Control box
| |
| Control box | |
| Designer | KIC, various |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | KIC, various |
| Distributor | KIC, various |
| CPU | Depends on JAMMA PCB connected |
| Graphics | Depends on JAMMA PCB connected |
| Memory | Depends on JAMMA PCB connected |
| Media | JAMMA PCBs |
| Released | Japan: 1985 |
| Added to Museum | August 18, 2017 |
A control box, SuperGun, Mega Arcade Konsole, or MAK, allows arcade printed circuit boards to connect to a television like a video game console.
JAMMA standard
During the early years of the arcade industry, most manufacturers used their own, unique, connections to connect components such as video, sound, controls, and power supplies, to the printed circuit boards (PCBs) of various arcade games.
In 1985, the Japan Amusement Machinery Manufacturers Association unveiled the JAMMA connection standard which aimed to set up a standard that let an arcade owner easily change a game into an arcade cabinet without having to manually rewire everything for each PCB.
History
After the standardized JAMMA connections, control boxes were created to allow JAMMA PCBs to connect to television sets for maintenance or simply for play.
The name control box came from the first commercial control box, the KIC Control Box, which was released in 1986.
The name SuperGun likely came from the Super Gun II, which was sold in Hong Kong.