Classic SEGA Arcade Game Pickup - Golden Axe!

RetroRalph·video·5m 49s·analyzed·Feb 11, 2023

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.020

TL;DR

RetroRalph acquires Golden Axe arcade cabinet, explains System 16 board and battery failure risks.

Summary

RetroRalph showcases a newly acquired Sega Golden Axe arcade cabinet in a Dynamo conversion, discussing the game's history, the Sega System 16 board architecture, the notorious 'suicide battery' issue in Hitachi encryption chips, and practical maintenance tips like using a degaussing coil for monitor discoloration.

Key Claims

Golden Axe was a kit game that came with marquee, control panel artwork, bezel artwork, and PCB, allowing installation in various cabinets like Dynamo
high confidence · Jon explaining Golden Axe as a kit game and noting it's commonly found in Dynamo cabinets
Sega System 16 boards use a Hitachi chip with a battery-backed encryption key that, once depleted, renders the board non-functional without replacement parts from Sega Resurrection website
high confidence · Jon detailed explanation of the 'suicide battery' problem and Sega Resurrection as a solution resource
Some original Sega System 16 batteries from the 1980s-90s, originally designed for ~10-year lifespan, are still functioning today
high confidence · Jon noting that some boards with original batteries are still working decades later
Sega released a Golden Axe remake attempt for Sega's 60th anniversary on Steam by an Australian studio, featuring improved graphics but only the first level
high confidence · Jon describing the Steam release and noting the game was incomplete
The Golden Axe remake developer was unaware Sega would release the project and became upset about the publication
medium confidence · Jon mentioning 'drama' surrounding the release and developer's reaction to unexpected publication

Notable Quotes

“Golden Axe was a kit game. So it wasn't a game that came in its own cabinet. So you might find Golden Axes in all sorts of cabinets.”
Jon (RetroRalph)@ 0:39 — Explains the unique nature of Golden Axe as a conversion kit rather than a dedicated cabinet
“If you take this metal plate off, there's a battery. And this battery holds on to an encryption key in this chip, which then reads the encryption key and plays the game via the unencrypted ROMs after it's decrypted.”
Jon (RetroRalph)@ 1:44 — Technical explanation of the Hitachi chip encryption dependency on battery power
“The suicide battery is a problem with these boards, but you can fix it. I'll have a link in the description to the Sega Resurrection website”
Jon (RetroRalph)@ 2:41 — Provides practical solution pathway for collectors encountering dead System 16 boards
“Most modern monitors degauss themselves. So if they don't, you can use this. And what you could do is you basically hold it in front of your monitor and you kind of do one of these and sort of like back up off of it.”
Jon (RetroRalph)@ 3:28 — Educational maintenance tip about using degaussing coils for CRT monitor maintenance

Entities

JonpersonSegacompanyGolden AxegameSega System 16productHitachi chipproductDynamo cabinetproductSega ResurrectionorganizationSega GenesisproductAltered BeastgameShinobigameSteam

Signals

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community_signal: Sega Resurrection website provides recovery solution for bricked System 16 boards, enabling preservation of otherwise unusable hardware
high · Jon specifically recommending Sega Resurrection as resource for replacing dead batteries and unencrypted ROM chips
?
announcement: Sega 60th anniversary Golden Axe remake by Australian studio released on Steam, though incomplete (first level only)
high · Jon discussing the remake as available on Steam with improved graphics but noting incompleteness and surrounding developer conflict
?
technology_signal: Sega System 16 encryption vulnerability ('suicide battery') represents a persistent hardware design flaw in 1980s-90s arcade systems with lasting preservation implications
high · Detailed technical explanation of Hitachi chip battery dependency; Jon noting some original batteries still function decades later despite ~10-year design lifespan

Topics

Arcade cabinet acquisition and restorationprimarySega System 16 board architecture and encryptionprimaryBattery-backed chip failure ('suicide battery') in vintage arcade hardwareprimaryCRT monitor maintenance and degaussingsecondaryArcade kit conversions and cabinet variantssecondaryGolden Axe game history and portssecondarySega IP and modern remake attemptsmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— Jon expresses enthusiasm about the acquisition, satisfaction with the cabinet condition, and appreciation for the technical learning opportunity. Minor negative sentiment regarding the suicide battery issue and developer drama around the remake, but framed constructively.

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.017

hey guys welcome back to the channel I'm very excited because I was able to acquire a Sega Golden Axe if you've been watching the channel for a while then you know I'm a huge huge Sega fan and Golden Axe was one of the games I really loved as a kid except I didn't play it in the arcade so much I played it on my Sega Genesis at home it was a really popular title back then and And it wasn't a one-for-one match for the arcade. The graphics weren't 100% the same. But as a kid, man, you felt like it was. And it was just really cool to be able to think that you were playing Golden Axe at home. So what's kind of cool about this is Golden Axe was a kit game. So it wasn't a game that came in its own cabinet. So you might find Golden Axes in all sorts of cabinets. I've seen all sorts of weird, crazy Golden Axe conversions. It's very common to find them in Dynamo cabinets, though. So this one's actually in a Dynamo cabinet. It's been very much restored. And it's got some yellow T-molding. and the Golden Axe Marquee looks great, and everything else is pretty much Golden Axe themed, so it's as accurate as you can for that time period. But the kit used to come with the Marquee, the control panel artwork, the bezel artwork, so it had everything in the kit, and the PCB. As a matter of fact, what's really cool about this particular cabinet, is you can unlatch it from the bottom, and then we can slide out the PCB. There we go. It makes it easy to work on the control panel, because you can just fold it over. That's pretty normal, but what's unique is this. How awesome is it if you an arcade operator You don have to open up the whole entire thing and you can just work on your cabinet right here in front of you So this PCB board is the Sega System 16 architecture It ran Altered Bees Shinobi Golden Axe a couple others There were a few variants of it and most of them had this Hitachi chip on it. Now why this Hitachi chip is significant is because it has a battery behind it. So if you take this metal plate off, there's a battery. And this battery holds on to an encryption key in this chip, which then reads the encryption key and plays the game via the unencrypted ROMs after it's decrypted. The thing is, if this battery dies, then the board will no longer be usable. And what's crazy is there are some boards even today that have the original battery in it that are still working. So this battery that probably maybe was supposed to have a 10-year lifespan is still keeping this chip alive. The bummer is once it dies it bricks the board so some people will just go into their arcade room one day Turn this on or find one in a barn or somewhere It's been sitting for a while and it will not work and they won't know how to fix it They'll sell it really cheap, but really you can fix it by going to the Sega Resurrection website. It'll identify It'll ask you what chip you have They'll be able to get you the replacement processor and the unencrypted ROM chips so you can revive a dead board So the suicide battery is a problem with these boards, but you can fix it. I'll have a link in the description to the Sega Resurrection website, because last thing you want to do is buy one of these and have it die on you and you have no idea how to fix it So don shy away from these if they not working You do have a fix But anyways getting back to it it is a JAMMA compatible board So because it is a kit, it was meant to be able to put into anything, right? They could revive an old game that maybe wasn't making money. I don't think it had a traditional switching power supply. I'm not really sure. Maybe it did. But that's in here. It looks like it's been replaced. Everything else is very traditional to, you know, Sega. So pretty cool. Fold it back in and we can play a little bit. and I'll talk a little bit more about the game. When I actually walked up to this machine, I haven't played it in a while, I noticed there's some discoloration in the monitor. This is actually called the degaussing coil. Most modern games degauss themselves. So if they don't, you can use this. And what you could do is you basically hold it. So John Youssi the discoloration right here and right here. So you kind of hold it in front of your monitor and you kind of do one of these and sort of like back up off of it. And if you get it right, it should remove the discoloration. sometimes it takes a couple tries to get it it's hard to do it when there's nothing on the screen there it is it's totally good it's gone it's so pretty cool so this is called the degaussing coil it comes in really handy i had a feeling it was doing that because there's a power panel behind it but i think i moved it from here to here so it's not interfering with it anymore and it just needed that so this monitor doesn't have a degaussing coil built in so you can always pick one of these up, I'll put a link in the description. You know this is one that I wanted to add to my collection for a while and although there isn a dedicated cabinet this is this is kind of how I remember seeing it over the years even though like I said I really played it mostly On the Sega Genesis not in the arcade But it's one of those memorable games as one of those say games that I wish they would have made and continued the series on There was actually if you look on Steam and I don't even know if it's still on there for the Sega 60th anniversary They released something called Golden Axe, which was an attempt by an Australian Sega Studio to redo the game, and it was awesome, dude. The graphics were really cool. It was only the first level. It wasn't even fully complete, but man, I wish they had done it, and there's some drama that was surrounding that whole thing, because damn, I can't hit the little dude. There's a little drama surrounding it, because the developer had no clue Sega was going to release it, and he got pretty upset, because he put a lot of passion into the project, and you could tell it was really cool. But anyways, I'm so glad I have this in my collection finally. Big Sega fan, like I said, and, you know, if you've been watching for the channel for a while, you know that. So, anyways, we'll probably do more videos on this in the future, but I appreciate you guys watching. Put in the comments below, do you love Sega arcade games? If you do, what's your favorite one? And that's it for now, guys. We will see you on the next one. Outro Music