Upright 28'' CRT TV and X-Arcade Cabinet - UPDATED!

[rjpe]

Hello,

I know MAME since 1997, this was a project I had in mind since then.
After researching other projects in the Internet I decided to build an upright cabinet around a X-Arcade Tankstick and a CRT Television.
The video is displayed through a VGA->SCART cable, with Soft15Khz.
The sound system is a logitech 2.1 sound system, hacked with two car speakers.

As additional controls, two LCD Top Gun II (Operation Wolf was the main reason, although it only works with one player at a time), and a Logitech Wheel for Outrun, Chase HQ and alike.

The CPU is an AMD Sempron 3000+, 2GB RAM, running XP64, Maximus Arcade with following emulators: Mame64, Daphne, Raine, Zinc and Visual Pinball 8.

The project started in August 2009, and was finished in April 2010.

Late December 2010, I disguised the X-arcade in black, and upgraded it with happ competition buttons and JLF-TP-8YT Sanwa Joysticks.

Many issues where solved thanks to this forum - Thank you very much!

[severdhed]

that looks pretty good. you are probably going to take some heat for building such a nice cabinet, and then sticking an xarcade on there, but it does the job. the nice thing is you can use it now, and build your own control panel later.  you could even transplant the x-arcade components if you are on a tight budget, however you will find that there are lots of control options out there.

good job

[rjpe]

Thanks.

Well, I chose the x-arcade tankstick basically for the reasons below:
- It is the best pre-built Arcade Controller in the world in terms of quality vs price;
- It is really indestructible, lot's of kids use it frequently and the controls are still as good as new;
- It is easy to configure in all emulators and in Maximus Arcade FE.
- I didn't need to build it from scratch.

The cabinet plans were designed taking in account the x-arcade tankstick (it's like a home made X-Arcade Cabinet),

But... yes, I'm thinking in building a new control panel, because:
- I need a dedicated 4-way joystick and 2 buttons to the old games like pac-man, donkey kong and so on;
- I think that a 4-player layout will look better taking in account the cabinet size, and some games are worth it (Spider-Man - the video game and The Simpsons, p.ex.).
- I thinking in using illuminated buttons with MaLa hardware (the FE will change to MaLa!);

It will be more expensive than the X-Arcade, and will take lot's of time (something a don't have right now). Maybe in a couple of years, I'll update this thread with the new CP!

[RonnieC312]

Very cool... i just finished my 2nd X-arcade machine with CRT.   Mine is more of a showcase style.

Looks great

[severdhed]

Thanks.

Well, I chose the x-arcade tankstick basically for the reasons below:
- It is the best pre-built Arcade Controller in the world in terms of quality vs price;
- It is really indestructible, lot's of kids use it frequently and the controls are still as good as new;
- It is easy to configure in all emulators and in Maximus Arcade FE.
- I didn't need to build it from scratch.

The cabinet plans were designed taking in account the x-arcade tankstick (it's like a home made X-Arcade Cabinet),

But... yes, I'm thinking in building a new control panel, because:
- I need a dedicated 4-way joystick and 2 buttons to the old games like pac-man, donkey kong and so on;
- I think that a 4-player layout will look better taking in account the cabinet size, and some games are worth it (Spider-Man - the video game and The Simpsons, p.ex.).
- I thinking in using illuminated buttons with MaLa hardware (the FE will change to MaLa!);

It will be more expensive than the X-Arcade, and will take lot's of time (something a don't have right now). Maybe in a couple of years, I'll update this thread with the new CP!

yeah, thats cool.  i used an x-arcade panel on my first cabinet for a while, mainly because i already had it lying around, long before i decided i needed a full size cabinet. it worked great and was easy to set up, and was very durable.  after a while, i discoverd that I wanted a different button layout, with a little more space between players (i didn't have the tank stick, just the smaller, 2 player version) and i wanted a trackball and 4way.  it was cool because i had the xarcade i could use on my cabinet, and i was able to build a new panel as I got time.  when i was ready, i transplanted the controls from the x-arcade into my new panel...i would not recommend this.  the wiring in an x-arcade is difficult to work with.  unlike most standard encoders, the xarcade does not use a common ground. buttons are bundled in groups of 4, each group has it's own ground and if you mix them up, nothign works right. 

if i were you, i'd leave that xarcade on there and when you get the time and money, start building your own panel, but buy a new encoder and controls.  that way when you are done you could use your xarcade for something else, or sell it to get back some of the cost

[rjpe]

Thanks for the tips. I'm thinking in buying the encoders and controllers in Ultimarc (I-PAC, etc.).
Before that, I'm thinking in starting a second project with the rest of the stuff I got when doing this project (another old CRT TV, an old PIV, and an ArcadeVGA2 AGP).

The idea is cocktail cabinet with 3 control pannels, for this I will use 2 x-gamming arcade bundles (that are very cheap!), and a I-PAC2.

I'm still in the "imagination" phase, I need to start doing some sketches and measurements! 

[rjpe]

Hi folks,

This December I decided I wanted to disguise the x-arcade tankstick.
Bought the sticks and buttons from www.gremlinsolutions.co.uk, with the custom x-arcade plates and orthogonal restrictors.
The big "X" was hidden with black contact paper.

Here is some work-in-progress and the final result.

PS: still planning the new CP!