Not sure about taking an entire course on the hobby, (time cosidered, of course)
I'd say I'm looking for a diagram of sorts, not a manual, but a diagram that shows the different components and what they are. Such as:
The roms are here
The such n' such is here
These wires connect to this and serve this purpose.
No sure which games, specifically, you're interesting in learning about. ROM location and wiring differs, sometimes wildly, through the years, and game to game.
Here's my 30 second free course component identification:
- CPU: one of the biggest chips on the board
- EPROM: usually socketed; usually have a sticker on top covering a small clear window
- TTL: number on top with "74" in it, followed by zero to two letters, then 2 or 3 numbers.
- audio amp: has a heat sink attached to it, and usually a single row of pins
Old Atari game manuals (early 80s-ish) usually had very good diagrams showing each major component, power and signal paths, etc. But not really any "map" of the PCB.
If you're talking just games "in general"... Bob Roberts University has some stuff, mostly about aspects outside of the PCB:
http://www.therealbobroberts.net/acwiring.html
http://www.therealbobroberts.net/acros.html
http://www.therealbobroberts.net/microsw.html
http://www.therealbobroberts.net/buildit.html
...but very little of Bob's stuff is about component-level troubleshooting and repair.
Seriously though, an understanding of the basics of electricity and electronics is pretty vital to do much more than swapping, plugging and praying. The "Getting Started in Electronics" by Mimms really is excellent in that regard.