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Thread: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

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    Fever Hunter Angry_Radish's Avatar
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    Default Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    I've been meaning to get around to this for years, but higher HQ (The wife) has finally given her approval, so I'm gearing up to build a MAME box.
    Anyone else here done it?
    I know there's tons of resources on the net, and I have the plans I want, just curious if anyone here has as well, and if there is anything they wish they did differently...

    I'm planning on sticking with only 2 players on it, both because of the cost for controls, and the fact that there aren't many 4 player games out there worth playing:-)

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    Captain Weirdo Sid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    Guilty.



    thing i would do differently.. hmmm probably Finish it entrirely before i started beta testing..

    i have had it without a bezel for the last year.. bad Sid bad....

    "I've stopped fighting my inner demons, we are on the same side now."

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    Sandwich Shooter Bigsasquatch's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    Nah..... forget MAME / Emulation and go for the real deal and get a Candy Cab ........I got myself a SEGA Aero City running Atomiswave right now.....go to www.killercabs.com there is a good cab related community there......

    BIG S
    Pachinko: Star Wars, Gachinko 7, Thunderzone, Apollo, Top Gun

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    Fever Hunter Angry_Radish's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    LOL, I can't tell you how many times iv'e seen the same thing on other people's build pages, they say they couldnt resist plugging everything in and playing, then the project languished forever because they lost the momentum:-)
    Did you follow anyones specific plans, or just wing it?
    I almost picked up a robotron cabinet for $50 off ebay awhile back, but I wasn't sure my 27" screen would fit in there, so now I'm going to build from scratch...

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    Sandwich Shooter Bigsasquatch's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    then I realised you were in the USA........go to www.neo-geo.com and hunt down Matsu ...... he'll give you a gret deal on a cab.....get something like a SEGA Astro city and you can convert it for Mame anyhow......then you get the best of both worlds.......


    BIG S
    Pachinko: Star Wars, Gachinko 7, Thunderzone, Apollo, Top Gun

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    Fever Hunter Angry_Radish's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bigsasquatch
    Nah..... forget MAME / Emulation and go for the real deal and get a Candy Cab ........I got myself a SEGA Aero City running Atomiswave right now.....go to www.killercabs.com there is a good cab related community there......

    BIG S
    Nice!
    I ran across pics of one of those awhile back, but have never been able to find plans!

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    Sid

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    Captain Weirdo Sid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    I winged it mostly.... the cab you see is a rebuild, of sorts i had a friend who was moving into a smaller place and he had an old custom explorer cab.
    (the Monitor you see is the old arcade monitor i have since put in a TV) He donated to me, i then stripped it down and changed it
    the original cab had a different control panel etc, i had to build the entire thing thats sticking out with the controls on it the original was 1 joystick and 3 buttons. along with that i had to add a sliding drawer for the keyboard, stabalize the whole thing and then then sand and putty the the whole thing (there was a lot of damage)before i used vinyl lamintate to cover the whole thing.

    Honestly in hindsight aside from the testing, part i would have done a scratch build.. i thought rebuilding would be easier but it wasnt..

    the insides of the cab are a
    P4 1.3ghz
    128 megs ram,
    128 Asus Graphics Card with tv out

    21" Sony Trinitron TV

    all buttons, joysticks and keyboard emulator where bought through Ultimarc in the UK the Joysticks are pull and change 4 way 8 ways..
    and i have about 7000 games running on it.

    Arcade
    Nintendo
    Super Nintendo
    Atari 2600

    will gladly help out with what ever you need.

    "I've stopped fighting my inner demons, we are on the same side now."

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    Dr. Frankenpachi alstonj1's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    this is my humble little tom thumb Mame it has a modest 1500 games but fits in anywhere ya want to put it and moves from room to room easily . its really my beta machine cause if i don't sell the other video poker its gonna be my real machine ,better cabinet and a little more room .....My kids love it ....
    Jeff

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    Sid

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    Fever Hunter Angry_Radish's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    If I can't track down some plans for a candy cab, I think I'll stick with the plans I have, though finish-wise, I'm planning on doing the same thing I'm going to do with my pachi stand I'm working on. I am really rounding the edges quite a bit, and then sealing it up with body filler, sanding it down super smooth, then taking it down the road to the auto body repair place to have 'em shoot it with a really high-gloss white, I want this thing looking like plastic:-)

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    Captain Weirdo Sid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    not modest at all Jeff,

    I like the small Bar Cabs.

    I have an outdated Laptop that im going to convert to one of those bartops.. just for the hecl of it.. but when there is Time there is no money and when there is money there is no time..


    "I've stopped fighting my inner demons, we are on the same side now."

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    Fever Hunter Angry_Radish's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    I agree, those bartops are nice!
    Every time I see one on ebay I'm tempted to grab one, not sure how I would hack the screen to a pc though, how did you do it Jeff?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sid
    not modest at all Jeff,

    I like the small Bar Cabs.

    I have an outdated Laptop that im going to convert to one of those bartops.. just for the hecl of it.. but when there is Time there is no money and when there is money there is no time..

    I have a spare 15" lcd monitor and some old pc's laying around, I was thinking of making some sort of jukebox out of it, but you hit the nail on the head, time time time
    Too many things I want to do, and not enough time:-)
    Last edited by Angry_Radish; 05-16-2006 at 09:53 AM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

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    Kungishi DaStooge's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    My MAME cab is down right now, need a new monitor and video card. I picked up an empty Lethal Enforcers cab for $5 at Super Auctions. I don't know how close you are to Milwaukee, but they will be there in June if you want to check them out. http://www.superauctions.com/dates.html
    "betcha can't have just one"

    PachiFu "the way of the sphere"

    ダン

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    Captain Weirdo Sid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    Most Bartop cabs are just 14/15 inch monitors..

    dont know what Jeff is running.. a bit difficult to see with the tinted glas

    "I've stopped fighting my inner demons, we are on the same side now."

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    Kungishi Youngjedi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    Mame is Awesome...I built one last year and have loved it ever since.

    I thought about the project about 4 years ago. I kept over designing it in my head. I wanted it to play not only the classic arcade games, but the new ones for the PC as well. This over-designing put the project on hold until one day I realized that a good Mame cabinet is all about the classic arcade games.


    I got the Cocktail cabintet kit from http://www.arcadedepot.com/

    I decided on the cocktail cabinet to conserve space. It works great and the kit was simple to build. Total cost was about 550.00
    Kit (199.00)
    Control Panels and controls (150.00)
    Monitor (198.00)
    Ipac Controlller (65.00)...a must for easy hook up.

    All the controls I bought at HAPP Controls (http://www.happcontrols.com/)

    The Mame software in mine has a great gui. no need to run dos commands and the PC was an old pentium that runs XP Pro. very little needed to run the games.

    Youngjedi


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    Fever Hunter Angry_Radish's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    Quote Originally Posted by DaStooge
    My MAME cab is down right now, need a new monitor and video card. I picked up an empty Lethal Enforcers cab for $5 at Super Auctions. I don't know how close you are to Milwaukee, but they will be there in June if you want to check them out. http://www.superauctions.com/dates.html
    Perfect!
    That will be about 10 mins from my house!
    I'll probably have mine built by then, but there's always room for one more:-)

    hmmm.. wonder if they will have any candy cabs? :-)

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    Kungishi DaStooge's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    I'm sure they will, they have pretty much everything when they come through here. Thats where I got my first Pachi
    "betcha can't have just one"

    PachiFu "the way of the sphere"

    ダン

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    Blind Shooter ken524's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    My family loves our MAME cab. It gets a lot of play. GO FOR IT!

    Our has a 21" monitor I bought cheap at a computer show. 2-player controls and "Golden Tee" style trackball in the center. Also, don't forget to put buttons on the sides for pinball "Flippers". We have Microsoft Pinball, Austin Powers, and a few other Pinball games installed. Get 'em cheap at WalMart.

    The PacMan coin-door was purchased for ~$30 on Ebay. I cleaned it, touched up the paint, rewired for new lights. Powered by the PC's power supply. It's wired into the coin buttons on the controller so it actually works. Put a quarter in, play a game!

    I also installed MP3 Jukebox software on it. Great while we are playing Pachinko, darts and air hockey. Get some fairly nice PC speakers for it (subwoofer in the base of the cabinet).

    I wouldn't change a thing (other than adding horsepower to the PC... bigger is better for emulators)

    -Ken


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    Fever Hunter Angry_Radish's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    Looks great!
    Good idea doing the pinball thing, I forgot about pinmame, now I need to dig up that pachinko rom I saw somewhere on the forums... :-)

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    Dr. Frankenpachi alstonj1's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    the monitor is a 14 inch computer monitor . I removed the case and mounted it just like the old monitor was mounted . used an old monitor with the analog switch so i didn't have to reach in to turn on the monitor each time it powers up (it powers up via the master 110 on off switch this way ) the computer is a 800 mhz pent 3 and a decent size video built in to the computer (its a very small hp machine bought it on e-bay for $50.00 and run it on xp pro ) thats the great part about these machines they don't need much of a computer to run the emulator . the emulator runs the menu via the joystick (no need for a keyboard ) . there are interface boards sold on ebay that convert the analog controls to digital keyboard commands and plug right into the keyboard socket on the computer and most are really cheap even my coin slot works (but i added a credit button cause its easier ). theres even a board to convert VGA to the old RGB for the old arcade monitor if you choose to use it .the controls where alot cheaper than i expected they would be also (i use to work in an arcade repairing machines and they weren't cheap then ) .I use mine to run only the old arcade machine roms I'm not personally into the console game versions ,only the ones i worked on years ago now i have the whole arcade in one bar top machine its excellent .Had many a trip down memory lane with this machine ( especially ASTEROIDS only wish i could find a working copy of berserk that the sounds work on .).By the way although the screen is hard to see in the pic because of the tinted glass it makes the video 10 times better cause you dont see the edges of the monitor screen and the edges of the emulator screen on the monitor just like the arcades are designed to hide .
    Last edited by alstonj1; 05-16-2006 at 04:55 PM.
    Jeff

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    Fever Hunter trout16's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone built a MAME cabinet?

    AR best of luck to you that has been on my list as well I cheated kinda not MAME but I bought a DK cocktail table and put this in it. http://www.arcadeshop.com/multi-pcb/multi-pcb.htm When I do do MAME I will make sure to include DAPHNE somehow or do something along the lines of arcade legends platform so I can finally have Dragon's Lair check out my games on page 16 of gameroom thread let me know if I can help you with anything!

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