# Running Neo Geo Arcade Hardware in your Arcade1up / Arcade Cabinet - Part 1 **Source:** RetroRalph **Type:** video **Published:** 2019-01-30 **Duration:** 9m 31s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEnMfsDHfvM --- ## Analysis Retro Ralph provides an introductory tutorial on running real arcade hardware (specifically Neo Geo MVS boards) in arcade cabinets and Arcade1Up machines as an alternative to emulation platforms like RetroPie. He explains the modular nature of Neo Geo systems, the difference between MVS (arcade) and AES (home) cartridges, and introduces the components needed including arcade power supplies, JAMA harnesses, and RGB-to-HDMI converter boards. This is part one of a multi-part series covering arcade hardware fundamentals before demonstrating actual wiring and installation. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Neo Geo MVS1F and MVS1A boards can be purchased for $40-$150 and are modular enough to swap into cabinets or Arcade1Up machines — _Direct product information provided with visual demonstration of specific board models_ - [HIGH] MVS cartridges are significantly cheaper than AES (home) cartridges, making MVS the more affordable route for home play — _Explicitly stated comparison of arcade vs. home cartridge pricing tiers_ - [HIGH] Multi-cart cartridges like 161-in-1 exist for Neo Geo systems, allowing access to dozens of games on a single cartridge — _Specific product example shown with explicit game count_ - [HIGH] Arcade owners historically preferred Neo Geo systems because game changes only required marquee swaps rather than full cabinet replacements — _Historical context provided about arcade operator preference for modularity_ - [HIGH] RGB-to-HDMI/VGA converter boards are necessary to connect vintage arcade boards to modern LCD monitors — _Technical requirement explained with visual demonstration of converter hardware_ ### Notable Quotes > "It cannot produce the arcade experience any better because it's the original hardware that the game was intended to run on." > — **Retro Ralph**, ~0:30-0:45 > _Core value proposition for using real arcade hardware vs. emulation_ > "This looks like it's difficult. It's really not. It's just a little scary because you could touch that and there's electricity flowing through it, so you want to be careful." > — **Retro Ralph**, ~5:50-6:10 > _Addresses common intimidation barrier to arcade hardware projects; frames difficulty as perception rather than reality_ > "Once you go JAMA there's a plethora of JAMA boards out there that could just plug right into your system so it kind of makes it a really flexible for future upgrades and modifications." > — **Retro Ralph**, ~13:30-13:50 > _Explains scalability and future-proofing advantage of learning JAMA standard_ > "It's very important for you guys to understand. So getting back to the cartridges, the reason why this is a neat system to have is because you can swap in and out the cartridges." > — **Retro Ralph**, ~2:30-2:50 > _Highlights modularity as primary advantage of Neo Geo systems for arcade conversions_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Retro Ralph | person | Content creator and tutorial host explaining arcade hardware modification to home/arcade cabinet enthusiasts | | Neo Geo | product | Arcade gaming platform by SNK; subject of hardware tutorial focusing on MVS (arcade) board variants | | MVS1F | product | Neo Geo arcade board variant featuring single cartridge slot; priced $40-$150; featured as entry-level arcade hardware project | | MVS1A | product | Neo Geo arcade board variant; similar functionality to MVS1F with slight differences; featured as example hardware | | Arcade1Up | product | Compact home arcade cabinet platform mentioned as target for hardware installation and conversion projects | | RetroPie | product | Emulation platform presented as alternative to real arcade hardware; acknowledged as 'great' but contrasted with authentic arcade experience | | Pandora's Box | product | Emulation device/platform mentioned alongside RetroPie as alternative approach to retro gaming | | Press Your Buttons | company | Hardware company manufacturing JAMA harnesses with English labeling for arcade board wiring | | JAMA | organization | Standards organization that created connector specifications for arcade systems; JAMA harnesses enable plug-and-play wiring between boards and cabinets | | Metal Slug | product | Neo Geo arcade game series used as example of cartridge-swappable gameplay; mentioned as collectible series | ### Topics - **Primary:** Arcade hardware modification and installation, Neo Geo MVS systems and cartridge compatibility, Arcade cabinet conversion for home use, Retro gaming alternatives to emulation, JAMA harness wiring and arcade power supplies - **Secondary:** RGB-to-HDMI/VGA video conversion for vintage hardware, Arcade1Up cabinet modifications ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.85) — Enthusiastic and encouraging tone throughout. Retro Ralph actively demystifies arcade hardware, frames learning curve as manageable, and expresses genuine passion for Neo Geo systems. No negative criticism of products or design choices; content focused on education and enablement. ### Signals - **[community_signal]** Educational content series on arcade hardware modification serves as community resource for home hobbyists transitioning from emulation to authentic arcade experiences (confidence: high) — Multi-part tutorial series explicitly designed to onboard viewers into arcade hardware projects with promised hands-on wiring demonstration in part two - **[market_signal]** Sustained interest in retro arcade hardware integration into modern home platforms (Arcade1Up, custom cabinets) indicates growing hobby market demand for authentic arcade experiences (confidence: medium) — Content creator investing in multi-part tutorial series on arcade hardware; explicit mention of helping viewers avoid emulation-only approaches suggests sufficient audience demand for real hardware projects - **[technology_signal]** Growing availability of affordable converter hardware (RGB-to-HDMI/VGA boards) enabling integration of vintage arcade boards with modern display technology (confidence: high) — Multiple converter board options discussed as standard components; presenter demonstrates casual access to conversion hardware, indicating mature aftermarket ecosystem --- ## Transcript Hey guys, Retro Ralph here. Thanks again for joining. Okay, so you're getting really into this retro gaming thing, but you kind of feel like you're stuck in this world of Retro Pies and Pandora's Boxes. There's nothing wrong with these options, they're great, but you want something more. Like, you want to dive in deeper. Well, when you want to do that, what's the next logical step? Now you're dealing with real arcade hardware. So the printed circuit boards that came in the arcade games that you know and love. Now when you're dealing with these options with thousands of games, it seems like, well, why would I do that? You do it because, number one, it's cool, and number two, it cannot produce the arcade experience any better because it's the original hardware that the game was intended to run on. But with that, those options seem scary because you have to deal with arcade power supplies, the printed circuit board itself, and it just seems really overwhelming. But I'm here to tell you that it's not overwhelming and I want to help. I want to help feed your habit. So in this episode, we are going to talk about traditional arcade hardware and how you can do it too. Hey guys, so we are back. so this is actually going to be a multi-part episode but in this first episode i'm going to get you guys just introduced to some you know arcade boards and some of the components that go with that and the reason why i brought these two out is because i think these are really cool introductions to doing um you know builds and modifications with arcade printed circuit boards or pcbs as they're often referred to so this is the mvs1f and this is the mvs1a both play Neo Geo cartridges. And, you know, they're both slightly different. There's actually quite a few of these out in the wild and they can range from $40 to probably $150. The reason why I brought these as a first option is because they're kind of modular in nature. So I can put one of these in a cab whether that be you know a main cabinet or whatever it is or an arcade one up and now I have the ability to change out a game So this particular game right here is Metal Slug but if I wanted to play other games I can buy these, and these are MVS cartridges. Not to be confused with AES cartridges, which is the at-home version of these. So there's AES and MVS. It's very important for you to remember that MVS is the arcade board, AES is the home board, and you will find a gigantic difference in price between those. So oftentimes what people do is they buy MVS systems and they turn them into consoles if they choose to play them on a TV at home because it's much more affordable to go the MVS route than the AES route. So that's very important for you guys to understand. So getting back to the cartridges, the reason why this is a neat system to have is because you can swap in and out the cartridges. So you could, you know, if you're someone that likes to collect Metal Slug games, you can go and buy all the Metal Slug games and then simply put them in and swap them out as John Youssi fit. The other thing that's kind of interesting on this is that there are companies out there that release cartridges that are multi-cart. So this is a 161-in-1. So with this, you could actually have 161 games on one cartridge, Neo Geo games. So kind of cool. Now for the, getting back to the single cart, because these are single cart systems, they do sell these in multi-cart. So there's such thing as an MV4FS. That's actually a system that has four cartridge slots. So let's say you want, you want, or you really love metal slugs, but there's, you know, four of them that you really love or whatever. You can have all four of them inside one of these systems. So I don't know if you guys can think back to playing Neo Geo systems in the arcade. But one of the reasons why arcade owners love these so much is that to change the game, it wasn't a matter of ordering a new cabinet. They literally just changed the marquee and had the game accessible really quickly or had multi-games inside one cabinet and had all four of those in the marquee. So really, really cool option. I love the Neo Geo games in general. So if you're a Neo Geo fan, I think this is a really cool board to do. It's a fairly easy modification. like I said, because it uses cartridges, which is really cool. And the fact that it uses cartridges means the boards are usually quite smaller than other arcade printed circuit boards So keep in mind these are just options that I really like but I happen to really like Neo Geo So obviously with these options come some things you need to be aware of that these things don't have just a standard power supply you're going to need an arcade power supply. So we're going to talk about how to wire an arcade power supply to one of these boards in the next part of the series, but I wanted to at least show you guys what it looks like. This looks like it's difficult. It's really not. It's just a little scary because, you know, you could touch that and there's electricity flowing through it, so you want to be careful. So that's one piece of it. And then the other piece is these harnesses called JAMA harnesses, which JAMA is just a, is actually an organization that was put together to create standards for how arcade systems connected. And so this, that's why it's called the JAMA harness. But this harness itself, I actually like a harness by a company called Press Your Buttons, where he puts, he prints this all out in English. So with every board you buy, there's a manual and in the manual, it'll tell you what button goes to what pin. So this looks really difficult, but I'm telling you do it once or twice and it will be like second nature, even though it just seems like a ball of wires right now. It's not bad. And we're going to actually wire one of these boards up in part two. Once your jammer harness is connected, and like I said, we're going to do this all in part two. Once it's connected, you're going to find all your buttons are connected and everything. there's one little other piece that you're going to need because, uh-oh, how am I going to connect this to an LCD monitor or any kind of modern monitor? Well, you're not. So obviously arcade boards connected to CRTs, right? Or, you know, they look like traditional televisions. They're CRT devices. And they had a connector that would accept this. So with that being said, you do need these converter boards and there's a couple of different ones and I'll just, I'll plug it in just so you can kind of see even though we're not live or anything you'd plug it in and now what you have here is this is converting this signal the RGB signal from your arcade system to an HDMI so they have various different ones this one converts to HDMI and this one converts to VGA so it just depends on what you're looking for but you're gonna need these so this is one other component you need both of them you just need one depending on what kind of LCD panel or whatever you're connecting to but I just thought that would be important for you guys to know so outside of the components that we shared here there really aren't anything out there there really aren't any other things that you need and once you figure out how to wire a button I can show you that it's exactly just as easy to wire a joystick the only thing that might trip people up at times is the loop that you have to create between devices for ground but even that after a couple times it's it's no big deal so this is just a basic introduction but my plan is to get you guys up and running in one of of these and then I'm going to show you a system that I built, a Neo Geo system that I built actually based on this MVS 1A system right here. So I know this was pretty a basic level overview, but I think it's important that you guys understand all the components that are involved when you're working with these. And I think it's going to give you a lot of flexibility. And keep in mind, this is a unique option. You know, you may not want to go down this route when you have RetroPie and Pandora's Box, but I feel like for one, it gives you a really authentic experience it's fun to play with so if it's something the way you like to tinker with things it's pretty fun to build these and once you can build an arcade system or and understand jama and arcade power supplies your your kind of sky is the limit because once you go jama there's a plethora of jama boards out there that could just plug right into your system so it kind of makes it a really flexible for future upgrades and modifications so that's it for this episode we will come back for part two so I can teach you how to wire everything and get you up and running but I appreciate you watching if you like this video please subscribe to the channel please like the video and always hit notifications so you can be informed of future videos thanks for joining guys and we'll see you on the next one Thanks for watching! _(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 1fff5661-018c-494b-8d35-778c1a21251d*