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How many of you have taken on a "simple" project only to find that it takes more time, money and effort to really justify the project in the first place? I have a super clean Atari Centipede Cabaret. Then, a Teamplay Centipede, Millipede, Missile Command PCB popped up on ebay for $200. I just had to have it - it would add some cool games without having to add another cabinet. Well, that rookie thought turned into:
  • Grab a Centipede Cabinet to Jamma adapter from Arcadeshop ($45)
  • Pickup an extra Centipede Cabaret Control Panel on ebay so I don't have to mess up my pristine control panel with the extra buttons for Missile Command. ($200)
  • Realize that old Atari trackballs don't work with new trackball PCBs - now I need two new "red" trackball PCBs ($35)
  • Hack the JAMMA adapter to add wiring for the new buttons.
  • Punch the holes for the extra Missile Command buttons (not a huge deal - I already have a nice punch set).
  • Realize that the Teamplay PCB used a kick harness for the volume controls - get out the multimeter to figure out and make a kick harness for volume controls.
  • Debug and figure out how to adapt Teamplay trackball wiring to the stock Centipede harness - wire up adapter harnesses so I don't have to hack anything original.
Well, she's all done and looks and plays great (and is 100% reversible). But, was adding Millipede and Missile Command worth the bother? I guess it was, but I really need to stop taking on projects like this without thinking everything through first.

BTW, if anyone needs any info on the TeamPlay CMM pcb, let me know. I've spent a bunch of time with it now. It's pretty cool and plays great. Also, Missile Command surprisingly isn't that bad as a vertical game (I actually already knew that from ArcadeSD).
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