Recommendations For Bartop Arcade Cabinet Maker

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Hey there everyone!

I've been contemplating getting a bartop size vertical arcade cabinet for a long time now, and I've finally decided that it's something I want to start saving up for. It might take me a few months to get the cash together, but in the meantime I'm hoping to get some recommendations for reputable custom arcade cabinet makers that could build me just what I'm looking for. I live in a fairly small apartment and don't have the tools, skills, or space to build something myself; so I'm looking to pay someone to build my machine for me.

 

The specific details of what I'd like to have built are as follows:

 

- Bartop size arcade cabinet

- Modern vertical LED/LCD monitor behind a clear bezel

- Joystick (red bat top) on the left side of the control panel, three buttons (LED lit) in the middle, trackball on the right side, and Atari cone style 1 & 2 player buttons on the far right.

- Reproduction Centipede graphics for the backlit marquee, screen bezel, control panel, and side art

- Cabinet fully painted to match the color scheme of an original full size Centipede arcade cabinet

- Coin slot on the right side of the machine (with free play option available)

- 60-in-1 JAMMA board installed

 

 

Interestingly enough I already found almost exactly what I'm looking for on eBay, but the seller had placed the trackball in the middle of the control panel for left handed use; and they didn't seem to be interested in building another cabinet with the trackball positioned for right handed use. Everything else was exactly what I wanted though, so in lieu of that person not being interested in building another one I was wondering if anyone here could recommend me a reputable company or individual who could build me just what I'm looking for?

[+DamonicFury]

While I don't have any suggestions on who could build that, might I suggest that you skip the 60-in-1 board if you're paying for a custom job anyway? The 60 in 1's are nice if you already have an old cabinet and just want to play some extra games on it. But they have the distinct disadvantage of terrible sound on a handful of games, and of course, they are not expandable. So for a custom job, why not just get a real computer installed (even a Raspberry Pi would do fine) that will let you play hundreds of games? The change in cost really shouldn't be all that much.... in fact, some manufacturers probably have no interest in installing a JAMMA harness to a custom cab, and would much rather install a Pi.

 

Just a suggestion. :-) Good luck finding what you want!

[Cynicaster]

If you haven't done so already, I'd post this same inquiry over at www.arcadecontrols.com. No builders are immediately coming to my mind because I've never researched it myself, but I can almost guarantee that if they're out there and they lurk on internet forums to drum up business, it'll be at that arcadecontrols.

 

I hope you're ready to pay a hefty price tag for such a custom build, because you don't have economies of scale working in your favor. The guys who make these things need to ask a lot of money in order for it to be worthwhile for them. Plus, it's probably not going to be cheap to ship, even if it is a bartop design.

 

I think some of these guys have set up CNC machines to more easily "mass produce" certain cabinet kits; maybe a good compromise would be to buy one of those generic kits and customize it yourself to look like Centipede and have the controls you want.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I have a Raspberry Pi 2 bartop arcade (Porta Pi) from retrobuiltgames.com

 

It's really a nice small, compact design that fits my needs perfectly. Mine has an HD 10" diagonal screen and sits about 10" wide, 9" deep, and 13" tall. I gave mine a nice Ebony stain finish.

 

There is no trackball and it's probably smaller than what you want, but the DIY kits available do require glue, clamps, solder iron, and a drill, but no actual cutting as the panels are laser cut already. You can also order it pre assembled for a premium.

 

You probably want something a bit larger. I believe he is working on a bigger 2 player kit also. Not sure if he does customs though.

Edited July 27, 2015 by stardust4ever

[Skippy B. Coyote]

To update this thread, this morning I ordered a custom bartop Centipede cabinet from http://doxcade.com

The owner of the site wasn't able to meet all of my specifications (the buttons won't be LED lit, it will be free-play only with no coin slot, and there won't be any bezel artwork) but he was able to get everything else down, and his asking price of $440 + $35 shipping for a fully Centipede themed bartop with joystick and trackball controls just couldn't be beat. I had enquired about this custom project with half a dozen or so custom arcade cabinet makers and everyone other than DoxCade quoted me a price of $800+, which was a bit too much for my budget, but $475 shipped was very affordable.

 

It should take about 2 to 3 weeks for my commission to be completed and shipped, but I think it will be well worth the wait based on DoxCade's previous work. For those curious, here's an example of a Galaga themed bartop he built not long ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very clean and professional, and I love how he's duplicated the original side art, control panel art, and marquee (complete with backlighting). If my Centipede machine looks as good as the Galaga, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong machines that he's built in the past then I think I'm going to be totally thrilled with it. I'll be sure to do a full review of my Centipede bartop once it arrives.

[Cynicaster]

If your cabinet turns out like that one then that's a pretty good price. Keep us posted!

[Andromeda Stardust]

To update this thread, this morning I ordered a custom bartop Centipede cabinet from http://doxcade.com

 

The owner of the site wasn't able to meet all of my specifications (the buttons won't be LED lit, it will be free-play only with no coin slot, and there won't be any bezel artwork) but he was able to get everything else down, and his asking price of $440 + $35 shipping for a fully Centipede themed bartop with joystick and trackball controls just couldn't be beat.

Um, might want to call him up. I don't see a trackball in the photos.

 

Otherwise, very nice. For $440, you are making me wonder if I overpaid for my Porta Pi.

Edited August 13, 2015 by stardust4ever

[Skippy B. Coyote]

If your cabinet turns out like that one then that's a pretty good price. Keep us posted!

I sure think so too. All of his previous builds (Galaga, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong) look fantastic, so I'm pretty confident that my Centipede commission will come out great. Either way though I'll keep this thread updated and be sure to share a full review and lots of pictures once my machine arrives!

 

 

Um, might want to call him up. I don't see a trackball in the photos. Otherwise, very nice. For $440, you are making me wonder if I overpaid for my Porta Pi.

I think you might have misread my post. The Galaga machine pictured above is just an example of some of DoxCade's previous work. The Centipede machine he's building for me with both joystick and trackball controls is going to be a new custom build, and his first machine to have a trackball in addition to a joystick.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I sure think so too. All of his previous builds (Galaga, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong) look fantastic, so I'm pretty confident that my Centipede commission will come out great. Either way though I'll keep this thread updated and be sure to share a full review and lots of pictures once my machine arrives!

 

 

 

I think you might have misread my post. The Galaga machine pictured above is just an example of some of DoxCade's previous work. The Centipede machine he's building for me with both joystick and trackball controls is going to be a new custom build, and his first machhine to have a trackball in addition to a joystick.

Okies! Sweet deal regardless....

[Skippy B. Coyote]

While I don't have any suggestions on who could build that, might I suggest that you skip the 60-in-1 board if you're paying for a custom job anyway? The 60 in 1's are nice if you already have an old cabinet and just want to play some extra games on it. But they have the distinct disadvantage of terrible sound on a handful of games, and of course, they are not expandable. So for a custom job, why not just get a real computer installed (even a Raspberry Pi would do fine) that will let you play hundreds of games? The change in cost really shouldn't be all that much.... in fact, some manufacturers probably have no interest in installing a JAMMA harness to a custom cab, and would much rather install a Pi.

 

Just a suggestion. :-) Good luck finding what you want!

 

I know I'm a bit late replying to this, but I thought I'd take a few minutes to do so anyway to explain why I decided to go with a 60-in-1 board instead of a Pi or MAME setup for my cabinet. There's a few reasons for my decision, but the biggest one is a reason that many people who have been playing arcade games for a long time might find really funny. I did play a bit of Ms. Pac-Man and a few other games like The House of the Dead and Area 51 on their original cabinets and boards as a kid, but my real big interest in arcade games started about 6 or 7 years ago when I began to play games on the arcade cabinets in local pizza shops and Chinese restaurants while I waited for my orders to arrive.

 

All of these pizza shops and Chinese restaurants had different cabinets, but every one of the cabinets had the exact same boards in them: iCade 60-in-1. I couldn't even begin to count how many quarters I plunked into these machines, but every time I always had a blast playing and felt like I got more than my money's worth of fun out of them. So when I decided that I wanted my own bartop sized arcade cabinet for home use I knew right away what I wanted to have running inside the cabinet. It didn't matter to me that some of the sounds or emulation might have been slightly inaccurate to the original arcade boards, because all of my fondest memories of playing arcade games were on a 60-in-1 board. The way the games look and sound on that board are the way I remember them looking and sounding, so even if they're not quite right compared to original arcade boards they are what feels right to me.

 

I'm sure that sounds totally ridiculous, wanting potentially inaccurate versions of arcade games because that's the way I remember them being when I played them in an arcade setting, but nostalgia can be a powerful thing. The other reason for my choice to go with a 60-in-1 board is that I'm completely incompetent when it comes to trying to set up and properly configure MAME on a computer (I've tried several times and could never get it working without problems) and I just didn't want to mess with anything that I would have to tweak and tune. So between my nostalgia for iCade 60-in-1 boards and my desire for a plug n' play system, the 60-in-1 JAMMA option just seemed like the best option for me.

[+DamonicFury]

I'm sure that sounds totally ridiculous, wanting potentially inaccurate versions of arcade games because that's the way I remember them being when I played them in an arcade setting, but nostalgia can be a powerful thing. The other reason for my choice to go with a 60-in-1 board is that I'm completely incompetent when it comes to trying to set up and properly configure MAME on a computer (I've tried several times and could never get it working without problems) and I just didn't want to mess with anything that I would have to tweak and tune. So between my nostalgia for iCade 60-in-1 boards and my desire for a plug n' play system, the 60-in-1 JAMMA option just seemed like the best option for me.

 

Actually, that totally makes sense. As an old geezer, it didn't occur to me that anyone would actually be nostalgic for a 60-in-1 set up, but I can see how that happened in your case. Hope you love the barcade when it arrives!

[Skippy B. Coyote]

 

Actually, that totally makes sense. As an old geezer, it didn't occur to me that anyone would actually be nostalgic for a 60-in-1 set up, but I can see how that happened in your case. Hope you love the barcade when it arrives!

 

Thanks sdamon! I'm glad you understand my logic on this one. I'm not sure if it's really "nostalgia" since I've only been playing games on these 60-in-1 boards in restaurants for the last 6 or 7 years, but it is definitely the feeling of "This is the way I remember the games being when I played them on an arcade machine". If I end up enjoying my 60-in-1 JAMMA barcade as much as I think I will then I'll definitely be open to the possibility of saving up for another barcade running RetroPie with a horzitonal monitor to give me access to a larger variety of arcade games, but for my first machine I really wanted to get one that would play arcade games exactly how I remembered them being when I played them on all those restaurant multicade machines that I've fed so many quarters to. Now I'll just have to try and be patient while I wait to see how it turns out.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Good luck Gin. And yes, getting my Pi configured was a PITA and involved numerous Google searches and looking in threads for help. You need to adjust a lot of settings, which require attaching a keyboard and mouse to tweak, or in some cases command line interface. Once configured though, you can put your mouse and keyboard away. I also ordered a MAME4ALL DVD with 2271 ROMs on it, because the modern variants don't work on a Pi and I didn't want to fool with conversion tools. Even then, it took a lot of head scratching to figure out how to get samples to play correctly in Donkey Kong and other games that use them. And many games are labeled incorrectly so if the game you are searching for is mislabeled, finding it is a crapshoot. Now I'm in the awkward predicament of having a very outdated Retro Pie 2.3 setup, and debating whether or not to leave my imperfect setup alone, or flash a new boot image of Retro Pie 3.xx and reconfigure EVERYTHING from scratch...

 

So yeah, I totally get the "appeal" of those XX-in-1 boards, even if you miss out on a lot of later games.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Good luck Gin. And yes, getting my Pi configured was a PITA and involved numerous Google searches and looking in threads for help. You need to adjust a lot of settings, which require attaching a keyboard and mouse to tweak, or in some cases command line interface. Once configured though, you can put your mouse and keyboard away. I also ordered a MAME4ALL DVD with 2271 ROMs on it, because the modern variants don't work on a Pi and I didn't want to fool with conversion tools. Even then, it took a lot of head scratching to figure out how to get samples to play correctly in Donkey Kong and other games that use them. And many games are labeled incorrectly so if the game you are searching for is mislabeled, finding it is a crapshoot. Now I'm in the awkward predicament of having a very outdated Retro Pie 2.3 setup, and debating whether or not to leave my imperfect setup alone, or flash a new boot image of Retro Pie 3.xx and reconfigure EVERYTHING from scratch...

 

So yeah, I totally get the "appeal" of those XX-in-1 boards, even if you miss out on a lot of later games.

 

Yow! That sounds like a real nightmare of a setup process!

It's stories like yours that make me really nervous about the idea of eventually trying out Pi and MAME for a horizontal cabinet setup. I would like to have a horizontal cabinet someday (with a joystick, six buttons for fighting games, and a trackball on the right side for Missile Command and Crystal Castles) but I've yet to find a multi-game JAMMA PCB with all the horizontal screen games I'd really want to play loaded on it. The original Mortal Kombat, Samurai Shodown, Bust-A-Move, Missile Command, and Crystal Castles specifically. Most of those can be found on all the big XXXX-in-1 JAMMA boards, but Mortal Kombat and Crystal Castles seem to be impossible to find on any multi-game JAMMA board from what I've seen.

 

That reduces my options for a horizontal cabinet to either Raspberry Pi or a small PC running MAME. Both options scare the heck out of me due to all the setup and configuration required, but fortunately I'm in no rush to get a horizontal cabinet. I think my custom Centipede style vertical 60-in-1 cab should keep me entertained and happy for a good long while.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Good luck either way. Due to copyright, the distros cannot be distributed with ROMs on them. If you should decide to do a Raspberry Pi MAME in the future, I might be able to hook you up with a "fully loaded" image once I get around to updating mine to Retro Pie 3.0.

[Cynicaster]

I’ve never set up a Raspberry Pi MAME system, but it sounds like a lot of the headaches described by stardust4ever are specific to the Raspberry Pi, and don’t apply to conventional PC setups.

 

There are legit reasons for using a Pi—namely, in MAME rigs of very small and/or portable design—but in a full-sized cabinet, if there is a single good reason for using a Pi over an old, used PC, I’d like to know what that is. I’ve heard people cite reduced noise and power consumption as reasons for using a Pi in a full-sized cabinet, but those reasons smack of “grasping at straws” to me; I notice absolutely zero PC noise when playing on my cabinet, and by my calculations, the cost of running my cabinet for 10 hours per month is about $0.50 (which fits nicely in my personal entertainment budget).

 

Keep in mind that the PC is what the vast majority of MAME’ers use, so there are a lot more people and “how to” articles out there on the net to help you set up MAME on a PC. This is a big benefit of the PC route, over and above it being the best bang-for-your-buck solution.

 

As for setup, you can do it in the comfort of your office chair. Since MAME doesn’t “install” on your system, all you have to do is set it up and test it on your main desktop PC, then just copy the root directory over to your MAME cabinet. Easy peasy.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

A few weeks later and my custom 60-in-1 Centipede bartop from http://doxcade.com is almost done! Right now I'm just in the process of choosing button colors and styles for the control panel then it will be all done and ready to ship.

 

 

 

I decided to go with plain white buttons with no logos for the Player 1 / Player 2 buttons (since NOS Atari "volcano" style buttons are prohibitively expensive), but I'm still undecided on the color for the action buttons. I keep bouncing between yellow, green, or blue. What do you guys think would look best?

Edited September 4, 2015 by Jin

[Skippy B. Coyote]

They say that good things are worth waiting for, and this Tuesday or Wednesday I'm going to be learning that lesson for myself. It's done!