How-to Hack Galaga into Pac-Man and more! | 6 Game Mini Arcade Machine Mod

I modify a Galaga mini arcade machine to play Pac-Man, Dig-Dug, Galaxian, Mappy, and Rolling Thunder!
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My wife game me a mini arcade machine for Christmas! I only made it about a day before I wanted to take it apart, see what's inside, and hack it! I found that with a simple bit of soldering and a switch that I could make it play 5 more games that were already hiding in there!
Tools and Materials:
Galaga Game: amzn.to/381xZlL
Soldering Iron: amzn.to/3o6s7NI
Dremel: amzn.to/3pItcvx
DIP Switch: amzn.to/3o4jfZh
small gauge wire: amzn.to/2KKksqe
There is lots of information on hacking these on various web forums, but I found some of the best, most straight-forward advice to be on this Instructable: www.instructables.com/4-Game-...
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[@MrBluesMessiah]

Did a very similar thing with a 1st Gen Super Impulse Tiny Arcade Space Invaders. ran tiny wires from the pads to the 4 points on the joystick so when I turned it on I could hold the joystick in any direction to load Space Invaders, Galaga, Ms. Pac Man, and I think Pac Man.

[@TheRetroShed]

Fabulous thanks for sharing! We have a Dig Dug cabinet and someone in our group said today that they thought it could be modded to play other games. We’ll certainly be trying this!

[@hi12692]

good

[@perkins1439]

I did the Dig Dug machine that works

[@JaggedNZ]

Thanks, modded my sons my arcade this evening and it works great. Knowing how to tackle the epoxy really helped a lot! Used a hair dryer to warm the stickers before peeling them off and put them on baking paper. They stuck straight back on with no problems.

[@hi12692]

bad

[@hi12692]

bad

[@Cargo_Bay]

Yeah, apparently most of these cabs have multiple games flashed onto the boards, so they don’t have to make a different board for each game.

[@hi12692]

ammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzing

[@perkins1439]

I use the Fender guitar switch on mine there's a slit right below where you put your switch I shorten the switch and it just takes out enough to switch it . yours is cool I got Pac-Man Mappy Galaga and Dig Dug out of it

[@hi12692]

cool

[@storesellify]

All the video I wait maybe you show us a little tesla Motor in the end of the video lol hahaha ur awesome.

[@romaneberle]

good job, thanks for sharing 🙂 10:26 i've done this 100s of times in the past. nowadays I use a little bit of shrinking tube wrap, and a piece of drilled circuit board. much better! cut the circuit board as required for components and holes for wires, or even better: pin headers, plus some extra space for mounting. put small piece of shrink tube over soldered wires. much better results! more steps involved, but easier building, stronger connections, safer connections, easy maintenance (pin headers!), cleaner looks! :)

[@hi12692]

good

[@Phaota]

So, in short, this is a Namco Museum 20-Game Mini unit that has been dedicated to only Galaga unless hacked. I have feeling it also has the other games too, though a bigger combo switch would need to be used. This hack is great since these stand-alone units have the proper battery back-up to the lack of it in the Namco Museum cabinet. Still don't understand why that one is missing the battery compartment.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

No. This does NOT have 20 games on it. The internal pads that control which game is activated would max out at 9 combinations. It just has the 6 games on it.

[@Phaota]

@@BenjaminNelsonX Hmm, surprisingly then that it only has 6 of the 20. You'd think the company would have them all on the board and just isolated the one needed for single game cabinets.

[@hi12692]

goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood

[@LewinEdwards]

@@BenjaminNelsonX The strapping pins for the other games may be present (and the other games, too), but those lines might not be brought out from the main COB on this particular PCB. The reason they did this is not "flash" but because of not wanting to pay multiple NREs for mask-ROM. Oh, and 3 pads = 8 combinations, not 9 ;)

[@finnackerson9114]

This one uses NES on a chip, and the Namco Museum one runs off of an Android 4.4 emulator repurposed from cheap android tablet internals.

[@RockieRoadz]

Wild. Fellow Wisconsian here 😂

[@SchardtCinematic]

I wonder if you can mod these to hook up to a regular size 19" CRT or Flat Screen TV. Then wire in larger controls and put it in a bigger cabinet

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

You probably could, but at that point, there are lots of other options, one of the most popular being the MAME system.

[@SchardtCinematic]

@BenjaminNelson Yeah I know I've been using MAME for years since at least the mid 2000's. I've seen people throw a PC into an arcade style cabinet and have a great selection of games to play. But seeing how small that board is it would be easy to throw into just about anything you wanted that also allowed you to mount a screen and better speakers into. Plus having the toggle switch to flip between the 4 or 5 games could be fun. It could be a mini table top cabinet with a small 10" screen maybe. I find it very difficult to play those mini cabinets. To small for my fingers. I got my one son some for Christmas a few years ago. They are very cool little arcade machines.

[@jarc1292]

Nice video!! ❤

[@jplxlabelle1681]

You don’t like Rolling Thunder? I bet you’ve never gave it a fair chance because it’s a very good game, easily the best game of the bunch.

[@hi12692]

amazing

[@chriszepeda5104]

I got the same little system and I need this done also!

[@wmh0901]

I have an older Dig Dug unit that appears easily moded. I have wires and the DIP switch ordered. Regarding the wiring, did you only run the black to one of the jumpers and one of the dip switches or did it have to connect to all three jumpers and all 3 dip switches? I see where you soldered the colored wires to the dip switch but didn't see how the black was soldered. I'm not very electrically inclined. Thx for any help.

[@dadbelo2096]

I hacked pac-man the same way with temporary contact switches (3) and one of the combinations gives me Galaxian also. Maybe you should look into it. Good video.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Yes. This one plays Galaxian as well with my switch setup. I pretty much never play that one, as Galaga is a faster and more exciting game.

[@hi12692]

16 bit

[@apollolux]

FWIW, it looks like they've long since wised up and in 2023 at least these don't look to be hackable. I had gotten a Galaga one in July 2023 from a local Walgreen's in NYC hoping to do this very mod and give to my mom for Christmas and when I finally opened it up recently the board (with a completely different revision starting with DR- something) doesn't expose IOB jumpers nor epoxy-blobbed jumpers anywhere near the foam risers.

[@morteza8032]

apparently the newer versions don't have jumpers anymore! I got mine opened and I couldn't locate any jumpers

[@rubenfigueroa5946]

Same here. Just opened it to my dissapointment.

[@JustCrew]

Nice job - you must have been hard on your toys as a kid

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Didn't have many toys as a kid.

[@hi12692]

awesome

[@dabtod]

Thanks for the video! Now I know I'm definitely NOT going to be modding my mini arcade

[@superyoshidash]

Mine didnt have epoxy and its from last year it only had epoxy in the middle. Weird 🤔

[@sarahmacdonald5633]

I would love to see someone figure out how to hack in composite cables so I could hook up to a big screen T.V....hint hint.... Come on Ben do it, you know ya want to! :)

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

I thought about that. It would be fun to play a tiny arcade machine on a big screen. Getting a composite signal out of there is a little above my electronics skill set, so I'll leave it to somebody else. PS: My high score on Galaga is 195,000 points!

[@bricago2302]

There are some great Jakks Pacific/TV Games plug and plays that use composite cables. They have Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Pole Position, Xevious, etc.

[@hi12692]

ggooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood

[@SagemodeDuey]

I put a raspberry pi in mine 😊

[@jshersman3053]

Did it work

[@SagemodeDuey]

@@jshersman3053 yes with lots of fabrication its running retro pi I’m working on a guide to making it.

[@Cargo_Bay]

@@SagemodeDuey just the person I’d like to talk to! I have 2 MyArcade cabs that I wanted to do the same thing. (The data east classics and Street Fighter 2 ones). So getting a display to fit isn’t the issue I have. It’s repurposing the existing controller board. Is this possible? The buttons are sitting on a board and that has gauge wires soldered, and then bundled together to a harness. Could these be connected to the GPIO pins of the pi? Do I need a usb encoder? Or do I just simply have to get new tiny buttons entirely? Thanks for any help!

[@SagemodeDuey]

@@Cargo_Bay I completely skipped wiring the existing buttons and sticks to the pi. I use a Bluetooth controller. 2 reasons being one because if I’m emulating any N64 games or say something else then there isn’t enough there to be compatible with that. Reason 2 being I really wanted things to be simple so I flew through the project I just wanted to get the PI inside and the machine to emulate games.

[@Cargo_Bay]

@@SagemodeDuey yeah, that’s my current workaround. Really, I’m probably never going to actually play on it. It would be more for decoration to leave the screensaver/attract modes running, but still, it would be nice to have the buttons work. In that case, I might just find a display board that will simply play video files/or get a Pi 0.

[@gregdelarosa6633]

Mine didn't work. Shaved down the epoxy and took off the jumper and it still plays galaga 😥

[@hi12692]

bad

[@hi12692]

I hate it now but l like it befor? l don't know how that works.

[@riversarcadereview385]

just curious. in theory, a three switch 'dip switch' there should be 8 games. are two of the possible positions just dead games or repeats? other than that, great video

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

A couple are repeats.

[@technicallyresellingraw]

You could have used the pads for the joystick as switches without any holes, simply point the Joystick to the left, or diagonally etc for each game on first switch on, this does not interfere with playing the games whatsoever.

[@aagg436]

How do you take off the controls, as I can't take them off?

[@hi12692]

cool

[@SentaiLord]

hi i was wondering if you could put a raspberry pi in the micro arcade machines

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

You COULD, but then what you would be doing is making a game from scratch, just reusing a tiny arcade cabinet! If a person did want to make a Raspberry Pi arcade game, they would likely want to make a custom cabinet as well.

[@thedarkside6277]

hi. did anyone open to see if bubble bobble version of my arcade give the same jumpers to hack and what games it will give you?

[@hi12692]

flag too

[@ItsMeeeesh]

I was just wondering. Got my dad this for Christmas the Galaga one. Is there a way to save ur highscore ?

[@DankLonk1980]

I wouldn't think so as it looks like the NES version of the game

[@RinoPellegreen]

Can the street fighter 2 champion edition micro do the same thing

[@hi12692]

um.

[@FrankTaank]

Can this be done in a Karate Champ machine? I have a non working one coming in the mail, and I intend to try to fix it. If I fix it, I'd like to hack it. Otherwise I may just gut it for a future project.

[@hi12692]

nwn awesome

[@sethbramwell]

If rolling thunder comes from having no pads jumped, can't it be accessed by turning all the dip switches to off?

[@hi12692]

good

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Yes.

[@therealspaceninja27]

Hello, do you recommend someone to mail my mini cabinet to to modify it for me?

[@hi12692]

WOW

[@SKIZNOT24]

How do you get the two player to work on the galaga

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Good question! I don't think I've ever done it. It might not even have a two-player mode. This is NOT the arcade version. I believe this is the Nintendo 8-bit version.

[@lurkerrekrul]

Three jumpers give a maximum of eight possible combinations. Are there eight different games, or do some of the jumper combinations just start duplicate games? Also, I have an idea for Rolling Thunder, even though you said you don't care for that game very much. Add a slide switch to toggle the Reset button between being connected to the reset line and the B contact. I figure that the Reset button probably isn't used all that much during normal play and if you DO want to reset the game/machine, it's not that much trouble to flip the switch back to Reset mode. That way you have access to a second button without modifying the control panel. Or, wire it permanently as the second button, then add a small reset button on the back of the unit.

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Some of the switch settings duplicate games.

[@theafchefstable8284]

I just want someone to show me a mod that. Let's me. Keep these cabinets on without turning off every few minutes as I want to display them on my shelf...

[@lupemaynez3063]

Do you take arcades in for modding

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

No. I have fun working on little projects and then share the videos so that other people can learn to do them for themselves.

[@cvz8849]

Rolling Thunder needs 2 buttons but space invaders only has 1 button. Start with Rolling Thunder

[@hi12692]

cv to? cool

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

I got the Galaga machine as a gift. Yes, if I was starting a project like this from scratch, I would recommend using Rolling Thunder or any other game which has 2 buttons on it.

[@hi12692]

I will vote for your youtube chanell photos

[@Bigted3737]

What sort of switch would I need please?

[@hi12692]

both

[@SoaringRedEagle]

ah.. I can trace those without grinding. But do need to grind down to remove jumper. 😅 😂 🤣

[@jasonbagley1747]

This is not possible. The components are to small to solder. What are soldering alternatives? I destroyed my board following this video 😡 have another being shipped. Didn’t have the epoxy, was a clean board and it can not support being soldered.

[@johnryerson3944]

How did you get the sound to play?

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

There are volume buttons on the back of the cabinet. Make sure the volume is turned up.

[@SoaringRedEagle]

Your cold solider needed soilder paste would been clean. Try soilding in a cold dead of night.😝😝😝 Thank you for showing this.!!! 👍👍👍

[@gwynethachuchannel431]

Thanks for sharing

[@hi12692]

worst thing l ever saw Gwynetha's channel

[@MrJUNE224]

Cool trick I just bought Pacman for my Son on black Friday for $29.99 and now are $49.00 i hope i can hack it. I need you help on the wiring? talk to me if I was 7 year old

[@aldob5681]

I count 4 gams not 6

[@ASAN2042]

Too much work but fun tinkering🙂

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

I was a bit of work AND it was also fun tinkering and figuring it all out!

[@nexcellpride5454]

Only one problem: "Rolling Thunder" has 2 buttons, the jump and shot...

[@BenjaminNelsonX]

Yep. And I specifically mentioned that. I didn't want to add another button, as it wouldn't match the existing one already on the cabinet, and it would have been a fair amount of work for a game I don't really want to play anyways. The same company makes other mini-cabinet games. If a person wanted to try hacking one of those, they could certainly start off with a cabinet that already has two buttons on it.

[@estaclaragiac3749]

Good. I wait for love from you 💝💖