Arcade Cabinet Pickup - OutRun2!

RetroRalph·video·7m 30s·analyzed·Apr 5, 2021

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.016

TL;DR

RetroRalph reviews Sega OutRun 2 cabinet, mods audio with soundbar.

Summary

RetroRalph showcases a recently acquired Sega OutRun 2 arcade cabinet running the Chihiro architecture. The cabinet is in excellent condition requiring only minor focus adjustment. Ralph emphasizes the game's fun drift mechanics and multiple play modes, but criticizes the stock audio as tinny and bass-deficient, addressing this with an aftermarket soundbar and wireless subwoofer upgrade.

Key Claims

OutRun 2 runs on Chihiro architecture, the same hardware as House of the Dead 3 and Virtua Cop 3
high confidence · RetroRalph, technical overview segment
The cabinet came with force feedback steering wheel, working marquee, and bright monitor requiring only minor focus adjustment
high confidence · RetroRalph, condition assessment
OutRun 2 features three play modes: OutRun, Heart Attack, and Time Attack
high confidence · RetroRalph, gameplay overview
The game has three soundtrack remixes plus four additional original tracks
high confidence · RetroRalph, soundtrack description
Sega did not include bass/subwoofer in OutRun 2 design unlike Midway racing cabinets with bass shakers in seats
medium confidence · RetroRalph, criticism of stock audio design
OutRun 2006 Coast to Coast included newer levels than the original OutRun 2 and was released on PSP, PS2, Xbox, and Windows
high confidence · RetroRalph, home port information segment

Notable Quotes

“I may say Chihiro, Chimichanga, Chichiro, I may say a bunch of things throughout this episode. It is Chihiro, but for some reason I just never can say it right”
RetroRalph (Jon Hey)@ 0:09 — Self-aware humor about pronunciation difficulty
“You guys know there's something about arcade games. If it's not spot on, it bugs me, and you guys can guess what that is. I've done it many episodes on this. It's always about the audio”
RetroRalph (Jon Hey)@ 1:09 — Establishes his signature focus on audio quality in arcade cabinets
“The sound is just really tinny, and I don't understand why. I don't understand why with this racing game, when they developed it, they didn't focus on bass a little bit more”
RetroRalph (Jon Hey)@ 3:19 — Core criticism of OutRun 2's design philosophy
“In games like this, it's all about the audio. You've got to kind of get entrenched in the game, and I think audio really plays a big part in that”
RetroRalph (Jon Hey)@ 4:40 — Philosophy on immersion and audio's role in arcade experience
“man does it make a huge huge difference. So there's the subwoofer right there just sits alongside and it's wireless”
RetroRalph (Jon Hey)@ 5:54 — Confirmation that wireless subwoofer upgrade significantly improved audio

Entities

RetroRalphpersonJon HeypersonSegacompanyOutRun 2gameChihiroproductHouse of the Dead 3gameVirtua Cop 3gameFerraricompanyOutRun 2006 Coast to CoastgameMidwaycompany

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.022

0:00

Hey guys, welcome back! Alright, in today's episode we're going to take a look at Sega's OutRun 2. This cabinet ran on the Chihiro architecture. I may say Chihiro, Chimichanga, Chichiro, I may say a bunch of things throughout this episode. It is Chihiro, but for some reason I just never can say it right, so I'm sorry about that. But, the Chihiro architecture was responsible for a couple of great games, House of the Dead 3, Virtua Cop 3, there were several others. So that's pretty exciting, it's some pretty powerful hardware, and you can tell by the graphics of the gameplay. Now, the cabinet itself was in really good shape. The steering wheel force feedback works. The marquee works. The monitor was bright and tight. All it needed was a tiny focus adjustment, so it looked a little bit faded, a little blurry focus adjustment, a little bit, like a tiny, tiny bit, and it fixed it. So that's really good. Other than that, the cabinet has a couple dings. I don't know what happened here. Some guy got aggro and punched the side, so this has been sort of touched up. But for the most part, I'm happy with the overall condition of the cabinet. it. Now, what I want to do is give you guys a little overview of the game, and then we'll jump into the back of the cabinet, because I want you guys to see the Chihiro architecture. It's really cool, and I made a slight modification on something that always bugs me. You guys know there's something about arcade games. If it's not spot on, it bugs me, and you guys can guess what that is. I've done it many episodes on this. It's always about the audio, but we'll get to that later. All right, let's check it out. All right, let's put some coins in this thing and check it out. Okay, so OutRun 2 is pretty cool. It's got three different ways you can race the game, and it also has the Ferrari licenses were available at this time. So they actually had a license with Ferrari. So you can pick from the Testarossa. I like this one right here, so this is the one I'm going to go with. You can do manual or automatic. There's OutRun mode, Heart Attack mode, and Time Attack mode. I talk a little bit about those in a second And then there three different remixes of the original soundtrack songs and then there four additional tracks which is pretty cool So I always liked Magical Sound Shower so we go with that

1:58

2:54

And then, like the other OutRun games, you choose easy or hard. The right is hard, the left is easy. And the reason why that's cool is because it gives you some variety as you're playing the game. You can kind of choose different paths and, you know, it at least gives a couple combinations so the game isn't a boring game to play, right? I'll play this for a little bit longer, and then what I want to do is I really want to show you around the back, because the hardware of this game is really interesting, and I also want to show you the modification, because my biggest complaint with this game is the sound. The sound is just really tinny, and I don't understand why. I don't understand why with this racing game, when they developed it, they didn't focus on base a little bit more. If you look back at some of the Midway games, they put subs in the seat and stuff. I just don't know why Sega didn't do that with this game. It doesn't seem to make sense to me. it just seems like a missed opportunity So I excited to sort of modify this I might even down the road the modification I did is pretty easy and simple but I thinking down the road I may put a bass shaker in the seat of this thing. I think it would make a huge difference and it'd be super fun. All right, let's go around back and check that out. Okay, so let's take a look at the back of the system. Now this is the Chihiro board itself, and then you'll notice on top, this is actually the audio output, and I have the audio output split because I'm actually, that's my upgrade. I'm still using the stock amplifier for the two speakers that are above the monitor, but I hooked a soundbar up to it. I just thought, hey, I had a soundbar laying around. I need bass. Like you've got to have bass in a game like this. So alongside the side of the cabinet, I have the subwoofer. It's wireless. And then you can't even notice it. You guys probably didn't even see it, but there's a little soundbar, a really small one sitting on top of the marquee. So it was an easy audio upgrade. I may go and take it a step further later, but it makes a huge difference. And games like this, it's all about the audio. You've got to kind of get entrenched in the game, and I think audio really plays a big part in that. So again, this is the Chihiro architecture. Right here you'll see the GD-ROM drive. So this is where the actual game data is. And that's kind of it. The monitor is right here, the monitor chassis. You've got your focus and your brightness. So the focus knob, this is the one I just turned a little bit. He just gave it a little, little tiny turn, and then I, you know, a lot of people will set up a mirror or something so they can kind of see the front of the monitor as they do the adjustments. That's always helpful. I didn't do that. I just kind of adjusted it and went along front and kind of went back and forth until I got it the right way. But we'll probably dive into this further in another episode, but I just wanted you to know this is what the hardware looks like. There's the GD-ROM drive right here. I would love to at some point sort of open this up so I could see the disc inside see what it actually says I didn really do that but maybe I do that in a subsequent episode But they have it locked down so you can you know you can like eject the disc which makes sense

5:43

All right, guys, so I'll show you the front where you can see the soundbar I installed, and then we'll wrap things up. All right, I know you guys didn't notice it, but here it is. that's the mod and man does it make a huge huge difference so there's the subwoofer right there just sits alongside and it's wireless so guys hopefully enjoyed this quick video of my outrun two cabinet i'm super excited about it if you enjoyed this video give me a thumbs up consider subscribing to the channel put your comments below i want to know what you think of the outrun cabinet and that's it for now guys we will see you on the next one Okay, before you go, I totally forgot something. Let's say you want to enjoy OutRun 2 today. Well, OutRun 2006 Coast to Coast actually included newer levels and the original OutRun 2 that I showed in this video right now. And it was available on, I think, the PSP, the PlayStation 2, the Xbox, and even Windows. So there's a bunch of different ways for you to play it. So you don't have to go out and buy an arcade cabinet to experience this game. And I totally encourage you to go check it out. You can probably find the discs used somewhere. I don't think it's on any of the marketplaces. But I might be mistaken there. But definitely check it out. And that's it. That's it for now, guys. Go check out OutRun 2. And we will see you on the next one.