Need For Speed Multigame

Manufactured by Global VR (c)2003, 2005

I love sit-down driving games.  That is why I own 5 of them at this point,  so when the local Wahooz amusement center posted an advertisement on Craigslist for 4 Need For Speed: GT arcade games for a respectable price,  I knew I had to go take a look.  At that point I had not ever played Need For Speed in the arcade… so I really didn't know what I was getting into when,  after only a couple test games,  I decided to buy one.   I based my buying decision on the fact that (A) the cabinets looked to be in very nice shape,  (B) the game graphics and sound looked quite nice,  (C) I'd heard that the Nytric USB force feedback system that it uses could be used on a PC in case I ever wanted to make a MAME sit down driver and (D) the cost was quite reasonable (actually,  borderline a steal).  It just so happens that the arcade manager at the local Wahooz was the first guy I ever bought an arcade cabinet off of back in 2006 when I made my first MAME cabinet.  Small world,  eh?

When I get home I put the game together and fire it up.  It only took a dozen or so games for me to realize that Need For Speed: GT is,  well,  merely an OK game.  The up/down shifter sort of sucked (it's nowhere near as kick ass as the Outrun Up/Down shifter… not in feel,  use,  or construction).  The "parking break" that you're encouraged to use "drift" really doesn't offer much of a "drift" effect.  The gameplay felt stiff and very arcadey.  The force feedback,  while not as ridiculously under-used as in Cruis`n Exotica for example,  still didn't feel "right" or anywhere near as "authentic" as Rush the Rock or Rush 2049.  Overall I admit I was a bit under whelmed.   I had not gotten to the point where I was disappointed in the purchase at this point,  but I certainly wasn't thrilled.  Afterall, I still had the Nytric force feedback system and I could,  if necessary,  MAME the cabinet (with a little effort it seems.).

It was about this time I started looking in to what it would take to upgrade the game.  Being that it uses a standard PC I figured there should be at least a few options (again,  other than MAMEing it).  Sure enough,  there were a couple of games that came out after GT that the game could be upgraded to: Need for Speed Underground in 2005 and Need for Speed Carbon in 2008.  Both games came out in upgrade versions that could be used in this cabinet.  Being that NFS Carbon was so new (2008 is pretty new in arcade years) I figured I'd look for an Underground kit first.  I managed to secure one in less than a week.  The seller could only find the marquee, a rusted (but serviceable) 6-speed shifter,  the discs and the most important part… the dongle.  While the kit was in the mail I started doing some research to determine if I could somehow run both games in the cabinet.  After some consultation with a few members on my forum I learned that both dongles could be run in the PC at the same time… each game doesn't care if the other games dongle is attached as it only looks for it's own dongle.  Awesome… but how would I select which game was running?  Ultimately I decided to run the 12vdc and 5vdc lines going to the hard drives through a switch.  Basically,  if the switch is set one way,  the NFS: GT hard drive is powered and loads,  if the switch is set the other way,  the NFS: Underground hard drive is powered and loads.  To switch games,  all I need to do is power down,  flip the switch,  then reboot.  Awesome!

After getting setting the game up to run both games I soon came to the conclusion that NFS: Underground is seriously hampered without the memory card.  I also didn't have the harness necessary to hook up the 6-speed shifter,  and lets be honest,  who wants to race with automatic?   I ended up having to order the harness I needed through a vendor friend who could order parts directly though Global VR.  Needless to say the harness was severely over-priced but being I had no choice,  I sucked it up and paid what they were asking.  It was about this time that KLOVian who sold me the partial kit emailed me telling me he located the memory card reader,  NOS button assembly/bezel,  and one other item that he was shipping to me at no additional charge… awesome!  A week later my 6-speed shifter harness arrived… as did the memory card reader,  NOS button,  and the plexiglass/art that mounts to the right of the monitor.  By this time I'd already pulled the 6-speed shifer apart and cleaned it up as best as I could.  I also ordered 5 memory cards from a vendor on ebay.  When all the parts made it here I set out to complete the conversion.

After installation of everything I fired up NFS: Underground.  The system recognized the USB memory card reader without issue.  It also recognized the 6-speed shifter.  Awesome!  After playing a few games and starting a "career" using the memory card reader I powered down and switched over to NFS: GT.  Uh, oh… this game also recognized that there was "something" new plugged in to a USB port but it couldn't find the driver for it.  Being that NFS: GT came out WITHOUT a memory card reader,  it was having a fit with one installed.  Essentially I got a big windows "device not found,  would you like to search for a driver" Windows XP error message across the screen… there was no force feedback… and the left/right movements weren't working.  Great I though.   Luckily,  being an embedded version of Windows XP I knew just what to do.  I powered down,  installed a wireless keyboard and when the error came up,  a few click later and I was selecting "ignore this hardware" (paraphrasing) so the machine wouldn't try to load up the driver for it.   It worked!  On next reboot the NFS: GT system simply ignored the card reader and booted as normal!  Being the game isn't designed for a 6-speed shifter,  it acts pretty much like the UP/DOWN shifter that was originally on it.  Forward down shifts,  backward up shifts.  It's not a perfect solution but it works. 

How fun is NFS: Underground you may be asking at this point?  It kicks ass. The game is many times better than NFS: GT.  The gameplay feels much less arcadey… the force feedback feels much more responsive/realistic (but still not as good as Rush the Rock/Rush 2049 IMHO),  the music is MUCH better,  overall the game is just a better game… by far.  The memory card system adds a career mode where you start with a stock car which you build up as you race through 81 races.  It also incorporates different races like "beat the time",  "beat the opponents", "drifting" and "drag racing".   The graphics are still quite kick ass (though all races are done at night making the game a little dark sometimes) and they licensed a number of different songs from actual music artists (some rap,  some alternative/metal, etc).  The NOS effect is pretty cool and the 6-speed shifter really adds to the game.  Both games have two views… overhead and in car… I wish they'd incorporated a view showing the hood of the car though.   Drifting in Underground is INFINITELY better than GT as well.  Bottom line… Underground is a fun game that will be hanging around the game room for some time to come.

I have two upgrades that I plan on adding to the game.  The first one is that I have purchased and will be wiring in a NOS pedal.  NFS: Carbon's original cabinet incorporated a NOS pedal and I figured it would be a very simple thing to add to this one.  Basically it's just an on/off momentary switch … so I purchased an on/off momentary switch pedal from Amazon for about $7.00 (from China of course).  It showed up a few days ago and when I get a little time I plan on wiring it up to the NOS button so I'll be able to activate NOS with my left foot.  I think this will give me a little bit of an advantage vs having to take my hand off the shifter to push the NOS button.  I am also currently trying to source a NFS: Carbon upgrade kit.  When I find one for sale and pick it up I plan on taking GT out of the cabinet and running NFS: Underground and NFS: Carbon only.  Both those games use the 6-speed shifter and both use the memory card.  Until then,  I am quite happy with GT and Underground.

UPDATE – 2/22/16: I have managed to acquire a Need For Speed: Carbon upgrade kit and have installed it in place of Need For Speed GT.  I have purchased a 3-Way (on/on/on) switch so I could make the cabinet a Need For Speed 3-In-1 cabinet (GT/Underground/Carbon),  however it will take more work than anticipated.  The motherboard only has two IDE ports… each port supports 2 devices.  One port is already used to run the two hard drives … the 2nd port is used for the DVD ROM.  SO,  I could install the hard drive up in the bay next to the DVD ROM,  but it's a 5.25 bay up there and it will take a little effort…OR I could simply remove the DVD ROM and plug the ribbon-cable in to the HD… basically taking the DVDROM off-line as it's not needed after game installation (unless an emergency happens at which time I could simply replace the cable to the DVDROM).  I already power it down… no need to have the cable installed. THAT SAID,  there is still a small chance the system won't recogize a master HD on IDE port 2… I've seen motherboards that "required" the "C" drive be on IDE port 1.

Why haven't I tried already you may ask?  Well,  honestly,  Need For Speed GT,  while a gorgrous game,  isn't really that fun to play IMHO.  I am not gaining a whole lot other than the fact it would be sort of cool to have all 3 games in one cabinet.  That said… I HAVE already coughed up over $8.00 for the switch… so I will probably eventually do it.  As of right now though,  the game is playing Need For Speed: Underground and Need For Speed: Carbon.

If you'd like to see a video about how I multied this game,  see below.

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