Darksoft has just posted an update regarding his upcoming multi kit for the CPS1: A hardware board that will allow you to load up the entire CPS1 library and select a game through an LCD game selector screen (like with the CPS2 multi). It looks like QSound has now been integrated, allowing games from the CPS 1.5 library to be played as well!
You can have your name added to the pre-order list, however it’s still a few months away from being ready to collect payment and ship:
CPS1 Multi Thread: https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/cps1-multi-official-thread.16259/#post-261047
CPS 1 Interest Check (add your name here): https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/official-cps1-multi-by-darksoft-apocalypse-interest-check-thread.4564/
Purchase Darksoft’s Existing Multi’s: https://highscoresave.com/darksoft/?p=2
This kit will replace the “B” and potentially “C” boards of a standard CPS1 setup and connect to an original A board, however you’ll still need to connect a “B-21”. For most people, that means simply plugging in a C board will be the easiest way to get it running and the kit will just take the place of a B board. If you’re able to find a B-21 somewhere, you can solder that in directly and skip the C board, but those are hard to find. Maybe some day we’ll have a homebrew replacement?
The kit board also has all the necessary connectors for control options that you might find on some C boards, including a kick hardness connector. This will allow access to all controls for the games.
Now, as always with arcade hardware, there’s many different ways to play these games. Some people are fine experiencing them for “free” via emulation. Other people are happy to play their home console ports, which are sometimes excellent. Other people will want a more accurate experience and use something like Jotego’s CPS1 core on the MiSTer FPGA project.
All those methods are fine, but there are those of us who will always prefer using original hardware. It’s the same as people who’d prefer restoring and driving an old Mustang, instead of just buying a brand new one for much less money; If you’re one of those people, this kit is absolutely for you.
