The world of arcade emulation and preservation is constantly evolving, and a major development showcased in The Retro Collective’s “Making a Neo Geo History Cab | Unfinished Business” video is the MiSTer Multisystem 2 (MMS2) JAMMA Edition. Developed by Heber at The Retro Collective, this technology is poised to simplify the process of bringing the full MiSTer FPGA library into a traditional arcade cabinet.
Technical Overview and Key Features
The MMS2 JAMMA Edition is essentially the MultiSystem 2 FPGA console repackaged as a dedicated arcade board. It integrates all the necessary hardware onto a single unit designed to connect directly to the arcade machine’s wiring harness.
Key features highlighted for this final prototype include:
JAMMA Edge Connector: The core of the design, allowing it to interface directly with the standard JAMMA wiring found in most arcade cabinets.
Onboard Audio Amp: Includes a dedicated audio amplifier, ensuring high-quality sound without the need for additional external amplification.
Direct Control Connections: Joystick and buttons connect directly to the board, functioning like a normal arcade PCB.
Analogue Control Support: The board includes support for analogue controls, such as spinners and steering wheels, greatly expanding the range of arcade cores it can natively support.
Kick Harness Support: Crucially, it has kick harness support for additional buttons, which is necessary for fighting games and other titles that require more than the standard three or four JAMMA buttons per player. This means it offers absolutely everything you might want for an arcade cabinet in one unit.
A Nice NFC Touch
In the video, the team show an NFC reader placed in the location of the game-select button, which is a nice touch for launching games on an arcade cabinet.
When MiSTer Multisystem 2 JAMMA Edition becomes available for purchase, you’ll be able to grab it from the Heber store.
Check out the full restoration video here 👇
A project like this stirs up memories and feelings. I have all the electronic parts needed to build my own arcade cab which was planned to use and be able to switch between 3 systems: the main was MiSTerCade v1, the second one was a RPi4 (running Batocera) with 2 Sinden lightguns with recoil and the third was a system which could be swapped out but would for the most part be my first Switch.
But….I’m missing THE most important part…the actual wood of the cab itself. A few years ago I lost access to the tools and space required to make it after loosing my father to cancer and now it seems like it might never get finished. I know I can buy all sorts of cab kits, but they are quite expensive and I would have to modify not only the control panel but also some other sections due to how I envisioned it and bought the parts for.