I kinda have 2 questions. 1) Do most of the Plug & Play TV games use a type of chip that holds the game data? I know they wouldn't have the same number of ROM chips like a full blown arcade PCB would have but hear me out...
If so; 2) Could the data on that/those chips be dumped or extracted in some way and added to something like MisfitMAME? Just asking if it's possible, not concerned if it's legal or whatever.
The reason I ask is because I ordered a Plug & Play TV game from Japan. The Taito Nostalgia 1. It has... 2 games on it, and hacks or "Arranged" versions of each of those games for a (more technical) count of 4 games total.
I should be getting it a few days from nowMonday or Tuesday. If nobody can answer the first question -as in- if it depended on what the hardware uses to store the game data -then that's fine. Maybe I can open it up and take a look inside.
I seem to have read somewhere that if a game has the black blob then this sort of thing might not be possible.
> The reason I ask is because I ordered a Plug & Play TV game from Japan. The Taito > Nostalgia 1. It has... 2 games on it, and hacks or "Arranged" versions of each of > those games for a (more technical) count of 4 games total.
It probably uses a mask rom under an epoxy blob. Even if you can dump them then it will run on it's own hardware, which will have to be emulated first.
> I kinda have 2 questions. 1) Do most of the Plug & Play TV games use a type of chip > that holds the game data? I know they wouldn't have the same number of ROM chips like > a full blown arcade PCB would have but hear me out... > > If so; 2) Could the data on that/those chips be dumped or extracted in some way and > added to something like MisfitMAME? Just asking if it's possible, not concerned if > it's legal or whatever.
It's possible but hard due to the likelihood of "glop tops", and MESS/UME already has a working driver for these.
It's got one 'glob' and another chip with (maybe/about) 20 pins(?) on 2 of it's sides. There is another smaller chip with 8 pins (4 on each side) but I'm betting that has something to do with the voltage, but I dunno.
If anyone wants a picture of this I can take and attach one sometime tomorrow. I mean, if one would be needed/wanted. Otherwise, I probably won't bother. :-/
I cant comment on the model in question but a lot of these games that I have seen use a clone NES chip for the main hardware (exactly why I have never understood)
> I got it today and opened it up. > > It's got one 'glob' and another chip with (maybe/about) 20 pins(?) on 2 of it's > sides. There is another smaller chip with 8 pins (4 on each side) but I'm betting > that has something to do with the voltage, but I dunno. > > If anyone wants a picture of this I can take and attach one sometime tomorrow. I > mean, if one would be needed/wanted. Otherwise, I probably won't bother. :-/
The 20 pins on 2 sides chip might be a ROM - could you post a picture that's close enough in where the markings are readable?
The 24LC04 is probably an eeprom that saves settings and high scores. I can dump the 48 pin flash rom if you want to lend it to me. Don't know what's under the blob and I probably wouldn't fool with it unless I owned it. Can you do a full pic of both sides?
There's a Namco one too. Anyone know if it's games are new/hacked?
It looks like this was put together partly by hand in a sweatshop in China. Under the blob is probably an fpga, which we don't need to do anything with for dumping. If you want me to dump it send me a PM and I'll reply with my address. It needs to be playable/have the cord to hook it up so I can test it after I put it back together.
> It looks like this was put together partly by hand in a sweatshop in China. Under the > blob is probably an fpga, which we don't need to do anything with for dumping. If you > want me to dump it send me a PM and I'll reply with my address. It needs to be > playable/have the cord to hook it up so I can test it after I put it back together.
I still don't have an adapter or av connector yet to even see if it works. I'll definitely be contacting you about dumping it... Although that might be within 2 to 4 weeks, maybe sooner... :-/
Well after we see if the new hacks can be extracted and added to MisfitHB... If they can we will have to get the others. That would be badass. Off the charts.
> Well after we see if the new hacks can be extracted and added to MisfitHB... If they > can we will have to get the others. That would be badass. Off the charts.
Nope. These are not homebrew hacks that go to Misfit/HB... This is a real product shipped for home usage, so its eligible for emulation in MESS
> The 24LC04 is probably an eeprom that saves settings and high scores. I can dump the > 48 pin flash rom if you want to lend it to me. Don't know what's under the blob and I > probably wouldn't fool with it unless I owned it. Can you do a full pic of both > sides? > > There's a Namco one too. Anyone know if it's games are new/hacked?
I've played the Namco one. Dig Dug has to scroll on it because it lacks sufficient vertical resolution, and things go downhill from there.
> Well after we see if the new hacks can be extracted and added to MisfitHB... If they > can we will have to get the others. That would be badass. Off the charts.
There is a working MESS driver for this hardware. It's not a Misfit/HB thing.
> > The 24LC04 is probably an eeprom that saves settings and high scores. I can dump > the > > 48 pin flash rom if you want to lend it to me. Don't know what's under the blob and > I > > probably wouldn't fool with it unless I owned it. Can you do a full pic of both > > sides? > > > > There's a Namco one too. Anyone know if it's games are new/hacked? > > I've played the Namco one. Dig Dug has to scroll on it because it lacks sufficient > vertical resolution, and things go downhill from there.
> > I've played the Namco one. Dig Dug has to scroll on it because it lacks sufficient > > vertical resolution, and things go downhill from there. > > > You're kidding, right?
Sadly, I'm not kidding. You can see about half the playfield vertically at a time. Completely ruins any attempt at strategy on the later levels because there can easily be half a dozen monsters running around off-screen.
> > > I've played the Namco one. Dig Dug has to scroll on it because it lacks > sufficient > > > vertical resolution, and things go downhill from there. > > > > > > You're kidding, right? > > Sadly, I'm not kidding. You can see about half the playfield vertically at a time. > Completely ruins any attempt at strategy on the later levels because there can easily > be half a dozen monsters running around off-screen.
Looks full screen here. Also I hope the guy in the video is handy-cap (mentally challenged) because if not he's a total moron.
> From the description in the datasheet it's > > "The ES29LV160 is a 16 megabit, 3.0 volt-only flash memory device, organized as 2M x > 8 bits (Byte mode) or 1M x 16 bits (Word mode)" > > Compared to a similar description from a common 27c256 as being 256K (32K x
Crap, completely blanked out on the "bit" thing. This is what happens when you look at datasheets on 2 hours of sleep...
I can tell Gladiator really seems to have a higher frame rate. Some (other) differences are....
Wrist armor can be removed. This doesn't happen in the arcade version of Gladiator, and I think I can see why. Makes fighting just a bit different.
You seemed to be pushed back before encountering a fight. If not that then a bit before/earlier... That is to say - much more so than in the arcade v.
Irene is nippleless.
The yellow/sandy colored wall at the end of stage 2 (in the arcade version) now looks dark gray.
Crystal balls can hurt you.
Amozones. You can block, just not by using the controller. If (for example) you're going to have an object come at you high - you can fire an arrow high. This can hit the projectile and also leave your bow high to block the next high flying projectile. Same with middle and low flying objects.
You can get a gold bow by picking up a gold shield, and red arrows from picking up swords (it has the same effect as the Red Sword).
There are no "rolling pins" in the Amazones version.
There are also some other trivial differences.
The Legend of Kage... Since the only time I've played this in MAME -I didn't play very much since it's a game where you die in 1 hit, and I hate games like that... I can't say if there's any major difference like the increase in frame rate like in Gladiator.
The new version has 2 new characters to play as. Ayame -a kunoichi (female ninja) and a fire breathing dog.
In either of the 'new' games - after pressing the credit button you have the game's start screen. You can move the direction down to a blank entry. This will let you play as the original character.
You can also load a game you last played. Er, THE last game you played.
> I can tell Gladiator really seems to have a higher frame rate. Some (other) > differences are.... > > Wrist armor can be removed. This doesn't happen in the arcade version of Gladiator, > and I think I can see why. Makes fighting just a bit different. > > You seemed to be pushed back before encountering a fight. If not that then a bit > before/earlier... That is to say - much more so than in the arcade v. > > Irene is nippleless. > > The yellow/sandy colored wall at the end of stage 2 (in the arcade version) now looks > dark gray. > > Crystal balls can hurt you. > > Amozones. You can block, just not by using the controller. If (for example) you're > going to have an object come at you high - you can fire an arrow high. This can hit > the projectile and also leave your bow high to block the next high flying projectile. > Same with middle and low flying objects. > > You can get a gold bow by picking up a gold shield, and red arrows from picking up > swords (it has the same effect as the Red Sword). > > There are no "rolling pins" in the Amazones version. > > There are also some other trivial differences. > > > The Legend of Kage... Since the only time I've played this in MAME -I didn't play > very much since it's a game where you die in 1 hit, and I hate games like that... I > can't say if there's any major difference like the increase in frame rate like in > Gladiator. > > The new version has 2 new characters to play as. Ayame -a kunoichi (female ninja) and > a fire breathing dog. > > In either of the 'new' games - after pressing the credit button you have the game's > start screen. You can move the direction down to a blank entry. This will let you > play as the original character. > > > You can also load a game you last played. Er, THE last game you played.
Very cool.
Question... which AV adapter and power adapter did you end up buying to be able to run it?
> Very cool. > > Question... which AV adapter and power adapter did you end up buying to be able to > run it?
AV Adapter The Red and Yellow connectors will need to be switched when plugging into a TV.
AC Adapter Use 4.5 Volts, (thanks italie! ), and positive polarity. I chose that since the parts that plug into your device/s were straight instead of a 90 degree angle.
Just to note: I had to modify those connecters so they'd fit into the slot (using a razor blade or exacto knife, & maybe a bit of fine sandpaper). It was either that or "modify" the game case itself.
Also, the game and after shipping it was a little over $51.00.
eta: If it makes any difference, when I said "higher frame rate" when talking about Gladiator - the characters seem to move much more smoothly (left and right). It's not faster or anything like that.
2nd edit: The controls... If I could I would hack them to be controlled with an arcade controller. The control pad/stick could be better, same with the 4 buttons.