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Tekken3 -> Mame an idiots project
Smeghead:
I figured id put this into a thread here as although my cab is not the coolest or techincally brilliant compared to most on here, it does serve a good purpose to show what an idiot who knows NOTHING about soldering, woodworking or electronics can do.
If thats you, theres hope! Because I did it:
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DAY1
I wondered if there were any arcade repairers in my area, and to my surprise I found one about 5 miles from me
I gave them a call and asked if they have any old arcade cabinets 'out back' that they could sell me
What a stupid question that seems now. I've been there twice now, once to see what he had and once to pick up the one I chose
Each time I was there he practically had to tell me LEAVE! Hes very busy and I just wanted to spend hours there looking through his huge warehouse
full of every 1978-1995 arcade game you can imagine.
Mostly in disrepair but for me it was like the best museum on the planet, I wanted to stay all day but I could see he wanted me to leave so he could get back to his work.
Wish I would have taken a picture. Im sure i'll be back there for something at some point, so then I will :)
So I had a choice in the little time I had there between a WWF cab, absolutely HUGE thing with 4 player controls, and a Tekken 3 cab with 2 player controls
The WWF was $100 and the Tekken 3 cab was $25 (both prices without a monitor) so I chose the Tekken 3 cab.
He wanted an extra $100 for the monitor included, and I wasnt sure I wanted to pay that for something VERY well used and maybe even burned in so I left with me Tekken 3 cab for $25 (+$10 to include the coin mechanisms)
An online friend loaned me his trailer and another friend his tie down straps so there was no cost to me for transportation :)
TOTAL COST SO FAR: $35
So here it is, fits in there nicely next to the fish tank
Awesome graphic on the right side of one of the Tekken 3 fighters (sorry I dont know who it is, its not really my kinda game)
Tekken 3 decal on both sides up high and really really really CLEAN and in awesome condition, im TOTALLY stoked :)
The wood is strong and hardly chipped or dented, plastic on the marquee and screen cover in nice condition
Im sure the fish wont mind the violence going on at the end of the tank :)
Looking good, and this is without any kind of cleanup, this is how it came
I love this controller, loads of elbow room and nice overlay, although im going to remove the 'punch' and 'kick' labels
Nice stroke of luck, everything is already wired for me!
Just need to splice in some longer wires for one of the sides to reach the I-Pac
Smeghead:
DAY TWO
Not much time to do anything today thanks to car trouble
These are the two speakers that came with the cabinet.
I figured they had to be quite good, Tekken 3 has half-decent music so im
sure they were capable of more than a few beeps so I decided to use them
Used the control panel from the cheapo desktop computer speakers and wired them to the cab speakers
I was worried about blowing the amp but they did very well, even cranked up loud
Mounted it on the side at the back to give access to the power button, volume and headphone socket
Cut out a section of the back door to allow it to close and the buttons / earphones socket to be accessable
Smeghead:
DAY THREE
Spent most of today sending emails to people on Craigslist asking if the tv they are selling has S-Video
So far all "NO"s :(
Went to two Savers Thrift stores, and actually found the perfect TV.
Nice picture, 25" Sony, cheap and S-video connections-wohooo!
Then I noticed several DEEP scratches on the glass of the screen = useless
So the search for a 22"-25" tv continues. Still some emails out there and one VM left
I really want to get the monitor/tv part of this build DONE! The rest shouldn't be too bad after that
I Wanted to achieve something today, so I bought a strip light from Walmart for $10 for the marquee
Screwed in a strip of wood and attached the light to it.
Had to re-route how the wire came out of the plastic housing due to it being cramped in there, but the end results are good.
Its very bright, the camera makes it look not so bright but it'll be fine :)
TOTAL COST SO FAR: $45
Oh, and I did load 'TinyXP' on a pc I had to see what its like.
Nice minimal version of XP, think that will be my OS
Smeghead:
DAY FOUR
Not much time to do anything today, busy with soccer n stuff but I did get my TV!
A Zenith 25" with two S-Video inputs in a nice black case for $50
I was hoping not to spend as much as that but this one is so perfect its worth it
My cab is 27" wide inside, this tv (including case) is 25" wide - perfect
The existing woodwork in my cab allows me to attach two struts to them to sit the tv into,
Putting the front of the tv tube 1/4" behind the plastic screen cover of the cabinet - perfect!
Its not very deep so I dont think im going to have a problem with the back of the tv hitting the rear door of the cab
Best of all, even after unplugging the tv, when you power it back on it resumes looking for an s-video input
I've heard some tvs default to the cable input or something, this one doesnt :)
The only thing I dont like much is the horizontal scanlines
Now I KNOW some people go to great lengths to achieve this authentic effect, but im not one
I know it adds to the arcade feel, but I would prefer the picture was smooth, but for me this is a very little thing
Very happy overall, hope to mount it tomorrow!
Cost of TV: $50
Total cost so far: $95
Smeghead:
DAY FIVE
Finally the worst part of this whole build is done - the TV is in!
After alot of thinking and overbuying at Home Depot, I went with some metal vertical struts that the tv hangs on from the sides
These damn things were $10 each but wont bend or break which is worth it I guess
I was able to take the plastic back off the tv and get everything just right, without having to deal with the weight of the entire tv itself which was VERY nice!
Added 2*2 wooden bar across the back to stop it going anywhere backwards or downwards
This isnt really actually neccesary to hold the tv, the metal struts are enough, but just in case
Im very happy to get this part done
Need to order a plastic bezel which is $25 off Ebay and it will look very authentic Cost of tv mounting hardware : $40
Total cost so far: $135