This will be a dedicated thread for CPS2 information, collecting, and hopefully a price guide that is kept up to date.
Capcom Play System 2, or CPS2 is a series of arcade games in the mid 1990's to early 2000's that many of us grew up on in the arcades, particularly the fighters. With the group of kids that group up on them, having careers and growing incomes, the original arcade boards have become quite popular for a number of reasons.
About the boards themselves:
Like other developers in the early-mid 90's, it was cost effective to produce universal motherboards so more popular games could be swapped in and out. As such, with constant switching, the rather large PCB's were encased in durable plastic to protect them, much like MVS / F3 / PGM / Supernova / Atomiswave - though all of those are considerably smaller PCB's than the CPS2 boards.
The boards are region specific
(Asia / S. America / Japan / Europe / N. America) though the US/JP/EUR motherboards are interchangeable. In most cases, but there are some occasional exceptions, the following cart shell means:
Yellow: Rental
Blue: N. America
Blue: Europe
Green: Japan
Grey: Asia
Orange: S. America
Black: All-in-one (A+B combo, all are Japan Region)
What is an A Board:
The A Board, is the Motherboard, it has the JAMMA edge, the Kick Harness port, Volume Controls, and TEST/SERVICE Menu. It has (4) female pin inputs to accept (4) male inputs. There are (2) optional security clips, one on each side, that help to ensure a solid connection. There are (4) metal brackets on the back for mounting your board to an internal wood-board in your cab.
The A Board can be opened, not generally necessary, except for fan swapping (which is quick and easy for those very loud fans). The high-power fans are not needed unless you have this running in a cab for many hours on end. If using a supergun setup, it is highly recommended to swap in a quieter fan.
In addition to TORX 20 security bits - there is a long metal bolt that connects the plastic together. This can be removed and isn't really necessary for a good / tight connection of the plastic shell.
The clips often seem like overkill - but quite often a blue / green screen issue is simply lack of a tight connection. Putting in the clips can get your game working.
What is a B Board:
The B Board is the colored game board. It often has a label and serial number. In most cases, if you are buying a CPS2 game, you are buying the B board only.
Inside this plastic shell is typically 2-tiered PCB that is rather heavy and takes up about 70% of the interior space of the plastic shell.
What is the Capcom suicide code:
All B boards have memory that is backed up by battery. This memory contains decryption keys that are necessary for the games to load and play. In most cases, if the battery does not last, these batteries will lose their charge and the the board will die, because the CPU can't execute code without the aforementioned keys.
When and How do I change the battery?:
Most people use a 3-5 year mark as a guideline to change a battery. It is a good rule of thumb to replace the battery and mark the date somewhere on the board if the last battery change is unknown. Some folks report seeing batteries as old as 7-10 years still functioning, but if your desire is to keep the board as original as possible, it is not recommended to chance it. (authors note: I have a DnD board on original battery; I store it upside down to prevent eventual leakage, but i'm going to let it go until it dies just because I want to document how long it runs on one battery).
Each top board in the B Board Casing contains a 3.6V lithium battery. This battery has leads on both ends and solders directly to the PCB. To remove the old battery, warm up the solder at each end of the battery leads and remove it. Then, assuring your + and - are properly aligned, place the leads of the new battery through the PCB and solder into to place. The roms generally hold charge from the battery for 30-45 minutes, so you should have plenty of time to install the battery before it suicides.
BATTERY IS ON LOWER RIGHT
UP CLOSE
What is a Keystone Battery Mod:
A keystone battery mod is when instead of soldering in a new battery, a battery holder is instead soldered in place. This allows for rapid / easy changing of batteries in the future:
What is "Phoenixing" a board:
Initially as boards died, it was assumed private owners could not play these boards again. There was an option to send the board to Capcom and they would revive it for a cost (having access to the code, of course). A group, known as the CPS2 shock group, and most famously, a Finnish gentleman (Razoola), were able to able to obtain unencrypted program data by hacking the hardware, this allowed for reburning the roms w/o the suicide code and thus phoenixing, or rising from the ashes and bringing back to life, the board.
CPS2 Storage:
As many of us know, part of the fun of the hobby is storage and display. For such large boards, it can be difficult to find a suitable option. The following may appeal to you:
ULine Boxes:
URL: http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-2 ... re-Mailers
If yr crazy, and wealthy, you can buy color coded boxes:
URL: http://www.uline.com/Product/ProductDet ... er=S-16841
Box Labels:
URL: http://www.southtown-homebrew.com/CPS2/
Game and Price List:
Conversions / Bootlegs:
CPS2 games can be converted into other games. Sometimes this is quite easy if the game uses the same PAL chip. It is a matter of swapping out a couple program ROMS and replacing with game data from the game you want.
-A Conversion is when one CPS2 game was made into another CPS2 game, using all original parts.
-A bootleg is when a CPS2 game is made or turned using only partial, or no original parts.
-Phoenixed is when an original CPS2 game is brought back to life as the same game, just with phoenix code. It still has all original parts (except the battery)
-Phoenixed Conversion is when a CPS2 game is turned another game, and has the phoenix code / no battery.
-People often call a game Phoenixed, but forget to mention, or are unaware, it is also a conversion. This greatly affects value, and can affect board performance.
Please ask any questions you may have or post information i've missed, and i'll add them to the OP.
Editors note: Razoola, Undamned, Mainman, Mitsurigi-W and many others have vastly more knowledge of CPS2 history and hardware than I. They are all great resources for CPS2 questions and much of what I have learned has been at their research and sharing.
