Today We Fix The NFL Blitz/NBA Showtime Machine (Or Die Trying)

Question for anyone - why are arcade machines so dangerous (risk of shock from capacitors, etc.)? Aren't they just a glorified computer? What I mean is, I have no worry about shocking myself when I tinker with my PC, why would an arcade cabinet be any different, as long as you unplug it?

@jbick89: I can't speak to what all the dangers of arcade machines might be, but one of the biggest dangers is the screen. It's been said many times, but CRT screens are basically giant capacitors and can hold a charge for a very long time unplugged; and if touched in the wrong place can be pretty harmful. A lot of people throw around the cautionary tale that a CRT shock will kill you, and while I'm sure that can be a possibility, I've seen plenty of accounts of people surviving the shock (although the pain seems to be immense). That alone tends to give Arcade repair a very risky tone.

I didn't think they would be successful, but they ended up fixing this pretty easily. This is what I gathered they did:

1. Jeff opens up the back (done in GBUnarchived with broken audio)

2. Jason fixes the audio

3. Jeff has problems opening up the arcade board cage. Jason says unscrew more screws. Jeff opens up the arcade board cage.

4. Jeff sprays air on the arcade board.

5. The NFL Blitz/NBA Showtime machine is fixed.

I liked how Jeff thought that it was too easy so he makes things harder by switching to the second arcade board.

Part of the best bit of this was seeing the old couch again in the corner of the picture.

Yes! I love videos like this.

Came for the Mappy, left disappointed.

When I see Jeff play at the back of arcade cabinets, I remember those sage words of Space Quest IV...

“...don’t mess with it!"

Bonus content: the actual first twenty minutes of this stream which just consisted of cacophonous busted starting music, Jeff's inaudible voice echoing (and looks of utter frustration), and Jason running in and out of frame like a goddamn madman trying to make it work.

Although after seeing how complicated it was to get running in the first place, I can't say I'm surprised. Good job, guys!

I always assumed Jason was like a half a foot taller than everyone... my world is fundamentally skewed.

It's the greatest time to be a premium member.

This was a great live stream! :)

I always love when they do these types of streams. Good stuff!

Jeff has some nice looking shoes, then again he usually does.

vaguely recalling getting my apple mac certification, i heard of ways to discharge crt monitors prior to disposal or work. i'm guessing even then you shouldn't trust that it's safe.

i'll look it up, but didn't vinny discharge his cabinet's crt? and was there a point to doing so (couldn't he have just avoided doing anything with it?)?

I finally went and watched the pre-show to this and it's REAL special. There was definitely some sort of tape-loop situation happening.

I could watch stuff like this all day long.

Don't unplug that before you tinker with it, you fool. Electricity is good for you. That's why they give it to you when you have a heart attack. Fixes you right up.

So while i was re-watching this video i started looking at how to go about discharging CRT monitors just for curiosity's sake. Turns out, even when using a tool, a precaution they tell you is to put one hand behind your back, as a last ditch effort to prevent electricity from crossing your heart if you do accidentally mess up discharging it. Sounds fun.