Plug in and Play?

Do you have a technical question that doesn't really fit a specific console? Want some general info on electronics, hacking, making cookies, etc? Here's the place to ask! Go nuts.

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THON
Posts: 214
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 3:50 pm

Plug in and Play?

Post by THON »

Namco has been shipping these things out like hotcakes for the past year or so. I recently bought a Ms. Pacman (+ 5) "system" that plugs directly into your TV for you to enjoy retro goodness (if you still don't know what I'm talking about see this: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product. ... id=2696970).

I'm planning on making this a small portable (which should be farely easy considering it's already battery powered, and has direct A/V outlets), but I that's another story. What I'm here to discuss is this:

http://www.radioshack.com/sm-super-pac- ... 67973.html

That's right, almost all arcade Pacmans known to man. Almost...

Some of you may remember pacland, the 1984 Pacman that didn't exactly make it to the books of retro gaming history. I, for one, think it's an awesome game. Anyway, after doing a bit of research and deconstructing my Ms. Pacman "console", it seems that the games are being run off of ROMS.

Main Question:

Is there any way to include Pac Land into the Namco system?

(Forgive me if this is stupid and impossible, I'm a bit of a noob)
Kurt_
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Post by Kurt_ »

Yes, there is.

Is it easy? Not at all. Nobody here could do such a thing.

As for making it a portable, that is very possible, and has been done numerous times here.
Hey, sup?
bgnome
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Location: College Station, TX

Post by bgnome »

it is my understanding that these are not ROMs being run in an emulator, like a NOAC, but rather actual recreations of the games, specifically coded for these things. i have not heard of anyone being successful in programming extra games into these..
vskid
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Post by vskid »

bgnome wrote:it is my understanding that these are not ROMs being run in an emulator, like a NOAC, but rather actual recreations of the games, specifically coded for these things. i have not heard of anyone being successful in programming extra games into these..
A NOAC is really the original hardware, just shrunk down. But you're right about the ones like these, they are usually just remakes of the games.
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tom61
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Post by tom61 »

If you want to get into hacking these, picking up one the seamingly retired (disappeared from store shelves) Game Key version would be your best best. The main rom is just a chip blob in the versions I have (non-gamekey), so having a chip in a cartridge should be a lot easier to dump the contents and add your own programs.

BTW, of all the versions I have, the Ms. Pac-Man version is the most arcade accurate. I would not be surprised if they were actually emulating the systems. The Pac-Man (the one with Bosconian and other non-pac games) is the worst.
THON
Posts: 214
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 3:50 pm

Post by THON »

Thanks for all of the information everyone, I guess I'll just stick with making mine portable.

I plan on making the really easy portable (grab a plastic case and psone screen, jam everything in there), or making a "2 player" portable (grab a large plastic case, a psone screen, and 2 plug'n'plays, and jam everything in there).

I would prefer the latter one, but to do it (without having to open up the case to switch), I'd need to essentially leave the A/V plugs from each plugnplay out of the case so I could connect one to the screen when i wanted. Could someone give me a pic of what the (opened or unopened) back of the psone screen looks like?
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