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Building a bartop- some questions
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Tupin:
Hey, I'm trying to get back into arcades after years of inactivity, and figured I should start with that bartop I always wanted. My initial plan was to stick a Raspberry Pi in it, but that doesn't seem to be powerful enough for most things. I found an Android TV box, so I'm possibly considering doing putting that in there, but the concept of those X-in-1 boards, and I still have some JAMMA boards kicking around...but really, the thing that's holding me back is the lack of a good plan for a bartop. I can't seem to find anything specific, nor many people using Android as a way to run one of these.

Anyone have some insight into where I should go from here?
yotsuya:
Start with this - what is it that you want this bartop to play?
Tupin:
MAME, and pretty much everything pre-1995 or so. If I decide to go with the Android thing I may set up a console for it but I want MAME to be the focus. Unless I decide to take the JAMMA route, I guess.
leapinlew:

--- Quote from: Tupin on March 18, 2014, 08:41:28 pm ---MAME, and pretty much everything pre-1995 or so. If I decide to go with the Android thing I may set up a console for it but I want MAME to be the focus. Unless I decide to take the JAMMA route, I guess.

--- End quote ---

I think Yotsuya was asking what games do you want to play. MAME is the emulator which plays a ton of games with lots of controls. On a bartop, you are limited on space and to help with a design, it's probably a good idea to start narrowing down what you want to play on it.

As for Android, I wouldn't. Mainly because of the lack of front end. I have used stripped down PC's with good success. I've built bartops from 15" tall to 24" tall and I've always been able to fit in a PC. Easy on the budget, known to work without any problems, and easy to repair - it's hard to come up with a reason to not use a PC.
yotsuya:
Lew is correct - Do you want to play horizontal games? Vertical? 4-way? Once you decide the game types, you can then best determine the type of bartop you want.
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