Pacman

[Skeleton Man]

Just wondering a couple of things about the original Pacman console:

1) Did Pacman keep moving in one direction as soon as you pressed the joystick, or did he stop when you released the controls ?

2) Did the ghosts seem to move at almost twice the speed of Pacman ?

I've been trying to find a PC version of Pacman and the above 2 things seem to vary a lot..

[dr galaga]

Quote (Skeleton Man @ Jan. 05 2006,7:48)

1) Did Pacman keep moving in one direction as soon as you pressed the joystick, or did he stop when you released the controls ?

The only time he stops is if you hit a wall.

Quote (Skeleton Man @ Jan. 05 2006,7:48)

2) Did the ghosts seem to move at almost twice the speed of Pacman ?

After a while they move pretty fast, but not at the beginning.
(Side note: Pac-Man moves quicker when he is not eating dots and the ghosts mover slower in the tunnel)

Quote (Skeleton Man @ Jan. 05 2006,7:48)

I've been trying to find a PC version of Pacman and the above 2 things seem to vary a lot..

Never cared much for playing things like this on the PC.  I have a cheesey version on my web page - http://www.brentsarcade.com/features.html - go down to Shall We Play A Game.  Get one of the Namco PNP's http://www.jakkstvgames.com/namco.html .  You should be able to get it up there at Wal-Mart, Radio Shack (maybe even Canadian Tire).
(Side note two: If any of you get a Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man video game, buy the 96-in-1 MultiPac - http://home.everestkc.net/mdoyle/multipac.htm .  It is great!  I have it installed in my Ms. Pac cocktail.)

[Skeleton Man]

How much would a cocktail console set me back ? Are they cheaper than uprights ?  I saw a thread a little while back by someone building their own console with a PC and CRT monitor..  This would probably be a much cheaper option than buying a genuine console ?

I assume the consoles have like a mainboard, and you buy the particular ROM you want and plug in ? (this is what the 96-in-1 would be right ?)

[dr galaga]

A Pac-Man cocktail would set you back about $600-$800 '> . Cocktails will cost a little more.
You could build your own.  Mike's Arcade has plans for the cabinet on-line.  You could even see if your local school district has any adult enrichment classes in the evening.  If they have a wood shop one you pay a small fee plus the cost of material.  You then can have a professional help you build it!
In the Pac-Man era every game had a different PCB.  Ms. Pac-Man used the same PCB as Pac-Man, but a few of the ROMs were changed.  Here's what a Pac-Man board looks like:


Ms. Pac-Man also has a daughter card, which contained some of the additional information.  The daughter card is what is sticking off the side here:


You could get in to MAME, but you are still racking up some dough for a computer (could use an older one), cabinet, monitor, interfaces to go between the controls and the computer, plus there are legal issues with this.

[Skeleton Man]

The board pictured in the site for that 96-in-1 looks identical to your Pac-man board.. is the kit just a daughter card or what ?

Can you get generic boards that you can swap out the ROM's for different games ?

What kind of CRT did the original Pac-man (or any other) cabinets use ? something specific to the industry or just a modified TV ?

[dr galaga]

The 96-in-1 is a kit that you add to a Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man board.  In the first picture below you see the area in yellow.  You pull two chips (or a chip and daughter card if you have a Ms. Pac) and place the kit where you pulled the chips.  You also have to remove a few IC's, which I think is in the area of the pink.  You have to use an original Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man board.  You can sometimes find some multi-game boards on ebay that have a lot of games together (Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Centipede, etc.).  For some people they are okay for around the $300 that they cost, but they don't play the same as the originals and are illegal.

The second picture shows a video game monitor.  (Only the early Pong and Computer Space games used a TV.)  These monitors take the video signal from the main PCB, process it through a video board and then off to a monitor.  These are different from computer or TV monitors.  Current games and machines that are running MAME use computer monitors since that is what is sending them the signal.

[Skeleton Man]

Many thanks for info.. I only wish I could afford a console of my own..  btw, cool avatar.. is that from some advertisement or cartoon or what ?

[dr galaga]

I know, just keep your eye out. Sometimes you can find good deals in the newspaper or even garage sales.  A friend of mine picked up a Donkey Kong and Popeye at a garage sale for around $300 (for both).
My avatar is from an old Nesbitt Orange Soda Pop commercial.  Have no idea what it tasted like.

[sodaworks]

I have a upright Pac Man game in my restoration shop. I use it for stress relieve. '>