Need ID

[LVReefKeeper]

Hello all!!

New to the forum and new to arcade building and modding.

A while ago I picked up this locally on offer up

I’m trying to identify the OS or brain or whatever it’s called lol

I’m hoping that I can add games to it, or replace some of the games on it if it’s limited.

Can someone identify what “system” is running this arcade and if it’s moddable or if I’d have to change to a raspberry pi or other?

Any and all info about it would be helpful as I know nothing about arcade building.

Thanks

[LVReefKeeper]

Pic of inside brain

[LVReefKeeper]

More innards

[LVReefKeeper]

Rear

[LVReefKeeper]

Game selection

[lilshawn]

it's the guts of this....

jammed into a homemade cabinet.

either trash the game and find some other tv all in one... or ride the rabbit hole and ... well.... do whatever.

[Vigo]

Not that it makes much difference, but I think it is the Bandai one.



But lilshawn is correct. There isn't anything worth doing with that, you can either get another plug and play, or upgrade it with something a bit nicer. Lots of options. Pi, Full PC, XX-in-1 board, etc....whatever fits what you want. I think if you have an idea of what you are looking to play and/or your budget, people here will have plenty of suggestions to steer you in to the best options.

Plenty of help around here to be had with adding to your control panel and adding art as well!

[Zebidee]

Adding to everything that lilshawn and Vigo have already said while I was writing this....

The first good news is that the cabinet itself looks sturdy and a pretty good basic design, despite (or maybe because of) the complete lack of artwork. I love black.

Second good news is that it has a CRT TV. Unfortunately the good news stops there because the TV only has RF inputs, which means that picture won't get any better. This really is the main issue because you can't use a Pi or PC etc. with an RF TV, and even if you were to rig an adaptor or something that could, it wouldn't be worth the trouble (low quality).

The TV might be RGB moddable. However it would be easier to put in another TV that already takes RGB (best) or component. Even a TV with AV input would look better than RF.

Component TV will work with a GreenAntz RGB to Component transcoder, so that would be a simple & cheap "off the shelf" solution for good quality picture.

You'll want to add some more buttons for playing more games. I'd be tempted to redo the joystick wiring too, looks pretty messy. Looks like they used some old LAN network cable, but if it works it works   

[LVReefKeeper]

it's the guts of this....

jammed into a homemade cabinet.

either trash the game and find some other tv all in one... or ride the rabbit hole and ... well.... do whatever.

When u say “trash the game” you’re saying to basically just remove the brain/controls/sticks and buttons and replace or u saying to trash the whole cabinet altogether?

[Zebidee]

gut it and rebuild from scratch

[LVReefKeeper]

Not that it makes much difference, but I think it is the Bandai one.



But lilshawn is correct. There isn't anything worth doing with that, you can either get another plug and play, or upgrade it with something a bit nicer. Lots of options. Pi, Full PC, XX-in-1 board, etc....whatever fits what you want. I think if you have an idea of what you are looking to play and/or your budget, people here will have plenty of suggestions to steer you in to the best options.

Plenty of help around here to be had with adding to your control panel and adding art as well!

“Plug and play”? What do u mean by that? Like a prepared kit sold online? Or the guts of another game like I have?

What kind of pc would I need? Would an older pc have enough power or would I need something new?

Seems like a pi would be easiest?.....

I’m not opposed to changing out the monitor/crt. Would an older pc monitor work? Or does it not have the specs or connectors needed?

Obviously I’d like to keep costs down but would like to get some cool lighted sticks and buttons if they are reliable.

I mean I have NO idea what the Different options would cost. Could you just throw out a range for the types of set up?

Favorite household requested games to have, pac man, Galaga, galaxian, donkey Kong, donkey Kong junior, super Mario, joust, spyhunter, frogger, Tron, Punch out, defender, burger time,

[LVReefKeeper]

I received as a gift one of these that plug into my flatscreen with wireless controllers.

Is there anything similar to this that has physical joystick and buttons/controls that could be wired in?

[Howard_Casto]

Let me try to say this as gently as possible.  You seem to want a turn key solution to do really unusual stuff to this cab.   Obviously that isn't going to exist.   If you simply want to buy off the shelf parts and assemble them, your solution is to use a raspberry pi as your computer or use an actual pc.   If you try to use plug n play units like the one you linked to, you are going to have to hack an input method via taking one of those gamepads and soldering the wires up to the arcade controls.   I mean I'm sure there are adapters out there but honestly they are going to cost more than the entire system you have.   

[Vocalitus]

 Jeepers you guys really take the cake sometimes.

To the OP:

Go to ebay or good will and get an original xbox. Usually 10-20 bucks.  If its soft modded we are 90% there.


Get one on the EZStarts buttons and joystick packs for $25 off Amazon.

We will need a kade variant for the control panel or mod a joypad.

Get those things and come back and we will show you how to put it all together.  Total cost $60 and some patience.

[Zebidee]

I'd rotate the monitor 90 degrees (vertical) and buy a 60-in-one PCB for $30 or so. Put some space-themed art up, or maybe Galaga.

Buy VGA cable (male-male) and one of those cheap VGA-AV (composite TV) adapters (cost about $10), and plug it in to the existing AV-RF adapter you already have. You'll also need a audio cable 3.5mm - 2xRCA (usually red/white). Plug one in (white for left channel/mono).

You'll want a PC PSU (ATX is good and everywhere) to power the 60-in-one. Doesn't have to be very powerful. Connect PCB via 4-pin molex. You'll need to short the POWER ON pin to ground to get an ATX PSU to come on - I can explain how to do that once you have the PSU.

You can reuse the existing joystick and buttons - you'll just need to wire them so that you can plug it into the 60-in-one via the special port provided, or via the JAMMA connector.

You could also easily upgrade that idea, either now or in the future, to something like a Game Elf PCB (I have a 412-in-one) or something like that. If you want to stay horizontal monitor, there are other multigame PCBs for that as well.

[bobbyb13]

A lot of very knowledgable people are offering (and I'm sure will continue to offer) help here and I would say everyone can help you best if you spend some time reading through the wiki and then get back to asking more questions.

The help you will get will be better directed when you can ask really specific questions.
There is a lot to know and learn, but it is good fun.
Read a bit and you'll see what I mean!

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/Main_Page

[Zebidee]

A lot of very knowledgable people are offering (and I'm sure will continue to offer) help here and I would say everyone can help you best if you spend some time reading through the wiki and then get back to asking more questions.

The help you will get will be better directed when you can ask really specific questions.
There is a lot to know and learn, but it is good fun.
Read a bit and you'll see what I mean!

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/Main_Page

Time to go down the rabbit hole!

[ericball]

A "plug & play" game is a device which just needs to be plugged into a TV to play specific video games.  These generally play arcade classics (although they are often emulated ports rather than the actual arcade games) or retro console games.  What the builder did was take one which plays Pac-Man and other Namaco arcade games and build it into an arcade style cabinet.

Unfortunately it's not possible to add games to the plug & play you've got.  So if you want to play more games, you're going to need to replace some things.  So the first thing is to see what you've got and how much it might cost to upgrade.

• Arcade style cabinet with joystick & 2 buttons - upgrading depends upon what tools and skills you have.  If you upgrade to a MAME based system you're probably going to need at least a couple more buttons for coin & player.
• TV w/ RF only inputs (given the builder included an RF convertor) - RF is the worst quality signal and you may need to replace it depending upon what your system of choice supports.  However, whatever you upgrade to needs to fit into the cabinet and you will need to modify the cabinet to mount it.
• Brain - A Raspberry Pi is a common option and the A & B models do support composite output (so could connect to the current TV via the RF convertor).

However, there are also more over-arching questions, e.g.

• What games do you want to play?
• How much money are you willing to spend?
• How much time are you willing to invest in this hobby?

My advice is to take it slow.  You've got a (presumably) working system.  Spend some time thinking about what you like about it and what you dislike about it.  Then research what it would take to address what you most dislike and evaluate whether you still want to fix it.  It's very easy to spend a lot of money and end up with a half-finished project because you didn't anticipate what it would take to complete the project.

[Ond]

wow that cabinet is really wide .... ...

no useful advice to add.

[JudgeRob]

#1:  Determine budget/investment thresholds.

[meyer980]

Nothing to add (this thread is full of good advice already) but just wanted to say I'm amazed that TV only has RF input. Starting in like 1990 like EVERYTHING had at least composite. Makes me wonder how old that TV is.

[Grasshopper]

If someone gave me a cab like that, then my first inclination would be to keep it as it is. Most of those plug-n-play joysticks have surprisingly excellent software on them, and the Bandai Pacman unit is one of the better ones. The main disadvantage is that, for some weird reason, most of them still only offer AV output. However, given that the TV in this cab apparently only has an RF input, that's not an issue in this case.

That being said, if I got bored with the 12 built in games, then I'd probably replace the p-n-p board with a Raspberry Pi. Most RPis already have an AV port, and you could probably attach the controls directly to the GPIO pins. The only real downside is that you'll probably have to get your hands dirty reconfiguring the software to use AV output, and fit the image to a 4:3 screen. There are tons of pre-built images available for the Pi. But most of them assume that you'll be using a widescreen HDMI monitor (or TV).

[Howard_Casto]

Jeepers you guys really take the cake sometimes.

To the OP:

Go to ebay or good will and get an original xbox. Usually 10-20 bucks.  If its soft modded we are 90% there.


Get one on the EZStarts buttons and joystick packs for $25 off Amazon.

We will need a kade variant for the control panel or mod a joypad.

Get those things and come back and we will show you how to put it all together.  Total cost $60 and some patience.

Yes because that solution is certainly more turn key than just buying a pi and a joystick kit.   

The guy doesn't know what a plug and play is and you expect him to softmod an OG xbox, which will probably need the clock cap replaced or having the resources to get one pre-modded, which I assure is going to be more than that $60 alone. 

I posted the two options I did because they are the easiest and cheapest for a complete beginner.   

[Ond]

I'm actually impressed by how fast lilshawn and Vigo answered the OPs question of "what's in this".  I had know idea what it was  .  Have to agree with Howard, when you ask a question and get answers on a forum you may need to make some effort to interpret/research/understand the answers.  If you stick with it and persevere you'll continue to get answers, some of them may not be what you want to hear but press on anyway, can be really rewarding.

Analogy - Guy joins the Bake Your Own Bread forum (BYOB).
 
Q."High guys, I've never baked before but I want to bake my own sour-dough rye bread".
A. "That's great, you should start by baking simple bread using off the shelf yeast, then try sour-dough after that."
Q."No I just want to bake sour-dough."
A."Ok, sure, we can help out, but you'll need to do some research and learn some stuff as well."

-----crickets-----

[Phreakwars]

The shell of that cab has alot of potential and I like the CRT, too bad about only RF input though. You COULD put a Raspberry Pi in it, but come on, that is NOT an Arcade1Up. The hardware might be useless, but your cab itself deserves a real makeover. I would absolutely put a PC in that. I guess all I'd say about that, is if someone suggests a PC, anything pretty much goes in a cab that size. If you are new to it all, a PC is also much easier to setup then a Pi and it runs more games and runs them smoother. What kind of PC? Ha!! Most anything made in the last 10 years will run better then a Raspberry Pi and can be used in an arcade cab, so don't think you need to put alot of money into it, because you don't.

[burn_654]

I would agree that you need to play with the cabinet and identify what you like about it, and what you don't like about it. Do you like the display enough, or is it lackluster. (crts are a great way to go but that one looks pretty old - what do you think of it?) Do you like the style of games on it? Do the joystick and buttons feel good?

For a low-cost but value add I would agree, a pi with the composite cable, wired up to interface with your buttons could be a good low-investment add. You could find many pre-made images designed for the purpose (just adding roms to the sd card.) Is it my favorite? No. Will the display be optimal? Not with the hardware you have, at least without more $$. But I invested the time in a crt_emudriver cab and love it to pieces. If I was in your situation, that approach would take tons of work and retrofitting.

Everybody has their take on what the 'best' approach for a given cabinet would be. Who knows, you could put in the work for a killer pc emu setup, rgb capable tv/monitor etc. and be happy. But it's totally possible and valid to be happy closer to what you have. Make a list of what you want most out of the cab.

[Vocalitus]

Jeepers you guys really take the cake sometimes.

To the OP:

Go to ebay or good will and get an original xbox. Usually 10-20 bucks.  If its soft modded we are 90% there.


Get one on the EZStarts buttons and joystick packs for $25 off Amazon.

We will need a kade variant for the control panel or mod a joypad.

Get those things and come back and we will show you how to put it all together.  Total cost $60 and some patience.

Yes because that solution is certainly more turn key than just buying a pi and a joystick kit.   

The guy doesn't know what a plug and play is and you expect him to softmod an OG xbox, which will probably need the clock cap replaced or having the resources to get one pre-modded, which I assure is going to be more than that $60 alone. 

I posted the two options I did because they are the easiest and cheapest for a complete beginner.

Howard this is BYOAC.  You are going to get burnt fingers, get pissed off, learn basic computing and hopefully not lose fingers when working with sharp objects like circular saws.  If we had your mentality, we would buy it all working from a box.

Now who the hell in this day and age replaces the clock cap on a OG Xbox?  Get some snips and cut that sucker off.  The OG Xbox doesn't need to remember its 2021, its better if it believes its 2001. Three out of Five OG Xbox purchases were already soft modded with a DVD still in the drive, which you can TSOP in 24 hours.

Soft mod has its own science, and if any 12 year old can do it with $6, I'm sure the OP can.

The Pi won't work as you will need a build that supports 240P and after that it will look ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, if anything swap out the TV for a $10 24 inch DVI FSD goodwill find.  You can find them easy if you overlook the scratched up case you will not see behind any cheap surround.

Then you have to solder two points to a composite cable as the headphone jack option has too much interference on the Pi3. IF YOU can find the right cable in the first place on ebay.

Now you are fully informed to make your new cab Howard.  Are you happy now?

[Vocalitus]

Actually wally mart is selling the PacMan 1up units for $50. 

Shhh keep it quiet.

You will need a special barcode and the Walmart app. 

I snagged one in my area. 

Once I had my way with it I can flip them for $500 easy.

[Zebidee]

OP seems to have vanished *poof*, we probably scared them off with too many options 

[bobbyb13]

OP seems to have vanished *poof*, we probably scared them off with too many options 

Maybe reading the Wiki anonymously I hope...?