Cab for kids

[Le Chuck]

Okay, my wife suggested the other day that I build a cab for the kiddos for next Christmas.  Major score since she hasn't always been pro cabinet but I think the improved results of Darkade have started to sway her a bit. 

Anyway, I've been pouring over different designs and am having trouble making up my mind so I'm shopping for examples/recommendations of kid friendly cabs.  I don't want to do an environmental due to space and I am not really excited about doing a 3/4 scale 80s model either.  This leaves me with cocktails and candy cabs.  I'm really leaning towards building a Vewlix with a removable or fold away control panel so it can be used as an entertainment center as well but I'm very undecided at this point. 

Futher background.  My boys will be 5 and 3 next Christmas.  Too young?  Certainly... but I get to build a cab 

Okay, I'll open the floor now for crazy suggestions, links, thread-jacking parenting advice and the like.  Have fun and pick me a winner!

[Mac Green]

 This would be perfect size IMO but have it running mame or a 60 in 1

[Bender]

Javeryh's Bella's Arcade
for a girl but beautiluy done

[Nephasth]

Planning on doing the same thing for my little girl for her birthday this summer. We'll see if I can stick to the plans...

[Green Giant]

My advice.

Use 3/4" MDF and some good bracing, especially on the CP.  When I see my nephew(4) smash buttons and the joystick I am glad I made it solid.


As for build type, I would say avoid a slim for fear of kids toppling it. 
Use an LEDwiz to hilight the necessary buttons.  For kids this would be even more essential I think.  I love it on my CP.  People ask what the controls are and I just say the lit buttons.

[severdhed]

5 and 3 is a great age.. my two boys (one just turned 3, other will be 5 next month) and they play on our showcase cabinet all the time. They are at the point now where the two of them will sit and playthe whole way through a game. Tonight they finished the punisher, yesterday it was captain america and the avengers, over the weekend, they finished both tmnt games...it is awesome.

I like the viewlix with a removable panel idea.

[FALSE]

This leaves me with cocktails and candy cabs.  I'm really leaning towards building a Vewlix with a removable or fold away control panel so it can be used as an entertainment center as well but I'm very undecided at this point. 

I'm new to the hobby and have seen "candy cab" mentioned a few times.  What is a candy cab, and for that matter what is a vewlix?
Sorry for going off topic, curiosity got the better of me.

[HanoiBoi]

This leaves me with cocktails and candy cabs.  I'm really leaning towards building a Vewlix with a removable or fold away control panel so it can be used as an entertainment center as well but I'm very undecided at this point. 

I'm new to the hobby and have seen "candy cab" mentioned a few times.  What is a candy cab, and for that matter what is a vewlix?
Sorry for going off topic, curiosity got the better of me.

They are both styles (shape, look, etc.) of arcade cabinets and they are both highly googleable.

[Hoopz]

To the OP:  Put a trackball on it.  My kids love playing with it and enjoy Golden Tee, Silver Strike Bowling, etc.

Also, look at Super Mario War as a fun game to play. 

[stu33]

My son is three, and will play Spider-Man (which is a horrible game, I think, but he's a spider-man and batman fanatic) for hours if I let him.  He stands on his potty chair to play at my converted Data East cab.

Second the trackball, as he also plays Golden Tee and World Championship Bowling quite a bit, too.

[Le Chuck]

Thanks for the feedback so far.  Definetely will get a trackball installed as I don't have one on my other builds so it'll be a good addition for me as well.  Other than that will have to go with a two player 6 button setup and I think that the LEDwiz recommendation is going to be a definite must have as well.  I'll have to tailor the playlists down quite a bit but that won't be an issue. 

Part of why I'm leaning towards candy cabs is the removable base so the cab can grow with the kids to a certain extent.  I really am infatuated with vewlix cabs but will probably have to do a bit of a redesign if I go that route. If I could find a cheap candy (Neo 29 or Aero maybe) in the ATL area I'd jump on that and convert as necessary but I think I'll be stuck with fabricating from scratch.  This might be a good opportunity to play with some alternative building materials.  I wonder if I could build the entire viwlix frame from 3/8 plexi?  That'd be sharp. 

I'm a pretty confident builder so I'm open to different methods and materials as well. Thoughts?

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

Thirded for the track ball. My oldest daughter has been playing Golden Tee, World Class Bowling, Marble Madness, Cameltry (technically a spinner), and Sonic Arcade since she was 3. A trackball also opens up the cab to playing many of the free/educational games on websites like Fraboom.com, NickJr.com, etc. Right now my cabinet gets more Fraboom playtime than Mame.

[Mario]

I built a small cab and used one of those all-in-one TV games from Jakks. I used an old, small TV, making the entire project very cheap. This was good since my boys are now grown and don't care about using the small cab any more.

The only change I would recommend is to build a real control panel and wire it up to the TV game. The Jakks have flimsy joysticks that break easily.

[apfelanni]

70 % shrinks , japs kiddy candys , minilowboy , neo13 , bartop or design something completely from scratch . i wouldnt do a cocktail for kids coz the ergonomics is bad , and forget bout the removable base thing .. this is a 100 % nogo . check hard--candy.com for jap minis . if u need more pics i can up some on rs.  

[Le Chuck]

Great link apfelanni.  The SEGA Super Megalo really caught my eye.  I'm thinking just replicating the seating and control panel unit then installing a Wireless VGA kit may be the best bet.  That way I can slide it out of the way when it's not being used.  Hell I can even put a toy storage in the seat.  Maybe meld a vewlix style controller onto the front so I get that really sweet angled look. 

Why no love for the removable base, I always thought that was a pretty ingenious design idea of the candy manufacturers? 

[ds015882]

I have a bunch of those plug and play controllers sitting around..Might have to build one of these now after seeing the youtube video.

[apfelanni]

asians enjoy gaming while sitting on lower chairs . us and euro dedicated and universals are mostly uprights . the candy bases are made for export in countries, where noone could think of playing on low stools .here in germany the only candys sold are sega naomi  upright and ok babys with the ugly base. i own 3 babys . all 3 bases ended in the junk immediately.

[Le Chuck]

Apfel, where at in Germany, I've got a bunch of friends (US military) who are moving back soon.  Have any candys for sale?

[Le Chuck]

The more I'm thinking about this the more I think I need to take a sharp left turn.  I have a cab, and two pins.  I want a vewlix... but I want that for me.  What I really want out of the project is to be able to play with my kids.  SO... I'm thinking doing an HTPC/MAME box running MALA.  One menu is say 4P Brawlers, next menu is Kung Fu Movies or something.  Link the cartoons and the games all together.  All that get's boxed up nice and neat and hidden beneath the TV.  Then rather than do a single control panel and cram everybody right next to each other I can build 4 wireless fight sticks.  Two will be full fight sticks and two will be reduced units, three or four buttons max.  That way I can play with the kids and guilt my wife into playing too. 

Sticking points -  Anybody made a wireless LEDwiz hack?  I still want light up buttons.  Rechargeable power is easy, getting the LEDwiz to talk over the air is trickier.  Anybody know of a wireless Arcade trackball?  Can I hack a wireless mouse for the signal and still use the good rollers of a legit arcade trackball.  The controllers themselves will likely just be madcatz or xbox controller hacks. 

Anything I'm missing?
   

[childsremix]

Heres a few work in progress pics for my daughter, shes three, I have a few candys also in the house but I wanted her to have her very own cabinet.

[Kevin Mullins]

Love the mini-Nintendo. 

How about them Moppets?
http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=flyer&db=videodb&id=1786&image=1
http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=thumbs&db=videodb&id=4689
Always wanted to build a few of these myself.

[BobA]

Mini Nintendo cab is right on for kids.   Love the classic lines. 

[elkameleon]

This makes me sad, cause I'm in the process of making a 3/4 size mario bros cab for my "kids" (that's how I got the ok from the wife) right now. Unfortunately I don't have an original to work from, so i'm using the jakobud plans (which I despise, im super anal). I hope mine turns out as good as yours looks, childsremix. BTW, is that cab painted black or is it laminated?

[childsremix]

It's black melamine. I wish now I went with mdf though since its hard to paint melamine.

[elkameleon]

It's black melamine. I wish now I went with mdf though since its hard to paint melamine.

Thanks, i'll take that into consideration then.

[Le Chuck]

It's black melamine. I wish now I went with mdf though since its hard to paint melamine.

That's why you go full vinyl man.  Vinyl rocks

[Vigo]

It's black melamine. I wish now I went with mdf though since its hard to paint melamine.

Thanks, i'll take that into consideration then.

I noticed that Menards now carries sheets of Melamine if you ever plan on getting the stuff. (Not to often on these boards can I bring up Menards to someone and feel confident they know what I am talking about  ).

[Kevin Mullins]

It's black melamine. I wish now I went with mdf though since its hard to paint melamine.

I'd leave it black and let the t-molding and artwork add "color" to it. Kinda like an R-Type cabinet with a splash of colored trim and art.
Guess it all depends on what theme you're going for.
That melamine will be more scratch resistant than any paint or vinyl.

[Malenko]

That bellacade is still amazing after all this time.  Im diggin the mini nintendo cab too

[Dervacumen]

When I built mine I wanted to be able to play it with my daughter, so I built a two player wide body.  The controls are the right height for a kid or anyone sitting in a chair.  If you have two kids, might be a good idea to consider a build they can play together.

[Le Chuck]

When I built mine I wanted to be able to play it with my daughter, so I built a two player wide body.  The controls are the right height for a kid or anyone sitting in a chair.  If you have two kids, might be a good idea to consider a build they can play together.

   I dig that.  I want to play with both my boys so may go a 4 player setup. 

[childsremix]

if I ever get done I'll post pictures of both my mini nintendos beside each other. I made them seperate but linkable that way my kids can either play with or without each other.

[elkameleon]

if I ever get done I'll post pictures of both my mini nintendos beside each other. I made them seperate but linkable that way my kids can either play with or without each other.

Thats an awesome idea! I'd like more details on how you did this.