Hello All

[Mordwaffe]

When I first applied I had every intention of picking your brains on building my own arcade cab with controls; I still may end up doing that.

you see I have had the opportunity to get my hands on a Neo Candy 25 in great shape (4 slot). I love the look of these cabs, and they are hard to come by here in the southern US. It is a bit pricy @$750 but it is in great shape.

I do want to build me a MAME and other emulator cab, and toyed with getting a j-pac for NEO Candy, but it is only a two player 4 button panel, that puts a hurt on emulating most consoles and 6 button arcade games.

On the other hand I have had some great ideas for a custom cab I would love to try and build, even though I have limited woodworking experience.

I know that I would end up spending more than that 750 if I go full custom, but I also think I would be more vested in the final product, but nothing beats the look of a great CRT in a real arcade cab.

What do you all think, go the easy way and buy the Candy Cab or go custom?

[yotsuya]

If you can wing the candy and get the price down, I'd go for that first. I'm pretty sure you can get a replacement panel for the candy to allow you to use more buttons. 

[DaveMMR]

You know, two player/four buttons gets you a lot of play. You'll be missing out on the Street Fighters and Mortal Kombat's but I don't think it's too hard to make a custom panel you can swap out or replace like yotsuya said.  But leave it as intact as possible as you'll want to keep it somewhat desirable to collectors if you decide to resell.

Me personally, I'd leaveit 2P/4B but I don't have any particular love for SF/MK.  Or consoles on arcade cabinets. If you make a list of your "must-have" games (I mean a realistic list, that is - games you'll play ALL THE TIME instead of once in a blue moon), you may also find yourself in the same position.

That being said, see if you can get it for cheaper.  I also think 750 may be a bit too high, particularly if you're not in it strictly for the Neo-Geo.

[Mordwaffe]

I am trying negotiating the cost, cause 750 is rich for anything. I have been blocked by the sheer lack of candy cabs here in the south (US), I have been looking for a while and this is the first decent one to come up. Every other place has them with outrageous shipping fees, or i would need to roll the dice on a group buy.  Truth be told I would love to get my hands on one of those 29" candy cabs.

The street fighter/MK games are not "Must Haves" for me, I would only fire them up for company that wanted to see them. I think I was more concerned about console emulation, those require a crap tonnage of buttons. Again I am not married to the using the cab for consoles either (I have a modded gen 1 x-box I can use for that).

As for leaving it original; yes that would be my plan. I do like the Neo Geo arcade games so leaving the 4 slot MB in there is what I would do, maybe go pick up a neo-geo multi cart. 

The other thing I know is that this cab has an MVS harness not a JAMMA harness, and it is my understanding that the only difference is that the MVS is stereo and uses the optional 4th button. So if I use a j-pac (or a jamma board) the sound would not be correct, but the buttons would work properly.

Still thinking I would get the most mileage (compatibility and variety of emulators) out of a custom build, but then again i would need to stick with LCDs and miss out on the "original" arcade feel.

[DaveMMR]

You could always get one of these:
http://www.jammaboards.com/store/neogeo-mvs-to-jamma-inline-adapter-mvs2jamma.html
(I think, never used one myself so I assume it'll do what you need.)

And for console emulation, how's about some wireless controllers instead?  I always felt by a certain point, console games were better on the couch anyway, by that's just me....

[Mordwaffe]

You could always get one of these:
http://www.jammaboards.com/store/neogeo-mvs-to-jamma-inline-adapter-mvs2jamma.html
(I think, never used one myself so I assume it'll do what you need.)

And for console emulation, how's about some wireless controllers instead?  I always felt by a certain point, console games were better on the couch anyway, by that's just me....

That looks like it would do the trick. Though I have been reading the bid difference is just the stereo audio, could I not just rig a switch instead?

Now for the purpose of connecting to a PC using this it would go PC > J-Pac > MVS adapter > MVS cabling.


Truth is I do the bulk of my console emulation on the original x-box. 

[Mordwaffe]

Well The Neo 25 is a no go, I did not want to afford the the amount of money, and the price was fixed.

But that is good news for me, I am free to pursue the insane amount of wonderful ideas here in the form.

I have spent a ton of time absorbing construction ideas; rotating monitors, awesome bezel work.... I could go on.

There is a creative lot here.

So in the near future I will be posting in the various forums asking for advice (especially on the motor mechs for a rotating monitor and the software to rotate them)

PS:
Oh, I did need to see medical attention because of the Mission Control Project, it caused an erection that lasted longer than three hours.

[lilshawn]

in --BINGO! Either that, or I was attempting to say "before" but it was too many letters to type-- PBJ "cash in hand offer"

also, the "cash in hand" offer works like a hot damn as ridiculous as it sounds.

IE: he wants 700 you offer "600, cash in hand" (or whatever you feel it's worth) "right here, right now." ...and the guy bites.

it's amazing how often it works. 

[Mordwaffe]

in --BINGO! Either that, or I was attempting to say "before" but it was too many letters to type-- PBJ "cash in hand offer"

also, the "cash in hand" offer works like a hot damn as ridiculous as it sounds.

IE: he wants 700 you offer "600, cash in hand" (or whatever you feel it's worth) "right here, right now." ...and the guy bites.

it's amazing how often it works. 

I didn't want to press the issue. Besides my wife was not too keen on the looks of the candy-cab, so I sensed some bristling there too... Besides this lets me explore building my own now 

[lilshawn]

in --BINGO! Either that, or I was attempting to say "before" but it was too many letters to type-- PBJ "cash in hand offer"

also, the "cash in hand" offer works like a hot damn as ridiculous as it sounds.

IE: he wants 700 you offer "600, cash in hand" (or whatever you feel it's worth) "right here, right now." ...and the guy bites.

it's amazing how often it works. 

I didn't want to press the issue. Besides my wife was not too keen on the looks of the candy-cab, so I sensed some bristling there too... Besides this lets me explore building my own now 

they don't call us "build your own arcade controls" for nothin'!

[Mordwaffe]

they don't call us "build your own arcade controls" for nothin'!

Which is why I joined in the first place -- Now off plan my first project.

[mgb]

Hi Mordwaffe,
  I just wanna welcome you and say good luck with whatever you decide to build.