What is entailed in a MAME project?

[AtariYoungin]

I want to build a MAME cabinet for my house. Those of you who know my age may think this is weird, but thats why I'm here. I need to pitch the idea to my father to get the go ahead. So what is entailed in the project? Costs, pieces, etc... Any help here would be apreciated. I have been researching for the past couple of days, but there are tons of options for the various parts, so I was also wondering what you guys think is the best control encoder and such.

 

Thanks again.

[Stingray]

The ipac is the best encoder IMO.

 

Asking how much you will spend on a MAME project is a lot like asking "how long is a piece of string". The answer can vary wildly, depending on the type of computer you use, what type and how many controls you want, type of monitor, type of cabinet whether or not you want a coin door, and many other factors. The short answer is that it will cost anywhere from quite a bit to a whole freaking lot.

 

-S

[Dav]

Yep, if you can find someone throwing away a cabinet and an old pentium computer and you're handy with a soldering iron you can build one for pretty much nothing. On the other hand there's people that spend upwards of $3000.

[AtariYoungin]

Hmm, well I'm in the market for an empty Cab. Got plenty of old comps to throw into it, and I like to think I'm handy with most tools...

[sku_u]

Hmm, well I'm in the market for an empty Cab. Got plenty of old comps to throw into it, and I like to think I'm handy with most tools...

 

You're best bet is to do some Internet searches and figure out what exactly it is that you want out of your MAME system.

[Tempest]

Depends. If you want to build one that will play "most" games and you really don't care how bad it looks, then you could probably get away with one for under $500. However if you want to play "all" the games out there and you want it to actually look decent, then you're into the big bucks territory ($1200-$3000).

 

The biggest factors are:

 

- Computer Speed: Many of the more advanced games require faster (and more expensive) computers. However if you're just into classics this won't affect you much.

 

- Controls: Many of the best games used non-standard controls (spinners, Tron type stick, Ikari Warriors type twisty stick, etc). Therefore the more games you want to play the more controls you have to cram into your control panel. However most classic games just used a 4/8 way stick or a trackball.

 

- Monitor: Most classic games used a vertical postioned montior, but many modern games use a horizontal positioned monitor. You can either buy a very large monitor to try and get the maximum vertical space for those classic games, or you can build some kind of monitor rotating device. Both cost money. However if you're just into classics, you can probabyl get away with a nice 14" monitor in the vertical position.

 

Cabinet: Do you really care how the cab looks? Nice big cabs (even used ones) cost money. However you can probably get a smaller used cab cheap. If you want a big used cab, try and find a dead common 4-player game like X-Man or WWF Wrestling. They had nice large control panels with big monitors.

 

Hope this helps. I plan to make a MAME cab myself one day, but I'm going all custom.

 

Tempest

[AtariYoungin]

I would love to go the all custom route, but I couldn't find any detailed instructions for building the cab itself.

[Dav]

The first person to come by my house near Kansas city can have this pole position.

 

Todd in Philly throws away cabs everyday I think. Check the newsgroups rec.games.video.arcade.collecting

 

Unless you're a four drive from nowhere one will turn up.

 

Dave

[chadtower]

I would love to go the all custom route, but I couldn't find any detailed instructions for building the cab itself.

 

 

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/p...0764556169.html

[AtariYoungin]

looks like I'll be making a trip to the bookstore today.

[AtariYoungin]

So I went to the bookstore and got the book, finished the chapters on building the cab itself...now to convince the parental unit. Any ideas for that obsitacal?

[Ralph3]

Here are some ideas:

http://www.arcadeathome.com/pics.phtml

[Flack]

My MAME cabinet is an old DK Jr. cabinet that someone had already blasphemed by converting it to JAMMA and then stuffing Bloxeed (a Tetris clone) into it. The monitor was bad so I gave it away in RGVAC, some guy came and got it.

 

I picked up a 2ghz motherboard/chip combo from one of these computer shows for $99, and already had a spare HD. I had a spare 21" monitor that I paid less than a hundred for. I used to sticks and buttons that were in it and wired them up to an IPAC (I cannot recommend the IPAC enough). If you include the monitor my setup cost me around $250 and I love it. I have fooled many people who have thought it was "just another machine", especially when I am running Bloxeed which is what the marquee still says.