Full Cab or Showcase with LCD?

[Lucky S.O.B.]

So long long ago I started down the road of building a cab, bought a dynamo Z-back cabinet, stripped down the cabinet, hooked the monitor up to arcadevga and then stopped... Well 5 years later I got the itch back, and of course technology changes and I have been looking around and I really like the idea of an 42" LCD on the wall with a showcase style controller. Inspired by (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=104064.0)

Looks like this maybe the cheaper and more useful method, since I could use the TV for multiple things in the game room. Plus I plan to do something of a frankenpanel (4 players + 1 trackball), it may actually look better since the panel will be so big.

Whats everyone thoughts? Then there is the question of what to do with the old cab...

[Green Giant]

So long long ago I started down the road of building a cab, bought a dynamo Z-back cabinet, stripped down the cabinet, hooked the monitor up to arcadevga and then stopped... Well 5 years later I got the itch back, and of course technology changes and I have been looking around and I really like the idea of an 42" LCD on the wall with a showcase style controller. Inspired by (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=104064.0)

Looks like this maybe the cheaper and more useful method, since I could use the TV for multiple things in the game room. Plus I plan to do something of a frankenpanel (4 players + 1 trackball), it may actually look better since the panel will be so big.

Whats everyone thoughts? Then there is the question of what to do with the old cab...

Cheaper?  I don't buy that one at all.

However if you can afford it, go big or go home. 

When the money is right I hope to build a showcase shooter built around a modded wii.

[BobA]

By the time you make a nice looking pedestal with controls and computer or PCB you are not going to save much by not having to build the top of the cab and what you save will be spent many times over on the cost of the 42 inch LCD.   It is however a great looking alternative to a conventional cab with lots of uses for console play as well. 

[honkey]

I was just telling my fiancee that if I were to start over I would do a showcase with a TV on the wall. I still haven't figured out how to make my arcade monitor work with my computer and I am very tired of trying to find a solution.

[Paul Olson]

I am designing a new cab to be used with an LCD on the wall as well. I like the look of the new Silver Strike Bowling games, so I am going to pattern it after that. I had an arcade monitor for years, and I just got tired of messing with it. Now is a good time for LCDs. The shader effects in MAME let you simulate the look of an arcade monitor for the game itself while allowing it to be surrounded by high res artwork. It looks great. The MAME artwork team is also working on widescreen layouts, so it is just going to get better.

Another plus for me is portability. I plan to bring the cab in the living room for parties and hook it to the TV already there.

I bought a 32" TV for this project, and it is too small. The artwork takes up quite a bit of space, so I would recommend a minimum of 42".  It is also probably a good idea to get the fastest TV you can afford.

[Peja]

Lucky......I was/am in the same boat as you.  I just bought a dynamo showcase cabinet in good condition from an arcade and it has a 39"? monitor in it.  At least that is what the arcade guy was saying but it looks more like a 36.  Anyways, I was going to use my spare 32" LCD tv for the monitor but decided to try and use the arcade monitor for my mame/emulators setup and use the spare tv to hang on the wall.  I like watching tv while playing games. 

I am in the process of fixing the arcade monitor so hopefully it works......if not, I may be using the tv after all.  Good Luck!

[Lucky S.O.B.]

Thanks for all of the feedback... I think I am going to go the way of the showcase with lcd. I didn't even think of bringing it into other rooms (or houses) for parties!

I guess the piece I left out for cost was I need to replace the power supply (I used it to repair another cab), and the bottom laminate was pretty torn up so I ripped it off and need to fix it. Yeah it will probably be similar in cost but overall I think I will get more use out of it. I can put a sic installation of xbmc on the pc so I can use it as music/media player as well.

Now to get motivated and start the design and build. Hope to get started soon, look for me in the project announcement section!

[Blanka]

Showcase has nothing to do with arcade. You can as well buy this then:

[Howard_Casto]

Showcase has nothing to do with arcade. You can as well buy this then:

Your kidding right?

Showcase cabs have been a part of arcade history since the early 90's.  I've seem games as early as street fighter II put in showcase cabs in, in real arcades, at their time of release.  The reason showcase cabs were rarer is simply due to the fact that they took up a lot of room and cost a lot of money.  Most operators would KILL to have a army of showcases back in the day. 

Also later cps2 boards and cps3 baords were pretty much designed to go into showcase cabs, as were later 4-player games. 

[Blanka]

Your kidding right?

No kidding. For me, a showcase is as much an arcade cab, as a brommobiel is a car. Grab a Candy if you fancy TV-size screens.

[Howard_Casto]

Your kidding right?

No kidding. For me, a showcase is as much an arcade cab, as a brommobiel is a car. Grab a Candy if you fancy TV-size screens.

You just mentioned yet another valid arcade cab style.

Let me perfectly clear.... it is fine to say you don't prefer a particular style but it is silly to claim that an arcade cabinet is not an arcade cabinet.  It's like saying a Pear is not a fruit because you only like Apples.

[Paul Olson]

Your kidding right?

No kidding. For me, a showcase is as much an arcade cab, as a brommobiel is a car. Grab a Candy if you fancy TV-size screens.

Aren't all monitors used in arcade games TV sized?