SuperGun
Encyclopedia
A SuperGun is a device used to play arcade games in lieu of requiring a full arcade cabinet. Arcade games typically are designed to be used in a universal cabinet design. The supergun provides this universal interface in a greatly reduced size, allowing arcade games to be tested or enjoyed without needing the entire cabinet. Superguns frequently resemble video game consoles which plug into a television or monitor, and have detached joysticks and play arcade boards as if they were large cartridges. Some superguns are a large box with two arcade controllers side by side, resembling the top of a typical arcade cabinet.
A SuperGun contains the inner workings of a standard arcade videogame cabinet inside a small plastic or metal box. A SuperGun plugs in a JAMMA board and usually provides at least RGB output (the native output of arcade games) sometimes through an SCART
SCART
SCART is a French-originated standard and associated 21-pin connector for connecting audio-visual equipment together...
connector. Since the SCART connector is not common on televisions in North America, frequently a supergun will also convert the RGB signal into NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
composite video
Composite video
Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...
, S-video
S-Video
Separate Video, more commonly known as S-Video and Y/C, is often referred to by JVC as both an S-VHS connector and as Super Video. It is an analog video transmission scheme, in which video information is encoded on two channels: luma and chroma...
or Component Video
Component video
Component video is a video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals...
signals, with varying degrees of quality.
While it is usually assumed that a supergun will automatically play JAMMA-compatible arcade boards, many systems support additional features not provided by JAMMA. The most common additional feature is wirings for extra buttons. This can be done with an extra set of wires that directly connect the supergun to the arcade board (called a "kick harness") or by wiring the extra buttons to some unused pins on the JAMMA connector itself. Regardless of the method used, these extra connections fall into the generic name JAMMA+. JAMMA only provides for three buttons per controller, but games requiring wiring for extra buttons have become common enough that many superguns support this out of the box as well.
Many arcade systems that don't have a JAMMA compatible connector can be played via adaptors that plug in between the SuperGun's JAMMA interface and the arcade board itself.
There exist many non-standalone arcade systems in the form of motherboards that will accept games built into cartridges, for interchangeability. For example, to play an SNK
SNK Playmore
SNK Playmore Corporation is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. SNK is an acronym of , which was SNK's original name. The company's legal and trading name became SNK in 1986....
Neo-Geo
Neo Geo (console)
The is a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released on July 1, 1991 by Japanese game company SNK. Being in the Fourth generation of Gaming, it was the first console in the former Neo Geo family, which only lived through the 1990s...
game such as Samurai Shodown
Samurai Shodown
Samurai Shodown, known as in Japan, is a competitive fighting game produced by SNK for their Neo Geo arcade and home platform. In contrast to other fighting games at the time which were set in modern times and focused primarily on hand-to-hand combat, Samurai Shodown is set in feudal-era Japan ...
, one would need to first plug an MVS board into the supergun (which must support four buttons, standard on MVS games) and then plug the MVS game into the MVS motherboard. Similarly, Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
has the CPS-2 for its games.
Alternatively, some modders may create one consolized
Consolized
Consolization is the process of modifying an arcade video game board for use on a standard television set. The resulting unit is known as a "consolized" system...
arcade board, by adding the conversion components directly to the arcade board, rather than making a universal supergun for multiple boards. This process is most popular for boards that have interchangeable games, such as Neo Geo
Neo Geo (console)
The is a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released on July 1, 1991 by Japanese game company SNK. Being in the Fourth generation of Gaming, it was the first console in the former Neo Geo family, which only lived through the 1990s...
MVS and Atomiswave
Atomiswave
The Atomiswave is a custom arcade system board and cabinet from Sammy Corporation. It is based on Sega's NAOMI system board...
.