Arcade Machines - Whos got 'em ?

brianon

So, anyone round here got an arcade cabinet at home ?
I know from reading BYOAC that many Americans have cabs. Its also much easier over in the states to get originals.

I'm building a MAME cab and was wondering how many others here (Ireland) have either an orig or built cabinet ?

Post pics of your cab(s) if you can or maybe pics of your Arcade/Games room :cool: ?

DoctorEdgeWild

If you are looking for arcade machines, then I suggest you try calling in hotels in seaside towns across Ireland. They always seem to have old arcade machines hanging around their games rooms. The duty manager might accept a few quid into his pocket to get rid of something which had paid for itself 100 times over back in the day. Maybe removing his headaches from listening to the music over and over and over again every summer.

Other than that, Id love to see if people made their own machines, maybe a mega drive with an arcade frame built up around it.

djhooley

i've made one from plans on the net. it's designed to hold my x-arcade, with a drawer underneath for mouse and keyboard. i will post link when i find it.has been a while.

sci0x

Here's a guide on building your own arcade machine to help you on your venture.

brianon

Thanks for the info.
I think I pretty much have all I need, plans, tools etc...
Just need the time and space (must clean out the garage) and I'll be ready to go.
Control panel is pretty much done, just a few bits of wiring the i-pac left.

Blisterman

I built one from scratch. Don't have any pictures of it though.

tk123

i gots one - my pop used to fix them in the olden days!

brianon

No one got any pics ?

I was going to make mine from MDF and paint black + later some artwork.

Have decided now to make it from Oak veneered plywood.
Hopefully will fit in with furniture a bit better and keep little wifey happy(er) :rolleyes:

defenderdude

Good idea to change wood. Plywood is a much better job, lighter, stronger at the edges and safer to cut-up too (dust wise). I've made a replica of Defender, the original was made in plywood too. That's why they survived so well since the early 80's. Atari used chipboard for their cabs and they fell to bits. Some newer cabs (90's) were made from mdf but sh*t, have you ever tried to move one? Aggghhh me back... I'm an ould fella! That said, I've an original robotron and it's chipboard construction, but it's in fantastic condition. I've taken pics as I went, throughout the defender project. I dont want to bore the pants of ye by posting them but if anyone wants to have a look or any advice/help dimensions etc. please just drop me a line.

Blisterman

Well post pictures of it;s construction on the BYOAC site.

mackjohn

A good friends has one (operation wolf 3 3d {dual forcefeed back guns}). We were/are playing around with building one to house the M.A.M.E. collection along with M.E.S.S. but after buying Project Arcade (isbn:0-7645-5616-9) we let things slide and all the good ideas were shelved for a while... If any one is reading this knows who I'm on about tell him it would be avery good Idea to get the finger out and sort out the shed... Can people suggest a list of Irish companies for the part's ie joysticks buttons Don't want to do the whole buying the x-pad.. Also since i'm in the mood to rant can I offer any help to any one.. Living/working Dublin, Playing Cork. (shhhh don't tell them it's a plan to get expericence on putting together a mame box, to allow me to build one like never before seen....)

PM
John

Ronan|Raven

I have two cabinets both of which I intend (have been intending for 18 months!) to convert. I have all the parts I need but im a god damn lazy basterd when it suits. I need someone to kick me up the arse and get me into gear.

brianon

Scratch that!
I managed to get my hands on a 1983 dragon's lair cab built in Tipperary (Atari) and its in damn good nick

Will be converting it to a MAME cab.

rubadub

A cocktail table machine would be nice, as it is functional too. A guy on my road had one with packman, mame has a few cocktail roms available, many never even saw tehm but they were in a few pubs in the 80's

smokingman

Got mine about two years ago....
It's a 1978 Taito tabletop that origionally housed Zaxxon but I've rewired it to play mega-drive games.





I have to get a new screen sometime soon though but it plays wonderfully!

Two player Golden Axe rocks!

lazygit

just about finished building mine... buit it around the duel x-arcade control panel...
looks good so far

TinCool

lazygit wrote:

just about finished building mine... buit it around the duel x-arcade control panel...
looks good so far

Would that be yourself and Alan that's building that ?

Bogger77

TinCool wrote:

Would that be yourself and Alan that's building that ?

God only knows, but it's the longest couple of days ever! started in January and it's now March :-)

He's Lazy by name and nature

jha

I'm about halfway through building my own defender/multi-williams cabinet after having no luck sourcing any original cabs here in ireland (forget importing - it costs a fortune).
The kicker is that I am using MDF and somewhat regretting it at this point - it weighs a goddamn tonne, and the dust was hell.
I've bought parts from the U.S - Arcade Shop and Happ Controls mainly, including side-art, cpo, bezel, marquee, buttons, leaf switches, coin door and t-molding, so i'm hoping its going to look and play pretty close to the original. The control panel will be detachable so i can drop in a multi-williams panel for robotron etc.

I've found the rec.games.video.arcade.collecting newsgroup useful for various tips and bits of info such as where to source buttons, joysticks, artwork etc. e-Bay is pretty good too, even if you just want to bemoan the fact that they've got lots of retro stuff state-side, and f-all here.

brianon

ah yes, a little preview of how the control panel (version 2) is looking ...



Sanwa buttons, + 4-way joystick + Happs Super Joy.

ranDom_tAsk

I had a Super-Gun for a while !

Great machine !!!

wild_eyed

i bought a cab about 2 years ago and through an old p3 into it to run mame, it works grand , aint much to look at, i cant wait till i have more time to work more on it, i love working on it.

deadl0ck

I've a converted Neo-Geo MVS machine with a SlikStik control panel and 2 Act-Labs light guns. It's the muts nuts !!

paulocon

Hi all,

Looking to buy a couple of working original cabs, not too fussy but some games that come to mind are....

Chase HQ,
Out-run
Kick n Run
Ghosts n Goblins......

Anyone know if there are any sources for these in Ireland?

deadl0ck

I reckon your best bet is buy and sell

Armen Tanzarian

try some of the arcades they sell off older machines

paulocon

thanks for that, anyone had any joy with ardades...

any indication of prices to offer etc?

Loobz

Hello peeps!

While trying to get some sleep the other night, I was thinking of building my own arcade machine. I am unsure of what I need.

A few things I thought of were:
1)An old CRT monitor.
2)A P3 machine.
3)MAME
4)Plywood/carpenter
5)Plans for shape of cabinet.

What kind of controllers should I use. I would love to have the jostick type big red button controllers. They would be built into the unit in the normal position. Are these compatible with lets say USB?

I would definitely be interested in doing this. It doesnt necessarily have to have the original parts of an arcade machine (would still like old style joysticks). It just needs to look, feel and play the part.

All advice and help welcome.

wild_eyed

this is your place for controls and maybe some other things

what i did

bought an old arcade machine, with a jamma interface.

bought a j-pac and wired the racde controls to the jpac and and video from the computer and the keyboard, all very simple.

i then bought an arcade vga from ultimarc and that makes displaying mame on an arcade monitor very easy.

after that. get mamewah and a good windows build of mame. and your off.

the cab cost me 200
and then the extra cost about another 200

done.

deadl0ck

All you need to know is on Build Your Own Arcade Controls

paulocon

wild_eye,

where did you get the cab?