MVS Hardware - Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What does MVS stand for?
A: MVS Stands for Multi Video System

Q: What is a Multi Video System?
A: It is an arcade game that has a motherboard with single or multiple slots that use games in a cartridge format.

Q: How many slots do the motherboards have?
A: They come in 1,2,4 or 6 slots, and there are multiple versions of the 1 slot board. There may be more.

Q: How many versions of the 1 slot board are there?
A There are 8 that I am aware of. MV-1, MV-1A, MV-1F, MV-1FZ, MV-1C, MV-1B.

Q: What are the differences?
A: See the PCB Guide

Q: Will the motherboards work in a JAMMA cabinet?
A: They will all work, but are not 100% JAMMA compliant

Q: What does that mean?
A: The 1 slot boards are the closest to JAMMA, but have the addition of a 4th button. Some of the 1 slot boards have an external connector to run Stereo sound instead of the mono JAMMA sound.

Q: What about the other boards?
A: The 2, 4, and 6 slot boards are wired to what I would call the MVS standard. It is almost the same as JAMMA, but have the additional 4th button, a select button, and Stereo sound out of the harness instead of an external connector. The test switch is also in a different location than the JAMMA test switch.

Q: Can I use an AES Home cart in a MVS motherboard?
A: No.

Q: Can I use the same Memory Card from my AES Home system in the MVS system?
A: Yes, if the motherboard supports a Memory Card reader.

Q: Which boards support the Memory Card reader?
A: The 2 slot board has a Memory Card reader built in. The MV-1 1 slot, 4 slot and 6 slot boards support the MV-IC Memory Card reader

Q: Are the motherboards language or region specific?
A: Yes, there are English-US, English-Euro, and Japanese.

Q: Can I change the language?
A: Yes, you can change the system BIOS or add a multi-BIOS

Q: What are the differences besides the languages?
A: There are some title differences, and some games have more blood or "bounce" in Japanese or Euro.

Q: What does the multi-BIOS do?
A: It allows you to switch between the MVS and AES BIOS as well as English or Japanese language

Q: What is the UNIVERSE BIOS?
A:The UNIVERSE BIOS (UniBIOS) is for owners that want an easy way to change country region or between Arcade or Console mode on boot. The UNIVERSE BIOS is also designed to give easy access to things like inserting coins, test mode and memory card management when using the joystick ports only. Of course the BIOS still allows standard operation too.

Q: AES BIOS?
A: Yes, the chips on the MVS carts are the same as the AES carts and vice versa. By changing the BIOS you can access the features of the AES games in a MVS cabs.

Q: Such as?
A: Practice mode, etc.

Q: What is a "Dedicated" cab?
A: A Dedicated cab is one that came from the SNK factory as a MVS cab. It is wired for the MVS standard and was designed to play the MVS games.

Q: What is a "Conversion" cab?
A: A Conversion cab is a game that was manufactured to be one game, and has been converted to play another.

Q: What is a "Candy" cab?
A: A Candy cab is a Japanese sit down type cabinet. There are many different ones made by SNK and other manufacturers.

Q: Can I plug other JAMMA PCBs into my dedicated MVS cab?
A: Maybe. The MVS wiring does not have a -5V line, so if your PCB requires -5V it won't work

Q: Can I add a -5V line to my MVS harness without harming my MVS PCB?
A: Yes, see the Project section.