Building a Universal Arcade PCB Holder

I own a few arcade cabinets and with the exception of my "dedicated" Sega Naomi and SNK Candy Cabinet, I never mount boards inside my machines. You are suppose to screw the arcade PCB into the side of the arcade cabinet, if it's an North American cabinet, or onto a wood board and slide into a very compact Japanese cabinet. 

As a collector, I rotate through my arcade games frequently, and having to mount the PCBs everytime I want to play a game got tiring very fast. So here's a simple fix. By attaching a universal PCB holder to a piece of wood I can keep my PCBs secured from shorting out on the metal interior of some of my cabinets while also making them easy to move around if I'm playing the PCB on my Supergun rig. 

I wanted mine to look nice so I just purchased a bamboo cutting board from Amazon. I know this isn't groundbreaking but I'm always shocked to see fellow enthusiast running arcade PCBs all haphazardly.  Just screw the PCB Holder onto the cutting board and add rubber feet to the other side to keep the cutting board from sliding around and just like that, you made yourself a versatile tool that will help protect your arcade boards and also make playing them a lot easier. 

Enjoy!

--Nathan

 

 

Sega ST-V Cart Cases

I love displaying my arcade collection and for years, I been buying custom cases called Shockboxes for my Neo-Geo MVS carts. Southtown Homebrew have been my #1 go to site to beautify my bland MVS carts into something I can place onto a shelf and display with pride. Recently, I've been falling back into my arcade collecting and I decided to focus my attention onto my small Sega Titan Video game system (Sega ST-V) collection of carts. The ST-V arcade board set is basically a ROM cartridge based arcade level version of the Sega Saturn. So a lot of fast paced, fun, twitchy arcade games!

I've added several ST-V carts into my collection over the years and I was in need of boxing and displaying them on my shelf for organization. The ST-V cart are much smaller than SNK's Neo-Geo carts so, while I could use foam to take up the negative space inside a giant Shockbox, which I wasn't willing to do, since the Shockbox have gone up to $12 a piece. I basically had two choices: re-purposing some old EA's big Sega Genesis/Megadrive sport cases or use the Universal Combo Game Case.

Originally I used the EA Sega Genesis Sport cases, but I ended up using all of my (then) cheap Sports boxes for my Atomiswave carts. So when I when I went online to find some more cheap sports titles, I was actually a little surprised that these $1-2 sports titles nobody wanted a few years ago are now selling at $10-15 minimum. My only real CHEAP option was to buy the Universal Combo Game Case at about $1.50 each. So the choice was simple, I went to Southtown Homebrew and printed out the covers of the games I own and picked up some cases. The Universal Combo Game Case requires taking some wire cutters or a sharp box cutters to modify the inside of the case to make your Sega ST-V Cart fit. While it's not a perfect option, I like to think of it as a "close enough, why not?" option. 

I had one annoying issue with this whole process, not all of my game carts had covers to print off at Southtown and I waited patiently for, literally, years for someone to make covers for Golden Axe the Duel, Cotton Boomerang, Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty, and Astra Superstars. Because no one did, I figured I can take a crack at it. While my photoshopping skills are basic and I got really lazy on the back of the covers, I really like how these turned out. 

I will link to the both sizes for the Genesis/Megadrive case and the Universal Combo Game Case. Please feel free to improve on the design or make your own. I think I like making custom covers for the games and I can't wait to do more in the future.

--Nathan

Astra Superstars

• Sega Genesis/ Megadrive Case
• Universal Combo Game Case

Cotton Boomerang: 

• Sega Genesis/ Megadrive Case
• Universal Combo Game Case

Golden Axe the Duel

• Sega Genesis/ Megadrive Case
• Universal Combo Game Case

Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty

• Sega Genesis/ Megadrive Case
• Universal Combo Game Case

Part List for Making your own Fightstick from Scratch

Making joysticks or fight sticks can be a daunting task if you have never done it before. I was building a pair of game specific joysticks for "Buriki One" and decided to just make a video documenting the process. Granted, I stained the box and pre-drilled where I want the buttons and joystick to be to conserve time but all in all this should be a nice first step for someone wanting to build a controller for themselves.

Please note: The controller in this video is for my supergun, which is an external box that plays arcade boards and the controller ports are set to arcade specs, so I do not need a controller pcb. Hardwiring the Neo-Geo extension cable to the fightstick components will work fine for this specific setup. If you are looking to build a fightstick for the Xbox 360/One and PS3/4, I strongly recommend just buying a Brooks Universal Fighting Board. Also, SlagCoin where you want to go for your joystick template.

I have linked all of the parts used in this video below. Mixed and match however you want. I personally used the IL joysticks because I wanted to save a few bucks and I didn't want to invest too much on a joystick that I will be using for only one game. I plan on building a Neo-Geo controller using all Japanese components in the near future so stay tune for that.

Part List:

• Gray-white Waterproof Plastic Project Box Enclosure 200x120x75mm
• IL (Industrias Lorenzo) Joystick
• Seimitsu 30mm screw button push buttons
• Seimitsu 24 screw button push button
• Blue Vinyl Dye
• 28 AWG Stranded Wires
• Soldering Iron
• Neo-Geo MVS/AES Extension Cable
• Wire Strippers
• Multimeter

--Nathan

How To Mod The Madcatz Fight Stick with Seimitsu Parts.

This is probably my most requested walk-through articles on how to upgrade a Madcatz Standard Fight Stick that I originally wrote for Pineconeattack back on 08.06.2009. I hope this article will still be useful to those still modify and upgrading your fightsticks. I will keep it up here for archival purpose. 

--Nathan

The fighting craze is back in an upturn for the mainstream but you can take advantage of this trend by picking up some of the best joysticks out for the North American market which is the Madcatz Tournament Edition fight joystick with 100% Sanwa arcade joystick and buttons. Of course such awesomeness does come at a hefty price tag of $150.

The problem is that not everyone can justify the hefty high price tag for an expensive joystick to play Street Fighter IV, Blazblue or King of Fighter XII so many have opted to pick up the cheaper Madcatz Standard Fight Stick. Good news! This guide will show you how to get your cheaper standard fight stick up to arcade standards by upgrading the components yourself, which can save you some money or at very least make it so you don’t have to come up with $150 immediately.

Of the cheaper joysticks at are readily available in your retail chains, you basically have a choice between the Hori EX2 and the Madcatz standard fight stick. I’ve already shown you how to replace the buttons and joystick on your Hori EX2 in past walkthroughs with Sanwa parts and I even shown you how easy the Madcatz fight stick can be upgraded with Sanwa joysticks and buttons in my video, but now I would like to kick up notch, so to speak, by really making this Fight Stick into something truly original and bad ass by staining the case, adding custom artwork, installing Seimitsu joystick and adding art in your Seimitsu buttons.  By replacing the stock joystick you will also avoid the headaches with substandard suicidal Madcatz quality parts.

The one thing that I freaking LOVE about the Standard Madcatz Fight Stick is that it’s so damn easy to modify. You do NOT need to have any soldering skills to replace the joystick or push buttons to improve the Madcatz Fight Stick’s reliability and performance. A lot of forward thinking was used to design this stick and you can get it up to speed with the expensive $150 Tournament stick big brother by replacing the buttons and joystick with minimal effort or go hog wild and customize it to your heart’s content.

This walk through will show you step-by-step on how to disassemble the standard Madcatz Fight Stick and get it ready for staining as well as applying custom joystick art, walking you through adding art work in your Seimitsu push buttons and the little quirks on getting a Seimistu joystick to work with the existing wiring setup. Please understand that my goal in this how-to walk through is to provide you with plenty of pictures with a “by the hand” approach to present the most complete and comprehensive guide so anyone from beginners to the experts can mod their own joystick with ease.

WARNING:

Attempt at your own risk!

DO NOT ATTEMPT unless you have some technical skills and can follow instructions. This walk through is as simplified as I can make it so if none of my instructions makes any sense then please DO NOT ATTEMPT.

This project will void your warranty.

[Pineconeattack.com (Outdated References) will not take any responsibility if you kill your joystick.]

How to Mod the Hori EX2/Hori Wii Fighting Stick with Actual Sanwa Joystick and Buttons

Here's one of my walk-through articles on how to modify your Hori Wii Fighting Stick/EX2 that I originally wrote for Pineconeattack back on 03.07.2009. I hope this article will still be useful to those still modify and upgrading your fightsticks. I will keep it up here for archival purpose. 

--Nathan

The Hori EX2 walk-through seems to be a huge success with the community but I’ve been getting a lot of e-mails on people wanting a walkthrough on two topics: How to add a Sanwa joystick in your Hori EX2 & how to mod the Hori Wii Fighting Stick. Well since I was in the need for a good joystick for Tatsunoko vs. Capcom and I wanted a joystick that played better than the stock stick, well good news, I finally finished modding my Wii Fighting stick with Sanwa push buttons & an authentic Sanwa joystick. It wasn’t as difficult as I expected but it defiantly was time consuming to figure out what needed to be trimmed, but more on that later.

The Wii Fighting Stick and the Hori EX2 are practically the same stick so this walkthrough will cover both sticks and probably the PS3 Hori EX2 stick as well. The main difference between the Xbox 360 Hori EX2 and the Hori Wii Fighting Stick is the addition of buttons on the Wii stick. Additional buttons means a different PCB. The process to modify each stick is identical so do not let the different boards confuse you.

Please note that the PCB on the Hori EX2 & the Wii Fighting Stick is very sensitive and has a tendency to commit suicide and like most PCB: do not touch the board unless you’ve grounded yourself and not charged with static. Static kills boards.  Also do not over heat the solder because it will splash on the board which may cause a short.

This mod is more difficult than the first Hori EX2 and you will need a Dremel tool or something equivalent that can cut through plastic because you will be doing a LOT of cutting & grinding to the Sanwa joystick mount to get it to fit inside the Hori EX2/Wii Fighting Stick. I will not be replacing the joystick art because I want my Wii Fighting Stick to keep with the Wii’s sterile aesthetics, ie: I was too lazy to care.

The only noticeable exterior changes I made was replacing the last two blue buttons with white ones because I loathe 8 button configuration but I refuse to just plug them up because you never know when you might need them for a game. With the end buttons white, I can easily ignore them during game play. I also had to use some photos from a previous project to fill in the missing photos that I forgot to take, so hopefully this will not confuse anyone.

WARNING:

Attempt at your own risk!

DO NOT ATTEMPT unless you have some technical skills and can follow instructions. This walkthrough is as simplified as I can make it so if none of my instructions makes any sense then please DO NOT ATTEMPT.

This project will void your warranty.

[Pineconeattack (Outdated References) will not take any responsibility if you kill your joystick.]

How to Mod the Hori Fighting Stick EX2 with Authentic Arcade Parts (Xbox 360 Version)

Here's one of my walk-through articles on how to modify your Hori Fighting Stick EX2 that I originally wrote for Pineconeattack back on 12.07.2008. I hope this article will still be useful to those still modify and upgrading your fightsticks. I will keep it up here for archival purpose. 

--Nathan

The Hori Fighting Stick EX2 is a good stick that I got pretty cheap, but like all stock joysticks, there are plenty of room for improvements. In my review of this stick, I brought up two minor complaints with this stick: mushy buttons and the square restrictor plate. Well, here’s the walk-through on how to fix these issues.  With a little soldering skill and plenty of patience, you can make this good stick into an incredible one and it’s not as hard as you might think.

(UPDATE: If you are looking for more joystick projects then head over here to add an actual Sanwa Stick inside your Hori EX2 or here to mod the MadCatz Fight stick.)

WARNING:

This is a simple project if you have some technical skills. This walkthrough is as simplified as I can make it so if none of this makes any sense then please DO NOT ATTEMPT. This project will void your warranty.

Attempt at your own risk!

Pineconeattack  (Outdated References) will not take any responsibility if you kill your joystick.