Arkanoid Spinners

Here I will discuss some differences with Arkanoid spinners and their opto boards.

Arkanoid is a old game series but its controls have more or less stayed the same since the first game. Using a optical encoder wheel to send pulses out to the game board to over 2 different pins in order to decode.

Opto Board Variants

Taito produced 2 different opto boards for their line of spinners and they have two distinct styles of connectors. The older 4 pin JST CH and a newer 6 pin JST NH variant.

The 6 pin variant board adds a number of extra resistors all of them tie to ground and 2 NPN transistors which sit between the X1 and X2 outputs.

The 6 pin opto board is directly pin compatible with the Taito F3’s S1 connector which is used for spinners.

If you wanted to connect a spinner directly to the F3 this is how you do it.

The F3 can use either version of opto board. See wiring discussions further down.

Spinner Jewel Variants

Taito produced 3 different color jewels for their spinners. The jewel is a painted metallic disc which is set into the top of the spinner.

The three colors are Purple Blue and Red

Spinner Gear Variants

Taito made 2 gear variants of the spinner. A 4 gear spinner and a 2 gear spinner. The gearing changes the the output velocity/speed of the paddle in game.

I am not sure on the exact specifics however I think people tend to prefer the 4 gear paddle. Basically it affects how much you have to turn the spinner to make the paddle in game move and it probably changes the resistance/smoothness the player feels as well.

Considering Taito reuses this 4 gear setups in some of their home controllers I think the more common 4 gear unit is the intended way to play most games.

Please comment your ideas or experiences.

Taito also made a 4 gear slim spinner. It is half the size of the original 4 gear but these seem very hard to find and I am really unsure what use case is for since a standard sized spinner fits inside of most candy cabinets..?? Maybe it is a cost cutting move.

Notes About Wiring

While the spinners are practically the same through the series the way they are wired to the game PCB is different specifically only for the first game.

The original Arkanoid game PCB is not Jamma and needs a classic Taito to Jamma converter if you plan to play it on a Jamma cabinet or candy cab.

However after this title all other arcade releases of Arkanoid became Jamma, so the spinner connects over Jamma as well.
(IE: Revenge of Doh.)

Left and Right joystick inputs are connected to the spinners X1/X2 (Left/Right) pins over Jamma.

When connecting to the Taito F3 the connection is the exact same however you need to move a physical Jumper on the PCB from “Joystick” to “Sensor” for the spinner to work. It is not necessary to use the S1 connector on the F3 to use a spinner either.

F3 spinner games support joystick input if selected in the test menu! Not sure why you wanna do that haha 🙂

Other Oddities

Toaplan created a spinner game called Ghox which allows the player to move their paddle vertically in the play field. Much like a scrolling shooting game which they are well known for.

Ghox uses a standard Taito Spinner that is modified to allow the entire assembly to be tilted up and down. The tilting hits a switch this is what tells the paddle to move vertically.

Our friend TheMisterFalcon of Birdland shared photos with us of the spinner below!