A variety of MVS motherboards were manufactured during its lifespan (roughly 1990 - 2004). MVS was a hit with arcade operators as the game software came on seperate cartridges and a motherboard you plugged them into. Was still expensive compared to home console software but you would usually get your revenue back quickly.

The MVS was a cheaper system to run as you only had to buy the cartridge, obviously it It allowed for arcade operators to have a lot more games running in fewer cabs than they would normally require with separate single game PCBs. The MVS (Multi Video System) was designed so that an arcade operator could fit up to 6 arcade games into one single arcade cabinet, and the player could switch between them at will. Since this guide is centered around the MVS system I won't go too much into their history, to be honest I've never played any of their pre-NeoGeo games anyway so someone more informed will be better to write about that period. NeoGeo is a system released in 1990 by SNK (Shin Nihon Kokaku) which is Japanese for 'New Japan Project' - they produced a few single board games before the MVS system, such as Ikari Warriors and Athena. This guide is aimed at a newcomer to the NeoGeo MVS system, its goal is to inform you about the different NeoGeo MVS motherboards available, a little bit of information about the system itself and the various points you need to take into account when running such a board in your Japanese candy cabinet.

4 Universe BIOS & compatible MVS boards.

Neo geo arcade games