Arcade1up MOD - Countercade - We finally know how to MOD it!

RetroRalph·video·7m 54s·analyzed·Sep 10, 2019

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.020

TL;DR

Arcade1Up Countercade mod using aftermarket video controller + Game Elf Vertical board.

Summary

Retro Ralph demonstrates how to modify an Arcade1Up Countercade by replacing the stock video board with an aftermarket controller that accepts VGA input, enabling use of a Game Elf Vertical emulation board without requiring expensive monitor replacement. The mod uses standard connectors (LVDS, VGA, Molex power) and is presented as a cost-effective alternative to his previous approach of swapping the entire monitor.

Key Claims

The new video board mod allows the Countercade to accept VGA input without major monitor modifications
high confidence · Direct demonstration where the mod is successfully powered up and displays the Game Elf menu
The Game Elf Vertical board is suitable for vertical arcade games and works well on the standard 8-inch Countercade monitor
high confidence · Ralph demonstrates gameplay on the modified system and explains the vertical orientation advantage
The mod requires setting a jumper to 'G' on the video controller to achieve correct resolution for the Game Elf Vertical board
high confidence · Ralph explicitly states this configuration requirement at the end of the video
Ralph's previous Countercade mod involved replacing the entire monitor, which was unnecessarily expensive
high confidence · Ralph states 'Last time I had Tee'd Off replace the whole damn monitor. It just made no sense'

Notable Quotes

“Last time I had Tee'd Off replace the whole damn monitor. It just made no sense. I had Tee'd Off jigsaw stuff. I'm not about that.”
Retro Ralph@ 0:19 — Sets up the motivation for finding a cost-effective alternative approach to Countercade modification
“I went through almost five of these Tee'd Off try Tee'd Off find one that worked and this one was a tip from someone on Facebook.”
Retro Ralph@ 0:36 — Indicates the sourcing challenge and community crowdsourcing in the modding process
“So what you end up doing is you end up taking this LVDS connection off of this part of the board and you plug it into this new board and then it has its own power connection.”
Retro Ralph@ 1:45 — Explains the core technical approach to the video board swap
“I think it actually takes a product i wasn't that excited about and kind of makes me sort of excited”
Retro Ralph@ 6:26 — Ralph's assessment that the mod significantly improves the appeal of the base Countercade product

Entities

Retro RalphpersonBarryBarrySneakypersonArcade1UpcompanyGame Elf VerticalproductCountercadeproduct

Signals

?
community_signal: Community crowdsourcing of aftermarket component solutions (BarryBarrySneaky Facebook tip leading to viable mod path)
high · Ralph credits Facebook community member for discovering the video board solution after testing five units
?
product_strategy: Arcade1Up Countercade modding technique enabling aftermarket emulation board compatibility through aftermarket video controller board
high · Successful demonstration of Game Elf Vertical board operating on stock Countercade monitor via VGA adapter
?
technology_signal: Shift from invasive monitor replacement modding approach to non-destructive video board controller swap methodology
high · Ralph explicitly contrasts previous method (full monitor replacement) with new method (LVDS/VGA board swap)

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.024

0:00

Oh yeah, it's the Arcade 1-Up and Countercade! Okay, we did that last time, but I just had to. So, in this episode, what are we gonna do? What we're gonna do is we're gonna figure out how to modify this thing on the cheap. Well, not the cheap, but a much more cost-effective way than last time. Last time I had to replace the whole damn monitor. It just made no sense. I had to jigsaw stuff. I'm not about that. So how can we finally modify this countercade without spending a ton of money? Well, I think we found the key and it's in this video board right here. I went through almost five of these to try to find one that worked and this one was a tip from someone on Facebook. So thank you so much. His name is BarryBarrySneaky. We'll talk more about him in a little bit, but we're going to see if this thing will finally give us the keys to unlock the potential of the Arcade 1-Up countercade. Alright guys, let's waste no time and get right to it. So in the front of this it's going to look like the standard countercade because it is. I haven't done anything to it here and I've left the screen intact. I am going to have to change out the control panel just to do the test. I'm going to swap it with the Pac-Man one that I already modded just so that I don't have to redo the controls. I just want to prove the theory that this is a viable option. So if you flip this over, you're going to see this right here was the arcade one up Dig Dug PCB. This was actually mounted right there. And so I took that off and this is the video board, the new video board. So what you end up doing is you end up taking this LVDS connection off of this part of the board and you plug it into this new board and then it has its own power connection You have to take the ground and ground it as well I mounted this to the board itself so just because I wanted it to be stable and be really nice and have a nice finished look to it and then this guy is just your normal menu options up down to select things within the video controller menu. So that's pretty much it. So at this stage of the game I've now taken what was a closed system and allowed it to accept the VGA connection. It also has its own power, so I can reuse the Arcade 1-Up power supply for this, although there was a power supply that came with this, so it'll, either way. But what I'm going to mod this with is actually a, I think it's 415-in-1, it's a Game Elf Vertical. I've reviewed Game Elfs in the past, and I wasn't a big fan of the game elf horizontal but the game elf vertical board is halfway decent so i'll show it to you real quick okay this right here is the game elf vertical board the reason why i chose to do this is it's going to be pretty simple for me to mod it so if you look it has a um oops what side is it on it has a molex power connector so i do not need an arcade power supply however it does have a jama edge connector so i am going to have to run a jama harness from here to the arcade buttons. But that's pretty much it because if I look, this has a VGA out and now I have a VGA input on my countercade so I can go VGA from this game elf straight to that. And then power wise, I am going to have two things plugged in. So I had made this mod before on the other countercade is I put a, ignore the fact that I messed this all up. I was rushing when I modded it but anyways I had put a power switch option so I have one wall plug and then anything internal to the system that needs to be plugged in just gets plugged in right here I leave I actually covered how to wire these arcade switches before but I leave a link to some diagrams of how to do that But anyways if I had this on the back I have a simple on and off operation But for this, I'm just going to plug it all into the wall and show you guys that it can work. Alright guys, it's time to power it up. So there's my VGA connector. I'm simply going to put one end on to that new video controller and the other end on the Game Elf. Pretty simple. Now, for the power, this thing, like I said, takes a Molex power connector, which is a standard connector you can buy at Molex Power Supply on Amazon pretty easily. I'm going to tuck that back in there real quick. There's the power to the video controller board, and there you go. There's the power to the Game Elf. I kind of messed it up a couple times. It is not, so you can't really get it wrong, but there it is. And that's it. I'm going to spin it around, and we'll power it up.

4:55

Alright, so I'm going to add some controls to show basic functionality. Now, this is going to be the Pac-Man control panel from the first arcade one-up countercade mod that I did. The only reason why I put this in is because it's already wired for JAMMA. Now, I did maintain the stock controls. I didn't add new buttons, so as you can see, it's all wired into the stock buttons. So I'm just putting this in here to show you guys basic functionality. Now if we were going to take this mod a step further and try to make this really fully functional, I'm going to have to find someone that makes control panels for this countercade, and I don't think anybody does that quite yet. So I might have to make one my own, and if I do that, I'm going to show that on a subsequent video. Now I'm going to plug this all back in and power it up, and we should be good to go, and I can show some basic functionality of the Game Elf vertical board. So as I show you some basic gameplay, you're probably wondering why did I choose this board. I chose this board because it is all vertically oriented games So it 412 vertically oriented games So it awesome All games that are perfect for the monitor that happens to be standard with this system now the game elf varies in price You can get it at a bunch of different places It been around for quite some time but it emulates the games pretty well It's not perfect, but it's pretty nice to have 412 games that work pretty decent on a monitor like this So yeah, so this was kind of fun and there's some even some modern shooters or more modern shooters than a game like galaga so um so it's just a fun board and i'll cover it on deeper detail in future episodes but this is something that's an alternative to like say a 60 in one all right guys it's that time again it's time for final thoughts so what did i think about this i think it actually takes a product i wasn't that excited about and kind of makes me sort of excited and with a board like this it kind of gives you a lot of options and i think you'd enjoy the product a hell of a lot more it does still have an 8 inch screen but i'll deal with it with uh with 412 games so there is something I forgot to tell you if you are going to use this with the game elf you're going to need to put that jumper on G and that will allow the the board to be in the right resolution for the game elf vertical board so besides that I think I want to specially thank Barry Barry Sneaky for tipping us off on this I'm going to put a link in the description that actually has a direct access to the board so you can purchase it and Barry Barry Sneaky gets a very small cut of that if you decide to buy it. I think that's just a great way to say thanks for helping us mod this product. Okay, so if you like this video, please like it. Please consider subscribing to the channel. I would love to hear your comments below, and don't forget to turn on notifications so you can be informed of future updates. All right, guys, that's it. We'll double down on the topic later on, and I'll show you more, but we'll see you on the next one. Take care, guys.