Waku Waku 7 - Conversion Project (Well, Sort Of)

Posted on January 5, 2003

Written by Tiptonium

Hello Everyone,

A couple of days ago a Neo Geo converted game cartridge that I purchased from a fellow Neo Geo gamer arrived at my home. I was planning on doing the conversion someday but I figured that since this one was already done and was available at a price close to what I would have had to pay for parts plus a bit of my labor and time I figured this cartridge would do just fine.

I purchased the cartridge knowing up front that it did not have a label. It also had a faded/copied insert with a snaplock case that had been severely abused or had taken a header off of a high shelf somewhere. The game was said to be in 100% perfect working order.

I received exactly what I had paid for and was quite happy with the purchase until.

My Neo Geo senses began to tingle. Upon close inspection I detected the markings of none other than Dion, that funster that loves to ruin genuine Neo Geo components with his signature trademark. Not a sticker or stamp. This time he actually scrawled his name on the plastic piece that fits on the end of the cart that keeps the circuit boards aligned. Here is what I saw:

Fearing the worst, I opened the cartridge. Upon inspection I was relieved to find that the components were authentic. No markings anywhere on the two circuit boards or chips. Cool. I did note that he took a bit of a short cut when setting a jumper. He used a solder bridge instead of a proper jumper block.

I guess if you lack opposable thumbs it is kind of hard to work with small components! ;-)  That was easy enough to correct. I will offer my props for the solder skill. It was good, no mess at all.

Looking at the insert closely I found the following writing on the back (Could this be from Dion's pen?) I cannot be certain as this game has had at least two owners before it I purchased it:

After finishing my inspection and playing the game for awhile (I took it out of the cart shell. I could not deal with Dion's name be so close to my Neo Geo slots) I decided to CORRECT this conversion. Fixing the solder bridge was easy enough.  On to the other stuff!

Take a look at the game case, ouch!

Solution? Genuine Black Duct Tape!

Remember that DION signature that I mentioned? I used a generous amount of GOO GONE on the thing and that stuff actually removed the name ---- gone without a trace.

The cartridge, what a beat up mess. It looked like there was some sort of glue residue all over plus it had some pits in the plastic.

Again, GOO GONE took care of the glue residue. I used a light abrasive dishpan sponge with GOO GONE to lighten/smooth out the pits.

The insert. I scanned it and then brightened it up, cleaned up some imperfections in the original scan and printed it on high quality glossy Kodak paper stock . Here is the result (The one on top is the original, the one the bottom is the newly printed version The color is slightly different ensuring that folks do not try to pass it off as an original!)

Oh, and for those of you that would like to do a conversion like this here are the details: The Sacrificial cartridge was a Fatal Fury 3 or Samurai Shodown 3, they are identical at the board level. There are no board jumper changes required for the PROGBK1Y, only minor changes to CHA256RY jumpers.

Here is the final work along with downloadable insert and label. As a bonus I've included the proper jumper settings!

-- Tiptonium Out...