My First Arcade Game!

[mmonte4]

hey guys, this forum looks great.  i just purchased my first game for my home- 2 games actually: NBA Showtime and Wrestlefest.  Both are the 4 player versions. 

Got a few questions for you guys:

Is it ok to store them and play them in my garage?  I live in southern Louisiana and it gets hot in the summer, so im nervous about the moisture.

I want to get Ninja Turtles, Simpsons, Xmen, Captain America, and Mercs.  I see the control boards for sale on ebay and they look reasonable.  Is Mercs combatable with NBA Showtime?  Is Turtles, Simpsons, Cap Am, and Xmen compatable with Wrestlefest?

Also, how do you switch out the games?  do you just open up the back and unplug the control board and plug in the new one using the same wiring?  or is it more complicated?

[RayB]

I'd suggest opening it up and just taking a glance at all that's in there... Don't touch anything, just look. You'll answer some of your own questions.

:-)

[SirPeale]

Is it ok to store them and play them in my garage?  I live in southern Louisiana and it gets hot in the summer, so im nervous about the moisture.

Believe it or not, humidity is *good* for electronics, just not a lot of it.  70% is an optimum level.  100% is fog, so make your judgements from there.

[2600]

If it's really bad just get a dehumidifier.  I've got one going on in a house in NC.  Got it rigged so a hose takes the water outside since I'm not there to empty it.

[mmonte4]

thanks for the advise guys.  Im not a very technical minded person though.  What about switching aout games?  the how to?  do i just need the control board or do i need to buy additional wires, plugs, etc.?

[CheffoJeffo]

thanks for the advise guys.  Im not a very technical minded person though.  What about switching aout games?  the how to?  do i just need the control board or do i need to buy additional wires, plugs, etc.?

Depends on the game ... you are going to need to obtain a basic understanding (hence RayB's suggestion) in order to change games -- there really is no getting around that. It isn't hard, but you need to understand some basics (e.g. what the various parts of your machine are and how they are connected).

Read up on JAMMA (a wiring standard that makes swapping games within a cabinet very easy ... most of the games you seem to be interested in are JAMMA or an extension of JAMMA) and you'll have a better idea.

100% JAMMA boards (PCBs) can be swapped out with extreme ease. For those that require more than JAMMA (e.g. those with more than 3 buttons), you may need to do some wiring.

Cheers.

JAKD

[Crazy Cooter]

Just think of the PCB's as cartridges without a case on them.  JAMMA is a standard for the "plug-it-in" end.

You can look on www.klov.com to find out if a title is JAMMA, JAMMA+, or some other "plug-type".

[fredster]

The problem you will run into will be the control panel. You can swap out any jamma game that just uses a 8 way joystick and 3 buttons, two players all day long.

But you need to research your buy at klov.com to make sure you can use the game in your cab.  Mercs (from memory) uses rotary joysticks, and that's the one that has an 8 way and a turn on it like in time soldiers and heavy barrel.  You can't use that board without the joysticks.

It'll play, but you can't manuver correctly.

That NBA has a sub harness to connect up the rest of the players. I also think it has a sub sound board.  The jamma should work, but you have all these other small wires comming out of the board to pick up the rest of the jamma. You have a Jamma+ machine, and I think it's unique.

You can swap out board though. Just look at Jamma and look at klov to see if it needs special controls.