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Hacking the new Jakks Arcade Classics

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deadpool18:
Wow! that is incredible.  I'm afraid my first project isn't going to come close to any of these.  By the way, what joystick did you use in there mcfreak?

So far I've been a lazy retro gamer.  I bought a Quasicade Pro on clearance, printed a new marquee, and hooked up my xbox, PS3, Dreamcast, Gamecube, and mame computer (using a component scan converter).  I then bought an xarcade trackball and a SF2 anniversary stick to compliment it (I use them on a cart in front of the arcade).

Now, I want to actually make my own machine after reading the boards here for the last year.  I have limited space and absolutely no skills.  But, I do have a nostalgic longing for retrogaming!  I'm really dreading trying to wire a control panel.  I'm not even sure that I understand how to hook up a joystick!  I thought maybe using the new Jakks unit would be a little easier on my budget and my project skills.

Thanks for everyone that has posted so far; it's nice to have a helpful community.

knave:
I couldn't resist...went to target and picked one of these up.  While I didn't see them on the website they were on the shelf with all the other PnP's. ( Arcade Gold - Pac-man )

Opening it up it looks like it would be an easy hack.  All the control wires are color coded and labled as are the output wires.  It's a nice small board, and is a plane rectangle (if that matters.)

I think I'll see about putting it into something...My only concern would be suplying it with the proper 6V.  There is no Power connecter so I'd have to find a random 6V power supply and hack it in. I wonder if 500ma would be plenty.  Probably. 1A would be overkill but would it do any harm? Any comments from the electronically inclined?

After I put it back together I played it for a while, as did my wife.  The joystik is so-so to craptastic depending on the game.  It is a 4-way with little tiny microswitches.   After looking at it if they had used a bit beter centering and given it a tighter feel it wouldn't be too bad for Pacman (which is 4 of the games).

Galaxian was iffy since the restricter plate (+ style) would tend to guide you up or down.
Bosconian was the worst to control as the joy just wasn't precise enough.
Digdug was ok but could be beter.
Pac-man and varients didn't give me too much trouble but still could be better.

I didn't expect the controls to be great and in fact for pacman and digdug they are better than I expected.  I found the gameplay to be close to the original.  My original galaxian is of course easier to play and I think the Jakks unit is faster.  Pacman seems fast too but I don't have anything to compare.

All in all it's worth $17.  I do think this would make a fun bartop so who knows, perhaps I have a new project.

MinerAl:

--- Quote from: knave on September 26, 2007, 12:05:58 pm ---...My only concern would be suplying it with the proper 6V.  There is no Power connecter so I'd have to find a random 6V power supply and hack it in. I wonder if 500ma would be plenty.  Probably. 1A would be overkill but would it do any harm? Any comments from the electronically inclined?

--- End quote ---

Go read MarkRVP's write up.  There are a few other write ups from a few years ago when we were all hacking these that'll give you a good idea what's involved.

I was able to go get a cheap +6V 300mA (I think) wall-wart, nip off the end, strip it, and hook hot to hot and ground to ground, and it just worked.

Mark did more complicated things with switches and whatnot, but essentially: find the leads to the battery pack, and make sure you don't hook it up backwards (although this didn't burn out mine).

Ed_McCarron:
Also, verify that your power supply is either regulated or supplying close to 6v with no load.

I fried one with a '6v' wall wart that was putting out 13v unloaded.  I think these things are pretty touchy when it comes to power.

Or, get yourself a 7805 reg and pad the ground with a diode.  It'll give you 5.7v and should work like a champ.

Grasshopper:

--- Quote from: pinballjim on September 26, 2007, 03:53:24 pm ---Uhh... everyone plays PacMan right handed.

--- End quote ---

Actually I don't but then I'm naturally left handed. Anyway the point is moot with PacMan as that game doesn't use the fire button.

I don't see why Jakks couldn't have put a fire button on either side like Radica did with their Space Invaders game.

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