Anyone built an arcade cabinet before? (for MAME)

[Kaido]

Got the electronics all lined up, looking into building procedures now. Anyone built one before and care to share tips?

 

[Kaido]

Also, does anyone know where to buy metal sheets with the diamond texture? Home Depot maybe? I need a kickplate

 

[MustISO]

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Main_Page

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: MustISO
http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Main_Page

Ooh nice, been to the arcade controls website but didn't know they had a wiki I just wanted to get a discussion going about it...

 

[MustISO]

https://www.metalsdepot.com/products/alum2.phtml?page=tread&LimAcc=%20&aident=

 

[bigrash]

I believe a user called MAME did it before. i remember he had a thread here a while back.

 

[Kaido]

One audio-related question I have...I'm going to be using a set of 2.1 Logitech z-2300 computer speakers. I'm planning on putting the sub inside the cabinet on the bottom. I'm trying to think of the best way to get the sound out...maybe cut some side ports? Or cut some holes above the joystick controls for bass to come out of? I don't want it to vibrate the cabinet, but I want good bass. Dunno if that makes a lot of sense without a picture but there you go.

 

[Reel]

Originally posted by: bigrash
I believe a user called MAME did it before. i remember he had a thread here a while back.

That was my recollection as well.

If you do go through with it, please take pictures detailing the process. I will be interested in seeing some progress shots.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Reel

Originally posted by: bigrash
I believe a user called MAME did it before. i remember he had a thread here a while back.

That was my recollection as well.

If you do go through with it, please take pictures detailing the process. I will be interested in seeing some progress shots.

Certainly. Planning on building it later this year or early next year. Electronics cost is roughly $350 for system, controls, and speakers. Add extra if you want a UPS in case of power outage so you can shut things down. I'm getting an older 25" TV donated from my brother, although you can usually pick those up for pretty cheap from classified ads or tag sales (19" - 27" would work). Not sure on wood cost as I'm still designing the cabinet. I'm aiming for (1) easy of building, (2) easy of disassembly for moving/storage, and (3) nice appearance & functionality. Nothing fancy, will probably just spray-paint it black or maybe pick up some of that laminate fake-wood stuff from Home Depot. My goal is to make a fun home theater/game room when I move and this is project #1

I did a search and didn't find his thread, any help here?

 

[Kelemvor]

I also used to frequent the http://www.arcadecontrols.com site. THe book that the guy wrote has some good info in it. Could find it at B&N or something and read it there without buying it if you want.

I foudn it at our library through an ebook type thing so I got to read it for free. has tons of stuff about the buttons and such but also talks about the actual cabinet.

 

[MAME]

Originally posted by: Reel

Originally posted by: bigrash
I believe a user called MAME did it before. i remember he had a thread here a while back.

That was my recollection as well.

If you do go through with it, please take pictures detailing the process. I will be interested in seeing some progress shots.

Good recollection.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: MAME

Originally posted by: Reel

Originally posted by: bigrash
I believe a user called MAME did it before. i remember he had a thread here a while back.

That was my recollection as well.

If you do go through with it, please take pictures detailing the process. I will be interested in seeing some progress shots.

Good recollection.

I was just going to mention your name to the OP.

How much do you get for one of those cabinet in your sig, out of curiousity?

 

[MAME]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: MAME

Originally posted by: Reel

Originally posted by: bigrash
I believe a user called MAME did it before. i remember he had a thread here a while back.

That was my recollection as well.

If you do go through with it, please take pictures detailing the process. I will be interested in seeing some progress shots.

Good recollection.

I was just going to mention your name to the OP.

How much do you get for one of those cabinet in your sig, out of curiousity?

How much do you get? I don't understand the question, sorry

 

[Tsaico]

I think he means how much do you make off you prebuilt cabinet for someone else to use in their mame cabinet.

http://www.arcadecab.com/Intro.htm
Is the web page that worked well for me. I followed the directions almost identical to this, except I built my own controls instead of using X-arcades prebuilt one. I needed the control deck to be wider because my roomate and I have wide shoulders (we both wear 52" coats) I bought the coin doors and mechs off of ebay, but in retro spect, I would have rather bought them off of Happ, as the one I got was kind of beat up, and many of the ones on ebay are missign parts or are of unknown condition. I did buy my brass tokens off of Happ.

For the speakers, I suggest you look up CMOY amplifier and how to build one yourself. You can find the schematics easily on the net, and you can put the pentometer, the little dial that controls the volume, whereever you would like to put it. I have mine in a slide out keyboard tray that allows for easy control of the volume. I found this allowed me to hide the speaker controls better, but still allow for easys access. Not to mention, allowed me to add some more geek factor to an already semi geeky project.

The couple of things that I would suggest is to first buy the correct cutting tools for this and good clamps. I have the same quick-set ones that are shown in the picture, and they are great. Then the second thing is to be sure that you have everything measured out before you start cutting anything to make sure it all fits together.

Good luck! I had a lot of fun putting it together and it looks amazingly well for such a cheap project.

Edit: oh, and I used 2x2 for most of the framing instead of 2x4s and used particle instead of ply wood. And of course enlarged everything to handle a 27" panasonic tv instead of his tiny monitor. But the general concept and overall design is the same.

 

[Kyanzes]

Heh, it's not closely related to the topic, but not enirely off-topic either: browsing through the links posted here I've actualy found an Another World Remake.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Tsaico
I think he means how much do you make off you prebuilt cabinet for someone else to use in their mame cabinet.

http://www.arcadecab.com/Intro.htm
Is the web page that worked well for me. I followed the directions almost identical to this, except I built my own controls instead of using X-arcades prebuilt one. I needed the control deck to be wider because my roomate and I have wide shoulders (we both wear 52" coats) I bought the coin doors and mechs off of ebay, but in retro spect, I would have rather bought them off of Happ, as the one I got was kind of beat up, and many of the ones on ebay are missign parts or are of unknown condition. I did buy my brass tokens off of Happ.

For the speakers, I suggest you look up CMOY amplifier and how to build one yourself. You can find the schematics easily on the net, and you can put the pentometer, the little dial that controls the volume, whereever you would like to put it. I have mine in a slide out keyboard tray that allows for easy control of the volume. I found this allowed me to hide the speaker controls better, but still allow for easys access. Not to mention, allowed me to add some more geek factor to an already semi geeky project.

The couple of things that I would suggest is to first buy the correct cutting tools for this and good clamps. I have the same quick-set ones that are shown in the picture, and they are great. Then the second thing is to be sure that you have everything measured out before you start cutting anything to make sure it all fits together.

Good luck! I had a lot of fun putting it together and it looks amazingly well for such a cheap project.

Edit: oh, and I used 2x2 for most of the framing instead of 2x4s and used particle instead of ply wood. And of course enlarged everything to handle a 27" panasonic tv instead of his tiny monitor. But the general concept and overall design is the same.

Great link, thanks! Sounds like you had a fun time with yours. I'm not going so classic with mine - no coin doors - but same MAME idea. I'm actually going to be using an Xbox as the machine - cheap and plays most older emulators well. I've got a 25" TV coming tomorrow, my bro is hooking me up with his old one. As far as speakers go, I'm planning on taking the easy route out using a 2.1 set of Logitech z-2300 speakers. The sub will go in the lower portion of the cabinet and have side vents as well as upper vents for some of the bass to filter out near the controls.

I didn't realize the 2-player X-Arcade unit was so big. Judging from the size of it in the pics in the link, I may have to redesign my cabinet. I should probably pick up the joysticks first so I can get a handle on the physical orientation and layout. Did you use plywood for the sides? It seems like pretty sturdy stuff; I dunno if I would trust particleboard to hold up a 25" TV lol.

 

[Kaido]

Create a blog to chronicle my progress, first post is up:

http://xboxmame.blogspot.com/

 

[MisterJackson]

I'd like a little advice too. I just got one of these:

1980 Defender Arcade Cabinet

and I want to build it up. I've got a 21" CRT monitor to go in it and tons of PC harware, so I guess I just need controls, wiring and speakers.

What I want to know is are there any advantages or disadvantages to having an existing cabinet over making one?

Also, this thing has the original power supply in it on the bottom, can I use this to my advantage for anything? An electrician or EE I am not that's for sure!

 

[deftron]

You might be better off buying a broken cab and swithing out electronics

All that wood might get expensive buying brand new from the lumber yard

 

[Hippiewan]

I actually have converted an old cabinet for use with Mame. Biggest advantage to this, I believe is the actual arcade monitor and not have to build a cabinet from scratch. Not to mention artwork already on the cabinet. I picked one up in my area from a guy on Ebay for $300. One suggestion that I have is to get the Mag-Stik Plus joysticks from this site Ultimarc they are worth every penny. You can change them from an eight-way to a four-way joystick from the top of the board. Trust me from experience games that used four-way joysticks do not play right on an eight-way and vice-versa. They are overseas but they ship super quick.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: MisterJackson
I'd like a little advice too. I just got one of these:

1980 Defender Arcade Cabinet

and I want to build it up. I've got a 21" CRT monitor to go in it and tons of PC harware, so I guess I just need controls, wiring and speakers.

What I want to know is are there any advantages or disadvantages to having an existing cabinet over making one?

Also, this thing has the original power supply in it on the bottom, can I use this to my advantage for anything? An electrician or EE I am not that's for sure!

Wow, that's a great cabinet! Simliar to the design I've been toying around with, minus the coin box. I don't know how the internal power supply works, but I'd recommend gutting it and sticking with a standard ATX power supply (or mATX). Just get a surge protector or UPS and run the power cord out the back - single external power cable for the monitor, speakers, and computer. Cake.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: deftron
You might be better off buying a broken cab and swithing out electronics

All that wood might get expensive buying brand new from the lumber yard

Home Depot. Wood should run under $100

 

[fustercluck]

There are lots of cool custom cabinets out there, just fun to look at. I don't have any interest in building a whole cabient, i would like to build an arcade-like joystick/buttons though. Something very similar to X-arcade, only much cheaper hopefully.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Adaman
There are lots of cool custom cabinets out there, just fun to look at. I don't have any interest in building a whole cabient, i would like to build an arcade-like joystick/buttons though. Something very similar to X-arcade, only much cheaper hopefully.

I talked to my friend who is modding my Xbox and he is willing to sell pre-modded MAME Xbox kits that come with a larger hard drive, modchip, and emulators pre-installed for around $200 (roms you have to get yourself). I'll have more details in a week or so when mine is finished.

Would anyone be interested in a pre-built box like that? If so I'll post some pictures of mine and throw up a page with details on the MAME Xbox and what else you need to get started. Basically a MAME Xbox + TV + joysticks + speakers + surge protector and some wood for a cabinet. You can pick up old bubble TVs for really cheap from yard sales, classfieds ads, ebays, etc., and use standard computer speakers for the audio. Joysticks can be anything from an X-Arcade control pad to standard Xbox controllers to wheels to keyboard and mouse. Wood is only required is you want to build a cabinet. My project is coming together pretty well, I'll have all the electronics by the end of the week next week and will post again with more details.

 

[Tsaico]

I would think so, and when you say kits, do you mean that you gather the needed parts and instructions, send them off to whoever bought it, and then they do the actual work? I think it is a cool idea.

And as for building your own cabinet, for the most part I would agree that the re-using an old dead cabinet is easy, but the couple of problems that I had were 1) the older cabinets were too narrow for comfort. I have pretty wide shoulders, and so do most of my friends, and I always hated playing Street Fighter II while also fighting for elbow room. If I made it custom, I could make it as wide as needed. 2) the costs of a good cabinet are usually about $200 with another $100 or so to get it to you, and the costs of the particle board was 4 $11 peices and about another $20 in 2x2 framing pieces, a single 2x2, and a single piece of 4x4. (I put a solid piece of 4x4 douglas in the bottom back and a handle on the top back portion, so I could put this thing on a dolly easily, since it is pretty heavy) Black deck screws are what is holding this thing together.

Also, I currently have some speed issues with my 1.4 pent 4 512 RAM rig. I can start games like Killer Instinct 1 and 2, but they run slower than the real deal, so I plan on replacing it with something a little faster CPU. How to the games work on the X-Box's CPU?

I thought about using something like that origionally, (since it is a little cheaper), but I decided to go with a standard PC so I could use the familiar PSU to power things like lights and the amp. I origionally put the flourescent light in the marquee with a seperate switch, but I didn't like that I had to first push power on the computer, then seperately turn on the lights. That was the same reason I did the CMOY amp too, I didn't want to turn a seperate speaker set on when powering up. It should do this on its's own.

Now if I could figure out how to open up the tv, so I could connect it's on/off button to the same butto that turns everything else on, that would be great.

All in all, probably about 80 bucks or so of lumber. But then again, if you don't have the right tools, and have to buy them for this project, I can see how that would easily increase the cost of making your cabinet five fold.