[jononku]

Well, did not see a thread on this subject so I thought I would start one.  In between my other passions, which include speakers, amps, headphones, and photography, I got introduced to mame (multi arcade machine emulator) last year.  The rest is history.  The idea that I could have every classic video game that I ever played as a kid on one machine in my basement was enough to drive me to build a such a system.  I still can't believe I convinced my wife to let me build it.

So I started with an old lethal enforcer full size arcade cabinet that was in pretty rough shape that I got for a decent price.  It was banged up, had half the stickers, no marquee, and maybe half a control panel.  The inside was also a disaster with a half fried power supply, a monitor in which the tube was gone, and a mess of wires.  Luckily the glass was mint so I did not have to hunt for a replacement.  The coinbox was also in decent shape and I managed to salvage both coin slots.  A couple LED lights behind the slots gave it the authentic arcade look.  I took me about 2 months to get this guy back in decent shape.  Wood, wood-filler, lots of paint, and patience prevailed.  

For the controller, I decided to keep it simple and went with an x-arcade dual joystick.  Very easy to plug in to your pc, works out of the box with mame, and it fit almost perfectly with only minor mods to my cabinet. The rest of the hardware consists of a dual core IBM refurb mated to a 21" CRT monitor.  With some careful positioning it sits at almost the perfect angle to my glass and a custom cut bezel takes care of the rest.  

For sound I've got pioneer SA-6800 amp driving 4 speakers (realistic minimus), two of which are on top behind the bezel pointing down, while the other two are sitting near the bottom of the cab.

The last bit was a custom cut marquee from gameongraphics.

As for software, I'm using Mala on the front end with a layout I customized from one that you can download from their site.

At last count, I've got about 250 classic games running on it.  Everything from donkey kong tomortal kombat, and all the stuff in between. I've got some pics, but just can't find em at the moment, will post those soon.

Anyone else waste a bunch of time and money on such an endeavor?  Well worth it, my kids love it.  I currently have the high score at galaga in our household.

 

[LFF]

I've always wanted to build one of these. I have a lot of classic games running of my PC that my wife and I enjoy when we are in the mood to revisit some of our favorite games. As much fun as that is, I would love to have the time, money and room to build a full scale mame arcade running Maximus Arcade.
 
Here is a good example of such a build:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxe1YiwBQe0
 

 

[jononku]

Quote:

I've always wanted to build one of these. I have a lot of classic games running of my PC that my wife and I enjoy when we are in the mood to revisit some of our favorite games. As much fun as that is, I would love to have the time, money and room to build a full scale mame arcade running Maximus Arcade.
 

 
Maximus was one of the first front ends that I tried, and although it is very nice looking, I found that it was slow (I think it is flash based), especially when exiting games, and crashed quite a bit despite being one of the only commercial ones available.  Maybe it was just my system, as it is a popular front end that many people use, but I just was not overly impressed. 
 
Anyway, perhaps it will indeed work much better for you than it did for me if you venture into it.  As for the video you posted, you can also achieve all that functionality, with all the visual appeal, with MaLa.  It just takes a bit more time as there is more configuration and a layout editor.
 

 

[Uncle Erik]

Pics or it didn't happen. I'd love to see your work!

Now that it looks like I'll have some free space shortly, I'd love to build something like this. Haven't looked too deeply into it, but MAME would be a fun way to have a lot of the games I played as a kid. Though I've also given thought to picking up a pinball machine, especially one of the pre-computerized models. After monkeying with all the old radios and hi-fi gear, I think I could get a pinball machine in order. I've always loved them and the kiddos would have a lot of fun with one, too.

 

[jononku]

Quote:

Pics or it didn't happen.

I'd love to see your work!

Now that it looks like I'll have some free space shortly, I'd love to build something like this. Haven't looked too deeply into it, but MAME would be a fun way to have a lot of the games I played as a kid. Though I've also given thought to picking up a pinball machine, especially one of the pre-computerized models. After monkeying with all the old radios and hi-fi gear, I think I could get a pinball machine in order. I've always loved them and the kiddos would have a lot of fun with one, too.

Pinball machines are pricey, and according to a friend of mine that is into that sort of thing, it can be a pain to maintain as parts are harder to come by these days.  Regardless, I too am keeping an eye out for a reasonably priced machine, it would complement the arcade quite nicely.
 
Here a few quick shots I took today.  I had some really nice ones that I took the time to get right, but can't find them.  Anyway, the cabinet is entirely eggshell black which adds to the difficultly in getting the proper exposure for the snaps in my basement.  Although you can't see it, there is a foldable cupholder (also painted to match the cab) on each side to hold your beverage while you are shooting goblins and saving the world from space aliens. 

  And yes, that is donkey kong that I currently have selected in my front end software.
 
 

 

 
 


 


 

 

[monterto]

Mars matrix. That is all.

 

[jononku]

Quote:

Mars matrix. That is all.

I had to check after reading your post, and sure enough, it's on my system.  It is one of (too) many vertical shooters I've got; good graphics and sound.