The Kickstarter campaign for the brand new Orthros MCS-01 consolizer kit has recently been opened up for backers.
Which may have you asking “Huh? Whut? What’s that?” And to be fair, we had the same reaction.
The simple answer is that this kit allows you to play original NeoGeo arcade games at home on your television.
But without some clarification, the MCS-01 might be quite intimidating and confusing.
So let me see if I can properly explain what the Orthros MCS-01 actually does…
Orthros MCS-01 Details
The Orthros MCS-01 is a consolizer kit to house original NeoGeo MVS arcade slots.
Essentially, the old NeoGeo arcades contained something called an “MVS slot” as well as the actual game cartridges. Both were housed inside the large arcade cabinets.
In order to create the bridge between an MVS slot and some sort of controller and video output, you’d need some hardware to manage all of that.
Modern hardware ports that are made to create that bridge are typically referred to as a “supergun”.
Weird name, but fairly straight forward process: It is a small hardware version of what would have been inside the large arcade cabinets.
You can imagine it as some sort of tech version of russian nesting dolls… you need a supergun to house the MVS slot. And you need an MVS slot to house the game cartridge.
And finally… you’d need some sort of physical box to hold all of that.
The MCS-01 is the outer shell and “supergun” hardware to interface your original NeoGeo MVS slot and cartridges to a television and controller.
In fact, the name MCS is short for “Multi Cart Supergun”.
The MCS-01 is the very first NeoGeo arcade “supergun” console kit.
It is both the plastic shell housing and the hardware that bridges your MVS slot to a power source, video & sound output, and controllers.
To create your own home video game console from original NeoGeo arcade hardware… all you would need is a NeoGeo game arcade cartridge, an MVS slot, and the Orthros MCS-01 consolizer kit.
MCS-01 Price and Backing
If you’d like to get yourself an MCS-01 consolizer, you’d need to pledge €290 or more to the Kickstarter campaign. Which is about $310usd.
The campaign just launched this past weekend and will run until April 4th.
Their goal is €50,000 and at the time of writing this article, they are about 33% there with plenty of time left.
So it seems there are enough people with an interest in this super niche product to get it successfully backed by April 4.
Conclusions and Impressions
The MCS-01 is obviously a very niche product for retro NeoGeo collectors.
You’d need to own original NeoGeo cartridges and MVS slots for this product to be exciting for you.
But as we have seen – Orthros are already 33% into their target goal, which means there’s already over 50 people out there who fit the niche.
And we can imagine that if you’re someone who is a retro arcade enthusiast with a collection of original NeoGeo hardware, this would be a perfect addition to your collection.
The MCS-01 offers a really cool way to take those NeoGeo arcade games and MVS slots and transforming them into a portable game console that you can play directly on your television.
These are the kinds of retro gaming products that are a deeper level of niche. A niche within the niche.
But surely these kinds of retro video game preservation projects need to be supported.
And also given some exposure. Because there’s a handful of people out there who would have never heard about the MCS-01, but are possibly the exact kind of person who needed it.
So hopefully you’re reading this and excited to go back the Orthros project. And we hope that they are able to hit their goal and bring this cool retro gaming project to life!
Anything that keeps retro video games alive and well is something we want to shine some light on.
Anthony has been a video game lover ever since he can remember. He became a fulltime nomad in 2018, living throughout most of Asia. He focused his passion in retro gaming and began creating a game for the Game Boy Color while living in Nara, Japan during the 2020 pandemic. He is now in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he spends most of his time gaming, going on long walks and meeting as many stray dogs as possible.
