Off the Shelf Mame Cabinet

TechnoFreek

Hi guys,
 
Mightily impressed by all the mame self builds that are on the forum. I'd love to build one myself but I realistically just don't have the time.
 
So, how would I go about about buying an off-the-shelf mame cabinet.
It wouldnt be essential that a pc/monitor is included but if it was a complete package with frontends installed etc that would be ideal.
 
Does such a product exist? What is the quality like etc
 
Or is something like that just too pricey?
 
Any advice appreciated

o1s1n

For authenticity sake, you're better off getting a real arcade JAMMA cab and putting a JPAC in there. It literally turns a PC into an arcade board. So everything is 100% real and you still have the fun of a MAME cab.

Myrddin

Be prepared to PAY

Also, when you set one up yourself you get great experience in knowing how to fix problems. Because trust me, they will happen.

I say pick up an old cab, an old pc, buy a jpac, & stick them together. It's almost that easy

The Last Bandit

Either a self build or an prebuilt cab is gonna cost a lot. I've spent about €500 so far on a bartop I'm building and that's just the material cost, no idea how many hours I've put into it so far.

But part of the fun is it the building of the thing And eventually you'll need to figure out to repair/improve the system.


I'm not going to mention the legal aspects of buying cabs preloaded with software..

Steve X2

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Either a self build or an prebuilt cab is gonna cost a lot. I've spent about €500 so far on a bartop I'm building and that's just the material cost, no idea how many hours I've put into it so far.

But part of the fun is it the building of the thing And eventually you'll need to figure out to repair/improve the system.


I'm not going to mention the legal aspects of buying cabs preloaded with software..

I put a sort of walk-through of my Hyperspin setup on youtube after a couple of mates requested it. I've been asked so many times by youtube users to get a copy of it and that they'd pay money for it.
I always just say its free to download and I'd never charge for it. I really don't agree with selling it on as it goes against the whole idea of hyperspin.

Giving it to someone for free is another story, in my opinion.

.

TechnoFreek

Ok guys.

So one step at a time, if I was to go the Jamma route...

Where would I get such a cab. Are they all standard setup? Ideally I'd need a two player one with minimum 6 buttons excluding start buttons etc

safetyboy

There was one up on adverts for €100 last week

Steve X2

Candy cab??
Might cost more than a woody arcade machine though.

.

TechnoFreek

Steve SI wrote: »

Candy cab??
Might cost more than a woody arcade machine though.

.

Are candy cabs sit down? I'd be interested in stand up ones.

Is condition important, can most things be replaced e.g. joystick and buttons?

Steve X2

TechnoFreek wrote: »

Are candy cabs sit down? I'd be interested in stand up ones.

Is condition important, can most things be replaced e.g. joystick and buttons?

Most of them are sit down all right, but not all.
Parts can all be swapped out, I've done it myself and replaced almost everything except the shell of the cab.

.

TechnoFreek

Ok. My interest is certainly piqued.

Any online stores sell these cabs instead of waiting on adverts.ie ?

Last cab question for the moment. Can you run both mame AND mamma pcbs are is it a case of having to gut cab to install mame?

Steve X2

TechnoFreek wrote: »

Ok. My interest is certainly piqued.

Any online stores sell these cabs instead of waiting on adverts.ie ?

Last cab question for the moment. Can you run both mame AND mamma pcbs are is it a case of having to gut cab to install mame?

No no, your mame pc will just act as another game board.
No gutting required. I have arcade pcb's, a dreamcast, an xbox 360 and other stuff hooked up to my cab and no gutting was done.

.

TechnoFreek

Steve SI wrote: »

No no, your mame pc will just act as another game board.
No gutting required. I have arcade pcb's, a dreamcast, an xbox 360 and other stuff hooked up to my cab and no gutting was done.

Now I'm really interested. So the joystick and buttons can operate both mame and arcade pcbs?

Myrddin

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Either a self build or an prebuilt cab is gonna cost a lot

Not if your smart enough with your purchases, & pick up a cheap cab like I did. I got my Tekken 3 cab for €100. It needed a new chassis, €120 delivered. Mame pc guts, €160 with a JPAC. I used an old 320GB hdd I had, & learned the rest as I went.

€100
€120
€160

Fully working Mame Cab for €380.

The Last Bandit

EnterNow wrote: »

Not if your smart enough with your purchases, & pick up a cheap cab like I did. I got my Tekken 3 cab for €100. It needed a new chassis, €120 delivered. Mame pc guts, €160 with a JPAC. I used an old 320GB hdd I had, & learned the rest as I went.

€100
€120
€160

Fully working Mame Cab for €380.

True, recycling will always be cheaper.

But building the custom stuff is still gonna cost, I think I've spent over €100 on just the wood alone but necessary to achieve the look I'm going for.

o1s1n

The Last Bandit wrote: »

True, recycling will always be cheaper.

But building the custom stuff is still gonna cost, I think I've spent over €100 on just the wood alone but necessary to achieve the look I'm going for.

Why build a cabinet to emulate the look of a real cab, when you can buy the real cab itself for cheaper/around the same price? Always seemed a bit strange to me!

I take it that it would be a fun project (I considered it years ago), but when I found out you can have real JAMMA cabs so cheap the building idea was scrapped pretty fast.

The Last Bandit

o1s1n wrote: »

Why build a cabinet to emulate the look of a real cab, when you can buy the real cab itself for cheaper/around the same price? Always seemed a bit strange to me!

I take it that it would be a fun project (I considered it years ago), but when I found out you can have real JAMMA cabs so cheap the building idea was scrapped pretty fast.

Its more like a piece of furniture that a cabinet.

Why that the easy way out when there a whole world of hurt waiting when you do the lot from scratch

Myrddin

The scratch built ones can look amazing, keithgeo's springs to mind. A real love & war battle but when they're done properly like his it pays off.

BUT, to me, an arcade cab is all about having a few fag burns in it, & working coin mechs etc etc. They were meant to be played & enjoyed, not detailed with cotton swabs.

Candy Cabs live in a strange nether world that lies between worlds. They are also meant to be played, but yet, should always be spotlessly clean & immaculate. No idea why I think that, but Candy's need to be mint. Woodies, can afford a few imperfections & it doesn't detract from them, not for me anyway.

o1s1n

That's spot on exactly the way I look at it. A mint woody would just be wrong. On my old one, someone had gone to town on the p2 start button with a lighter. Wouldn't have had it any other way!

Candy cabs on the other hand should be so white that they cause eye damage when you look directly at them.

Pop the hood on the front and it almost feels like you're cleaning a car :pac:

Myrddin

o1s1n wrote: »

Candy cabs on the other hand should be so white that they cause eye damage when you look directly at them.

:D:D

o1s1n

Yep, that's me blind

Steve X2

Few mint condition candies here:



.

o1s1n

It would seem Japanese people really don't like Blast Cities!

TechnoFreek

Sorry to ask this again guys but can anyone point me in the direction of someone selling jamma cabs, a retailer so to speak.

I would prefer that instead of going the adverts.ie and auctions route

Talk to arcades here and in the uk if you want to find a cab someplace you can walk into, but you're probably better off looking online for one in decent nick. Unless you're loaded, second hand is probably the way to go. Importing new from any place with a still active arcade scene like USA or Japan will cost you a bomb.

They really are more of a treasure if you build them yourself, or at least have some hand in fixing them up or converting them. Also, as posted, you will want to have at least an inkling how the whole thing works inside, as making occasional repairs are going to be unavoidable. Its just part and parcel of owning them unless you plan to wrap your cab in cotton wool and never touch it.

Think about the space you have available, whether a full size cab or a bartop would suit you best, and for your first cab, research, research, research.

Get yourself on as many online forums and discussion groups as possible and ask lots of questions. Cab builders are generally very generous with their time and expertise in helping each other out and your first cab is a huge learning experience. There will always be someone out there who has faced the same problem you'll run into at some stage.

Good luck getting sorted out, and enjoy it!!

TechnoFreek

Thanks guys. Although I'm a total noob at the moment that won't last. I am technical enough so once I get my head around it there won't be any issues with maintenance etc

The main reason I'm looking for a ready to go cab is because my time is limited due to new baby in the house etc not ability!

Right. I'm defo on for this so stage 1 is to get a cab. Once done i'll see about jpac and pc.

Again , if anyone can put me in touch with some contacts for cabs that would be great.

Thanks to all for their help thus far

TechnoFreek

TechnoFreek wrote: »

Thanks guys. Although I'm a total noob at the moment that won't last. I am technical enough so once I get my head around it there won't be any issues with maintenance etc

The main reason I'm looking for a ready to go cab is because my time is limited due to new baby in the house......Again, if anyone can put me in touch with some contacts for cabs that would be great.

Congrats on the new arrival. From experience, i would avoid starting a cab project unless youre sure you'll get enough time to finish it with a baby around. My last cab took me 3 months because it was interrupted by the arrival of my little girl. Your house will be being turned upside down for a while by the baby anyway, especially if its your first one, and your missus wont thank you for wanting to take lots of time on top of that to build a cab.

Depending on how you feel about it, you could look into a kit build. There are various retailers who sell cabinet flatpack kits. Theres a whole "convenience versus arcade purist build your own" argument around kit builds, but it might be useful for you to look into, especially as youre under time pressure. I've built both and while kits can sometimes mean a more generic looking end product, they are often easier and quicker to get going on and get completed, and will leave you with a minimum of woodworking mess and hassle, which might be useful with a baby around.

Take a look at gremlin solutions website. Theyre in the UK and stock everything you would need for a cab build, including kits, ipacs, jamma harnesses, buttons, sticks and more. If you call them and tell them what youre doing they will usually take some time with you and go through what you're likely to need and how much it will all cost you. Their stock, including cab kits, is all up on their website, so you can get a good idea of what youll need even before you call. They also do off the shelf cabs that you can use as supplied (usually with a bunch of pre-loaded licensed games), or modify to add more games and emulators etc, but be warned, ready made cabs are not cheap.

http://www.gremlinsolutions.co.uk/

Again, good luck with the build!

TechnoFreek

Hey guys,
 
I've been digging around boards and the wider net and it seems like a candy cab is the way to go.
 
Several posts on board recommend rklol or jeff at digitalsystemsdesign as possible sources.
It seems Jeff does a great job of getting the cabs in good condition (physically and technically) before shipping out.
 
I am going to give these guys a shout but first I would like to be a bit better informed.
 
Practically, what is the best candy cab to run both jamma and allow me room to install a mame pc etc.
I like the look of the blast city cab but looks arent everything.
What are the perils and pitfalls of candy cabs?
 
A bit of direction here from people with experience would go a long way!
 
Thanks again guys

Myrddin

TechnoFreek wrote: »

What are the perils and pitfalls of candy cabs?

One isn't enough, that goes for all cabs & is the single biggest pitfall. Well, that & the width of door frames

TechnoFreek

EnterNow wrote: »

One isn't enough, that goes for all cabs & is the single biggest pitfall. Well, that & the width of door frames

Well one will have to be enough given the cost! Will have plenty of room as it would be going into a shed and not the house!

Myrddin

TechnoFreek wrote: »

Well one will have to be enough given the cost! Will have plenty of room as it would be going into a shed and not the house!

Trust me, you WILL want another even a different type of cab. It's basic cab-owning physics.

Like you I've mine in an outdoor shed, it used to be a snooker room so its carpeted & plasterboarded etc and is a godsend. But, I don't have a side entrance & all cab traffic must pass through the house. Missed out on quite a few cab oppurtunities simply because I can't physically fit them through the house

TechnoFreek

A second cab seems like a lifetime away as I can barely get my head around how one even works at the moment!

For nostalgia purposes I Could easily see my second cab being an authentic mortal kombat 2 cab!

Myrddin

TechnoFreek wrote: »

Well one will have to be enough given the cost!

TechnoFreek wrote: »

For nostalgia purposes I Could easily see my second cab being an authentic mortal kombat 2 cab!

Early stages of this disease has set in right before our eyes LoGiE has an MK2 cab afaik, I've a Tekken 3 one which is the same type I think...

If you loved certain games, then a second cab becomes more & more a reality. I loved Ridge Racer in the arcades, after a while, Mitch sourced me an upright RR1 cab & that became my second one. I know for a fact I'm not finished either, I'd love an SF2 CE, & a shooter cab too.

Steve X2

I'll be a happy man when I have an Egret 2 to go with my Egret 3. One cab really isn't enough. One vert and one Hori, it's the dream :rolleyes:

.

o1s1n

To be perfectly honest, I won't be happy until I buy a house with a garage on the side and convert it into an arcade.

Some day!

TechnoFreek

Yeah. Although would dedicated cabs be much use for mame purposes? I presume the cab would have to be adjusted to add extra buttons etc...as tekken for example has a 4 button layout (i think)

Might try mitch as well and see if he has anything on the go.

o1s1n

All you need is a good front end. When you turn on the cab you'll see your list of games booted from the PC. It's all controllable with the arcade control panel.

Edit - ah I get what you mean about buttons, some cabs not having the full six button layout.

If you just want one cab and to have emulators on it then get one with the maximum amount of buttons alright.

If I were to fill a garage with cabs though, none of them would be running emulators!

Steve X2

TechnoFreek wrote: »

Yeah. Although would dedicated cabs be much use for mame purposes? I presume the cab would have to be adjusted to add extra buttons etc...as tekken for example has a 4 button layout (i think)

Might try mitch as well and see if he has anything on the go.

From what I've read on this forum and my own experience I'd say this Jeff person is worth a shot. He seems to do up the cabs very well before shipping.
Which cant be said for a lot of sellers. I had a terrible experience with Ronnie/RKLOK but that's not to say you wont be fine with him.

And of course check out arcade otaku to see if anyone reliable has any cabs going.

.

Andrew76

o1s1n wrote: »

If I were to fill a garage with cabs though, none of them would be running emulators!

I'd be willing to bet one of them would.

Myrddin

TechnoFreek wrote: »

Yeah. Although would dedicated cabs be much use for mame purposes? I presume the cab would have to be adjusted to add extra buttons etc...as tekken for example has a 4 button layout (i think)

Might try mitch as well and see if he has anything on the go.

Yep my Tekken had a four or five button layout I think. It doesn't anymore I drilled out the holes requires, & wired the buttons up to the jamma harness, very very easily done.

TechnoFreek

TechnoFreek wrote: »

Yeah. Although would dedicated cabs be much use for mame purposes? I presume the cab would have to be adjusted to add extra buttons etc...as tekken for example has a 4 button layout (i think)

You can do a nice mame cab out of a dedicated one. If you choose wisely, you'll be all right, but if you do want buckets of games to be playable you'll probably need to do at least a bit of modding and choose your cab well. Plan this step in detail, it will make a big difference to the "professional" look and feel of your finished machine, but there are lots of ways to go about it.

I like going for a street fighter 2 layout on my cabs, two sticks and two sets of six buttons, as well as a 1p and a 2p start. I think it gives the most versatility in terms of the number of games you can play. I also like to add pinball flippers on the left and right sides of the cab, for the handful of working pinball games i have, but you could easily forget those if you wanted. I just like pinball

Also think about trackballs and spinners if you're into older games like centipede etc. Not an issue for me, but just thought I'd mention it. If you want them, you'll need to make sure you've got room on your panel and your interface supports them, if you don't you'll want to remove the games that your machine won't support.

If you get a decent keyboard encoder with a shifted keys function you don't have to worry too much about drilling the control panel to add dedicated admin buttons, you can just assign second functions to the standard ones instead to activate stuff like coin insert, tab, reset, dip switches, save slots, etc, which often preserves the look of things.

Also, some of the lads here have posted pics before of their candy cabs with hidden buttons in clever places like the recessed bolt holes under their control panels, behind the coin reject buttons, etc. This is a good solution, keeps the look of your cab intact, and needs very little drilling or modding work.

I personally have a 3-in-1 button on the front panel of my cab that has 3 buttons mounted in one standard 28mm hole. It handles loads of different things depending on what emulator is loaded. It's perfect for my setup, but is probably not ideal if you want to go with a dedicated cab and are trying to keep the look of it faithful.

Your control panel is one of the bits of the cab that takes a ton of planning. You have to think about a lot of stuff. What emulators will you be running what their input key menus are, and how customizable the inputs are, what frontend you will choose, and what the controls needed for it are, what interface hardware will you be using, whether you want dedicated admin buttons on the panel or prefer a cleaner layout.

Take your time, and get it right. I turned down a couple of cabs for my first build because they weren't suitable for what i wanted or would have been too much hassle to change, and i was glad i did when it was finished.

TechnoFreek

Thanks for the detailed reply mack.

You've put my head in a spin!

I think 6 buttons will be enough for the type of games I want to run - fighters and shooters mostly!

As you said I'd like to keep whatever cab I get as authentic as possible but would be open to additional buttons well hidden at a later stage.

Myrddin

TechnoFreek wrote: »

Thanks for the detailed reply mack.

You've put my head in a spin!

He didn't make you Jump, Jump by any chance did he?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ARCADE-CABINET-MACHINE-KIT-DIY-FLAT-PACK-MAME-2-PLAYER-BARTOP-/180844627704?pt=UK_Video_Games_Coin_Operated_MJ&hash=item2a1b2e06f8#ht_2337wt_940

I just finished working on one of those exact bartop cabs hellboy posted a pic of. I would advise anyone to steer clear of them. They're made of foamed PVC, which isn't really strong enough for the task, and the finishing isn't really up to much.

You could build the same cab from MDF from scratch quite easily, it would cost a fraction of the price, and be much stronger, and you could build it to suit your PC. Space inside that cab is very limited for anything but the smallest motherboards.

Incidentally, here are some photos of the build: http://goo.gl/ZLhuj

TechnoFreek

Thanks for help so far guys. Sent Jeff an email there. He replied in minutes!

Sending requirements back and forth. Will keep you updated.

Pyongyang

TechnoFreek wrote: »

Sent Jeff an email there. He replied in minutes!

Jeff Ferrier? That's who I bought my New Astro City from. He is brilliant. 110%.

Are you going for a candy cab or a DIY job?

TechnoFreek

Pyongyang wrote:

Jeff Ferrier? That's who I bought my New Astro City from. He is brilliant. 110%.

Are you going for a candy cab or a DIY job?

Yeah. Same Jeff. Thinking of going candy cab route for convenience, hence contacting Jeff. Good feedback on boards about him.

He has blast city in stock and would recommend that due to tri sync monitor.

also has atomiswave coming in which he also recommends but it only has one player panel.

Is the astro city much different?

Is the Jeff route expensive?

unky chop chop

Ohh I love talk of new Candies arriving.

When I had choice of Astro or Blast I chose Astro but I really wanted a Blast City.
Love the shape of em but a they are little wider than the Astro,so not door friendly and I read up that original monitor in them are a bit unreliable..but I presume this lad Jeff Ferrier(great name) will swap chassis if requested.


Still you could still get original Jamma cab up and running easily of this guy.. Mitch.

http://www.adverts.ie/other-consoles-games/arcade-cabinets-projects/1394910

Bought my first of him and he's a sound guy who knows his stuff.

I love my Candy but I still think there is nothing like an old school Jamma cab, Smell of wood,fag burns on buttons,coin lined up on bezel and sitting on a stool that kills your back after 20 minutes...OHHHHH YEAAAAAH

Now very tempted to buy an Electocoin for MVS multi cart conversion..I would be killed

TechnoFreek

Thanks unky chop chop.

I'm actually also thinking about an atomiswave hd. They only come in one player but this could be replaced at layer date and made 2 player.
I really like the idea of the flat screen in these machines plus they are easier to rotate, supposedly.

Stevesi, can you provide a link for you how to install hyperspin video please? Thanks

Andrew76

TechnoFreek wrote: »

Thanks unky chop chop.

I'm actually also thinking about an atomiswave hd. They only come in one player but this could be replaced at layer date and made 2 player.
I really like the idea of the flat screen in these machines plus they are easier to rotate, supposedly.

Stevesi, can you provide a link for you how to install hyperspin video please? Thanks

If you're talking about the Atomiswave SD then no I wouldn't say the monitor is easy to rotate at all - apparently it's very easy to neck it since there's no frame around the monitor - so unless you've done many a rotate and had a helping hand you'd want to be careful. It's put me off rotating mine anyway. Probably an easy thing for Jeff to do though since he deals in cabs and is probably an expert at it, he'd also have plenty of replacements to hand just incase. If you were to get one from him and it was solely for playing vert games then get him to rotate it for you before it ships. Otherwise a cool cab.

I know ondafly and "pyong colour-blind yang" were able to rotate their NAC monitors but I think it has a monitor frame to make it that bit easier. Afaik anyway.