ExedExes

Aw heck no poll for November so I guess I better get in on this thing. ExedExes - 121,510

Iron Horse - 95,400

Alien Syndrome - 257,200 Defender - 44,850 WWCOMM - 10,295

SUP? Time for score dump #1. My new stick is paying off! Aliens: Alien Syndrome - Now here's a game I haven't played in years. I played the NES version a few times. Got through this one OK so far with 165,400. Alien Storm - I'm familiar with this one, moreso its version on the Genesis! I notice a similar scoring system with Golden Axe; turns out the same Sega team made Shinobi in '87, Altered Beast in '88, Golden Axe in '89, and this one in '90. The judges gave me the score of 8.62. Defender - Back at the Yolympics, as I was putting together the scoreboard for the Cosmic Triggers that month, I knew M.O's game was this one, and that's why he fought hard at it. His #1 is safe for the duration of the tournament. I was only able to manage 38,650. Cowboys: Iron Horse - The first in the Konami trilogy. Green Beret in the west, that's exactly what this game reminded me of. But unlike that, I can do better here. I'll start off at 81,500. Sunset Riders - M.O.'s Yolympics game may have been Defender, but it's safe to say mine was this game! It's been a while since I played, so I only got $238,650. Wild West C.O.M.M - In the early 90s, Konami had the big bucks to get licenses to many popular animated series, and this one of them! This show was on for a few seasons on Saturday mornings on ABC. I was able to play this for real years and years ago, and one thing I really didn't like were the LONG boss battles, and it still seems to be the case here. Still, I scored 9,605. So there you have it. All screenshots are down below!

I'm just glad to see GC back, even for a brief moment. 6 games is a lot better with my schedule. I can handle this. I love Express Raider and can do very well on it. That's why it doesn't have a lot of votes, right? Exed knows it! Don't vote it! We did Space Fury at the IGBY not too long ago! Or, at least I did.

Absolutely! Controls on shmups are far better! Diagonal movements are MUCH easier to do now. It's also much better for fighting games and their circular motions, because of the direct contact the large actuator makes with the switches, as opposed to the actuator on the X-Arcade stick hitting a metal clip that can wear out and THEN hits the switch. That adds a little bit of delay, if you think about it! This was a long time coming, and I'm loving it.

I personally would be happy with just a single GoTM for next month. It would be a lot easier especially if Han is the only one running the show now. Like GC I've had a pretty busy IRL month and I don't see that changing next month, I just had enough time to throw up a few new scores.

The only thing I had to do to get it to fit was to cut out a small portion of the well that the old joystick sat in, it was just about a quarter inch (or less) too big. I got the black colored stick with the bat top because the X-Arcade stick was also black and a bat top. You probably could just unscrew the old assembly and put the new joystick in, but they're sold as a complete unit with a new base.

Blah blah new joystick, better movement and improvement.... so close to EARF too. ExedExes - 206,350

Stamp mah card! What a difference a new stick makes. ExedExes around the corner - 2,385,070

I've been slack, but I've had a busy month as well as a joystick upgrade for my X-Arcade. With it, a much better score. ExedExes - 32,303

I've had my X-Arcade Solo stick since 2007. It has performed admirably here at GameEx and in the multi-site tournaments I've been a part of, but then I caught wind of people replacing the stock joystick with newer, more arcade-grade components. Names like HAPP, Sanwa, Ultimarc kept coming up in searches I typed in. But there was one that seemed to win the praises of gamers everywhere, the IL Eurostick. IL (Industrias Lorenzo) is a company from Spain that's been making parts for arcade games for a very long time. They manufactured HAPP Competition sticks before HAPP outsourced to China, making them lower quality. So I ordered a black colored IL Eurostick from Paradise Arcade Shop (good site for arcade-grade parts) and it came in this week, so I got to work. This is the underside of the Eurostick. The actuator is nylon, not rubber or plastic, which will stand up to much more use. They also use Cherry microswitches. The square shape is nice for direct contact. Compared to the stock X-Arcade stick, with no actuator to speak of, instead using metal clips to make contact with the microswitches, which can be bent and affected by changes in temperature. So after opening up the bottom of the stick, there was a bit of effort needed to remove the nuts from the base of the stock stick. I needed to unscrew the microswitches to be able to get to those nuts. Removed the old stick, and put the new one in. One problem, the well where the old stock stick sat was a *little* short compared to the new plastic base of the Eurostick. Fortunately, the MDF-style wooden construction of the X-Arcade was easy to work with. I ended up carving out the top and right of the old joystick well (including the corner) with a utility knife, and then the plastic Eurostick base fit in, and then I torqued the nuts by hand so that they wouldn't be so tight in the future. The Eurostick is now installed. The C-clip was a little bit of a pain to put back in. Now to the wiring. It wasn't difficult as I took a picture beforehand, as well as downloading the wiring schematic PDF from the X-Arcade site. Fully wired again. Before I put the bottom panel back on, I tested it in MAME, and the performance difference is substantial. Less clicking noise from the microswitches, much smoother circular movements, and faster directional response times. The X-Arcade is a good entry level stick, but for all the cheap parts (as well as the wood) they used, it's not a bad idea to at least change out the joystick. I know it will serve me much better in the future. I don't mod much, but this was a big successful project for me.

I'm glad this is going on a bit longer, after IGBY 2 I needed a break. This game is very tough to do on one credit but then we have 4 characters to pick from. Here's a score. ExedExes - 19,150

That's it! I went back to look at it. GC and rtkiii were a team! MO and Cynicaster! There's a team right there. Lots of names from RU too! Of course Erppo and Jaimers took it, though. Elite shmuppers they be. But me and my fellow partner-in-shmups Dunpeal2064 took 3rd. Good times.

I'm really surprised that I managed to hang on to a top 5 position, as you saw there was rumblings with ThePro just coming in and grabbing first. I just couldn't do any better than I did in all 28 games. They were mostly good ones at least (although trying to figure out how to score better in Tetris Plus 2 really annoyed me, I could NOT get past 1.7 million!) You all should know I'm pro-GX all the way, no matter what other sites I play on and any other contests I undertake. Ever since I participated in a tournament in early 2014 that was co-produced by GimmeClassics, you all took me in to your HSC, not minding that I swooped in and stole the Toobin title on my very first attempt with days to go for that game I have been treated with the utmost respect from the mods and members here. I am extremely competitive as you may know. My arcade-fu is not as competent as the MARPers nor will it probably ever be, but you know I fight for one team, one place, and it is because of the support I receive here that I will continue to show these competitions that we're no second rate squad! It's a team effort and what you all did for the IGBY this month is just as important as my contributions. Thank you all, and may we fight again next tournament.

I tried once more. Got better results by playing as Nick Fury, and calming down a bit around the boss fights. ExedExes - 1,952,600 I realize that this will not be enough to take the title this month, but it's always nice to have someone new take a game like this, rather than us old hands. Congrats modman.

Winding down with my last few scores. I'd love Top 3 but I know there are others who are going to push hard this weekend. Asteroids Deluxe - 48,400 Intrepid - 112,240 Star Force - 703,900

Nearing the end of my contribution cycle. As of right now, I am 1 point up on TIF in first, but I don't expect that to last long. BBH is away doing the fighting game tournament thing in Las Vegas, and once he gets back home there's gonna be a major scoreboard shake up. As far as these scores go, I'm proud of the points I put towards our score. Now for a much deserved rest, with maybe just a few more scores to finish the tournament soon, if any. Asteroids Deluxe - 45,890 Battle Garegga - 3,167,730 Gekisou - 218,210 Son Son - 254,510 Street Fighter 2 CE - 808,400 Turbo Out Run - 18,023,100 Turtles - 20,610 Tutankham - 69,900

Your Gekisou score has been beaten today, sadly. In the meantime, here's more. 10 Yard Fight - 99,200 Intrepid - 100,520 Mr. Do's Wild Ride - 64,333 Ms. Pac-Man - 81,640 Rainbow Islands - 1,582,820 Shock Troopers - 6,333,500 Space Fury - 65,670 Star Force - 601,800 Street Fighter II - 747,500 Strikers 1945 - 523,000