single player cabinet....yes or no?

[severdhed]

after seeing the Vigolix thread, i just felt like i have to build one of those...however my wife assured me that there will be no more cabinets in my house. So, i'm thinking about building one for my friend, who happens to have two small children.  (3 years old and 1 year old). I was thinking of building this and giving it to them as a gift for the both of the kids to share.  In order to build this cabinet out of a single 2x4 sheet of mdf, it needs to be 16" wide, which is only enough for 1 set of controls.  do you guys think it is acceptable to build this with only a single set of controls?  or should i modify it to be wide enough to fit 2 players?  I'm sure they could take turns, but at the same time, i know how much my two boys enjoy playing coop games.  this will add some cost to the build, since i'd need a second sheet of mdf, as well as a bigger encoder, more button, etc.

if i go with a 2 player setup, how wide does it need to be? 24"?  also, do you think this cabinet would look stupid if widened that much?

how many buttons should i install?  i know if i don't go with 6 it eliminates the fighting games, but i cant help but think i should go with 4 buttons and a reduced game list for simplicity.  As much as i want to give them a full mame romset on a cabinet that can do everything, i realize that those setups require a working knowledge of mame.  My friend is competent, but i'd like to make this as easy as possible for them. ideally, i'd like to end up with a game list of around 30 to 50 games max. 

so, what do you think?  make the 1 player panel with 4 buttons and make them share and take turns?  or spend the extra money, make it larger and set it up for 2 players?

[dgame]

2 players with at least 3 buttons each.

TMNT, Simpsons, X-Men and Gauntlet have 2 Player versions.

Edit: Changed advice due to age of kids.

[Buick455]

when the kids are here at my place Simpsons and TMNT are constantly being played..

[BobA]

If you are limited in CP space you can always add the 2nd player with a gamepad.   Most kids adapt to game pads very easily as they play them often.

[dgame]

You could get away with 2 buttons each but the third is needed for X-Men.

How about a triangle button layout but better aligned with the joysticks?:

[paigeoliver]

24" is the standard cabinet width.

Also, MDF isn't expensive, just buy a second sheet.

Also, with a lot of wives I think the real problem isn't the number of cabinets, it is the god awful mess, racket and time you spend making them. That part all still happens if you build one for a friend, your wife might even approve it, you will still get all the negative repercussions anyway. As a guy with a lot of games who has friends with a lot of games, it isn't the basement full of games that drives them crazy, it is the game parts in the upstairs closets, the dead cabinets under the carport, the monitor chassis sitting on top of the washing machine and any other game related mess that drives them nuts.

Also, woman vision sees games as taking up massive amounts of space because they are tall.

Btw, the best way to sneak in that second cabinet is to first get some worthless piece of second hand furniture that is exactly the same size as your next game, put that in next to the other cabinet and let it sit there for a few months not getting commented on at all. Then replace it with a second cabinet ("what, it is in the same space as that little table you never really liked").

[Buick455]

Btw, the best way to sneak in that second cabinet is to first get some worthless piece of second hand furniture that is exactly the same size as your next game, put that in next to the other cabinet and let it sit there for a few months not getting commented on at all. Then replace it with a second cabinet ("what, it is in the same space as that little table you never really liked").

Or you can play magician.. Hidden in plain sight, its like they have tunnel vision 

My father uses a golf cart to cruse around his property and neighborhood. When the old blue one started getting out of hand with repairs we went and got a new white cart. The old blue one had no roof, white seats & a dump bed built onto it. The new one we picked up was white, white seats, a roof w/windshield & no bed on the back. Both carts were parked and charged right next to my mothers car that she went to work in 5 days a week. After 2 months of her never noticing I said something at dinner and she said I was full of crap. Still tease her about it to this day    What makes it even funnier is the old blue one was parked where she could see it 30ft from the driveway until we got the bed off of it..

[severdhed]

ok, you've convinced me to go 2 player. I played with sketchup a little last night, i think it will look OK at 24" wide.  i have the joysticks and buttons already, i just need to get an encoder or some gamepads to hack.   hopefully i'll get to start this soon...i need to finish my pedestal cabinet first though

[UFO]

My cab is single player, purely for the fact that its a 3/4 sized one.

Obviously the CP also got shrunk in the conversions otherwise it might look a bit erm... fat.

[yotsuya]

I built a vertical only, 4 day single player can that served its purpose well. There are a lot of fun games for single players.

[severdhed]

I have a 4 way vertical single player cabinet as well, and while I enjoy it thoroughly, my kids rarely play it. I think because I am building this for two small boys, I should take a hint from my two small boys and build a two player unit so they can play those beat em ups the small kids enjoy so much.

[yotsuya]

[paigeoliver]

I have a 4 way vertical single player cabinet as well, and while I enjoy it thoroughly, my kids rarely play it. I think because I am building this for two small boys, I should take a hint from my two small boys and build a two player unit so they can play those beat em ups the small kids enjoy so much.

If the small boys can reach the panel of a standard sized machine then don't make it smaller than normal, they will grow out of it in a couple years and then it will be up on ebay like so many other scaled down cabinets I have seen done on here.

[severdhed]

well, i'm not building them a full size cabinet for many reasons.

1st, my friend may not appreciate it if i just show up at his house with a giant arcade cabinet and then feel obligated to find a home for it.  He didn't ask for this, it is a surprise for his kids.  If he wants a bigger one down the road, i'll help him build one then.  also, the kids playroom is on the 3rd floor of his house, it needs to be something easy to move upstairs.

2nd, i really love the size and shape of the vigolix cabinet, it just looks aweseome.

3rd,  is cost. i need to keep the cost low on this to keep my wife happy.  i have a few leftover bits of mdf from my pedestal build, and even with the modifications, should only need two 2x4 sheets of mdf, which is about $20.  the only thing i should really need to buy other than the mdf is the encoder/gamepad to hack.  and some plexi for over the monitor

i have a spare pentium 4 pc in the basement, and should have no issue coming up with a 19" LCD monitor.  i've got two x-arcade joysticks and enough spare buttons to throw this together, so the cost should be pretty low

[DaOld Man]

I built my last arcade with a 19.5" wide CP. I squeezed in controls for 2 players, six buttons each, and a 2-1/4" trackball.
The kids don't seem to have any trouble at all playing it.
A Little Rage, link in my signature.

[jennifer]

    Id have to +1 that "little rage" as a model template, that a pretty sweet toy for kids....As for the rest of you, No imagination, Jennifer had to get rid of her stove just to get anoter cab in the kitchen. [Spy Hunter].