Look I didn't expect you guys to wipe out the Quija board and sacrífice a Gumba plushy to the dark gods of the Arcade to get the machine spirts to function again. But hey I appreciate you doing what you have to, to make it work.
"Your dedication to preserving and showcasing this piece of history is truly impressive! Thank you for letting us experience it through your work. It’s fascinating to see systems like these in action, especially since many of us have wondered what might’ve been possible with a stock Amiga in an arcade setting. I never realized such a setup existed back then! The attention to detail in testing and restoration is invaluable-going through visual inspection, cleaning, and thermal checks before diving deeper into the hardware. That’s a level of care that really resonates with anyone who appreciates these classic systems. I actually remember playing an early version of a similar setup at a computer show in Auckland It’s funny how nostalgia can blur the details, but the games, like Sidewinder with its unforgettable sound effects, have left lasting memories. It’s great to revisit those experiences through your videos!"
This system is of particular interest to me because a while ago I was wondering, as a “what if..?” exercise, if using a stock Amiga as the basis of a low-cost arcade cabinet would have been possible “back in the day” - I never knew such a system actually _existed_ .
I'd have loved to see it in the 2nd cabinet as it's so unique but am so glad you've got the cabinet you have its amazing, brilliant you've got it working
Great to see one of those machines working. I've never seen one of these in person, but I was aware that these existed back in the days. I've read about them in in German Amiga or gaming magazine. They also listed the games that were supposed to be released for it and also mentioned that they are going to be released for the 'regular' Amiga at some point. I think I played most of those games back in the days and all of them were utter garbage! Xenon probably was the least unplayable of them and I still didn't like that one at all. No surprise that this system flopped dramatically. They could have made it work if they had some good games for it. Maybe with Speedball and... it's really hard to think of Amiga games that could work in the Arcade that aren't Arcade ports 🙂
Very good point on testing. Visual inspection, cleaning, removable elements clean up and check, short circuit (tantalum warning) check, leak check then apply controlled power and do thermal inspection. And this is when you can kick out scopes, logic analyzer and all other heavy stuff, but at this stage at least all basics are checked already
The official commodore RGB SCART cables don't wire the blanking/rgb-switching line, because they were meant for 1081 and early 1084 with SCART, where you manually switch between composite and RGB. Not getting an image with these cables on a TV is nornal. The cable is probably fine, it was just never meant to be used on a TV.
Whoa whoa whoa that board bend at 4:50! If you've got boards that size and have to press IC's into it support it with some antistatic foam, a cloth or something. I've literally lost boards bending it less than that! 😬
Office paper should never be overlooked as an abrasive source. I've used bits of paper and card to maintain my pinball table for years. It's damned near perfect for the job of cleaing connections.
Oh wow, it's only a couple months older than me. Probably in better shape, too. I don't mind the cabinet choice, it's a British machine even so. YO I LOVED SIDEWINDER
will you guys make a replica of the pcbs so others can build it? I see these such rare systems be found and then never to be seen again as its in their personal collection that only few in your country could see. Would be nice to have an option to build it for other users, also have the roms dumped
I loved the original Leaderboard on my Amiga 1000. there were not that many quality games in 86 and 87 for the a1000 beside mind walker, defender of the crown, marble madness, just a hand full. And this headboard version has even more detailed gfx , much more than the 1986 version from the Amiga.
It's so refreshing to hear edge connector and their fingers referred to properly. Thank you. A lot of console folks call them "pins" which is just silly to me. I think that trend came from Nintendo kids who didn't know what to call them and then it caught on after being repeated enough times.
I do still like the idea of something like an acrylic side to the cabinet, so that you can see the works. It'd not just be interesting to see the insides of any cabinet, it'd be particularly so on this one because of the Amiga hardware.
I still like the American cabinet better and wish you could recreate it but glad you found an authentic cabinet to put it into cant wait to see the finished product
the player2 buttons being at an angle are also a thing on some Super Neo Candy cabinets, it is indeed shoulder management, player 1 joystick can be held without twisting your left wrist anyway so this side appears straight, but player2's hand will obviously come from more of the side of the control panel so it's a pretty neat ergonomic design
I remember playing one of these at a computer show in London just before it was released. I really wasn't impressed, it was running that ball game which looked pretty good but played really badly and didnt hold my interest for long. I do wonder if I played the prototype because I don't remember the graphics looking as bad as in the footage here. Sidewinder was a pretty good shoot em up with fantastic sound effects , one of the first Amiga games I owned due to it being on a magazine coverdisk.
Bombjack Beer edition, Tinyus and Tiny Bobble should be put on the roms. The problem with this system is the games. They look like amiga games, not arcade games. The 3 mentioned above actually look like the arcade machines.
We've just done a big update on that over on Patreon and will update here soon. Alex took a step back for personal reasons and has been popping in from time to time to make videos without the pressure of running the business, he's much happier for it. I then took 2 months leave to start a family, and now we're just getting arcade content sorted out. We have a whole summer of footage to work with.
Thanks for the update Neil. I’m looking forward to you getting that Outrun machine out.! I’ve just restored one myself - back in 1986, I saw it for the first time in Poole Quay amusements, and wanted one. Now I’ve realised my dream 👍😀
No, Holly is very busy with the ongoing maintenance of arcades here but she's going to start filming bits and bobs so that I can share some more of that maintenance side of things with you all
We've helped each other out on videos over the years, but in the coming months we'll be introducing a new approach to our work which sees us bringing all of the resources here at the mill together. We'll make a video to talk about this in detail and yes, I think introductions to remind everyone who we all are is a great idea!
Contrary to popular belief it's really hard to actually destroy a chip with static electricity alone. There was a whole video of people trying to somewhere on UA-cam. But still for a "restoration" project, it's not exactly being careful. Contact cleaner that will remove tarnishing then use some IPA to get it clean and you're good. No need to wear down the pins 🤦♂
Ah, its just occurred to me after watching a few more items by other people (Sorry, slow brain day). Its not the amount of advert breaks in the video, its that google (at least for me) has increased the amount of ads within those slots. For example instead of a 5 to 10 second slot they are now 40 to 60 seconds with multiple adverts within the slot. No wonder it felt like there was more, because for me there was. 😅 I'll shut up now, in the end it does not matter. Still a great watch.
When you do this kind of work day in and out dozens of times.. hundreds of times.. you get to a state of "minimum viable effort to test". He would not ship this out to a customer that way. But when its not just a hobby but something that consumes a large percentage of every day, you learn to conserve effort when troubleshooting, modding for diagnostics, etc. Once you have solved all problems, you dress the pigs and polish the turds. Its not for a customer. The owner is right in front of him and satisfied with "it works now". There is still a massive amount of work to be done, in which one task will be to clean up the patches. Given the soft state of the board, they may opt for a final overcoat of something. But today was about "get it up and running".
If you'd like to support our museum and channel head to patreon.com and sign up to be an Official Cave Dweller. Thank you for your support!
Neil
Look I didn't expect you guys to wipe out the Quija board and sacrífice a Gumba plushy to the dark gods of the Arcade to get the machine spirts to function again. But hey I appreciate you doing what you have to, to make it work.
"Your dedication to preserving and showcasing this piece of history is truly impressive! Thank you for letting us experience it through your work. It’s fascinating to see systems like these in action, especially since many of us have wondered what might’ve been possible with a stock Amiga in an arcade setting. I never realized such a setup existed back then!
The attention to detail in testing and restoration is invaluable-going through visual inspection, cleaning, and thermal checks before diving deeper into the hardware. That’s a level of care that really resonates with anyone who appreciates these classic systems.
I actually remember playing an early version of a similar setup at a computer show in Auckland It’s funny how nostalgia can blur the details, but the games, like Sidewinder with its unforgettable sound effects, have left lasting memories. It’s great to revisit those experiences through your videos!"
Your dedication to the craft and pursuit of preservation is incredible. Thanks for sharing it with us.
This system is of particular interest to me because a while ago I was wondering, as a “what if..?” exercise, if using a stock Amiga as the basis of a low-cost arcade cabinet would have been possible “back in the day” - I never knew such a system actually _existed_ .
Amiga-based arcade machines are mentioned briefly in Brian Bagnall's Commodore histories.
Gentlemen, you are uncovering arcade history. Amiga arcade, was almost a myth, but it really exists after all.
Cheers 🥂
I'd have loved to see it in the 2nd cabinet as it's so unique but am so glad you've got the cabinet you have its amazing, brilliant you've got it working
Those Super Select System screens *are* very cool - I like those a lot
Marketing, the bane of every engineer
Great part 2, I may have rewatched part 1 when this came out since I had forgotten everything in 3 weeks.
When he was putting the chips back in after cleaning... Flexing the board like that. Come on, I would never do that.
"It's never the cable." Will be written on my grave. I have made that mistake so many times.
Always look4ward to an rmc 👍
4:37 - somewhere, Mark from MarkFixesStuff sheds a tear. He taught the boys well.
A salty tear ran from my eye.
Great to see one of those machines working.
I've never seen one of these in person, but I was aware that these existed back in the days.
I've read about them in in German Amiga or gaming magazine.
They also listed the games that were supposed to be released for it and also mentioned that they are going to be released for the 'regular' Amiga at some point.
I think I played most of those games back in the days and all of them were utter garbage!
Xenon probably was the least unplayable of them and I still didn't like that one at all.
No surprise that this system flopped dramatically.
They could have made it work if they had some good games for it.
Maybe with Speedball and... it's really hard to think of Amiga games that could work in the Arcade that aren't Arcade ports 🙂
Very good point on testing. Visual inspection, cleaning, removable elements clean up and check, short circuit (tantalum warning) check, leak check then apply controlled power and do thermal inspection. And this is when you can kick out scopes, logic analyzer and all other heavy stuff, but at this stage at least all basics are checked already
The official commodore RGB SCART cables don't wire the blanking/rgb-switching line, because they were meant for 1081 and early 1084 with SCART, where you manually switch between composite and RGB. Not getting an image with these cables on a TV is nornal. The cable is probably fine, it was just never meant to be used on a TV.
Long time viewer, one day I might make the pilgrimage to the cave. ❤ really nice to see this being rescued.
So true, I was 'fixing' a PCB the other day with the scope out, turned out a chip was in back-to-front
Such a nice series! Looking forward to part 3!
Whoa whoa whoa that board bend at 4:50! If you've got boards that size and have to press IC's into it support it with some antistatic foam, a cloth or something. I've literally lost boards bending it less than that! 😬
It only bends like that because it's flexed up a lot, so they're not stretching it beyond where it's already cupped from.
Another brilliant video . Roll on part 3
Office paper should never be overlooked as an abrasive source. I've used bits of paper and card to maintain my pinball table for years. It's damned near perfect for the job of cleaing connections.
Yeah. That was a great tip.
My father is a former electrical engineer from Nortel (now defunct) and taught me to clean / polish pads using a white eraser, in a single direction
Love the retrocollective awesome
Great to see progress on this project. Many years ago I had an interview at Electrocoin as a C Coder, sadly I didn't get the job lol.
I hope they at least try those updated Roms in Part 3. Even if they keep using the older Roms. I'm just curious to see whats on the newer Roms.
Amazing efforts! I love this projects, I love the team and what you do! Thank you very much for your work! ❤🕹️
Oh wow, it's only a couple months older than me. Probably in better shape, too. I don't mind the cabinet choice, it's a British machine even so.
YO I LOVED SIDEWINDER
I'm betting it won't be long beore a modern recreation shows up for the homebrew fans
will you guys make a replica of the pcbs so others can build it? I see these such rare systems be found and then never to be seen again as its in their personal collection that only few in your country could see. Would be nice to have an option to build it for other users, also have the roms dumped
I was definitely in camp American cabinet but definitely think an authentic cabinet trumps that! What a find! Love your vids.
Been waiting for this. Looking forward to part 3 😁
What a piece of Amiga history!
Been looking forward to part 2 of this
I loved the original Leaderboard on my Amiga 1000. there were not that many quality games in 86 and 87 for the a1000 beside mind walker, defender of the crown, marble madness, just a hand full. And this headboard version has even more detailed gfx , much more than the 1986 version from the Amiga.
It's so refreshing to hear edge connector and their fingers referred to properly. Thank you. A lot of console folks call them "pins" which is just silly to me. I think that trend came from Nintendo kids who didn't know what to call them and then it caught on after being repeated enough times.
So, in the end, the Amiga Arcade was real. Astonishing .
Did not expect so much witch craft was necessary to make this stuff work.
Excited to watch this one after work!
It's usually something simple. Start small & work your way up.
I do still like the idea of something like an acrylic side to the cabinet, so that you can see the works. It'd not just be interesting to see the insides of any cabinet, it'd be particularly so on this one because of the Amiga hardware.
24:58 Never realized how tall Holly is.
Idk why but that Heber logo and name evokes more of a German company which makes concrete, windows or something like that ;)
I still like the American cabinet better and wish you could recreate it but glad you found an authentic cabinet to put it into cant wait to see the finished product
Sidewinder and Aaargh! Whats not to like.
the player2 buttons being at an angle are also a thing on some Super Neo Candy cabinets, it is indeed shoulder management, player 1 joystick can be held without twisting your left wrist anyway so this side appears straight, but player2's hand will obviously come from more of the side of the control panel so it's a pretty neat ergonomic design
The cabinet looks in suprisingly good condition (at the moment) all things considered.
Great video as always👍
Fascinating project
I remember playing one of these at a computer show in London just before it was released. I really wasn't impressed, it was running that ball game which looked pretty good but played really badly and didnt hold my interest for long. I do wonder if I played the prototype because I don't remember the graphics looking as bad as in the footage here.
Sidewinder was a pretty good shoot em up with fantastic sound effects , one of the first Amiga games I owned due to it being on a magazine coverdisk.
Bombjack Beer edition, Tinyus and Tiny Bobble should be put on the roms.
The problem with this system is the games. They look like amiga games, not arcade games. The 3 mentioned above actually look like the arcade machines.
Would live to see the cave at some point and spend a good few hours testing the games on offer.
Super interesting vid. Thank you :)
Love these videos they are so good want more more more and breath lol
well if you dont add the Lemmings arcade version you are mad !
I wonder if this was the same type cabinet used for Nick Arcade as their games were played on Amiga units.
Why do I hear "We are the Retro Collective" like I hear "We are the Borg"?
Resistance is futile
Your arcade will be rejuvenated. Corroding is futile.
What is happening with the Arcade Archive? Is Alex atill involved? I have been missing his videos about the arcade machines and their restoration.
He sold his share back to the others, I think Holly runs it now. He took a break from UA-cam but recently started a new channel called Al's Arcade.
We've just done a big update on that over on Patreon and will update here soon. Alex took a step back for personal reasons and has been popping in from time to time to make videos without the pressure of running the business, he's much happier for it. I then took 2 months leave to start a family, and now we're just getting arcade content sorted out. We have a whole summer of footage to work with.
@@RMCRetro ok hope we can see him now and again.enjoyed his videos and obviously very passionate about the arcade history.
Thanks for the update Neil. I’m looking forward to you getting that Outrun machine out.! I’ve just restored one myself - back in 1986, I saw it for the first time in Poole Quay amusements, and wanted one. Now I’ve realised my dream 👍😀
Oh nice! I used to live in Bournemouth but far too late for Outrun. I did enjoy Sega World though
Best avoid microfibre cloths when handling ESD sensitive components as they are often made out of polyester which can build up a charge.
Silkworm, Swiv, Xenon 2 should be in there....
Does Holly have her own UA-cam Channel or what.
No, Holly is very busy with the ongoing maintenance of arcades here but she's going to start filming bits and bobs so that I can share some more of that maintenance side of things with you all
Excellent. I'm sure it can be upgraded to have online capabilities for firmware updates 😊
wasn't "space ranger" actually called "TASAR" on the amiga?
you should also be able to get the arcade version of PETSCI Robots on it.
Too bad about not using the original controls. 🙁 But i get it.
Maybe I missed something but do you have a video introducing those guys appearing on your videos recently?
We've helped each other out on videos over the years, but in the coming months we'll be introducing a new approach to our work which sees us bringing all of the resources here at the mill together. We'll make a video to talk about this in detail and yes, I think introductions to remind everyone who we all are is a great idea!
Test the chips 1st. Then worry about the caps. Then just beep out everything.
I audibly gasped as I saw these precious chips being rubbed with no visible anti-static gear anywhere. I always assumed they were easily zapped.
Contrary to popular belief it's really hard to actually destroy a chip with static electricity alone. There was a whole video of people trying to somewhere on UA-cam. But still for a "restoration" project, it's not exactly being careful. Contact cleaner that will remove tarnishing then use some IPA to get it clean and you're good. No need to wear down the pins 🤦♂
also way more important in super dry places like Arizona. Maybe not so much in super wet and humid places like a musty English mill.
Wow, there is a lot of ads inserted by youtube in this one
Oh! I’ll double check that thanks
Edit: checked and it’s 3 ads in a 30 min episode which I think is OK
Must be me. I'm sure previous videos only had ads at the start and end 😕 just ignore me.
Patreon members get ad free videos
Ah, its just occurred to me after watching a few more items by other people (Sorry, slow brain day). Its not the amount of advert breaks in the video, its that google (at least for me) has increased the amount of ads within those slots. For example instead of a 5 to 10 second slot they are now 40 to 60 seconds with multiple adverts within the slot. No wonder it felt like there was more, because for me there was. 😅
I'll shut up now, in the end it does not matter. Still a great watch.
Really? you watch adverts? why? Use Brave browser, not a single UA-cam advert.
16:05 i appreciate Richards knowledge and his will to help a lot, but that patching looks rough tbh 😢
To be fair to Rich he did say he’d like to tidy it up, in the first instance it was to quickly find the fault
When you do this kind of work day in and out dozens of times.. hundreds of times.. you get to a state of "minimum viable effort to test". He would not ship this out to a customer that way. But when its not just a hobby but something that consumes a large percentage of every day, you learn to conserve effort when troubleshooting, modding for diagnostics, etc. Once you have solved all problems, you dress the pigs and polish the turds.
Its not for a customer. The owner is right in front of him and satisfied with "it works now". There is still a massive amount of work to be done, in which one task will be to clean up the patches. Given the soft state of the board, they may opt for a final overcoat of something. But today was about "get it up and running".