MAME Arcade Cabinet Build

S

synapsis

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 12, 2004
Messages
392
I built this last year, but just got around to making a thread now.

Started off with some 3/4" MDF.
01.jpg


Cut out the sides and made ledger boards to screw to. I didn't want any visible screws.
02.jpg


Main cabinet coming together.
03.jpg


Sound provided by a pair of $20 automotive speakers from Checker.
04.jpg


Wheels are required since it weighs in the ballpark of 300 lbs.
05.jpg


The main chassis completed.
06.jpg


The back and top completed. (I put vent holes in with the router later.)
07.jpg


The front door and coinbox in.
08.jpg


My control panel laid out and all the holes routed out.
09.jpg


I skipped the painting pictures. Here's the first incarnation all together with a 19" LCD.
10.jpg


After playing the old school games on the LCD (rotating it for correct aspect), it didn't feel right. Pac-Man, Space Invaders and the like were too... clear. So in goes the 27" Magnavox flat tube television. I took it out of the casing and machined/welded custom aluminum brackets to hold the tube up.
11.jpg


Together with the new display.
12.jpg


Eventually I swapped out the joysticks with some magnetically centering, 4/8 way selectable sticks because playing Tetris and Pac-Man on an 8 way spring loaded stick didn't work out too well. I needed to machine adapter plates out of aluminum to convert the new sticks to my bolt pattern.
13.jpg


A shot of the inside. The coin slots are fully functional. I also have an SVHS and optical audio cable coming out of the cabinet into my TV and use it to watch Hulu and AVIs. I never got around to cleaning up the cables. The coin lights are run off the PC power supply through fan speed control pots in order to adjust brightness. Bulbs are turn signal bulbs from Checker.
14.jpg


It took me about three weeks of evenings after work to build. Total cost without the computer (spare parts) was around $1100.

Street Fighter 4 will be installed soon in time for when my out of town friends come over for Labor Day. :D

Apparently the photos I rotated, unrotated. Turn your head. :)
 
Last edited:
Jesus.... I want this. Nice job. I wish I had the skills to put something like this together. I've always wanted to do something like this for racing games and smash'em up games such as Double Dragon and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
 
After playing the old school games on the LCD (rotating it for correct aspect), it didn't feel right. Pac-Man, Space Invaders and the like were too... clear. So in goes the 27" Magnavox flat tube television.
Click to expand...

There was an article this year (on wired? slashdot?) about how the graphics tricks they used to make the old games look good on televisions do not translate well to LCDs. But now I can't find it.
 
cnick79 said:
Jesus.... I want this. Nice job. I wish I had the skills to put something like this together. I've always wanted to do something like this for racing games and smash'em up games such as Double Dragon and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Click to expand...

For racing games I built this forever ago when I first started learning to TIG weld:

50.jpg



I'd be interested in the article about display tricks. One game you can really see the effect on was in Asteroids because it's a vector game. It just didn't look right on an LCD.

The front end loading is currently done by MAMEUI. I had always planned on writing my own (I'm a control software engineer by trade) but once I got it running, I started playing games instead. ;) The games are selected off the menu with the joystick mostly. The green buttons in the upper left hand corner of the control panel handle paging, the blue ones handle selection, a quick coin insert so you don't have to find quarters all the time, and the menuing.

I have a few touchscreen LCD panels in the closet, I was thinking of using one to select games with instead. I also thought about making a touchscreen jukebox for my huge MP3 collection, but I just keep playing classic games. ;)

Edit: By the way, that steering wheel/pedal combo works with MAME. It's a bit too sensitive for some games like Pole Position and Spy Hunter, but I could probably tweak the settings a bit.
 
awesome AWESOME

I tried carpentry one time...
took a board, cut if off 2 times and it was still to short.
I gave up
 
That looks great man! I would love one for my Apartment.... damn space constraints.
 
Definitely awesome work! I have been wanting to do this for a couple years however I have been too lazy to build the cabinet myself.
 
Is there any chance we could get a cost breakdown? I have a hard time seeing that costing $1100 for some MDF and paint/art especially when the work was done by yourself.

I have some friends who built a similar cab (minus paint) for ~$400 CAD last summer so I'm curious to see where the premiums came in.
 
synapsis said:
I built this last year, but just got around to making a thread now.

Started off with some 3/4" MDF.
01.jpg


Cut out the sides and made ledger boards to screw to. I didn't want any visible screws.
02.jpg


Main cabinet coming together.
03.jpg


Sound provided by a pair of $20 automotive speakers from Checker.
04.jpg


Wheels are required since it weighs in the ballpark of 300 lbs.
05.jpg


The main chassis completed.
06.jpg


The back and top completed. (I put vent holes in with the router later.)
07.jpg


The front door and coinbox in.
08.jpg


My control panel laid out and all the holes routed out.
09.jpg


I skipped the painting pictures. Here's the first incarnation all together with a 19" LCD.
10.jpg


After playing the old school games on the LCD (rotating it for correct aspect), it didn't feel right. Pac-Man, Space Invaders and the like were too... clear. So in goes the 27" Magnavox flat tube television. I took it out of the casing and machined/welded custom aluminum brackets to hold the tube up.
11.jpg


Together with the new display.
12.jpg


Eventually I swapped out the joysticks with some magnetically centering, 4/8 way selectable sticks because playing Tetris and Pac-Man on an 8 way spring loaded stick didn't work out too well. I needed to machine adapter plates out of aluminum to convert the new sticks to my bolt pattern.
13.jpg


A shot of the inside. The coin slots are fully functional. I also have an SVHS and optical audio cable coming out of the cabinet into my TV and use it to watch Hulu and AVIs. I never got around to cleaning up the cables. The coin lights are run off the PC power supply through fan speed control pots in order to adjust brightness. Bulbs are turn signal bulbs from Checker.
14.jpg


It took me about three weeks of evenings after work to build. Total cost without the computer (spare parts) was around $1100.

Street Fighter 4 will be installed soon in time for when my out of town friends come over for Labor Day. :D

Apparently the photos I rotated, unrotated. Turn your head. :)
Click to expand...

wow thats fing awesome!! :eek::eek:
 
What CRT did you end up using? Is it just an old PC monitor or an arcade part?
 
Did you show up at Quakecon with that thing? Someone had a very simlar looking cabinet there. Very impressive.
 
Looks absolutely beautiful man. I plan on building a MAME cabinet once I buy a house with wifey that has a game/media room. There's nothing like a stand-up unit! Congrats!!!
 
Gillette said:
Is there any chance we could get a cost breakdown? I have a hard time seeing that costing $1100 for some MDF and paint/art especially when the work was done by yourself.

I have some friends who built a similar cab (minus paint) for ~$400 CAD last summer so I'm curious to see where the premiums came in.
Click to expand...

I can't find all the receipts, but here's what I remember:

The initial controls, bezels, t-trim, etc.. -- $170 shipped.
The final 27" display -- $100 from a friend
The graphics and marquee -- $166 shipped
The IPAC4 interface for the controls -- $83
The better joysticks I put on later -- $97 shipped
Speakers -- $25

Stuff I don't remember off the top of my head:

4 sheets of 3/4" MDF (I could've used 3 but I screwed up on one part)
A gallon of Kilz and a gallon of black semigloss
Piano hinge for the front door, and the control box
A box each of 1", 1 1/2", 1 3/4", and 2" drywall screws.
3/4" diameter bolts/nuts/lockwashers for the display
1/8" aluminum for display brackets and joystick adapters
Three lengths of molding boards
A set of wire numbering labels
Various wire ties and zip ties
Bulb for the marquee
Power strip for power distribution
Four casters (why are casters so expensive?)
All the tools to paint it (rollers, pan, etc)
Five spools of wire
Three sheets of plexiglas (one for the display, one for the control panel that shattered and was never put on, one for the marquee)

There's also a lock kit for the front door that I haven't put on yet. The router bits I had to buy might also be on the price list, so it might be more like $1000.
 
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