I have been into arcade games for as long as I can remember. In fact, they are the reason I got into computers in the first place: at an arcade one day, I was watching a tech repair a game (I think it was either Asteroids or Lunar Lander), and after bothering him asking about how they worked, he said that a video game was just a computer that had buttons instead of a keyboard. At that point, I knew that computers were where I wanted to be!
I got my first arcade game at the age of 12, it was a Tron. I later owned various games ranging from a Space Invaders, to a cabaret Stargate, to a Gorgar pinball machine. (None of which I have now. If only I knew then what I know now...)
I started getting into repairs and conversions around 14-15, and started to keep track of things like pinouts and switch-settings. When I hit college, and had pseudo-access to the 'Net, I shared some of them. If you do a web search for "TWINE57" you will find some of them (although I do not know why my old address is in all those "rubymail" hits!).
I recently have been getting back into obtaining and attempting to repair broken PCBs. I have started keeping track of the results here: Arcade Repair Logs. (see http://blog.jrtwine.com)
Here is an slightly incomplete list (mostly from memory) of what arcade-related stuff I currently own (note, some of these items are split among two different physical locations):
|
PCBs | |||
| Several Street Fighter II bootlegs (including a "TestROM" version) | Mortal Kombat II | Mortal Kombat (one bootleg, one original) | Kicker |
| Street Fighter | Firetrap | Legend of Kage | |
| Several Kung-Fu Master bootlegs | Roller Jammer | Double Dragon | Alien Syndrome (suicided? now a parts board!) |
| Mr. Do! | Karate Champ; 2-Player version | Star Wars (complete PCB cage) | Martial Champion |
| Asteroids | Star Castle (guts, inc. monitor) | Do! Run-Run | Hamburger (Cook Race/Burgertime bootleg) slight sprite trouble |
| Venture (trying to get working) | Asteroids (board only) | Space Duel (board only) | Lost Tomb |
| Ring King | Tutankham (bootleg) | Track-&-Field | Devastators (2 bad Mask ROMs) |
| Vs. Unisystem mother board (with "MDS-TE" ROMs) | Street Fighter Alpha (CPS-II A & B board set) | Bad Dudes | Gauntlet (2 Player, soon to be a multi-gaunt...) |
| Soul Edge | Tekken | Galaxian | PAC--MAN (now a 4-in-1) |
| Dig-Dug (repaired!) | Pole Position | Space Lords (dual boardset) | Galaxian (under repair) |
|
Arcade Cabinets | |
| Dynamo JAMMA Cabinet (Ikari Warriors style cabinet) | Xenophobe Cabinet (JAMMA-tized, not by me! :) |
| Poker cabinet containing a "Pit-Boss"-style 4-in-1 game | Converted Taito Qix cabinet (helping a friend JAMMA-tize it) |
|
Manuals (Not for sale, but if you need some information from any of them, let me know: I may be able to help, time permitting...) | |||
| Defender Theory Of Operation (printed copy) | Collection of Midway Service Bulletins (printed copy, covers games from '75-'82) | Standardized Test Procedure For Midway's Boards ('76) | Bally Electronic Pinball Games Repair Procedures ('77) |
| Wells-Gardner Service Manual for K7000 (Prismatic) | (Old!) Schematic for Midway Game Logic PCB A082-90700-A000 (used on Space Invader II CT & Deluxe Space Invader UR/CT) | SAC 1A Service Manual (Bally/Sente System) | SAC 1A Electrical Manual |
| Mini-Golf Field Conversion Kit SAC 1, SAC 1A & SAC 1B | Midway's Pac-Man & Ms. Pac-Man Troubleshooting Logic Board Part II | Zookeeper Thoery Of Operation (part of a larger manual?) | "The Book" A Guide To Electronic Game Operation And Servicing (Atari, '80) |
| Rygar Service Instruction Manual (2) | Yie Ar Kung-Fu Wiring Harness and DIP Switch Settings sheets | The Textbook Of Video Game Logic Volume I ('76 by Kush N' Stuff Amusement Electronics, Inc.) | Williams 19" Color Monitor Type A/B Instruction Manual (2) |
| Nintendo XM-1801N Schematic sheet (includes PP-1100A information, too) | Tempest Upright Wiring Diagram, Coin Door, Color X-Y Power Supply Regulator Audio II PCB Schematics and information (sheet 1, side B) | Battlezone Game Microprocessor, Game Address Decoding Circuitry, Analog Vector-Generator PCB Power Input, Clock, NMI Counter, Power Reset and Watchdog Counter, Game Program Memory, Game RAM, Game Memory Map (sheets 1&2, sides A&B) | Electrohome G05-802/805 Monochrome "Quadrascan" X-Y Monitor manual |
| Megazone Schematic (sheet 1 of 2) | Turbo Manual (missing first 4 pages including cover) | Pinout and switch settings sheets for Street Fighter | Street Fighter II CE Instruction Manual |
| Nintendo VS.SYSTEM Operation Manual | Nintendo VS.TENNIS (for the VS.SYSTEM) Operation Manual (really just a 4 page booklet) | Wells-Gardner 19-Inch Color Raster Video Display (Model 19K4914) Service Manual (printed by Atari, it seems) | SEGA Display Manual 200-5044 Color Display Assy 20 Type (second printing) |
| Bally Star Trek Pinball Manual | Millipede Operation, Maintenance, and Service Manual | Battlezone Operation, Maintenance, and Service Manual | WrestleFest Instruction Manual |
| Gremlin/SEGA Space Firebird Owner's Manual | Gold Medalist (kit) Installation Manual | Top Speed Instruction Manual | Body Slam (kit) Installation Manual |
| Roller Jammer Service Manual | Ms. Pac-Man Parts and Operating Manual (missing a 2-4 pages at the back of the manual) | Street Fighter Instruction Manual | |
Having been taken to a few arcade warehouses in my time (and when I was younger), and/or finding discarded machines in places ranging from the side o' the road to dumpsters, I always have too little space for what I want to grab. The worst part, is that some of the stuff (usually boards) I do select end up being totally dead, or worse. (Ever seen an EPROM light up in its window, or a hole burned through a silicon component when powered up?)
Having longed for a way to be able to easily test boards under these circumstances, I came up with an idea for something called the PortaJAMMA, which is a portable (or luggable, depending on your point of view) JAMMA test rig that allows you to quickly test boards found in the wild. It would likely even be able to run from most small 12 volt power inverters.
Click Here for a page that describes the PortaJAMMA. If anyone is interested in building one, please keep me posted! I would love to know what comes of this idea.
I have only had one bad trading experience, and it was waaaaayy back around 8/6/96 with someone who called himself Chris Griffin over a Street Fighter II board. Update: Now, some 16(!) years later, he actually took the time to contact me and try make good on the deal by paying me back the money owed.
I refused his offer - not because of anger or spite, but because it takes a lot for a guy to go through the trouble of finding someone again to make good on an 16 year old deal like that. And that says something about your integrity. Seems that he turned out to be a good guy in the end. All is forgiven, Chris!
If you are into Coin-Op (Arcade) games, try www.coinop.org (I participate there a lot, too! Just check the names at the bottom of the homepage and you will see what I mean! :)
VAPS: the Video Arcade Preservation Society
Wiretap Resource
Page
Jess Askey's Game Archives
(The Real)
Bob Roberts
Tim's Arcade Collecting (Dead
Batteries & Taito Hacks)
A Great source of Pinball
Repair Information (http://www.marvin3m.com/fix.htm)
Sean Riddle's Williams
Technology page
Everything you ever
wanted to know about Pac-Man
(http://users.erols.com/mowerman/pacfile.htm)
http://www.elektronforge.com/
http://www.multigame.com/
James Skilskyj (or http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Horizon/2253/leftf.html,
if the page is broken)
(This page is a work-in-progress...)