Project $500 Arcade Station

Beeeph · Post by **Beeeph** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 7:28 pm

The first day back and I spent it designing and cutting the controls layout. Seeing as how you all wake each morning hoping for more pictures and updates, I thought I'd give a few:

The photoshopped design, which was a total bizzneotch to make since the size of the drawings I found were all off scale to begin with. The layout includes the trackball, spinner, illuminated power button, 6 joysticks, and 42 pushbuttons...this ain't your granddaddy's coin-operated video arcade unit.

The mastah at work

This thing has more holes than a pauly shore flick.

Heaven shining its light upon the arkeg. It's not really heaven, that's just how the picture turned out and I thought it was cool.

EDIT#1: Spelling
EDIT#2: Grammar
EDIT#3: Spelling and Grammar

Goemon · Post by **Goemon** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 7:40 pm

I'm blinded by the sheer brilliance of this masterpiece! Is that a trackball in the center? Or is it just a HUGE button?

mistasparkle* · Post by mistasparkle* » Sun Dec 19, 2004 8:00 pm

dude that kicks ass!

Beeeph · Post by **Beeeph** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 8:06 pm

that hole in the center is where the mole pops out and you have to wac it with a mallot

Goemon · Post by **Goemon** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 8:21 pm

Awesome! I didn't know you were loading the TeamSigmaTV game on the arkeg too!

(btw, nice shot of the Trenchcoat Mafia honing their marksmenship on the wack-a-mole before heading into Columbine. Or is that pic from the "Family Day" fair at the CIA headquarters?)

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 8:32 pm

Nice work Colonel Sleeeph!

Beeeph · Post by **Beeeph** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 2:18 pm

I've successfully transformed this

into this

It's been up and running for a couple weeks now but I didn't wanna post pics until the keg cooler/dispenser was installed. It looks as though that may be a little while seeing as how I can stop playing it long enough to get back to work on it.

22ft of CAT5 cable was used to connect 4 8-way joys, 2 4-way joys, a trackball, spinner, and a bunch of buttons. Powering this mess is an AMD Sempron 2500+, 256 megs of PC2700 RAM, 430 watt ATX PS, onboard sound (sounds great), and some GeForce MX card, I forget. All the components can be powered on/off at the same time with a single iluminated pushbutton. All in all...it runs great!

Here are some screenshots of the Front End Software (MameWah) I'm using:

By disabling all windows startup screens and shutdown messages, as well as replacing the windows explorer shell with this front end software, I've managed to completely hide any evidence of windows running this cab.

Who wants some?

Post by **enderzero** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 2:39 pm

Wow looks awesome! Nice grfx! PC is in the controller box? Oh what was all that arguing for over the skiing mb? Can you post some pics of the beer dispensing device?

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 4:16 pm

WOW!!! That is so very nice!!! I don't think I've seen a better cabinet. Ever. I really like the way the PC bits are in the control section. I actually want to build a Mini-ITX system into my JoyMaster, so I can just plug it into a TV wherever I may be. Some of the upper end Mini-ITX boards would run MAME no problem (though some of the software rendered 3D stuff might not be so good.) It will still be able to act as just a controller though for my PC as well.

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 4:17 pm

Oh, I have one suggestion. Did you paint the logo on the top, or can it be removed and replaced with another? If it can be swapped, you should do ARKEG in the ARKANOID font.

Goemon · Post by **Goemon** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 4:50 pm

That looks incredible! Nice work! Color me jealous.

mistasparkle* · Post by mistasparkle* » Thu Jan 06, 2005 4:59 pm

dude that looks frixloring amazing!!

nice job! How hard was it doing all that wiring? And how do all those controls hook up to the mobo? (is that little wire hub on the right a pseudo keyboard or something?)

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 5:05 pm

Interesting. I didn't notice that. Is it just a USB control harness sort of thing? I haven't looked at control circuitry before, I always rip apart existing controllers for my projects. Is it a HAPP device?

Post by **enderzero** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 6:03 pm

That was a PS2 keyboard (I believe). The USB on the front is for additional devices.

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 6:33 pm

Interesting if that's the case. Many keyboard controller chips have problems with multiple keys pressed at once. Hand picked I imagine then?

McNevin · Post by **McNevin** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 9:31 pm

Actually its a special device designed exactly for that purpose. The ps2 keyboard had the multiple key press problem, so he bought that mame control interface.

Nice job Colonel Beeeph, that is by far the best ever arcade cabinet i have ever seen.

Guess what guys, I get to go play this bad boy tomorrow, muhuhahahah!

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 9:33 pm

About how much does one of those little IO devices cost?

Beeeph · Post by **Beeeph** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 12:56 am

bout $65 + shipping & tax if bought through the people that make em, ultimarc inc. I bought mine for $35 from a guy who's chopping up his cabinet and selling the parts. I was originally planning on hacking a keyboard to save money, but after breaching the $1000 mark and reading up on the complexity of the hack and all it's down sides...I was quickly swayed. The front mounted USB ports run independently of the keyboard encoder. It's just a hub that plugs directly into the USB port on the mobo. The wiring was so easy with that encoder card. All I had to do was connect control A to contact A and keep it as organized as possible. That CAT5 cable worked out great for keeping things organized and color coded. And by using CAT5 cable, the total cost of electrical wire added up to about $2. Other useful items include the flush trim router bit used to cut the plexiglass overlay. I bought a router under the impression I'd use it for about 5 mins to cut the T-molding groves and it turned out to be one of the most useful tools for the project.

That's a great idea about the arkeg font, J3RK. I don't know why I didn't think of that as well considering arkanoid's been one of the most widely played games on the cab up to now.

The parts for the pony kegorator haven't yet arrived. But here's whats goin in eventually:
3.9 cu ft frige

and the conversion kit.

I haven't yet figured out what I'm gonna do about some kind of drip tray.

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:02 am

Nice!

Post by **enderzero** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 2:48 pm

Boyyy, so much great stuff on 1up today.

Worst MAMECabinet designs evar

Awesome miniMAME

Post by **enderzero** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 6:06 pm

While I have beeeph's attention, I thought I would draw it towards this fantastic quote permilinked here.

There's an interesting rags to finely rendered riches story to be found in an interview conducted with Valve's newest employees -- the DigiPen students responsible for Narbacular Drop, a crazy foray into transitive gameplay that now serves as the inspiration for Valve's mindbending Portal. Kim Swift, one of the developers on the project, notes how rapidly their run-in with Gabe Newell changed their careers and their lives...

Beeeph · Post by **Beeeph** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 6:57 pm

stop the clock! look what i done finished...

<img src="http://students.cecs.csulb.edu/~jcrotch ... keg001.jpg">
<img src="http://students.cecs.csulb.edu/~jcrotch ... keg002.jpg">
<img src="http://students.cecs.csulb.edu/~jcrotch ... keg006.jpg">
<img src="http://students.cecs.csulb.edu/~jcrotch ... keg003.jpg">
<img src="http://students.cecs.csulb.edu/~jcrotch ... keg004.jpg">
<img src="http://students.cecs.csulb.edu/~jcrotch ... keg005.jpg">
<img src="http://students.cecs.csulb.edu/~jcrotch ... keg007.jpg">

those last two pics show my ghetto props. since the CP sits at an angle and the fridge door hits the bottom of the CP when the door is opened, i had to figure out a way to easily prop the CP up in order swap out kegs when needed...and there it is.

thanks to all the monkeys for your dope and wine during the creation of the arkeg.

spidermonkey · Post by **spidermonkey** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 7:28 pm

Nicely completed... Especially the propping mechanism...

Post by **enderzero** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:22 am

Unbeerlievable!! I think a ArKeg cristening party is in order!

How's the sand pit coming?

Beeeph · Post by **Beeeph** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 10:16 am

McNevin · Post by **McNevin** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 10:44 am

Nooo! The regular sand is already mingling with the play sand.

Great job there Beeeph, looks fantastic.

Post by **enderzero** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 2:52 pm

For your next project b3e, how about dual dance mats?

The site has some other decently fun projects as well.

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 8:36 pm

BTW: the Joymaster MkII is up for sale. $120 worth of parts, (unless you're 3nder who bought the SideWinder guts,) in which case it's $80 in parts. A day of work, and we arrive at:

$200 - For someone...
$160 - For 3nder...

Possible Monkey discounts may apply.

USB interface, proper one and two player start buttons, one auxiliary button per side, tilting/detachable control surface, etc.

Beeeph · Post by **Beeeph** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 2:45 pm

unoriginal bastards!

http://cgi.ebay.com/THE-GAMERATOR-Arcad ... dZViewItem

props to them for selling them at $2K though, that ain't easy...i don't think. but it's no doubt ugly.

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Project $500 Arcade Station

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