Bar Top Arcade Machine

Been thinking about making one of these for some time.  Fully bought they can be £400 plus.

We have an old ‘mini’ desktop PC going spare which car easily run Mame (we have Mame on a laptop at present) so I’ll re-purpose that as it’s a quad code i5 (faster than a PI3).

Just got to get the buttons (form about £22 for 1 player, £44 for two), and MDF/paint/vinyl wrap.

We also have a couple of 17″ 4:3 LCD monitors in the loft.   Will need to leave enough ‘width’ in the cabinet for a widescreen, just in-case the old monitors eventually die.

Anyone else built one ?  One player or two configuration (just means casing get’s bigger)

No, but I have a very battered old laptop that I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with that could be just the job for something like this…

Picked up a Picade kit that should build into a very cute little 1-player one (using a Raspberry Pi 3). Plenty of youtube videos on building your own though – maybe will get around to a bigger 2 player one at some point.

Looking at the 17″ monitor last night, and it’s still going to be a big ish case anyway. Want to keep weight down but with 18mm MDF it won’t be light.

If sticking with a laptop, you can get arcade controllers for about £40, which makes stuff like pacman much more playable than an xbox type controller – they just don’t work well with old games.

I have an old Mega Drive Arcade Stick in my loft somewhere that I keep meaning to drag out as I bought a ‘mega drive to usb’ PC adapter about 18 months ago – still not found it.

MAME emulator can be a bit of a pain when they update the emulator, and your ROMS are out of date, but I’ve just got 50gb of version 0.197 ROMS and 0.197 of the emulator.  About 12,000 games to play with (says the man who used to play 5-6 all the time).

Things have progressed loads for the DIY builder – you can even get pre-cut cases that just need screwing together.  The joysticks and buttons all come with a circuit board that attaches to USB (for PI and PC).  So much easier.

We also have a similarly old PC under the telly for Kodi/popcorn time which has space for a Mame Emulator – ohh Pacman and Frogger on 42″ and bigger screen.

Not built one since about 2008 when i Mame’d a old arcade cab but follow what you can do pretty closely and keep a 4tb Hyperspin build together .. Sky’s the limit with what you want to do you can emulate up to ps3 now with i5 . If its just arcade games best bet in my opinion is look at a pre-built emulation station/Retro Pie build and an ebay frame that suits you .. Your still getting the satisfaction of a project but it takes out some of the more painful parts.

check out Robs page to see whats possible by someone who does it as a business

https://www.facebook.com/RetroisNow/

Checkout ArcadePunks. Some great guides and cab/table plans. I was planning on doing a coffee table Pi arcade using RetroPie. It’s all working, but ditched the coffee table arcade idea and got a PiNES case. I had 1000’s of games, I now have about 100, but it’s games that I know, rather than scrolling endlessly through games I have never ever heard of.

Want to build one of these after Xmas.

http://www.koenigs.dk/mame/eng/drawverticade.htm

If anyone is in the Brighton area and could make use of 19″ 4:3 monitors let me know. They are unframed so ideal for building into housings.That’s what we used to do with them on exhibition stands. They are also touch screens with usb and serial control. VGA in and 1280×1024 IIRC. They have been sitting doing nothing for years so will end up being disposed of at some point. I’d much rather they found a use.

I did one about 3 years ago.

Bought the MDF case and buttons off ebay. Used a RaspberryPi3 and the RetroPi image.

It still needs finishing.

I’d love to build one but we haven’t got the space (invaders) for it. My OH gets Arkanoid enough at me playing old video games on the laptop as it is…

Crap puns notwithstanding, RetroArch is ace for older stuff on a spare laptop (or whatever.) PS1 games seem to run ok on it, which is nice.

Just thought I’d chip in on this thread. If any of you arcade game lovers are in striking distance of Bury, then Arcade Club is an absolute must.

Its Gaming nirvana. Hundreds of retro arcade games. Just about every one you can remember. 12 quid in and they’re all on free play. And theres a bar! 😀

Nowhere on earth swallows a rainy winter weekend afternoon like Arcade Club

Just thought I’d chip in on this thread. If any of you arcade game lovers are in striking distance of Bury, then Arcade Club is an absolute must

Took my son and daughter there a few weeks ago, awesome way to lose a few hours.

Plenty of games for all ages (son is 6, daughters 18)and both loved it.

Well it’s done. Cost a bit over £200 with wood, buttons, refurbed 20″ 4:3 monitor and a free donor i5 mini pc.

Took a good 3 weekends – bit at a time rather than hammering the job out

<script async src=”//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

<script async src=”//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

Part way, working out internal space

<script async src=”//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

PS It’s farkin heavy.

18mm MDF sides, base and top section, 12mm MDF button areas on front. Big 20″ old monitor (1600×1200 pixels so was good in it’s time).

Wood £35
Fixings £20
Monitor £27
Controls £45 (includes all wires and a usb interface)
Vinyl Wrap £18
Stickers £12 (for 3 sets)
Speakers £12
Primer £8
28mm drill bit £5 (had all the other sizes)
Chrome Trim £8
Black paint £8
LED Lightings £9 For behind the Marquee
Perspex £10 Only £1 each but postage etc – cut to exact size
Marquee £4 Says Arcade and can be backlit

So about £221

I had a few bits in, like Monitor cable and extension lead. Used a hole saw to cut vent holes in the back. Hinges and a lock for a back panel so I can get access. Had all the tools other than a 28mm drill bit for the buttons.

Vinyl stuck down OK, but bubbled a bit when fitting the buttons, which was fixed with the heat from a hair dryer – all sorted.

Decided not to use a router to put grooves in the MDF to fit T-trim on the ends, and bought car chrome self adhesive trim – just used extra glue on the sharp bends.

The MDF dust was bad enough working outdoors, and didn’t fancy all that from a router with a slot cutting edge.

Really pleased with it, not sure where it will go, but it will find a home in the garage, and come out when we have friends and family round for parties.

Currently has over 1000 Mame games (many more with duplicates/different editions), Spectrum games, Mega Drive and N64.

Mame is driven by Launch Box on the front end that looks well polished (menu system with screen shots of the game and a ‘history’ section.

That’s ace!