BUILDING YOUR OWN ARCADE CABINETPhil Denoncourt IIIwww.philknows.net

MAJOR SECTIONS

Cabinet Electronics Software

CABINET

Either find an old one (~ $300- $900) Ebay Craigslist

Purchase a kit (~ $500 - $2700) Rec Room Masters MameRoom Monster Arcades

Build your own ( ~$200 + 20 hours) ArcadeCab.com

BUILD YOUR OWN

ArcadeCab is nearly idiot proof Cut by Cut instructions, lots of warnings Need to adjust some dimensions depending on size

of monitor, speakers Basic woodworking skills

Jigsaw Table saw Miter Saw Router

Most materials (wood, acrylic) can be gotten from Lowes

Bought T-Molding online (www.t-molding.com) Designed own Marquee, but you can order them

online

ELECTRONICS

Computer 10 year old computers work fine

Speakers Subwoofer really adds to depth

Arcade controls Buttons Joysticks Trackballs Spinners Light Guns Driving Pedals, Shifters

Interface cards Coin Door / Bill Door Ticket Dispenser LEDs

COMPUTER / SPEAKERS

You’re emulating games that ran at a megahertz

Old computers work fine Mine is 10 year old student level

All-in-one OS can be Windows, Mac, or Linux Best to use All in one so you don’t

have to secure both a monitor and CPU

Bought car speakers Used an old Logitech subwoofer Sounds fantastic due to wooden

cabinet

INTERFACE CARDS

Need to present devices to computer

Usually keyboard emulators, or game device emulators

I liked Ultimarc I-PAC Ultimate I/O

Support nearly any control Supports outputs, such as

lights Plan your layout to make sure

you have enough interface cards

2 Player – generally one card 4 Player – generally two cards

CONTROLS

Purchase online from Amazon.com Xgaming.com MikesArcade.com Ultimarc.com GroovyGameGear.com

Plan out your layout ahead of time Quite a variety online

Buttons – $1-2 per button Joysticks - $10-50 per joystick Trackballs - $50-$100 per trackball Spinners - $60-$100 per spinner Lightguns - $95 per gun Pedals, Shift sticks - $100-$200

COIN DOOR / BILL DOOR

Adds more reality Cost $40-$140

Xgaming.com TwistedQuarter.com

Bill Door cost $120-$200 Triggers a momentary switch

when quarter is placed. Wire switch to interface board

SOFTWARE

Arcade Emulator - Use MAME (mame.net).

Well supported, constantly being improved.

Emulates arcade system, older consoles (Atari, Nintendo, Sega).

Front-end to choose game I wrote my own Tons to choose from

ROMs Download from variety of sites. Torrents that provide a pretty big

set Legality is unclear. It seems that

you should own the ROM