What would be the interest level of custom 2600 cabinets?

[Cassidy Nolen]

Hi all,

 

A friend forwarded me some photos of a home built arcade cabinet that housed a 2600. I am interested to see how many folks would be interested in such a thing. I have the facilities and knowledge to build them, and would be able to customize TV size, shape, color, options, etc. The cabinets could be customized to hold more than one system, too.

 

Is this something folks would want? I have a vision of making a two part Dynamo cabinet with a 33 inch TV and controls for 4 player Warlords.

 

Would not be cheap, but possible.

 

Cassidy

[Junie]

That's an idea I have been playing with

 

In my cabinet I plan to wire the Atari cartridge slot on the CP (Control Panel) along with the switches, and store the Atari below in the coin door area. My plans also include adding storage for Atari games on either side of the TV in lockable cabinets.

 

I will make a custom CPO (Control Panel Overlay) for the CP, printed by a commercial printer service. The CPO is then covered by plexi-glass.

 

I plan to use ampified PC speakers for sound, by doing the Audio MOD to the Atari-- then mount the speakers in the marquee, and the volume control on the CP.

 

Many, many other customizations..

 

My cabinets will house any TV, that will save on shipping the cabinet, and make for easy repair (Replace with a new TV).

 

Seems everyone comes up with the same basic ideas.

[Arcadenut]

quote:

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Originally posted by Junie:

My cabinets will house any TV, that will save on shipping the cabinet, and make for easy repair (Replace with a new TV).

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I think you'll have a hard time housing my TV in your cabinet :-)

http://www.hometheatermag.com/showarchives.cgi?48

[RangerG]

What size television do you use with the 2600? I like a small 13" because it reminds me of what I had as a kid and in my room I sit closely in front of it; it seems like Atari graphics would be huge blobs on a big screen. But hey -- wide-screen if you like it.

[Silent Ken]

I use a 13-inch TV, too, but only out of necessity. I'm a poor college student, and I couldn't bear moving a huge TV all the time.

[Cassidy Nolen]

My thought was to scan a 2600 for the control panel and have the photo blown up. Put a cart slot in the front, then mount Wico sticks into it, like a real control panel.

 

I was thinking about bigger screens simply for shock value, but budget would be the big determinant. If someone wanted a big, two part cabinet, that could be done, too.

 

To answer the other thread, I have two TV's I play 2600 on. There is a 13 incher in my office/gameroom and a big screen 51 inch in the living room.

 

To be honest, I am thinking about selling my Neo machine in the gameroom, and wanted to consider a console system instead of another coin op. This way, I could hook up and play some consoles, and have it presentable rather than a pile of wires.

 

Photos at: http://www.atarionline.com and click my collection page.

 

Cassidy

[liquid_sky]

Neo machine mmmmmmmm...

[Junie]

quote:

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Originally posted by Cassidy:

To answer the other thread, I have two TV's I play 2600 on. There is a 13 incher in my office/gameroom and a big screen 51 inch in the living room.

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I'd love to have a 51" TV, but I imagine the size of the Atari characters would scare me

 

I have a 13" with the Fine tunning knobs I now use a 19" TV (Still has the screw connections, but no Tunning knobs)

 

I plan to hook-up some of my various other systems to my 13" when I can get another TV stand for it.

[Albert]

While I can see building a MAME cabinet to play arcade games, I'm not sure I would have as much fun playing 2600 games in the same manner. I spent countless hours as a kid playing games in front of the TV, either sitting on the floor, in a chair, in my bed, or on a couch. I just can't see myself standing up to play 2600 games. I'd personally rather play them on a 100" image thrown up on a wall from a good DLP or LCD front projector. We played Warlords with four people in this fashion once and it was a blast!

 

A multi-system cabinet would be of interest to me, though. What I'd really like is a nice cabinet that holds multiple systems that I can stick next to the stand that holds all my a/v equipment (DVD player, TiVos, VCR, receiver, etc.) It would have to have a means of keeping controllers for all these systems neat (especially when not in use) as well as some cable management, since all those systems end up making a huge mess. I'd love to have as many systems hooked up as possible:

 

5200, 7800, Intellivision II, Coleco, Jaguar, TurboDuo, NES, Super NES, Genesis, PS2, N64, Gamecube, Dreamcast, Atari 800XL and probably a few others I'm forgetting about. If someone can build me a cabinet to hold all of those, we need to talk.

 

..Al

[Junie]

quote:

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Originally posted by Albert:

I'd personally rather play them on a 100" image thrown up on a wall from a good DLP or LCD front projector. We played Warlords with four people in this fashion once and it was a blast!

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You have my interest about 100" image Is this something that someone can buy, or is there plans to make this or what?

 

I would love to have something liek this, any help is greatly appricated.

 

quote:

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Originally posted by Albert:

A multi-system cabinet would be of interest to me, though. What I'd really like is a nice cabinet that holds multiple systems that I can stick next to the stand that holds all my a/v equipment (DVD player, TiVos, VCR, receiver, etc.) It would have to have a means of keeping controllers for all these systems neat (especially when not in use) as well as some cable management, since all those systems end up making a huge mess. I'd love to have as many systems hooked up as possible:

 

5200, 7800, Intellivision II, Coleco, Jaguar, TurboDuo, NES, Super NES, Genesis, PS2, N64, Gamecube, Dreamcast, Atari 800XL and probably a few others I'm forgetting about. If someone can build me a cabinet to hold all of those, we need to talk.

 

..Al

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You have a great idea, I myself need a multiple system cabinet. Are you looking for a cabinet that is cut to the Defender cabinet dimensions that houses a standard TV(Up to a 21" TV) behind the bezel, and the coin area opens to reveal the various systems on different shelfs?

 

Let me know more of what you are looking for in a cabinet. I might be able to do it, the only big question comes into play is how to get it to you once it's done

[Albert]

quote:

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You have my interest about 100" image Is this something that someone can buy, or is there plans to make this or what?

 

I would love to have something liek this, any help is greatly appricated.

---

 

Sure, to do this you need a front projector, but they're relatively pricey compared to a normal television (and most rear-projection televisions). However, you can get a decent setup these days between $3000 and $5000 (without a screen), but you can easily spend considerably more than that if you'd like. Here are some useful links to get you started:

 

Projector Central - Tons of info on LCD and DLP Projectors

AVS Forum

AV Forums (yes, a different site, almost the same name!)

Home Theater Forum

 

quote

You have a great idea, I myself need a multiple system cabinet. Are you looking for a cabinet that is cut to the Defender cabinet dimensions that houses a standard TV(Up to a 21" TV) behind the bezel, and the coin area opens to reveal the various systems on different shelfs?

 

I'm not looking for something that houses a TV, as right now I have a 35" TV with its own stand (and hope to have a front projector in the future). I want a standalone cabinet that cleanly houses all of these game systems, while keeping all the necessary cables and controllers organized in a relatively uncluttered fashion (as much as is reasonably possible). It can be as large as need be, but hopefully would make efficient use of space so it's not huge. Some kind of modular system would be nice, one that would allow people to choose how much space they need and upgrade it as necessary.

 

..Al

[Junie]

quote:

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Originally posted by Albert:

I'm not looking for something that houses a TV, as right now I have a 35" TV with its own stand (and hope to have a front projector in the future). I want a standalone cabinet that cleanly houses all of these game systems, while keeping all the necessary cables and controllers organized in a relatively uncluttered fashion (as much as is reasonably possible). It can be as large as need be, but hopefully would make efficient use of space so it's not huge. Some kind of modular system would be nice, one that would allow people to choose how much space they need and upgrade it as necessary.

 

..Al

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Yeah, I doubt it would be easy to house a 35" TV in a arcade cabinet.

 

How many systems are you wanting it to hold? I plan to offer many various things on website new Atari 2600 hardware, Modified consoles and controllers, and some other items. Adding this to the list of items wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

I know of two people wanting such a cabinet, you and me, so perhaps others might need such a thing as well.

 

I'll start designing when I get a free moment. I'll let you know if I come up with anything.

[Hakogame 箱亀]

You might want to consider designing a coctail style atari cabinet, then you would have a really cool coffee table. Add function to the form!

[Atari-Jess]

there are TONS of arcade machines that use 30+ inch screens! the CN tower in toronto has at LEAST 20 of these, Starwars, River rafting, firefighting... odd but true of course DDR, and a bunch o' others