Mortal Combat from Plug + Play Toys

[barnes]

I'm going to start up my second cabinet. I am going to attempt to really cover the design and development on this one as closely as possible for my portfolio for school. I'm also thinking about making this resellable to a profit. Considering how cheap the hardware for the system was ($10 for 2 players) I think its plausible to make this and sell it as a bartop for a profit.

Has anyone made an arcade cabinet out of those cheap Jack TV Games? I was wondering if it was possible to get rid of the 'Jacks TV' intro, make it look more professional.

So, to keep my head straight, a list of things to complete on this project:

• Design cabinet to fit 15" TV Monitor, 2 players, and still bartop. Make plans in CAD, and share.
• Install a power supply to avoid having to change the batteries on the original hand held controllers.
• Wire arcade controls from the orginal pads on the controllers. Hand solder from the pads, to terminals. Wire from the terminals to new buttons. Easier to repair, which will come in handy if I were to resell.
  
• Paint, and finalize cabinet. Make sure it has shelf appeal.
• Finish project in less then $150 in parts and tools. Resell for $250-$300.

Let me know what you all think. Thanks for reading. Any input will help me out on this one.

[phishpac]

I don't think it will be possible to get rid of the Jacks TV intro

[Green Giant]

Its definitely possible as they probably don't have alot of security protection, but you need the right equipment.  You would need to be able to remove the flash in the game and read it on a computer.  Then you would need the knowledge to modify it and return it.  All in all really difficult.

But more importantly, how well does mortal kombat play on those little plug n play things?

[barnes]

I know it was a far fetched idea, but I can in fact reprogram it if I can get access to code...and then recognize what code is displaying the intro...and then find out if the chip is made to be reprogramable...or if I can get a new empty chip to program too...Yeah, probably not going to happen, not that important.

I haven't had time to play it yet, but my Atari Jakks Plug and Play game is brilliant. I love it, still play it more then any of my consoles.

I'll tare one apart, see what kind of chip they have the program on, see if google can share with me how hackable it is.

[MinerAl]

Search the PA forum for MarkRVP's mini cabinet based on Jakks games.  I think it's Why isn't it linked in the "formerly sticky" thread?

[briktop11b]

      Hey barnes. Ive been thinking about this as well. I just bought 2 of these for the same thing.I think I'm gonna go with a 13" or 15" tube and try to keep the width of the control panel to around 15" wide. I really want to make a mini dedicated MK bartop cab that is still playable.

      About the wiring, i just took it apart and it will be simple to do. The main game board has a strip of  wires coming off of each end. 1 for the punches, kicks, and block, and the other for the movements. These strips are soldered to the button boards. the buttons are all labeled and its obvious what wires go to what button. And the ground is clearly visible also. Instead of soldering on the button spots you could just cut the whole button boards off and connect the wires to a terminal no soldering necessary. I hope all this makes since. Its as easy as cutting wires then extending them to your actual arcade buttons. I'm gonna use the 24mm pushbuttons from GGG since I'm trying to make a small CP, still looking for some small joysticks.


     I don't know if you've actually played the game yet but ill write a mini review of the game. I would put this port in between the snes and the sega in terms of graphics and sound. It has all the correct fighter motions(unlike sega) and all the blood(unlike snes). The scrolling backgrounds don't scroll,the court yard folks are still, i don't think i saw any background animations. there is a split second of loading during the endurance bouts in between fighters but not enough to bother. No options which doesn't bother me (for cab use i prefer no options). Different title screen it looks like the marquee from the arcade. The sound is a lot better than the sega version but still not up to arcade quality but it is in mono. I would rate it higher than snes and the sega for the best home port and my reason is , the gameplay feels like the arcade (which to me is the most important), the game is better than the sega version in every way possable, the game doesn't look as good as snes but i think the inclusion of blood and the original fatalities trumps the graphics issue. I totally think its worthy of being built in a cheap bartop cab. Sorry for the late response but Ive been trying to find these things for cheap before i purchased them. I hope this helps.

[danny_galaga]

i would not get hung up about the intro. just build the machine and THEN see if you can do anything else. i doubt very much you will reprogram this thing. surely the intro isnt that bad?