Your DIY Arcade Machine? 67
astro_ripper asks: "I'm looking into building my own MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator), and for the most part the equipment and know-how to build one can be found via our good friend Google. However, the number of webpages dedicated to showing off complete machines or other gaming hardware hacks (turning an XBox into a full MAME, for example) are a little lacking. My guess is that if any group is going to have a decent amount of gaming hardware hackers, it's going to be Slashdot, so I ask you all: What type of custom gaming rigs have you built?"
Err.. (Score:5, Funny)
-> http://cmdrtaco.net/jubei/ [cmdrtaco.net]
Cocktail Cabinent (Score:4, Informative)
The plans I got were pretty darn good and has a great checklist for supplies. It took me roughly two weeks to get the cabinet built from scratch. I move it inside and then proceeded to do the electronics and wiring - very tedious. I would highly recommend going to Radio Shack and purchasing the the little wire labels to keep it all in order.
This was definitely a blast to do and I like the fact that I built it from scratch. That said, if you have the room build an upright. You can put more controls on the board which means you can play a variety of games. If you go to the Game Cabinets Inc website you will see the cocktail table that I built.
Arcade Controls website is the place to get all of your information as well!
here's what i did (Score:5, Informative)
i put a pc in, bought a j-pac from http://www.ultimarc.com/ [ultimarc.com] and loaded up my mame dvds. it was done in a day, but i still had an amazing feeling of accomplishment.
http://psg.com/~jjohnson/arcade.html [psg.com]
Re:here's what i did (Score:4, Funny)
Re:here's what i did (Score:3, Funny)
Re:here's what i did (Score:1)
Re:here's what i did (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:here's what i did (Score:1)
668- Two doors down from the beast (Score:2)
Depends where you live. The street I grew up in *did* have adjacent numbers beside each other (although this is admittedly not the norm in Scotland).
I suspect that this is because the houses over the street may have been newer, or that they weren't terraced and thus wouldn't have lined up with those on the opposite side.
But that's not particularly relevant; what *is*, is that not all streets follow the odd/even sides rule.
Re:here's what i did (Score:4, Insightful)
the cabinet pictured on my site cost $300. you can't even buy a used 29" arcade monitor for that.
okay so i'm not the alpha nerd. i do have a better cabinet than anyone who home built theirs though, ESPECIALLY better than those dorks that put a computer monitor in their cabinet.
Re:here's what i did (Score:2)
-Trillian
Re:here's what i did (Score:2)
I'd start with http://www.arcadeinfinity.com/ [arcadeinfinity.com] if i were you.
Re:here's what i did (Score:1, Offtopic)
Nice, but I think the link is broken...
okay so i'm not the alpha nerd. i do have a better cabinet than anyone who home built theirs though, ESPECIALLY better than those dorks that put a computer monitor in their cabinet [cmdrtaco.net].
Made me smile.
Custom console sticks (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Custom console sticks (Score:2)
Himura Games [himuragames.com] for purchasing Japanese-style sticks, buttons, misc.
Shoryuken.com hardware forums [shoryuken.com] for "talking shop" with other like-minded enthusiasts, or for just asking questions and getting feedback.
MAS Systems sells Complete systems [massystems.com] and American (Happ) parts [massystems.com]
http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade.htm (Score:4, Informative)
http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade.htm [arcadecontrols.com]
there are a ton of examples
Re:http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade.htm (Score:1)
Nice sig, Einstein (Score:2, Funny)
Slasdot English Lesson: "a lot" not "alot" and "no one" not "noone"
Nothing makes me chuckle as much as when some grammar or spelling nazi makes a spelling or grammar error in their message which mocks the grammar and spelling of other people. Check your spelling of Slashdot, Einstein.
Re:Nice sig, Einstein (Score:1)
Re:Nice sig, Einstein (Score:1)
Re:Nice sig, Einstein (Score:1)
Why are you asking? (Score:1)
Also what do you want? A giant 4 person arcade for X-Men, Simpsons, etc. that you'll never move or console-like setup by getting a Hanaho hotrod and a mini-pc.
Do you want spinners, yokes, steering wheels?
You do need double joysticks so you can play SmashTV
Re:http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade.htm (Score:2)
Here's a website... (Score:2, Interesting)
The guys are a couple of friends of mine with too much spare time on their hands! They build an arcade machine using a PC and a TV, and they later used that knowledge to build a DDR machine. The site has some good techie background that might prove useful for you.
Enjoy! (And i'll get a good laugh if the site crashes because of
Re:Here's a website... (Score:2)
I did my part. I even hit "reload" twice!
Projects (Score:1)
Re:Projects (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Projects (Score:2)
??
A homemade CNC machine would take much much longer than the six hours it took him to drill the holes.
Re:Projects (Score:2)
Another site of examples (Score:1)
Home brew (Score:2, Informative)
I rigged up a full PC with Mame, and pretty much every game known to man. I'd reccomend getting a decent graphics card and lots of ram if you want to play some of the newer stuff.
The controls are all done though an X-arcade (be sure to get the usb adapter) and it has s-video out, running to my 2
Wasn't that expensive? (Score:3, Funny)
CPU power mattera (Score:2)
What you really need is a fast CPU and dual-channel memory.
Not all frame buffers are the same (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, graphics cards won't make much difference with MAME since it emulates the whole hardware on the CPU.
Some video cards support higher AGP speeds, which let MAME transfer the composited image more quickly to the frame buffer. Some video cards support better quality TV outputs.
Cheap and easy joysticks anyone can do (Score:5, Informative)
Now what amount of hardware hacking is this going to take? Which USB driver should I use? What interface should I pick? Hehehehe.
Go to your local Target or eBay or BestBuy and get one of those clone console controllers with the two analog sticks, the D pad, buttons and a USB interface. Rip that sucker apart, leave the USB cable intact and don't mess up anything on the PCB (in otherwords, rip the case off the PCB). Note that all the buttons and the D pad go to little traces on the PCB, which work with membrane buttons. The arcade game buttons and the joystick are simple on-off switches. So are membrane buttons. Solder those old skool buttons and joystick to the contacts on the PCB of the clone controller where the membrane buttons were. Solder the joystick up down left right to the corresponding contacts on the D pad, and wire the arcade push buttons to the contacts on the PCB where the right hand buttons were on the clone controller. Wire the R1 and L1 buttons in also if you want 6 puttons (think street fighter emulation). No we don't get analog sticks or vibration, but most old emulated games don't use them anyways.
You have basically replaced the membrane contact switches with your old skool arcade switches (buttons/joystick). The controller, USB interface and your PC won't know the difference, it's just a switch being closed!
Put it all in a nice heavy wood container you built, run the USB cable out the back (or in your upright cabinet if you are really going for it). Plug it into your pc and install your drivers for windows that came with the clone controller, or in Linux configure a joystick device. Fire up mame, and you are all set for the price of the controller ($20) and the joystick and buttons, plus some knee grease for the box and soldering. mame thinks it sees a logitech rumblepad or something similar, you see a box with an old school joystick and buttons and a cable coming out the back. But you won't need any quarters. Enjoy.
Re:Cheap and easy joysticks anyone can do (Score:2)
If you want to go an easier and far more flexible route, just do like I did and pick up a keyboard interface from Ultimarc [ultimarc.com] Their I-PAC keyboard encoders are pretty much specifically designed for DIY controllers. They can be easily programmed too, with nothing more than a text editor.
Re:Cheap and easy joysticks anyone can do (Score:2)
It was fun... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:It was fun... (Score:2)
Thanks!
-Trillian
Re:It was fun... (Score:2)
Re:It was fun... (Score:1)
Mine... (Score:3, Informative)
took an old compaq PC I bought off a friend for $20, Its a P3, I cant even rember how ast it is and I dont care, it plays every classic game Id ever want it to.
I mounted the motherboard on one side of the cabinet, the HDD on the other side (near the door opposit the coin door so I could change the HDD with out taking the back off the cabinet if need be)
Purchased one iPac [ultimarc.com], the best priced keyboard encoder around, and buttons from some local supplier
Cut a custom button layout from MDF, wire everything
Thats the basics. The thing everyone should do is add there own touches so none of our MAME cabs look the same.
I for one added the following:
Added white LEDs behind the coin slots, so they look like they should
Glued micro switches to the coin return system so when you push coin return it gives you a credit in the game(wired thru the ipac)
Original TMNT marquee
Monitor is from an older bartop breakout type thing with a touch screen.
Not a MAME setup, but... (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm obsessed with Dance Dance Revolution, and so I built myself a DDR Studio [exergaming.com]! The web page shows version 1.0 of the studio. I'll soon have an update to show the even nicer 2.0 version.
Re:Not a MAME setup, but... (Score:1)
I've just bought almost $400 worth of buttons for a Beatmania IIDX arcadestyle controller. Then I'm going to have to engineer a pair of turntables, which should be
Now if I had $20000 spare I'd just buy the real deal [wikipedia.org] though. That is actually the most gorgeous arcade cabinet ever made. (for the uninitiated, that metal stage is one gian
Re:Not a MAME setup, but... (Score:2)
Re:Not a MAME setup, but... (Score:2)
Cool! (Score:2, Informative)
I can pimp my cab/site without having to somehow turn the trying to turn the conversation in that direction ;)
The one I built [upup.us] is a Time Bandits [imdb.com] themed gaming cabinet (mame, nintendo emulators, ddr via stepmania, and a handful of arcade control-friendly pc games). I built the cabinet, built (as in assembled) the pc to power it, drilled a control panel for controls. As far as hacks go, enough people are making similar systems now to warrant commercial interest, and most of what's needed has become commercia
Boilercade (Score:2)
A couple of years ago, some friends and got together and built "The Boilercade" [insightbb.com]. We got the cabinet together, and it now houses all of my video game equipment. I haven't put any of the finishing touches on it, like a marquee, coin door, or graphics... but it gets the job done.
One thing I've learned is that nostalgia wears off quick. We built the cab and were all excited about playing some older arcades, but other than centipede it hasn't seen any action in months. Still, the cabinet makes a nice entert
Absolutly easiest method (Score:3, Insightful)
It is a great piece of hardware and is very little fuss.
behold! ubercade (and more) (Score:2)
BTW, you linked to byoac... but did you some how miss the 900+ projects in the byoac project example pages [arcadecontrols.com]?
MAME Cockpit (Score:1)
Here's a hint SMALLER IS BETTER! Which explains the Final Pictures [planetjay.com].
A More Hollistic '80s Experience (Score:2)
Mine (Score:1)
Parts and techniques (Score:1)
A few tips (Score:2)
My #1 piece of advice: DO NOT SKIMP ON THE MONITOR!!!
All too often I see these decently built machines that have a 17" PC monitor in them. Here's what I reccomend in order of my preference:
1. A Wells Gardner or Betson Imperial multisync VGA arcade monitor (27"). This will run you back about 400-500 bucks. It is, by far, the best decision you can make for your cabinet.
2. A high quality TV. This will run you back about the same as the a
Don't buy (Score:2)
Please don't buy a cabinet. There are plenty of non-classic cabinets being dumped for free. Any cabinet that is being sold for money is likely to be more important than the money.
Many collectors are seriously miffed (with good reason) when a classic arcade cabinet is mutilated to become a MAME cab. Check your local newspaper or "penny saver" or "trading times" if available in your area.
I have built a serveral mame cabinets and you can get the cabinets for free in many cases.
Secondly, buy and IPAC o
currently building one (Score:1, Informative)
1) Piano Gloss. Dont skimp. Lots of sanding and lots of layers of gloss. It takes ages but it looks fantastic
2) X Arcade controller - saves you time and, in my case, lots of money (40 quid on ebay for a 2 player controller )
good luck. It's hard work if you are building your own . I spend a solid day with wood filler and sand paper just to get it perfect....
Rob
Built from scratch (Score:2)
Built the cabinet itself out of MDF with the help of a friend. All in all it was a pretty satisfying experience...
Re:Built from scratch (Score:1)
Spend a little $$$, save a lot of time (Score:1)
I had to go buy $35 in lumber (plus $5 in wood screws) for this beaut, but the real expenditure was on the wonderful controller I got from http://treyonics.com/ [treyonics.com]. These guys are great! Forget about that cheesmo X-Arcade controller; take a look at what Tr