cab shopping (have a few questions)

[SegaAges]

ok, so within the next few days, i am going to hit my local arcade and the local game shop which both sell working games.

I am trying to find one that is jamma, but i do not really want to go there, look at every single one, and then go all the way to my house to see which one is jamma or not. is there an easier way to tell if one is jamma, or a way to tell by looking at it (date, buttons, etc.) which ones look like they would be jamma?

[ClubNinja]

How do you know it's JAMMA?


If it has a JAMMA harness in it... If you see a game with no more than one joystick and 3 buttons per player, it's a good bet.

If you really want to be certain, then look inside at the existing game board. You should see a JAMMA connector with loads of wires coming out of it attached to the board. That means it's JAMMA. In many cases, right near that area of connection on the board itself, you'll see "JAMMA" printed in reasonably large letters.

[SegaAges]

i do not think they will let me look inside of it to make sure. are there games that came out within a certain date that were 90% jamma or something. or maybe, like somebody said, only a joystick and 3 buttons for each player?

EDIT: i know pretty much nothing about arcade games. is it difficult to hook up a board meant for jamma into the jamma board? most of you will notice my partner thread about sega stv, so you will probably figure out that i am trying to get a jamma cab so that i can get a stv. is there soldering and crap involved, or is it like a massive cart that just pluggs into the jamma board?

[davidleeroth]

i do not think they will let me look inside of it to make sure.

If they don't let you have a look inside, I wouldn't bother buying from them.

Anyways, you might want to take a peek at the "Arcade Machines" articles on Gamesx.

http://www.gamesx.com/index2.htm

Scroll down, found on the left column.

[SegaAges]

i don't get it with the jamma connector.

it says that they made it so that you didn't have to rewire everything, but according to the little diagram, you still have to rewire everything. i am a little confused. does the connector connect to everything or what?

[Flack]

I was just about to say it's no harder than plugging in a hard drive into a computer, but then I remember you have a whole thread about how you can't get that to work, so bad example.

In a JAMMA cabinet, all the wires from the buttons and the joysticks lead to one big connector. That connector then plugs into the motherboard. That connector standard is called JAMMA. So if you get a JAMMA cabinet, all those wires will go to a JAMMA connector, which then plugs on to a JAMMA board. So if you get other JAMMA boards, you can easily swap them in/out because it's only one big plastic connection -- like a hard drive, without the jumpers.

The easiest way to determine if a game is JAMMA:

1, look. If you've never seen one before, this might be difficult.

2, make a list of the games there. Call someone from there who is sitting by their computer. Have them look up the games on KLOV.com and see which ones are JAMMA.

3, ask the sellers. They probably know.

[davidleeroth]

EDIT: Damn that Flack is quick. ;)

Ok, how should I put this.

Just think the Jamma harness as a Mega Drive. The other end of the MD (Jamma harness) is connected to power, video and a game pad (these are already connected in a working cabinet). In the cartridge slot (the connector end of the Jamma harness) you need to put a game (Jamma board).
You can change a game (Jamma board) in seconds just like you would with a Mega Drive. You don't undo the power, video and game pad just to change a game (Jamma board).

[SegaAges]

well excellent.

your guys' help has been much appreciated. And no, I have no clue my I am having problems with that stupid motherboard (I already have a thread about it, hehehe).

Now all I need is to get a jamma cab and find a stv and steep slope sliders for a good price. the carts for stv usually go pretty cheap, but i need to find a stv board for fairly cheap