EnzoPolotso
n00b
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2005
- Posts
- 15
So I decided to see for myself how good Great Westerns HGA and Customer Service are. I got one directly from them, and this is my review of it, keep in mind I haven't had it long, so I may dislike it even more down the road. Don' ask me why I bought it, I just did! Ok!
First of all, customer service was actually very good. It shipped on the day they said it was going to, and it arrived the very next day (though I'm only one state over).
The packing was solid, there's no way anything in there moved during shipping, so that's a Plus.
Now the full package itself, well... Either this wasn't a new unit, or they built it out of leftover parts, because it is definitely not NEW.
It looks alright in the picture, but upon further inspection...
Scratches and dents everywhere. One of the sticks has a big deep scratch horizontally across the plastic face. On the same stick there's a dent in the metal rollover on top.
The sticks are pretty nice, the buttons feel cheap, and feel like they could break easily (keep in mind that this is the "Delux" model HGA, with UPGRADED stick parts... I'd hate to see the lowest model)
The HGA Box itself is made pretty shoddily too. Some of the plastic covering they put on it is peeling off on the sides, and it too has little dents all over it, like it was thrown onto a table one too many times.
As you can see, the jacks aren't even straight. How do you manage that? Careless workmanship, that's how.
Also, the RCA plugs look old and dirty, like the I/O unit was lying in a drawer for a few years.
The Jamma harness is actually not bad, it feels sturdy and looks good. The controller cords are long enough, but the plug from the harness to the supergun is SHORT. Maybe 2 feet long, and when the gun and board aren't on level surfaces, it's pretty much impossible to put em together.
The innards. I don't know much about the technical aspect of these things so i didn't open it all the way up.
The magnetic lid latch is a cheap kitchen cabinet latch. Truly in bad taste.
The board the controls are on is cut pretty badly and REALLY thin, it feels like it could break if I press too hard, and again, most of the stuff is uneven.
Looks wise... Terribly unprofessional, looks very ameteur, like they didn't even TRY to make it look like it's worth $400. It's a pathetic sight, really.
Now that the worst is over, let me get to the good points.
One, it was easy to setup, though all Superguns are.
The composite quality is actually not that bad, though I haven't tested the S-Vid output (it didn't come with an SV cable, though on their website it states that it does), I'll update this when I do.
The color settings all work as they should, no complaints there.
The setup of the sticks is a little awkward, since theyre Street Fighter layouts, for neo geo games, it looks like this:
ABC
DXX
Which is a little weird...
BCD
AXX
or
ABC
XXD
Are a lot better.
The buttons respond just fine, but they have a pretty bad feel to em. The stick is a little loose for my taste but it definitely isn't bad.
Now here's where it gets hairy, or, even moreso.
One of the sticks doesn't register when you press left on it. Now I know it's just a simple little wiring thing, I know, unless the stick itself is bad.
Yeah, small problem...
This small problem shouldn't be a problem on a $400 unit.
I'm going to talk to them, if I can only get a 65% refund as it says on their site, I guess I'm going to keep it. Hopefully they don't read this and decide to stop cooperating! hahaha.
I emailed them about the non-working stick, so let's see if their customer service is still good after they have my money, I could just show up at their doorstep anyway, I'm only about 45 minutes away.
That's basically my review. I'm sorry it's not more technical, but I guess this would be a good place to look for people like me, who aren't technically savvy and are looking for an easy way to do this. Again, the video quality and all that is good, no need to worry about that... It's the whole package that's not up to par.
The Delux should be the price of their base model, that's for sure, and that is probably still too expensive.
They can either up the quality, or lower the price. It's up to great western really.
PS:
Does anyone know how I can get the game select screen to come up on the 2 slot board? Both slots work, it just defaults to one or the other.
Thanks.
First of all, customer service was actually very good. It shipped on the day they said it was going to, and it arrived the very next day (though I'm only one state over).
The packing was solid, there's no way anything in there moved during shipping, so that's a Plus.
Now the full package itself, well... Either this wasn't a new unit, or they built it out of leftover parts, because it is definitely not NEW.
It looks alright in the picture, but upon further inspection...
Scratches and dents everywhere. One of the sticks has a big deep scratch horizontally across the plastic face. On the same stick there's a dent in the metal rollover on top.
The sticks are pretty nice, the buttons feel cheap, and feel like they could break easily (keep in mind that this is the "Delux" model HGA, with UPGRADED stick parts... I'd hate to see the lowest model)
The HGA Box itself is made pretty shoddily too. Some of the plastic covering they put on it is peeling off on the sides, and it too has little dents all over it, like it was thrown onto a table one too many times.
As you can see, the jacks aren't even straight. How do you manage that? Careless workmanship, that's how.
Also, the RCA plugs look old and dirty, like the I/O unit was lying in a drawer for a few years.
The Jamma harness is actually not bad, it feels sturdy and looks good. The controller cords are long enough, but the plug from the harness to the supergun is SHORT. Maybe 2 feet long, and when the gun and board aren't on level surfaces, it's pretty much impossible to put em together.
The innards. I don't know much about the technical aspect of these things so i didn't open it all the way up.
The magnetic lid latch is a cheap kitchen cabinet latch. Truly in bad taste.
The board the controls are on is cut pretty badly and REALLY thin, it feels like it could break if I press too hard, and again, most of the stuff is uneven.
Looks wise... Terribly unprofessional, looks very ameteur, like they didn't even TRY to make it look like it's worth $400. It's a pathetic sight, really.
Now that the worst is over, let me get to the good points.
One, it was easy to setup, though all Superguns are.
The composite quality is actually not that bad, though I haven't tested the S-Vid output (it didn't come with an SV cable, though on their website it states that it does), I'll update this when I do.
The color settings all work as they should, no complaints there.
The setup of the sticks is a little awkward, since theyre Street Fighter layouts, for neo geo games, it looks like this:
ABC
DXX
Which is a little weird...
BCD
AXX
or
ABC
XXD
Are a lot better.
The buttons respond just fine, but they have a pretty bad feel to em. The stick is a little loose for my taste but it definitely isn't bad.
Now here's where it gets hairy, or, even moreso.
One of the sticks doesn't register when you press left on it. Now I know it's just a simple little wiring thing, I know, unless the stick itself is bad.
Yeah, small problem...
This small problem shouldn't be a problem on a $400 unit.
I'm going to talk to them, if I can only get a 65% refund as it says on their site, I guess I'm going to keep it. Hopefully they don't read this and decide to stop cooperating! hahaha.
I emailed them about the non-working stick, so let's see if their customer service is still good after they have my money, I could just show up at their doorstep anyway, I'm only about 45 minutes away.
That's basically my review. I'm sorry it's not more technical, but I guess this would be a good place to look for people like me, who aren't technically savvy and are looking for an easy way to do this. Again, the video quality and all that is good, no need to worry about that... It's the whole package that's not up to par.
The Delux should be the price of their base model, that's for sure, and that is probably still too expensive.
They can either up the quality, or lower the price. It's up to great western really.
PS:
Does anyone know how I can get the game select screen to come up on the 2 slot board? Both slots work, it just defaults to one or the other.
Thanks.
Last edited:
If you get your money back get a MASS supernova or one of D-Lite’s' component guns.
