Description
Namco, arguably the most successful arcade game manufacturer, created 2 pinout classes for their games in the 1980s. One of these conversion classes was used in Galaxian, Pacman and its sequels , and the other was used in Galaga and the Namco games that followed.
Even though Galaxian and Pacman pinouts are similar and they are often referred to as being in the same conversion class, they are not exactly the same. Connecting either game to the other’s cabinet, breaks the controls and may result in damage to the game board and the speaker due to changes in how the sound is wired between these two games.
While it’s possible to produce an adapter that could support both genuine Namco Galaxian and Pacman games, it has the potential to be unsafe. It would also be impractical to support the numerous bootleg variants on one adapter only.
There are therefore two separate adapters for the first conversion class, one for Galaxian and one for Pacman. Both of these adapters support the original and bootleg versions of the game.
Also, please keep in mind that there are many, many clones of these two games. In addition to a large number of clones that run on similar hardware, there are at least three popular versions of Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man games that run on completely different hardware and have different pinouts. Obviously these games will not be compatible with this adapter.
There are also many unrelated games that were ported to run on Pacman hardware, and may work perfectly. This adapter was designed to support only the genuine Namco versions of these two games, and their most popular bootleg variants. It will be up to you to ensure you have to correct board for this adapter. Please verify your game’s pinout against the pinout listed on this page. If unsure whether the game you have is compatible, do not connect your board or you run the risk of damaging it, the adapter, or your cabinet.
Images
Pinout
This adapter follows the following pinout scheme:
| SOLDER SIDE | PARTS SIDE |
|---|---|
| GND | GND |
| GND | GND |
| +12V | +12V |
| +12V | +12V |
| COINMUL* | P2DOWN |
| VSYNC | VBLUE |
| VGREEN | VRED |
| GND | VGND |
| P1DOWN | TABLE |
| P2RIGHT | P2LEFT |
| P2UP | P1UP |
| P1RIGHT | P1LEFT |
| P2START | P1START |
| SVC | TEST |
| COIN2 | COIN1 |
| COUNT1 | SPK-* |
| RSTCRD | SPK+* |
| COINRET | NC |
| +5V | +5V |
| +5V | +5V |
| GND | GND |
| GND | GND |
(PCB edge connector facing away, list is ordered right to left)
Important: You should convert the game to run on DC voltages before using this adapter. Using these adapters with the original games that run on AC, may not work unless the voltage is increased. Please check my guide on how to convert an original AC board to DC.
Compatible Games
This is the list of compatible games that can be used with this adapter:
- Pac-Man
- Ms. Pac-Man
- Jr. Pac-Man
- Pac-Gal
- Pac-Man Plus
- Club Lambada
- Crock-Man
- New Puck-X
- Barracuda
- Hangly Man
- Ms. Pac-Man Plus
- NewPuc1
- Piranha
- Pop-Man
- Rally-X
- New Rally-X
- Check Man
- Multi Pac
- Pac-Man Super ABC
- Tank Battalion *
- Cute-See
- Jump Shot *
- Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp
- Super Glob *
- Beastie Feastie *
- Glob The *
* These games may not be fully compatible due to how the controls are wired. For example Tank Battalion has a 4-way joystick plus a fire button. This pinout moves some of the button and joystick pins to power supply ground pins in order to accommodate the button not present in the original Pacman game.
Revision History:
Rev 1.0: Initial version of the combined Galaxian / Pacman adapter.
Rev 1.1: Created 2 separate adapters for this conversion class. Added support for bootleg games.
Rev 1.2: Changes to improve bootleg game compatibility. This is the currently available version.
Specifications
Board Size: 50mm x 112mm
Current Carrying Capacity: 5V – 12A, 12V-3A