Planning a project is always important. It might keep cost down, building time short and make a better final result. I planned the project
for 3 years and building time was as short as two weeks (maybe 30 hours of effective work including 6 hours of travel time to pick up the cabinet).Building your own arcade cabinet involves a lot of decisions
and you will need several resources. My advice is to take a lot of time to read about other projects and to gather information about what decisions you might have to make, and what resources you might need.
I
have made so many decisions on paper during the last 3 years and my project has changed so many times that I lost count. It is a process, and I think it has helped me to raise the quality and to speed up the
building time.
Here are some of the decisions I recommend that you make on paper before you actually start your project.
1. Cabinet Style
Arcade cabinets come in several flavours. Full-size Upright or
Sit-down, Cocktail (small sit-down), Cabaret (mid-size upright), Environmental (all over you).
Cabinets might be built for a specific game with a custom control panel, artwork, and colours or a more general
cabinet made to host several games. The
is a good site to study different types of cabinets.2. Cabinet Source
There are several sources for cabinets. You can use a real cabinet or build one of you own.
A
real one will guarantee an authentic look and feel but it might be hard to find a cabinet of the right style. Try not to ruin old classical cabinets in good condition. Sell it to a collector and buy a generic
JAMMA cabinet instead. Contact a local video game repair shop to se if they have any useful cabinets for sale.
Building a cabinet from scratch will guarantee the right design but it might be harder to get the
authentic look and feel. Check how much a carpenter would charge for the work if you lack the skill or the tools needed.
3. Monitor
Several options are at hand. Multisync monitor, fixed frequency
monitor, arcade monitor or a TV.
Multisync monitor works in all resolutions with standard MAME and all other emulators but can be really expensive if you want anything bigger than 17".
Fixed frequency
monitors can be found quite cheep but are more or less limited to a single resolution and they might need special software and hardware.
Arcade monitors requires special software and hardware but have the
authentic look and feel.
TV is cheep, especially if you need a big one, but the image quality is not as good as on a monitor. A TV might also need special software and hardware.
4. Controls
Use of
original arcade controls is not a decision, it is a must. But the selection and brand of controls might call for some decisions. You can copy the layout of an original game, make a compromise or a monster panel.
A
copy of an original control panel will provide authentic look and feel but might only handle a handful of games. Making several swappable panels can solve this.
A design with some well-chosen controls might cover most
of the games provided by MAME and other emulators. Scope of emulators and games must serve as input for the compromise. Authentic look and feel might be kept if done carefully.
The monster panel will have
enough controls to cover all games and emulators that might be of interest. It might also contain additional controls for maintenance and other kind of applications. I see no way to keep the authentic look and
feel of an arcade cabinet with a monster panel.
site for more information.6. Additional decisions
PC hardware, sound system, operating system,
front end etc. is quite easy to change while building and even after the project is finished.
Another question is cost. I am not counting (what is the price of your childhood memories) but I can tell you that
it is going to cost you a lot of money. So make sure that you are prepared to spend what it will cost to finish a project like this.
