Hey guys, I'm new around here, after watching all of the stuff at AGDQ and SGDQ, I feel like I need to play these games. I'm interested in TGM1, 2, & 3, but I need some help knowing where to start. If there is some kind of compendium of knowledge, it'd be very awesome if someone could post it here. I know there's a separate intro thread, so I will be making my way over there to write my full bio.
As it happens, the nice folks over at tetrisconcept.net have put together a wiki http://tetrisconcept.net/wiki/TGM_series
Awesome! Thanks! Where would I go about actually buying the hardware that I need to play this game legitimately? (I realize that it's an expensive venture, but I'm interested in perhaps dropping the money).
You can find tgm1 boards on ebay for ~$200. You might also find a tgm1 game board and a copy of Street Fighter EX-2 (which shares the same motherboard) for less than the current going price for the full package. All three games in the series can be reliably purchased from http://sophia-corp.jp Imo the hard part is acquiring arcade hardware (and putting it together) as you'll either need a cab or a supergun in order to play.
The price on Tops went up after AGDQ and Yahoo Auctions has run dry. It's not actually easy to get the former fair price (which I'd say was $100~120 average and $150 max). I also have an extra but I've been hesitant to sell it given the price fluctuation. We probably need someone to proxy ROM boards from G-Front or MAK whenever they appear, because I think we could get a stock of more fairly priced boards out there by converting Street Fighter EX2's (and then you have two games at the cheaper price, lucky lucky). (Tangentially related: I know InfiniteCombos did this strat and then had issues with the ROM board he received. But, hopefully we can get some more working boards out there.)
Like @Kitaru said, I got TGM1 back in January from ebay for around $160, around $200 shipped. I haven't kept an eye on it since then.
I bought mine in May, on eBay, by buying EX2 and a game board. I paid about 225 total, and one popped up about a month later for 200 (still on there, lowest price I've seen) and I try to keep up with it in case a copy of TAP shows up on eBay for a reasonable price. I wonder what Sophia charges for it...
I just ordered TAP from Sophia Corp last week. It ended up being right around $650 including fees and shipping.
Shipping cost via UPS to the Midwest US was around $74. Other options may have been cheaper, but I didn't really investigate them.
