLOV)
- info/FAQ.addresses
- the Addresses FAQ (game manufacturers and parts suppliers)
- info/FAQ.game.buying
- the Buying from an Operator FAQ
- info/FAQ.game.auctions
- the Buying from an Auction FAQ
- info/VAPSlistMMMYY
- the VAPS membership list for month "MMM", year "YY"
- info/pinoutinfo.lst
- a list of available pinout and dip switch information
- boardPinouts
- a directory containing pinout info for various games
- switchSettings
- a directory containing dip switch setting info for various games
- conversion
- a directory containing conversion information for various games
- repairHints
- a directory containing some common repair tips
- incoming
- a directory where you can leave additions. If you do leave something,
please document what you left, and send email to
archive@wiretap.spies.com
EXAMPLE
(In the following transcript, "..." indicates lines deleted.
You would see additional output if you were following the
example yourself.)
$ ftp wiretap.spies.com
Connected to wiretap.spies.com.
220 wiretap.Spies.COM FTP server (Version 6.11) ready.
Name (wiretap.spies.com:): anonymous
331 Guest login ok, send e-mail address as password.
Password:
230-
...
230-Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
ftp> cd game_archive
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> ls
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for file list.
...
info
tradingPost
boardPinouts
switchSettings
conversion
...
226 Transfer complete.
123 bytes received in 0.011 seconds (11 Kbytes/s)
ftp> cd info
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> get FAQ.game.buying
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for FAQ.game.buying (38437 bytes).
226 Transfer complete.
local: FAQ.game.buying remote: FAQ.game.buying
39281 bytes received in 43 seconds (0.88 Kbytes/s)
ftp> quit
221 Goodbye.
To access a WWW server, you will need a WWW browser such as Lynx or
Mosaic and a full Internet connection (e-mail only is not sufficient).
If you have questions regarding the WWW (what it is, how to use it etc)
PLEASE do not post to rgva.collecting. Instead try asking your local site
administrator, or subscribe to the USENET newsgroup
comp.infosystems.www
The following WWW pages are currently available:
- Peter McDermott's rgva.collecting home page:
- URL http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~pmcdermo/
Links to the following pages plus archives of selected past postings
to rgva.collecting.
A good place to begin your surfing.
Maintained by Peter McDermott (pmcdermo@cs.utexas.edu)
- The wiretap.spies.com page:
- URL ftp://wiretap.spies.com/game_archive
This is a plain ftp interface, but usually contains the most
up to date information.
- The VAPS home page:
- URL http://www.vaps.org/VAPS/
The home page for the Video Arcade Preservation Society.
Maintained by Kevin Ruddy (smiles@powerdog.com).
- The rgva.collecting FAQ home page:
- URL http://www.montefiore.ulg.ac.be/~vecoven/rgvac
Most of the FAQ's from rgva.collecting in WWW hypertext format.
(NOTE: these versions may not be as current as those available from
the rgva.collecting ftp server wiretap.spies.com).
For those without FTP access, or if you experience a problem with the
FTP server at wiretap, there is an email interface kindly provided by
Jonathan Deitch (musjndx@gsusgi2.gsu.edu).
The following subset of the FTP information is available from the
mail server:
Keyword Equivalent information on wiretap.spies.com
------- -------------------------------------------
pinouts info/pinoutinfo.lst
addresses info/FAQ.addresses
<pinout_name> boardPinouts/*
<switch_name> switchSettings/*
To request information from the mailserver, send an email message to:
rgva@gisatl.fidonet.org
The "Subject:" line of your message MUST read
Request <keyword>
where is one of the above listed keywords. The "body" of
the message MUST include the line:
Mail-to: <your email address>
To obtain the pinouts/switches for a particular game, first obtain
the list of available pinouts by using "request pinouts". Then request
the specific pinout or switch using the keyword as specified in the
pinout list in place of <pinout_name> or <switch_name>.
EXAMPLE
$ mail rgva@gisatl.fidonet.org
Subject: Request <pinout_name>
Mail-to: <your_username@your_site.subdomain.domain>
EOT
Many network providers maintain online databases containing addresses
and telephone numbers of various organizations. Querying these databases
can be an easy way to find an address.
For the Internet, AT&T operates internic.net,
the Internet Network
Information Center. There is a telnet interface, allowing interactive
queries. Most entries also list an email address.
As is the case with all databases, the information you get out is only
as useful as the search criteria you provide.
EXAMPLE
(In the following transcript, "..." indicates lines deleted.
You would see additional output if you were following the
example yourself.)
$ telnet internic.net
Trying 198.41.0.5...
Connected to internic.net.
Escape character is '^]'.
...
[] InterNIC > wais sega
Search Response:
NumberOfRecordsReturned: 14
1: Score: 1000, lines: 17 'Sega of America (SEGAOA-DOM) ...
...
14: Score: 1000, lines: 13 'Sega of America Inc. (NETBLK-SEGAOA) ...
View document number [type 0 or q to quit]: 1
...
- DIP switch, switch
- A small set of switches (usually 8) in an inline package.
Most often mounted onto the circuit board, used to alter
game parameters (# of lives, difficulty level, etc...)
- edge connector
- The large connector(s) that link the wiring harness to the game's
circuit board(s).
- wiring harness
- An assembly of wires and connecting terminals that connects the
controls, power supply, the monitor, speakers, coin door, and
circuit board(s) together to form a complete video game.
- KLOV
- The "Killer List Of Videogames", a fairly complete list of
all the arcade games ever made.
- LD
- LaserDisc. Dragon's Lair is an example of an "LD game".
- flyback
- A step-up transformer used to provide the high-voltage (10-20kV)
supply required by a monitor.
- sync, composite sync, separate sync
- The synchronization signal(s) used by raster monitors to control
the movement of the electron beam. "Sync" comes in two main flavors:
composite and separate. Separate sync has two separate signals for
horizontal and vertical synchronization, and composite sync is a
combination of horizontal and vertical sync onto one wire. Some
manufacturers also invert the signal; if a board produces the wrong
flavor of sync for your monitor, you'll need to hack around before
you can play it.
- pinouts
- A description of the purpose of each of the pins on a game's edge
connector. Can also be used to describe the purpose of all the
wires in a game's wiring harness.
- raster, raster-scan
- The most popular method of displaying an image on a monitor. An
an electron beam "scans" horizontal lines down the screen - just
like your TV set at home.
- rgva
- rec.games.video.arcade,
the parent newsgroup - the proper place
for gameplay questions.
- rgva.collecting
- rec.games.video.arcade.
collecting, this group.
- RGB
- Red/Green/Blue, referring to a color monitor that has separate
inputs controlling each of the 3 color guns.
- RAM
- Random Access Memory, used to store temporary things like your
score, the positions of the enemies on the screen, and so on.
Data stored in RAM vanishes when the power is removed.
- ROM
- Read Only Memory, used to store the code for the game. When
power is removed, the data remains (unlike RAM)
- EAROM, NOVRAM
- "Electronically-Erasable ROM", and "Non-Volatile RAM". These
are forms of memory that are preserved when the power is shut
down, but can be modified on the fly. Often used to store things
like "all-time high scores" and game accounting information.
- VAPS
- The "Video Arcade Preservation Society", a list of all the game
owners on the net, and their respective collections. Additions and
corrections are welcome by email to Steve Ozdemir
(ofoz@intgp1.att.com)
- X-Y, Vector, Vector-scan
- A type of game monitor where the electron beam moves in straight
lines which can start and end anywhere on the screen. The last
vector games were made in 1984-1985. Examples of this type of game
include Battlezone, Tempest, and Star Wars.
Last modified 27/10/1994 - 10:16.