Return to Q&A Database
Changing Jamma boards
Question from Ryan: Hello,
I’m new to the arcade ownership world so please bare with my lack of knowledge. I just bought an NBA Jam arcade machine. It runs on a Jamma board, that much I do know. My question is….if I wanted to get an NFL blitz jamma, is it as simple as unplugging the connections from one board and putting them into the other and it’s ready to play? Or do I need some different connections for sound or for the monitor resolution to be compatible?
My other question is….if it is as easy as plug and play, is that only because they are both Midway products or is it because that’s how easy the jamma boards make it? If I wanted to get a jamma WWF Wrestlefest, do I need other connections to make that compatible or would that be plug and play as well?
Thanks a lot for any help you can give,
Ryan
1 answer
Response from Jonathan: Ryan,
The answer to your question is yes (for the most part). JAMMA boards can be swapped pretty interchangably as the power, video and control panel buttons are pretty much the same for every JAMMA game. The only “kicker” is that some games require a kick harness to operate properly. For example, if you swapped the NFL Blitz board into your NBA Jam arcade machine, you would probably get power, video and your player 1 and 2 controls. On these boards, however, the player 3 and 4 controls usually require additional kick harnesses for them to work as JAMMA was really only built for 2 players. If the kick harnesses are the same on these games (which I don’t know if they are off the top of my head), then you could connect them and the other players would work as well.
We recommend checking out our posts on Getting Familiar With The JAMMA Standard and Swapping Boards In A JAMMA Cabinet for more information. Hopefully they will give you a little more insight into what I’m talking about.
Thank you for your question and good luck with your future repairs.
This question has been closed
