Crossover skills from learned arcade repairs?

modessitt

Volunteer: Encyclopedia Submission Moderator
Joined
Mar 22, 2007
Messages
33,414
Reaction score
325
Location
Austin, Texas
So, who here has fixed or accomplished something non-arcade-related due to something they learned to do while working on games?

For example, I recently did a pretty damn good bondo job on a car door. I tried once when I was about 20 (different car), and screwed it all up. Now, after countless cab repairs, I have developed the skills to do it properly.

A year ago my DVD player died, and I was able to rebuild the power supply and get it working again.

A few weeks ago I took a non-functioning GFI outlet apart, fixed it, and put it back together. I now have working outlets in my guest bathroom.

And just last night I took my LCD computer monitor apart, replaced some blown caps on the power supply and put it back together - and it's working as good as new.

Now, granted that I was once a computer tech for the Air Force, but that was back when we had paper-punch tape to load programs into 30-yrd-old mainframes, and hamsters in wheels to keep everything running (the gerbils also made it easier for the Navy guys/gals we had to understand what was going on ;)).

So, what skills did you learn on your games that you've applied to other-life purposes?
 
Well my story is complete opposite, I am an electronics tech by trade. I recently purchased my first game (ms pac) with a bad display. Re-capped it and changed some transistors on the monitor only to find that the game board caused the problem. Spend about 1 hr looking at schematics for the first time and was able to repair a bad trace.

This got me very excited as I may have a new hobby now, all I need is some more broken cheap games to play with.
 
Repair

I have repaired:

3 plasma tv's (one was my own tv)
4 LCD tv's...
Several LCD computer monitors...
Several PC mother boards... (including a pin 2k MB)
A DVD player
4 Commodore 64's and three SX-64's
A guitar amp

Among other things... I have forgotten...

-Mike
 
I know how to use a multimeter because of Q*bert, my second game purchase. Because of this I've been able to keep our press panels (controllers) up and running whenever checking to make sure we have 5VDC to all the modules. I've also swapped out DC power supplies out of our CNC machines after I verified it was bad.

Pretty funny when my bosses (some of my family) ask if I'm still "playing" with old arcade games. Then I remind them that these "toys" have saved the company "thousands" based on what I've learned from repairing them.
 
I was thinking of trying some body work on my 1977 F250 Ford but i did actually get a job as a Sears appliance tech using video game repair for a background.
 
Arcade repairs have given me the confidence to try other things too:
I started out as a computer tech not knowing anything about board level repair and I have:

1. Fixed about four bad LCDs with bad power supply caps. I use them as spares, they're only 15-17 inchers.
2. Had enough confidence to look at my home outside air conditioning condenser's electronics to troubleshoot an issue.
3. Fixed a DVD player for a friend.
4. Fixed an old Mini-Disc player.
5. Fixed a lot of home console stuff. Re-wired some controllers, fixed a turbo express audio issue, created some AV cables out of old keyboard connectors.
6. Learned to work with wood to some extent. I'll have a first timer's arcade project to post shortly.
7. Learned all about my multi-meter, which I use a lot. Home AC outlet testing, things like that.
8. Fixed a fully loaded and full of water washer. I t-shoot it and found it was a bad switch, which I was able to zip tie together and make work.
 
Working on these games really got me interested in electronics and game programming. I was interested enough that I decided to pursue a career in computer engineering; specifically in games. I currently work for an indie game studio doing mostly IT and game testing, but my arcade knowledge has let me get in on the few hardware projects we have had, and I was able to make quite a few suggestions that turned out to work well. That was fun. Now I am 2 classes away from the degree, and I am training to become the shader programmer at work. This is quite a bit more advanced than the programming I have learned in school, so it will be a fun learning experience.

Oh, and I am also the tech for our 3 Arcade games at work; Defender, Championship Sprint, and Ivan Stewart's Offroad. They were all in need of attention when I started there. :)
 
Well I have done a few things outside the arcade world such as cleaned up some wiring (taking spaghetti and making clean wires), soldering on some laptops, lose connections on many diff items, also replacing caps and fixing some older TV's the TV's weren't in arcades so does that count? This may not seem like much but I'm only scratching the surface at leaning electrical and its all thanks to the arcade obsession/hobby. I myself was in the Navy not the Chair Force, so I didn't sit in air conditioned offices and bitch about how nice yall had it, while working on computers! Sorry Chris but he started it...Aim High! LOL

BTW Modessitt, I thought you were in Denton?

P.S. Be advised the joke made in my above post was just that a joke, not meant to inflame anyone or start many threads on whatever ppl go on and on about these days...GRIN
 
Last edited:
Well I have done a few things outside the arcade world such as cleaned up some wiring (taking spaghetti and making clean wires), soldering on some laptops, lose connections on many diff items, also replacing caps and fixing some older TV's the TV's weren't in arcades so does that count? This may not seem like much but I'm only scratching the surface at leaning electrical and its all thanks to the arcade obsession/hobby. I myself was in the Navy not the Chair Force, so I didn't sit in air conditioned offices and bitch about how nice yall had it, while working on computers! Sorry Chris but he started it...Aim High! LOL

BTW Modessitt, I thought you were in Denton?

P.S. Be advised the joke made in my above post was just that a joke, not meant to inflame anyone or start many threads on whatever ppl go on and on about these days...GRIN

Nope. In Austin.

Remember that ASVAB test they gave us at MEPS? It was the 2nd intelligence test given to us recruits. The first one was based off of what branch we applied to first. The REALLY SMART ones went to the Air Force, the Sorta Smart ones went to the Navy. The Not Too Smart But Crazy ones went to the Marines, and the Dumb ones went to the Army. If you had trouble spelling your name on the app, then you went to the National Guard. If you couldn't even spell your name, but you could float, then you went to the Coast Guard....


;)
 
Damn I must be losing my mind who was in Denton (i ask myself) anyways...

Oh yes the puddle pirates, bathtub navy....My bro went in there, his first duty station was mowing lawns around the electrical towers on Hawaii, ya know cause he was an electricians mate...LOL I used to tell him he only got in cause he was over 6 foot tall and walk ashore without drowning if the boat sank!!!!!! Ive heard that one as well, but it was the most easily brainwashed was a marines, to dumb to be brainwashed but yet still did what you said, Army...I was in the Navy for 8 years, then got out became civilian on an air force base in socal and now work for army here in Utah....WOW diff worlds for sure and all under the same umbrella...all crazy but great in the end.
 
it was the opposite for me, a lifetime of tinkering with electronics made working on arcade games a no brainer.
 
Back
Top Bottom