teh Forum

Posted: **Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:07 pm**

So this last thursday was turkey day and I decided to take the day off to eat delicious food that other people made for me and watch football until I fell asleep. I also worked on the cabinet for the first time since the admiral and the admin were down to lend a hand and while doing so I came up for a few changes to the original plan. I've decided to put a kegorator in the bottom portion of the cabinet since I have nothing else to do with all that space. With the addition of the keg and tap, a change of name is neccessary. Whats a good name for an all-in-one arcade with built in keg-o-rator?

Original Post wrote:I'm finally coming across a little spare time on the weekends, which means it's time for another monkey-lairish type project...and the Mame Station Alpha Two Gold MX8000 Pro Series Arcade Cabinet is long overdue!

My goal is to build a two-player, stand up Arcade Cabinet housing every video game in existance for under $500. This price covers all raw materials needed to build the completed cabinet from scratch. Here's the list I've assembled so far:

Cabinet:
- 3 Sheets of 4'X8' MDF 3/4" thick: $44.00
- 4' strip of 2"x 2" lumber: $2.00
- Screws (assorted lengths, #8 wood screws) $8.00
- 4 2.5" L-Brackets: $3.72
- 6 2" L-Brackets: $1.66
- 4 Shelf Brackets, 8 - 10 inches: $13.16
- Cabinet Hinges (for front cabinet access): $6.00
- Surface bolt: $2.54
- Velcro (for the marquee): $2.00
- Glue Sticks: $4.50
- Wood putty: $3.00
- Sandpaper: $6.00
- 1 Gallon of Paint: $17.00
- Primer: $10.00
- 40' T-molding: $16.00
- 4 2.5" Casters: $12.96

Monitor:
- Used 27" TV: $100.00

Guts:
- AMD CPU (~2500+) and MoBo: $90.00
- 512MB PC2700 RAM: $45.00
- 120GB HDD: $60.00
- 300W PS: $20.00

Controls:
- 2 Happ Champ Joysticks: $10.00
- 20 Happ Comp. Pushbuttons: $10.00
- 1-2 Player Pushbuttons: $4.00
- 3" Trackball: $10.00 on ebay
- Spinner Control (Can be built out old mouse parts): $0.00
- Assorted Wiring and Supplies: $25.00

Grand Total: $499.54

Now, of course, I'm being very optimistic, as I have room in budget for $0.46 worth of error. This price doesn't include artwork or any tools I'll need that I don't already have. I'm sure I can borrow the tools I'll need when I need em. The router is the only tool that's gonna be a bitch to find. McKev, does gramps have a router?

What am I missing?

Posted: **Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:21 pm**

I've got a couple routers.

... a Linksys and a D-link!

You think a 120GB HDD is gonna be big enough for all that? Isn't MAME like 60GBs now? What about PS1 ISOs and N64 Games?

You could put in a second drive and have it play cartoons too.

TV or monitor? Wouldn't you get far better resolution with a CRT monitor?

Sounds cool though, can't wait to play it. But I can't help but think that maybe one of those extra weekends would be better spent coming up here for a Fat Tire or two. eh? eh?

Posted: **Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:34 pm**

Har har har... thats funny ender...

I think he might just have a router! I'll ask him next time i am in touch.

Your pops dont have one?

Posted: **Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:42 pm**

Sounds cool though, can't wait to play it. But I can't help but think that maybe one of those extra weekends would be better spent coming up here for a Fat Tire or two. eh? eh?

how bout you bring your fat tire down, the admiral can bring his fat ass up, and we can make a day of monkeys drinking and playing with power tools.

yes, a CRT monitor would produce a much better resolution for a much worse price, and I've already maxed out the budget. As far as drives go, if and when I run out of space, I'll add another drive. Or for $10-20 more, I can get a 160GB drive. For $100, I could get a 250gb drive.

We used to have a router when we had a carpenter living in the house. But he left and took his stupid router with him.

Posted: **Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:03 pm**

MAME is only ~30GB currently, and the rest of my emu collection is not more than ~6GB (excluding CD games.) I think he shouldn't have a problem with storage. Plus, there won't be a lot of other utilities, apps, etc. taking up space.

Make sure you get the highest density particle board that you can, because a router could take sizeable chunks out of the edge of lower density stock.

I was thinking I wanted to build an upright, but I don't think I'd like standing up long enough to play on it. Perhaps if it had USB ports on the front, so gamepads could be connected for sit-down play.

A table-router, a good drill-press with Forcener (sp?) bits, and a nice counter-sink are quite necessary to do a good particle board project. I'd find someone with at least the drill-press and bits. The table-router is less important. It also helps to have a good Seth V1.0 for computation.

Posted: **Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:16 pm**

I'm with J3RK on this one, 120GB should be plenty.

A Seth 1.0 or a J3RK 4.2 would be ideal for this project, but extremely hard to come by these days. God willing I'll at least find an Ender Gold Series and a McNevin Pro to complete the tasks with utmost efficiency.

The only place I can see the router being a necessary tool would be cutting the 1/8" slots for the T-molding I'm laying on most of the perimeter. I don't know how else I could do it.

Posted: **Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:01 pm**

I have built two rather sizable lofts in the last couple months and have been pretty inspired with what I have seen come out of ChokiStudios as well. I wouldn't mind getting my hands dusty. When we doing this then? Can McNevin get a Saturday off this month?

Posted: **Tue Oct 05, 2004 9:20 am**

There is actually a specific tool for the molding, but I don't know what it's called. My dad has one. I think a router with the right bit would do the same thing though. I'm sure I've seen a bit that cuts a slot at a certain depth. I don't know the names of everything, but I could point at it and say, use this for that and such.

(My uncle has a guitar/cello/any other wooden stringed instrument shop.) My dad has a similar wood working facility too these days. Kinda makes me want to build something. But what?

Actually, I thought a good idea would be to build a flat panel into one of those retro-egg-chairs, a mousing surface on the right side, and a little raise-up keyboard tray that comes up from the front once you're in the chair. The ultimate in comfortable PC isolation chambers.

Posted: **Tue Oct 05, 2004 10:35 am**

i forget the name too, but it's a three winged shaped slot cutting bit for routers.

oh, what do you know, it's called a three winged slotting cutter

http://www.allprotools.com/store/page204.html

Posted: **Tue Oct 05, 2004 10:49 am**

Wooo Woooooo!!!! All hail the three winged slotting cutter!!! And all hail the Overlord!!!

You know the killer bees you wanted? The ones as big as cats?

Posted: **Fri Oct 08, 2004 10:06 am**

but... the parts for the freeze ray havent all come in yet...

Hench-Man Walkiiiiiiiin'!

Posted: **Fri Oct 08, 2004 10:12 am**

Frys is selling a nVidia GeForce MX4000 8X AGP 64MB card for $29.00. This isn't the best card for running Doom3, but what about for powering project $500 Arcade Station?

Posted: **Fri Oct 08, 2004 12:03 pm**

It's perfect for that. It will probably also work with an Project 64, and it will work for sure with EPSXE, so you'll be able to do N64 and PSX emulation on it as well. It may not work too well with the Dreamcast emulator, but you can always upgrade it after the $500 limit has been met in the first place.

2D stuff will not be a problem at all for that card. An ATI card might be a little more crisp in the color and 2D image stability department, but the NV should be fine.

Posted: **Sun Oct 10, 2004 6:23 pm**

I was unable to take off next Saturday. Sunday maybe?

Posted: **Mon Oct 11, 2004 12:29 am**

Maybe. You could come up the OC after work Sat night and we could go to Muldoon's.

Posted: **Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:13 pm**

No one can pour a guiness better and more expensive than muldoons. So what do you say, ray? Can you make it sunday?

I've already cut all the pieces for the cabinet and assembled the base. I'll post pics when I get a chance. So as it stands, the cabinet needs to be assembled, painted, and wired before it can be abused. The sides need routing before we can proceed any further, so McNevin if you can procure the router, I can secure the bit. Ender, if you can procure the fat tire, I can produce the crooked cuts and faulty wiring.

Posted: **Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:22 pm**

Sorry captain... no sunday either. They wont let me off. I called in sick too many times as well.

I'll be up there today actually, and i will have the router. Call me...

Posted: **Fri Oct 15, 2004 12:21 pm**

I'm moving on with the assembly portion of Project $500 arcade station today, with or without you two. I think I may get to cutting the speaker panels today, does anyone have any recommendations for a reasonably priced 2.1 PC speaker set before I go shopping?

Posted: **Fri Oct 15, 2004 1:05 pm**

Don't use PC speakers. Get some free-air car panel speakers of the 6.5" variety. Then get a small reference amplifier from your local electronics store. This is more or less what arcades do. Might cost a little more though. If you're going for authentic arcade sound though, this is the way to do it. As far as cheap PC speakers go though, Altec makes the best of the cheap. There are obviously better ones, but you can get a decent sounding 2.1 Altec system for $60.

Posted: **Fri Oct 15, 2004 1:15 pm**

what would the car speaker route cost me?

would these be good? Sony 4" car speakers

Posted: **Fri Oct 15, 2004 1:22 pm**

project $500 arcade station is underway and a link to the pictures have been posted:

http://www.titeware.com

Posted: **Fri Oct 15, 2004 1:48 pm**

Very nice! I'm impressed. The last thing I saw was your original JoyMonster TM.

This thing is going to be tops. Those speakers would work fine. If you needed anything more in the low-end, you could always add another amplifier and a sub later in the bottom of the cabinet. I'd try to leave some space at the bottom for a round 8" cutout and an enclosure, in case you eventually want to do something like that. Seth wrote software for calculating enclosure and port sizes for making nice speaker cabinets, so you could give him the specs of a sub if you do that, and he could send you back dimensions to make the "walls" and a port size if you port it. I think those 4" jobbies should work quite well to start. If you can find a 5.25" version for a similar price, you'd get a little more lows. The reason these types of speakers work so well, is that they are more or less designed for open-air use for car doors and rear decks, so they work well in the large cabinet. If you did add a sub later, you could even build or get a high-current powersupply and put a car amplifier in there to power it.

Or just get a single channel crossed over sub amp. You may find that it's not necessary at all though. If you've got other things going on in the room, (music, TV, other games, etc,) you might not want this thing to be super loud anyway. That way you can just set the volume to a suitable level and leave it there.

For the monitor/TV, are you going to take the front bezel off of it and make the tube look "built in" to the cabinet?

Posted: **Fri Oct 15, 2004 1:49 pm**

Hanaho (makers of pre-built cabinets,) can just bite a fat...

They sell their cabinets for more than your whole setup costs.

Posted: **Fri Oct 15, 2004 2:24 pm**

ahh, the original JoyMaster, built using nothing more than a square piece of wood and a circular saw for instant gratification. The admiral and I used it the other night to go head to head in the underworld.

For the monitor, I plan to rip the tube out of the casing and mount it inside the cabinet. There's a great tutorial on the net showing how to make a great looking $2 bezel out of thick paper to hide the inner mysteries of project $500 arcade visuals.

I recommend anyone building an arcade cab to keep handy a J3RK for all hardware, software, carpentry, botany, and early persian tapestry related questions

Posted: **Fri Oct 15, 2004 3:13 pm**

That's J3RK TM

It's also handy if your J3RK TM has a com interface for use with the Seth TM module.

The original J3RK TM could produce some outlandish and rather unfeasible (though still pretty cool,) ideas. When interfaced with Seth TM, these ideas get trimmed down to sleak, practical, and very functional ideas.

Seth TM also has a vast database of tools, electronics, materials, programming, etc. for top notch efficiency.

Order your J3RK today for the blowout price of $29.95, and we'll throw in this Sethcom Interface for free. (Seth TM not included.)

But how can I go any lower that twenty-nine, ninety five?

Posted: **Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:54 pm**

What color is the gallon of paint that you bought for this device?

Posted: **Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:22 am**

Not yet purchased. I have no clue what I want this thing to look like when it comes to painting it. I'm thinking I should paint it white and slap your avatar on the side. I think that would look pretty frackin kewl. It's times like these I wish I had a Stroh living around the corner so I could have him paint me a big Tom Selleck whenever I needed one.

Posted: **Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:42 am**

Hey Beeeph... looks great so far.

I couldn't help but think while looking at those pics how cool it would be to build a 4 player console...

This game parts booth at the "Amusement Machine Show" last month would have been perfect for your project:

Posted: **Sun Oct 17, 2004 9:02 am**

ooooh, Pastel!

Game pants?

Posted: **Sun Oct 17, 2004 10:18 am**

That would be awesome considering I have to mail order all my controls and the shipping rates are outrageous for some gosh darn reason. And man, that leopard skinned trigger grip handle would look great built into the cab.

A four player console is a possibility for sure, but it depends what everything else ends up costing. A four player console ends up costing 4 times more than a two player console.

Can somebody translate the price of those ball shaped joysticks? I'm just curious.

teh Forum

Project $500 Arcade Station

Project $500 Arcade Station

Well they're ready...