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New Guy Building Xenophobes style MAME cabinet
BigJon:
So I'm a newbie here. :D I'm familiar with the idea of using MAME with a computer and putting it into a video game cabinet...but I've never had the time to put together a cabinet myself. Two nights ago I got on craigslist to find that someone nearby was giving away a free Xenophobes style arcade cabinet (had been converted into a Golden Tee cabinet but still has Xenophobes paperwork stapled inside).
I decided on a whim...2 hours after the posting, to go see if it was still there and if it was in any decent condition. I rolled up to the address and found the hulking beast sitting there. It's not that bad of shape...has some spots that need to be reworked with a new piece of panelboard. None of the electronics are included...except a set of speakers and the coin door (which seems to have all the hardware and wiring intact).
Currently this badboy is lying in the back of my van (add some great weight for winter driving in a formerly empty cargo van) as I don't quite yet have the space in the house for it. I've been spending the past 24 hours browsing this forum reading all the great information posted here. I'm really excited to start this project.
My plan is to make a simple 2 player 6 button per player game cabinet running MAME (or MAMEWah...not sure yet). I'm going to lay out the control panel (which was completely missing and needs to be hand built) in a way so that I can possibly add more player controls and extra buttons later if I need. I'm going to toss a regular CRT monitor into it since I have a ton lying around. I'm not sure yet on what computer I'm putting into it...but I have a few components from past computers lying around which should give me a head start and not have to buy a brand new system.
This is going to be a long, slow build...but I will update whenever I work on something. :D I hope to get it pulled out of the van here in a few weeks into a friends' garage so I can at least take some pics of it standing from all angles.
Enjoy so far:
leapinlew:
Welcome to the forums!
Golden Tee eh? Weird. They are very heavy cabinets. Be careful with the floor levelers on yours. Mine did a number on the wood floors in my old house. My Xenophobe cabinet had a decent top, but after looking at my options I decided to convert mine into a showcase cabinet. It's not the prettiest build, as it was one of my first cabinets, but it's still being used today. You can see my build here:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=55021.0
Another build I liked was lowerhell. You can see it here: http://lowerhell.com/mame/
Good luck.
BigJon:
Thanks!
Yeah, your thread was one of the first ones I was reading yesterday when I searched for Xenophobe cabinets on here. I like the way yours turned out. Yes, these cabinets are heavy as hell. I loaded it in to the back of my van myself...thankfully the rollers were still intact on the back...but 3 inches of snow on the ground didn't help too much. Where I plan to put mine we have carpet...so shouldn't be too much of an issue but I'll have to watch the linoleum on the way in. The feet do look a bit worn and sharp in some spots.
Warborg:
I actually converted an old Xenophobe cab a while back to MAME... Never got around to finishing the marquee area but the rest was ok...
http://s229.photobucket.com/albums/ee296/Warborg/Arcade%20Cabinet/
BigJon:
That looks pretty sharp! I like the red trim and black panels. What kind/size monitor did you use in yours?