Project Advice - Candy Cab Emulator

[nekojita]

I have wanted the following for awhile and I'm looking for feedback / guidance:

Primary Goals:
- Ability to play all arcade / video console games from the past until the PS1 era from a single candy cab.
- A clean and fresh look to the candy cab.
- I have a very demanding job, so preference is to contract this project out to someone if possible (if I had the time, i would be all over this project but no time + no access to tools since living overseas currently).

Minor Goals:
- 2 player controls
- 8 main buttons per player (+ other standards buttons like start, etc.)
- a pause button
- clean backlit buttons and joystick
- an easy on / off button for the machine
- easy ability to rotate the screen
- volume control button
- clean and inviting front end for emulator
- customer paint job
- blue / white theme with no logos anywhere on the machine
- power support for both Japan / US

Bonus:
- being able to play more modern games (SSFIV)

Current Idea (after reading a bit):
- Candy Cab: Taito Egret II
- Front-End: Hyperspin [assume that i can add all older arcade games, nes, super nes, sega, dreamcast, ps1 games]

A little about me / my gaming habits:
- love street fighter... and shooters
- also keen interest to play NES era games (metroid, kid icarus, zelda, punch out, etc.)
- i live in japan currently (and speak japanese)

Questions / Area of Assistance:
- does anyone know anyone in Tokyo (or Japan) that has the skills / knowledge and would be willing to take this project on (willing to compensate)?
- recommendations for buttons / joysticks (no knowledge here)
- if I was to get a paint job; what specifics should i be asking for (paint type, an coatings / gloss, paint method, etc.)
- is there a guide that explains how to hook the monitor plus buttons / joystick to the computer doing the emulation? i'm not clear how this works and have had trouble finding information on this area.
- monitor type
- confirmation it is possible to add a pause, on/off, and volume control button

Thank you in advance to the community.  If a lot of this is already documented in the forums then links would be appreciated.  I look forward to this project being reality in the not so distance future (and will post pics).

[wesbrown18]

nekokita,

I'm actually going to be writing up my build of a similar setup, but based on a Sega New Blast City with a Nanao 2931 monitor.  I'll move it up my priority queue now that I know that someone is interested in building a MAME cabinet with a Candy Cab here on the forums.  The people over at Arcade Otaku believe it to be utter heresy.

One question -- are you primarily doing vertical shooters, or horizontal fighters?  From the looks of it, you also want to play console emulators, so I would reckon that your setup is going to be a horizontal monitor.  Many enthusiasts have both a vertical and horizontal Candy Cab.

[nekojita]

Awesome - I would be very interested :-)

I am leaning towards the egrets II since it has a rotatable screen mechanism and I expect to play both vertical / horizontal, although getting a second 2-player machine may be the way to go (I do have some space constraints currently).  Can two different machines be linked together for 2-player, or do they need to be the same maker/model? (I'm thinking the egrets can primarily be set to vertical and the second machine can be perm horizontal for fighters, however if the need arises I can flip the egrets to horizontal).

Anyone know of any places in Tokyo that sell used cabs, or places with a good selection of buttons / joysticks / etc.?

[wesbrown18]

My understanding is that the Egrets do have a rotatable screen mechanism, but it's still relatively non trivial to rotate -- so it's not something that you can just rotate from game to game.

For PCBs that support network linking, it's mainly having the same PCBs in both machine.    As far as MAME, there are some MAME emulated games that support network linking -- I believe some of the Sega driving games do, but my recall is fuzzy.  There's Kalliera for network play -- and with the right wiring and work, you can probably route a RGB cable cross-cabinet along with connectors for the second machine panel.  It'd be an interesting project, turning a Head to Head cabinet into a MAME cabinet.

I am not sure about Tokyo, but I do know that there are a number of US dealers that import from Japan -- you should be able to find them far cheaper than here in America.  I found references to three PCB shops, you might ask at therse places:

* Try (atop Try Amusement Tower arcade)
* Mak Japan
* G-Front

There are also cabinets available from China -- not sure if the freight is substantially cheaper than freight to America.

I'll sit down and write up about the Blast City, and you might be convinced to get a Blast City instead.

[nekojita]

Thanks! I'm actually going to head down to a few of those stores now and check them out. Report back after.

[nekojita]

Total bust... The workers seemed depressed and its obvious consoles have killed the Japan arcade market... All the modern parts are only bought online and cabs are mostly picked-up at auctions or via yahoo auctions. 10 years ago lots of talent would help you build/modify cabinets, but that's long gone. :-/

I'm going to troll around small private arcades and see if the owner will sell me a machine...

[wesbrown18]

If you buy an existing cabinet that is in good shape, it really isn't that hard to wire for MAME.  The candy control panels plug into connectors, etc.  You may need to import a J-PAC or I-PAC to interface with your PC.

Check out alibaba for cabinets from Chima.

[wesbrown18]

nekojita,

If you're still around and reading these forums, I've begun my writeup of my BlastOff project over at:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,132174.0.html

I think by the time it's complete, it will serve as an useful guide for converting a Candy Cabinet to MAME while still preserving the JAMMA plug-and-play capabilities.