- JAMMA FAQ-
So what is JAMMA?

Description of what JAMMA is:

The JAMMA standard was invented in 1985; any game older than this will not be JAMMA. JAMMA (Japan Arcade Machine Manufacturers' Association) is a standard 56-way connector used on many arcade boards to simplify conversion of cabinets from one game to another. The majority of newer games use a subset of this pinout. Some games (i.e., Street Fighter) which need extra buttons have extra connectors for these additional controls. The JAMMA connector has a .156" pin spacing edge connector (male on the game board).

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JAMMA FAQ

'Frequently Asked Questions about JAMMA'

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QUESTION:

I purchased a Jamma Cabinet a few years ago. It has a slide out from for easy access to board replacement.

My question is it easy to change out games since the one I have was boring after about 20 minutes?
Do I need special adapters to hookup new Jamma boards?
Do all Jamma boards fit all Jamma Cabinets?

Any help you can give me would be great. Also if I can convert my cabinet over to a Nintendo PlayChoice 10 I'd buy anything that would help me do that.

 

ANSWER:

Hi.
It's very easy to change out any JAMMA arcade PCB with another JAMMA. The connector uses the same pinout making a JAMMA arcade cabinet, like yours, able to plug-and-play virtually all JAMMA PCB's.

There are so many different JAMMA game PCB's out there the just use the standard JAMMA connector setup. A few of my favorites that I have are Wrestlefest, Mercs, Magic Sword, P.O.W., and Rastan. All these games use the Standard JAMMA connector scheme, and use three buttons or less. It's a snap to power down my JAMMA cabinet, just disconnect the connector from the board and install another PCB.

There are some issues to be aware of when switching out JAMMA PCB's. You probably hear of the JAMMA+ conversion class (or simply called 'the pinout'). The JAMMA+ PCB will have the same 56-pin main connector on it, plus an additional set of connectors which is usually for to connect extra joysticks or add extra buttons. An example of this would be Street Fighter II, great JAMMA game but it uses 6 buttons per player instead of the standard JAMMA 3 button setup. So the Street Fighter II PCB has the main 56-pin connector, and 2 separate 9 pin connectors which use a Molex JST type connector. The two separate 9 pin connectors just simply allow the addition extra three kick buttons to function. If you plug in a Street Fighter II PCB into standard JAMMA cabinet without having or connecting the two separate 9 pin connectors (The three kick buttons), the game will still work fine in your cabinet - of course your player will not be able to kick.

To make it easier to attempt changing out a game, you should probably look for a game that you like which is already JAMMA compatible. One simple way of looking for a JAMMA game is to just search on EBay with the word JAMMA.

Also, one of the best things about having the JAMMA arcade cabinet is that you can put virtually any non-JAMMA arcade PCB into your cabinet, with the use of a JAMMA Adapter/Fingerboard. You probably have seen many different websites that list all the different arcade PCB's and their connect pinouts, such as mine at http://www.jammaboards.com/pinouts. With the use of some wire, solder, an edge connector, and a fingerboard you can construct any JAMMA adapter that you might need. I have typed up an example of building a JAMMA adapter step-by-step procedure, which you can view it in PDF format, here: JAMMA Adapter Step-by-Step Guide.

As of right now I do not have any pre-built JAMMA adapters for sale, but there are a few other sites that sell pre-constructed adapters...however they usually a bit expensive.

I hope that this was able to answer your questions about the JAMMA board swap out. It very easy to do and rewarding because you will be getting more fun playing time off your arcade cabinet!

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QUESTION:

How many set ups are there for Jammas? I see there are 28 and 56 pins. Are there also 14 pins? Or less than 28? I'm trying to determine if a certain Jamma (a Disney Tetris) will fit my machine (Mania Challenge).

 

ANSWER:

There is really on one main type of JAMMA setup, which is the 56-pin connection. The 56-pin connector is two rows of 28 pin across, so sometimes you might seen it referred to as 28x2 meaning 2 rows of 28 pins totaling 56 pins.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
JAMMA STANDARD PINOUT
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Solder Side | Parts Side
GND | A | 1 | GND
GND | B | 2 | GND
+5 | C | 3 | +5
+5 | D | 4 | +5
-5 | E | 5 | -5
+12 | F | 6 | +12
- KEY - | H | 7 | - KEY -
Coin Counter # 2 | J | 8 | Coin Counter # 1
Lock Out Coil # 2 | K | 9 | Lock Out Coin # 2
Speaker (-) | L | 10| Speaker (+)
| M | 11|
Video Green | N | 12| Video Red
Video Sync | P | 13| Video Blue
Service Switch | R | 14| Video GND
Tilt Switch | S | 15| Test Switch
Coin Switch # 2 | T | 16| Coin Switch # 1
2P Start | U | 17| 1P Start
2P Up | V | 18| 1P Up
2P Down | W | 19| 1P Down
2P Left | X | 20| 1P Left
2P Right | Y | 21| 1P Right
2P Button 1 | Z | 22| 1P Button 1
2P Button 2 | a | 23| 1P Button 2
2P Button 3 | b | 24| 1P Button 3
| c | 25|
| d | 26|
GND | e | 27| GND
GND | f | 28| GND
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the way that your cabinet is set up which is a non-jamma:

Mania Challenge
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Solder Side				Components Side
-5 Volts DC	A		1	+12 Volts DC
Speaker Out (-)	B		2	Speaker Out (+)
Player 1 Punch Switch	C		3	Player 1 Move Up
Player 1 Move Right	D		4	Player 1 Move Left
Player 1 Start Switch	E		5	Player 2 Start Switch
Player 2 Punch Switch	F		6	Player 2 Move Up
Player 2 Move Down	H		7
Player 2 Move Left	J		8	Player 2 Move Right
Coin Counter 1	K		9	Player 1 Move Down
Coin switch 2	L		10	Coin Switch 1
	M		11
Player 1 Kick Switch	N		12	Player 2 Kick Switch
Video Green	P		13	Video Blue
Video Red	R		14	Video Sync
	S		15
Ground	T		16	Ground
Ground	U		17	Ground
+5 Volts DC	V		18	+5 Volts DC

 

And I am pretty sure that the Tetris is a JAMMA pinout which would match the JAMMA Standard pinout shown above.
What some people like to do is get a new JAMMA main wiring harness, and re-wire their existing arcade cabinet to JAMMA standard. This now makes the cabinet ready to play all different JAMMA games out there, like the Tetris. Then of course if you wanted to, you can buy/build a JAMMA adapter for the Mania Challenge which would convert the Main pinout over to a JAMMA pinout so you can still play this game in your newly wired JAMMA cabinet.

 

 

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QUESTION:

Hello! I was wondering if you sell the necessary parts to convert a (jamma) Contra upright console to an Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 PCB, or if it is even possible. any information would be highly appreciated!

 

ANSWER:

Unfortunately it would not be an easy transition from a Contra cabinet over to the MK3. Mainly since the Contra is a vertical display game, and the MK3's play horizontal. You might be able to swap out the monitor with a horizontal one and depending on the size it should be able to fit. That would be the main problem with going from a vertical playing game over to a horizontal.
Other than that issue, you would just need to install a few more buttons and the MK3 would just plug right up. You would also need a Midway Series Kick Button harness for the extra buttons. Also verify that your power supply does have the -5V from it connecting into the JAMMA connector...only a very few games require it and the MK series is one of them.