ITs easy to get carried away when building an arcade machine


It must be one of the best example of Mame cabinet gone wrong.


Just stick to the original design, dammit!


If you want a good homemade cab here is one :


20101024092525-EvilDindon-P1030573.JPG



The man made it for his children, so the cabinet has been reduced to 70% of the original Pac-Man arcade cabinet size.


Since it's a mame cab, he put a spinner, an 8-way and a 4-way joystick with 3 buttons (enough for most arcade games).


The coin mech is really used to add credits and it's a real TV for a true "arcade feeling".
 
^You're really mean.


They're probably the worst arcade cabs I've ever seen in my whole life. (especially the one with a CP thrice the width of the cab itself)


I've seen a lot of ugly homemade cabinet/control panels, since I'm member of an arcade community.


A lot of newbies seem to think it'll look better and be cheaper to build their arcade cabinet than to buy a small generic one.


Sometimes, it turns good, like the one I posted (yep it was his first self build arcade cab), but most of the time, it turns awfully wrong
laugh.gif
 
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KodeIn said:
^You're really mean.


They're probably the worst arcade cabs I've ever seen in my whole life. (especially the one with a CP thrice the width of the cab itself)
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I'm not mean! :lol: That isn't my page - it's just one I found. :p
 
What a pile.


The whole point of building an arcade machine is to be able to play games on something that you used to find in an arcade.


WTF is the point of that thing?


That pacman cab is more like it... my cab is an original, but it's 'midi' or 'cabaret' sized - makes it great for kids to play. All of my kids mates are desperate to play Gauntlet when they come round...
 
@ Prometheus: After skimming the horrible things that person said about others' arcade cabinets I thought they'd better show off their dang nice cabinet at the end so they could justify being that critical of others' hard work. But no, they're just a looser. Sure, these people obviously were not master carpenters or artists but at least they made something. Failing is the best way to learn and if they every tried again I'm sure try number two would be better than the first and way better than what the looser that made the site has done.


I've always wanted to make a cabinet but they're too big, I'd want to make a small one, one that fits on a table, lots easier to put that on display than a full size one. Making them small someone could make multiple cabinets each with different controls and still take up less room than a full size cabinet. Also more cabinet art in the end.
 
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second.exodous said:
@ Prometheus: After skimming the horrible things that person said about others' arcade cabinets I thought they'd better show off their dang nice cabinet at the end so they could justify being that critical of others' hard work. But no, they're just a looser. Sure, these people obviously were not master carpenters or artists but at least they made something. Failing is the best way to learn and if they every tried again I'm sure try number two would be better than the first and way better than what the looser that made the site has done.
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They did show their own cabinet there, though, and clearly marked it out as such.


I quite agree, though - that is one of the best ways to learn.

I've always wanted to make a cabinet but they're too big, I'd want to make a small one, one that fits on a table, lots easier to put that on display than a full size one. Making them small someone could make multiple cabinets each with different controls and still take up less room than a full size cabinet. Also more cabinet art in the end.
Click to expand...
The term for what you're after is a "bartop". An example of a commercial one can be seen here (specifically, that's the bartop version of Nintendo's PlayChoice-10 cabinets; Link found via Google), and some plans for a two-player one can be found here.
 
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Huh, I have never heard the name 'bartop' and didn't have any idea they were made commercially before. I knew there were ones for the home market, Coleco's Mini-Arcade and a few others later copied them, but I guess the 'bartop' craze never came to the US. I've just always seen people call them 'mini-arcades' or the like.


But yes, small cabinets are a lot more practical for my house. I also think they look 'cooler'. But something a little longer lasting than this


Also, I'm sorry but the guys criticism and poor language skills just doesn't want to make me find his cabinet. None of them were marked 'My Cabinet', he must have hidden it among his profanity. None of them stood out above the rest so he shouldn't be criticizing others' work.
 
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The most famous "bartop" console is the Vectrex.
wink.gif



vectrex.jpg


As you've shown, many lcd games like the game & watch ones, were made in a smallish bartop-like - called table top - form factor.


20110403215153-Lonewolf-Popeye-PG-74.JPG



That said, I hope the guy on the forum that told he would release the plans of his bartop, will do it, because it's really good looking. (as you can see)


20110218201050-Benoit33-P1030129.JPG



It's made for housing a Dreamcast, a 360, or a PS3.


That guy is really talented!
 
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second.exodous said:
Huh, I have never heard the name 'bartop' and didn't have any idea they were made commercially before. I knew there were ones for the home market, Coleco's Mini-Arcade and a few others later copied them, but I guess the 'bartop' craze never came to the US. I've just always seen people call them 'mini-arcades' or the like.
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I don't know if there was a bartop craze anywhere, to be honest. As far as I know, the only market in which such cabinets existed was the US. :lol:

Also, I'm sorry but the guys criticism and poor language skills just doesn't want to make me find his cabinet. None of them were marked 'My Cabinet', he must have hidden it among his profanity. None of them stood out above the rest so he shouldn't be criticizing others' work.
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It's right here. The very first line notes that it's his. :p
 
I've been meaning to build a cabinet for almost 10 years now. Times-a wasting and I don't think it'll get done anytime soon either, so I might just kidnap Skeezix, ply him with dinner (maybe some wine and dancing, wouldn't that be nice? :p ) and hit him up for some auction advice.
 
second.exodous said:
@ Prometheus: After skimming the horrible things that person said about others' arcade cabinets I thought they'd better show off their dang nice cabinet at the end so they could justify being that critical of others' hard work. But no, they're just a looser. Sure, these people obviously were not master carpenters or artists but at least they made something. Failing is the best way to learn and if they every tried again I'm sure try number two would be better than the first and way better than what the looser that made the site has done.


I've always wanted to make a cabinet but they're too big, I'd want to make a small one, one that fits on a table, lots easier to put that on display than a full size one. Making them small someone could make multiple cabinets each with different controls and still take up less room than a full size cabinet. Also more cabinet art in the end.
Click to expand...

Im planning to make another bartop arcade , however , this time Im looking at putting in Mame HW . The two I have made recently have used plug and play systems which work well, but Im keen to get something with Mame and Hyperspin going. Here's a pic of the two bartop arcades I made (just finished the Space Invaders one yesterday) Bartop Arcade Machines


P.S Has anyone taken a look at Hyperpin , looks pretty cool if you like Pinball games
 
^ Apparently, that video is blocked in my region due to using content from UMG and EMI... :rolleyes: Are there any alternative links, or pictures, or suchlike, please?
 
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I remember there was a cabinet that you just set a iPad in and you were good to go, can't get much easier than that. With all the Android tablets coming out all you would need was blutooth controls and made a cabinet around the tab and the controls. Cheating I know but what better way to retire your old tablet? Make it so the tablet would be removable, don't want to give it an early retirement.


I've seen a few really well made ones using those game pads that plug into a TV and play a few games. Heres one:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wrkv8E9kK_U?feature=oembed

I can totally see me building an arcade with pillows if I had one of these as a kid. I also think this gives more novelty to those plug-into-tv machines.


EDIT: Oops, you guys beat me with the iPad cradle arcade thing, I just had this thread open and made a new post without refreshing it.


Ahh, this is what I was thinking of:


pinballmagic.jpg



Building a cabinets for these thin devices, phones and tablets, is a good way to retire them. This one looks a little cheap, most people that have basic woodworking skills can build something that looks much better, but made the controls bluetooth and you're good to go!
 
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