How to build your own arcade machine

[ydcl]

Hi all,

 

I've always wanted my own arcade machine but still have not gotten one, but just for kicks, has anyone here built their own machine, and if so can you post a picture and tell me how to do it and what I need to get started?

 

Thanks and cheers,

Yan

[SlammedNiss]

Hi all,

 

I've always wanted my own arcade machine but still have not gotten one, but just for kicks, has anyone here built their own machine, and if so can you post a picture and tell me how to do it and what I need to get started?

 

Thanks and cheers,

Yan

Check out byoac.com. Lot's of good info and finished designs on that site.

[Cynicaster]

I just finished building one a few months ago. Attached are "in progress" and "in action" pictures.

 

Also, I recently posted my thoughts on a different forum in response to somebody asking whether it's a better idea to build from scratch or to take an existing cabinet and turn it into a MAME machine (which is what I'm assuming you're after). Might as well copy/paste it here (note: the guy in question opted for buying an existing cabinet, whereas mine was designed and built from scratch).

 

EDIT: the name "Fast Eddy" on my marquee is in tribute to the now-defunct "Fast Eddy's Arcade", which was the go-to arcade in my city for several years until it closed up about 10 years ago. Not to be confused with the "Fast Eddie" video game. Hey, any local who sees it gets the reference.

 

I’m late to the table here because apparently the OP’s decision has already been made, but for the benefit of any others who might be lurking here in search of info, I can provide perspective on designing and building a cabinet from scratch because that’s what I did recently.

 

First of all, you’re definitely not going to save money with this approach. I lost track of exact figures, but I easily spent over $1000 Canadian (equivalent to about $1050 USD) on the project. That price doesn’t even include a PC because I used one I already had. My monitor is a 20” CRT I bought for only $15 in local classifieds. My speaker system was another item I already had. So that gives you some feel for the cost of materials. I used one big piece of plexi for the marquee, bezel, and control panel—that alone was $50. I shit the bed the first try, so had to buy another one--ouch.

 

I had to buy 4 sheets of 4’x8’ MDF at $35 apiece. I could have got away with 3 had I gone with a cabinet width of 23”-24” rather than 25”.

 

I already had most required power tools (router, circular saw, chop saw, jig-saw, drill) but you can expect to spend close to $100 on different specialty bits (flush-trim router bit, spade bits, slot-cutter for t-molding, etc.). You can get by without a table saw if you make yourself some good cutting guides for your circular saw, but I would say don’t even bother trying to build your own cabinet if you don’t have all of these other tools available and are not willing to buy them. If you’re going with MDF, be prepared for a mess like you’ve never seen before.

 

The 2 joysticks, mounting kits, wiring supplies, and all buttons came to a little over $100. Other big dollar items were the track ball (I went with an Ultimarc U-Trak which plugs directly into USB—great product, but it’s almost $100), and the artwork. I got my artwork (side panel, CP overlay, and marquee) printed at gameongrafix.com and the quality is tip-top, but it ain’t cheap (I think my bottom line was $230 or so for all of it). The rest is $10 here, $20 there on odds and ends (marquee lighting, cooling fan, screws, brackets, paint supplies, etc.).

 

So that’s the dollars and cents, which is only part of the story. I will not sugar-coat this next part, because it’s very important for any and all prospective builders to consider: if you’re like me and somewhat of a novice wood-worker, you’re in for some cussing and swearing, lots and lots of time spent scratching your head and figuring things out, heart-break moments when something doesn’t look as perfect as you hoped it would, etc. I couldn’t even tell you how many hours I spent building the cabinet, but it was a lot. And I mean a lot.

 

Still, for my situation, the big cost and large required effort were necessary evils because, even though I knew the end result was going to be far from perfect, I just had to have a one-of-a-kind cabinet built and designed solely by me. I think it’s called a “labor of love”.

 

Lastly, I’ll mention that when ordering buttons, unless you have a perverse desire to develop tendonitis, avoid the Happ buttons with vertical micro-switch like the freaking plague. I naively ordered and installed these and they absolutely suck. The springs are all stiff and crunchy sounding—awful product. Just the other day, I received a shipment of 12 new buttons, but this time the horizontal micro-switch type. So much nicer.

Edited June 23, 2011 by Cynicaster

[VectorGamer]

I think it's easier to work with a gutted cabinet then making from scratch.

[ComputerSpaceFan]

I think it's easier to work with a gutted cabinet then making from scratch.

 

I second that. I made a MAME cab out of an existing dead machine. I knew a guy who built one from scratch and he had all kinds of stability and durability problems. Mine was made by pros for exactly what I'm using it for. Get a dead machine if you can and use that.

 

One warning: do not use a cabinet that collectors deem valuable, they will give you all kinds of grief for "MAMEing" something they think belongs in a museum.

It happened to me.

[Cynicaster]

I think it's easier to work with a gutted cabinet then making from scratch.

 

I second that. I made a MAME cab out of an existing dead machine. I knew a guy who built one from scratch and he had all kinds of stability and durability problems. Mine was made by pros for exactly what I'm using it for. Get a dead machine if you can and use that.

 

One warning: do not use a cabinet that collectors deem valuable, they will give you all kinds of grief for "MAMEing" something they think belongs in a museum.

It happened to me.

 

I was concerned about stability after researching projects others have done. All you really have to do is make sure you glue-and-screw all ledger boards, and throw in a healthy dose of bracing and it shouldn't be a problem. I built mine like a tank--it took 4 guys to get the dang thing down the stairs to my basement. Now even with two overzealous guys playing a spirited game of Street Fighter the thing stays put just fine.

I think the bottom line is that the only good reasons for building from scratch would be if you have very specific requirements and/or you just have to have a one of a kind.

 

As for the PETAC folks (People for the Ethical Treatment of Arcade Cabinets), I see where they're coming from to an extent, but sometimes I think they could afford to loosen up a little. I mean, would they rather see that Centipede cab MAME'd or turned into firewood?

[VectorGamer]

I think it's easier to work with a gutted cabinet then making from scratch.

 

I second that. I made a MAME cab out of an existing dead machine. I knew a guy who built one from scratch and he had all kinds of stability and durability problems. Mine was made by pros for exactly what I'm using it for. Get a dead machine if you can and use that.

 

One warning: do not use a cabinet that collectors deem valuable, they will give you all kinds of grief for "MAMEing" something they think belongs in a museum.

It happened to me.

 

I was concerned about stability after researching projects others have done. All you really have to do is make sure you glue-and-screw all ledger boards, and throw in a healthy dose of bracing and it shouldn't be a problem. I built mine like a tank--it took 4 guys to get the dang thing down the stairs to my basement. Now even with two overzealous guys playing a spirited game of Street Fighter the thing stays put just fine.

I think the bottom line is that the only good reasons for building from scratch would be if you have very specific requirements and/or you just have to have a one of a kind.

 

As for the PETAC folks (People for the Ethical Treatment of Arcade Cabinets), I see where they're coming from to an extent, but sometimes I think they could afford to loosen up a little. I mean, would they rather see that Centipede cab MAME'd or turned into firewood?

 

See this thread: http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/131534-worst-mame-cabinets-ever/

 

Check out this sodomized Space Firebird cabinet with a coffee table for control panel. This is how not to do it and the kind of thing that makes PETAC cringe...

http://dgbrown.pixesthesia.com/videogames/cabinet/

 

Also, I think MAMEing a gutted cabinet is more cost effective than buying all new materials.

 

Check out my arcade collection at my dubdubdub site retrocadeweb.webs.com - Star Castle, Centipede, Make Trax, Pole Position and Galaga were all restored from gutted cabinets. The mini Star Castle cabinet was made out of an old Trivia Whiz cabinet.

 

Lastly, I've seen people install keyboard drawers in their MAME cabinet. This shouldn't be necessary if you purchase the right keyboard controller.

[HatefulGravey]

I think it's easier to work with a gutted cabinet then making from scratch.

 

Yeah, my MAME machine started life as a NEO GEO 2 slot, before I got it someone took the 2 slot out and put a 1 slot in. I got the machine as a very rough and barely working 1 slot and gutted it, resurfaced the outside, sold what was good from the inside to a local classic gaming store with some arcade machines and never looked back.

[Cynicaster]

 

See this thread: http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/131534-worst-mame-cabinets-ever/

 

Check out this sodomized Space Firebird cabinet with a coffee table for control panel. This is how not to do it and the kind of thing that makes PETAC cringe...

http://dgbrown.pixesthesia.com/videogames/cabinet/

 

Ah, the good ol' CrapMAME site. That has become quite infamous, I think. Funny as hell though (Pac-Matt... haha).

 

Also, I think MAMEing a gutted cabinet is more cost effective than buying all new materials.

 

Without question.

 

Check out my arcade collection at my dubdubdub site retrocadeweb.webs.com - Star Castle, Centipede, Make Trax, Pole Position and Galaga were all restored from gutted cabinets. The mini Star Castle cabinet was made out of an old Trivia Whiz cabinet.

 

Yeah, I saw your pics last week--great little setup you have there. Do you keep those cabinets you mentioned as dedicated to those single games? Do you have a general purpose MAME cab to use in the HSC, etc?

 

Lastly, I've seen people install keyboard drawers in their MAME cabinet. This shouldn't be necessary if you purchase the right keyboard controller.

 

I did that on mine. I'm not crazy about that decision (because you're right, one could easily get by without it) but I don't regret it either. It is convenient sometimes. Besides, if it really starts to bother me I can take the keyboard out and install a permanent blank panel in place of the drawer. I don't see that happening though, because I'm not much of a stickler for authenticity--I just love having the ability to play thousands of games in an upright cabinet form factor with arcade controls. I'm not one of those helplessly meticulous people that gets bothered by the Windows splash screen when I power up the cabinet, harddrive thrash, a visible mouse pointer for a few seconds on boot up, beer holders on the side of the cabinet, etc. so I guess the KB drawer kind of falls into this category.

[VectorGamer]

 

Yeah, I saw your pics last week--great little setup you have there. Do you keep those cabinets you mentioned as dedicated to those single games? Do you have a general purpose MAME cab to use in the HSC, etc?

 

 

Star Castle is dedicated to that game only & Pole Position is running Pole Position II.

 

Make Trax has 300+ games loaded on it, Galaga around 50 and Centipede around 30.

 

Congorilla is a 60-in-1 board and the rest are arcade PCB cabinets.

 

I have a Mr. Do! PCB sitting in the garage that I would like to make as my first true arcade restoration using arcade monitor, power and the whole nine.

[amiman99]

Here is mine...

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/177898-homemade-arcade-coffee-table/

[flynnz]

I made mine myself, and I will say it is probably much easier to use an old gutted arcade cab and convert. But just as others have said, might not want to use a real cab that could be easily salvaged.

You also may get the added benefit of having a real arcade monitor. This to me is one of the most important elements of a mame cab. A CRT TV or LCD TV will not give you the same feel as the real deal. (which to me is the whole point).

 

There are upsides to building your own as well. Like the ability to get creative with it and make it look anyway you like. Also gives you more flexibility in terms of how you want to set things up on the inside.....and of course it can be very fun

 

My last tip would be not to go crazy with tons of buttons on the unit itself. Mostly cause they are just not needed (you can do button combos for added functions) and because it will kill the whole look and feel of a real arcade machine imo. Though that might not be the goal for everyone of course.

 

Here is a video of mine. IIRC mine was based off of Lucid's plans. (though I found I needed to change them up a bit for strength)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFq-kM7k8o4

[toptenmaterial]

First off, allow me to say that there are some really nice machines here!

 

I would love to have my own machine, however I haven't done any wood working since the eighth grade... looks like finding a defunct cab is the way to go.

 

Without reading the links in depth, option B here seems simple (or simple-er): put a PC inside, mount the monitor and use some sort of adapter for the controls, then sand and paint!

 

Though something tells me it can't be THAT easy....

Edited July 27, 2011 by toptenmaterial

[keilbaca]

First off, allow me to say that there are some really nice machines here!

 

I would love to have my own machine, however I haven't done any wood working since the eighth grade... looks like finding a defunct cab is the way to go.

 

Without reading the links in depth, option B here seems simple (or simple-er): put a PC inside, mount the monitor and use some sort of adapter for the controls, then sand and paint!

 

Though something tells me it can't be THAT easy....

 

Nope, its that easy. Either a J-Pac, or my favorite, wiring up an xbox 360 wired controller to the joystick.