Mini Arcade Modding

[Andromeda Stardust]

I'm working on doing some mod projects on the 6 inch My Arcade Gaming "Micro Arcade Players" (primarily Namco) and the 4 inch Super Impulse "Tiny Arcade" cabinets. I also tore down a Bridge Direct Centipede and will be posting photos of my dfforts in the near future. For now this thread is a placeholder. Feel free to post any information directly related to modding these arcade units.

 

I may at some point offer DIP switch moded units for sale in the future. These will go into a separate thread in the sales forum.

 

Thanks. Stay tuned for updates...

 

= = = = = = = =

 

June 22nd

 

I opened up Dig Dug tonight to start the mod process. Dig Dug conveniently had four screws holding down the back of the case instead of six like Galaga. Yay!

 

It had jumpers on jp 1 and jp 2, this time in the form of zero ohm resistors instead of solder bridges. Just press the tip of the soldering iron to both sides and it will slide off. Another difference, the Dig Dug cab is revision 1.1 (Galaga was 1.0) and an unmarked 16-pin smt chip originally present on the Galaga 1.0 pcb has been removed. Though I did not trace the pins on this chip to the button array, I fairly confident it was a cd4021 encoder chip, removed in revision 1.1, possibly under the glop top. They saved a few cents by omitting this chip, and as well the ribbon headers on the pcb are no longer clearly marked, making hacking more difficult. It also means my idea of connecting the unused pin 4 on the dip switch array to nes player 1 select is not feasible on a 1.1 pcb, not that unlocking player 2 mode would do any good anyway. Furthermore I probed the pcb to learn that the jumpers do not connect directly to ground. There's about 10kohm worth of resistance between the jumpers and the ground plane. So in leiu of a better solder point, I will have to connect the Dip Switch ground to the other side of the jumpers.

 

Anyway it was 10:00 and my days start very early, so I didn't want to fool around with soldering to delicate jumper tabs until tomorrow when I get a fresh start. Thank goodness I don't have to go in on a Saturday...

[iesposta]

I did lots of mods and electronics projects, going back to when I was a kid.

I probably couldn't create one if I wanted to, but I liked following guides or assembling kits or repairing things that most would just trash.

A few years ago I seemed to have switched to collecting projects to complete, as opposed to completing projects. Yep.

Although a repair will get done because it is fast, rewarding, and easier for me than disposing and buying new.

 

That said, I did enjoy modding one of the "Tiny Arcade" games with the brilliant mod of using the 4 joystick positions at power up to select 1 of the 4 contained games.

Sure Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man are more iconic.... Okay! They had sold out of those 2 of the 4 released games.

I love the sound and artwork most on the Galaxian , and next the artwork on Space Invaders.

Why shouldn't I get to play Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man also?! Mizz Man - heh heh... hey, wait! My Aunt's name is Ann Mann, maybe she's related...?

Space Invaders was chosen to mod into a four game entertainment powerhouse.

 

 

Absolutely brilliant, I was saying, — No need for 4 jumper switches and 16 solder joints!

I liked that it can be done without dissembling entirely, just the screw to the battery door, then the back is just plastic snapped together with plastic tabs, then you see the electronics.

 

Four wires need soldered to 4 places on the ribbon cable that goes to the joystick.

The wires are already exposed between the circuit board and where the plastic of the "ribbon cable" starts.

Very quick, low heat, no desoldering, cutting or stripping of the games parts.

 

The following hundred words or so are my attempt to describe what should be a couple pictures.

 

The other end of the 4 wires get tack soldered; 3 to one side of surface mount jumpers. The 4th to a spot nearby shown in the post I followed. It had pictures. So much nicer than reading.

 

To supply my own 4 wires, I used a bit of old IDE cable from a box of computer parts.

I chose every 3rd wire to strip and tin. This held the perfect spacing of both the joystick ribbon cable connections and the 4 places the other ends get soldered onto.

Snap plastic back together. Insert batteries. Close back door and secure with screw, preferably the one you removed at the start of this mod.

To make a right angle from the ribbon cable I got tricky by using about a 4" length of IDE cable. Bending it 45 degrees from the 12 o'clock starting position to 3 o'clock, next taking the 3 o'clock end over itself to where the jumpers are.

This results in correctly spaced wires and a right angle.

Example: -.

Didn't get that? Another Example: "this letter: L turned 180 degrees clockwise"

 

Did I need to mention these things are fricken small?

I seemed to have lost a lot more readers upon mentioning "right angle".

No need to continue, as it is done. Really.

No more to do except marvel that you actually soldered four wires into that tiny space.

[zenmechanic]

I dumped the eeproms from most of the bridge direct and tiny arcade units if you are interested.

Edited June 12, 2018 by zenmechanic

[Tanooki]

I know from talking on the side he was looking for Centipede and the other original atari flashback 7800 to NES NOAC conversion roms. I had them over a year ago but the site they came from when offline and I can't find another source.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Hey you guys, someone sent me the roms. I'll test them later. Work sux. Work with less sleep really sux. Good nite...

[Andromeda Stardust]

I opened up Dig Dug tonight to start the mod process. Dig Dug conveniently had four screws holding down the back of the case instead of six like Galaga. Yay!

 

It had jumpers on jp 1 and jp 2, this time in the form of zero ohm resistors instead of solder bridges. Just press the tip of the soldering iron to both sides and it will slide off. Another difference, the Dig Dug cab is revision 1.1 (Galaga was 1.0) and an unmarked 16-pin smt chip originally present on the Galaga 1.0 pcb has been removed. Though I did not trace the pins on this chip to the button array, I fairly confident it was a cd4021 encoder chip, removed in revision 1.1, possibly under the glop top. They saved a few cents by omitting this chip, and as well the ribbon headers on the pcb are no longer clearly marked, making hacking more difficult. It also means my idea of connecting the unused pin 4 on the dip switch array to nes player 1 select is not feasible on a 1.1 pcb, not that unlocking player 2 mode would do any good anyway. Furthermore I probed the pcb to learn that the jumpers do not connect directly to ground. There's about 10kohm worth of resistance between the jumpers and the ground plane. So in leiu of a better solder point, I will have to connect the Dip Switch ground to the other side of the jumpers.

 

Anyway it was 10:00 and my days start very early, so I didn't want to fool around with soldering to delicate jumper tabs until tomorrow when I get a fresh start. Thank goodness I don't have to go in on a Saturday...

[virtvic]

Does anyone have the 3d print files for the case that Ben Heck made for these mini cabinets, or something similar?

[Andromeda Stardust]

I have no idea. I don't think he normally reveals everything. Ben Heck is truly a genius and master craftsman when it comes to modding, but I think most of his hacks are beyond the scope of average Joe gamers.

 

Just an FYI, I have basically shelved any further attempts at modding the Arcade cabs. I've come to terms that I'd rather just collect them and occasionally play for the novelty factor. Part of the novelty for these for me is the full package, having a functional micro-arcade, functional and looks good on a shelf.

 

While the DIP-switch mods are fun and fairly straightforward to perform (hint: you need to use really fine gauge wires to minimize the risk of popping traces), they really only benefit in the sense of saving space and/or funds (ie buy one arcade get 5 games), also in some cases being able to demo a game before it's commercial debut.

 

My apologies for not following up. I am following other pursuits and working full time that I have little spare time anymore, so pardon me again for shelving it. I am still looking forward to the Bubble Bobble units though, even if they are forever stuck in single player mode.

[Jgabb420]

On 6/12/2018 at 10:31 AM, zenmechanic said:

I dumped the eeproms from most of the bridge direct and tiny arcade units if you are interested.

Where can we find these?