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August 7993
STAR*TECH Journal
THERE NEEDS To BE A BETTER INDUSTRY
STANDARD FOR VIDEO GAME CABINETS
It started with theJAMMAhar-
ness, which still isn't there yet.
How many dedicated games
and kits have you bought and
found that if that particular
game doesn't use all the wires of
the JAMMA harness, the wires
aren't there. It's fine and dandy
,,..-(or that game, but what about
nhen its time to convert?
Or you buy a kit and install it
into a cabinet with a full har-
ness, you hit the test switch and
nothing happens. You soon find
out the only way to put the game
into test is to crawl into the back
of the game and flip a dip
switch.
The way things should be is that
all dedicated cabinets have a
full harness. All game boards
use the main harness for all the
buttons and use the external
test switch. All operator set-
tings should be controlled via
the test switch not dip switches.
~ow let's talk about the cabinet
j-tself. Have you ever had to tum
a monitor from horizontal to
vertical or visa versa. And find
out the only way your going to
do it is to perform major sur-
gery. Or you go to install the
marquee and find that the mar-
quee is either too small or the
graphics are too big for the
space of the marquee. And you
know that dang power switch
could be anywhere from game to
game.
The way things should be is that
the monitor should be able to
turn easily, like four screws,
pull, turn and replace, easy
huh! The marquee should be the
same size on all games. And the
power switch should be located
in the same place on all cabi-
nets.
How about the control panel.
Your new kit uses two joysticks
and several buttons. Naturally,
you want the panel to look just
like the dedicated but the panel
you want to use doesn't look
anything like the kit, so you
have to Swiss-cheese the panel
and put lexan over the top.
The way things should be is that
there needs to be a universal
panel used on all games be it
dedicated or kit, and all empty
cabinets use that same panel.
That way all games will layout
the same be it kit or dedicated, it
will be easy to convert to an-
other. The players will not have
to get use to a new panel and the
industry will be limited by
where they can place joys and
buttons.
Is that asking for so much?
NOTE
I have to give my thanks to Mid-
way and Eldorado Games for
knowing: The way things
should be. In Midways NBA
Jam kit they include a full
JAMMA harness, nuts and
bolts for the joysticks, and even
a sheet of plastic for the control
panel.
As for Eldorado Games, they
just sent me the neatest moni-
tor bracket you ever seen. If you
want to install a 25" into a 19",
this is the thing for you. Just rip
out everything holding the 19"
and bolt in this bracket (a per-
fect fit). Place the CRT into
bracket, bolt it in and your done.
Just $39.95. Call George at 310/
630-3300. Tell him you saw it
here. (It even holds the glass!)