Micro Coleco Donkey Kong Tabletop [FINISHED]

[aldub516]

damn dude.. that is such a damn cool project. Maximum props!

[vwalbridge]

Fantastic!  The video was very well done. (As was this project). Congrats!

Thank you so much for you kind words. Glad you liked the video too. I really love it when builders demonstrate their creations in video. It's great to see then in action no matter how simple or sophisticated they are.

I absolutely love this!!!  I wanted one of those so bad when I was a kid.  Way to improve it ;-)

Thank you again! Glad you like it.  I didn't know a lot of people that had them as a kid. But if you did, then you were a pretty cool kid!

Love this, really nice work..and looks a lot of it!
Would love to have one myself but I don't think I'm up to the challenge.

When I was a young lad Santa brought these to nearly every kid on the block one Christmas.
I've collected a handful of them mostly for display purposes and I cherish them.

Thank you for you compliments! They are great little collectors items. Don't ever let them go. They are just great pieces of gaming history.

damn dude.. that is such a damn cool project. Maximum props!

Thanks! It means a lot to get compliments from such great builders on this forum. After seeing so many stunning builds here, it's hard not to pour yourself into your own build.

[Bender]

Really nice work! 

You implemented a lot of things I've just been thinking about so beatifully
Might have to pick your brain on some of it when I get started on a new project
In the meantime I have a couple of questions

What type of joystick you are using?

What were the major things you had to overcome with windows 8?

Thanks and again fantastic work
Looks like it's a blast to play
I can only imagine how my little mind would have been blown if what you made was what coleco actually released back in the day!

[Nephasth]

First I've seen this. Very cool! Excellent work!

[vwalbridge]

Really nice work! 

You implemented a lot of things I've just been thinking about so beatifully
Might have to pick your brain on some of it when I get started on a new project
In the meantime I have a couple of questions

What type of joystick you are using?

What were the major things you had to overcome with windows 8?

Thanks and again fantastic work
Looks like it's a blast to play
I can only imagine how my little mind would have been blown if what you made was what coleco actually released back in the day!

Thanks Bender! Appreciate the compliments.

The Joystick I used is conveniently available on Amazon. Pretty sweet little joystick because you can actually swap out the switches for Micro-Leaf switches from Groovy Game Gear. The stock switches were a bit too loud and clicky for me. (This idea originally came from BYOAC member Vidiot. (Just want to make sure I give him credit because he inspired my build)

Ah yes, Windows 8. If I had just waited a little longer, I could have just used Windows 10. But then again, I might have had the same issues. But anyway, the issues I had with Win8 revolved mostly around the de-branding. In other words, it's relatively easy to hide the login screen, change the boot logo animation and shutdown screen in windows 7. But they make it nearly impossible to do it completely in Windows 8. It involves some pretty heavy reg edits that could have their own set of unintended consequences. I really wanted to hide windows as much as possible to make it feel like it was a real mini-arcade. It's just so much easier in Windows 7. Also, Windows 7 has been out for so much longer so many people have had time to create guides and utilities to hide windows. Windows 8 also has other minor challenges like hiding the task bar, boot to desktop, and hiding metro tiles. Not hard, but just not something you have to mess with in Windows 7. I also work in IT and us guys like to keep things simple. Windows 8 is just such a mess of extras that I wanted to shut off. (The computer I used also only supported Win8 32bit. That got a little tricky as well)

Thanks again for your compliments. I had just as much fun building it as I do playing it. I really learned a lot while building it. My biggest lesson was probably patience. It really pays off not to rush into things and just  really think about what you are doing and how it might impact 2 other things along the way.

When building it, I gave myself the unnecessary challenge of shoe-horning in console games. It would have been fine to just leave vertical arcade games on there but I thought it would be fun to just see if I could. I'm also a fan of Hyperspin and wanted to sort of Prove that Hyperspin is not as bad as some people think. With some time, I was able to get Hyperspin to perform exactly how I wanted in a pretty small form.

[vwalbridge]

First I've seen this. Very cool! Excellent work!

Thanks Nephasth!  It really means a lot coming from an experienced builder. I know you like to give credit where credit is due and I really respect that philosophy.

Your feedback...positive OR negative is always welcome to me.   

[yotsuya]

First I've seen this. Very cool! Excellent work!

Thanks Nephasth!  It really means a lot coming from an experienced builder. I know you like to give credit where credit is due and I really respect that philosophy.

Your feedback...positive OR negative is always welcome to me.   

Someone who gets it....

[burn_654]

This is an awesome build from start to finish! I would love to own one, very nice work.

You mentioned carpet tape for your stickers...I could definitely have a use for something like that with the removable paper back. Do you have a link for the product you used? It would be very helpful 

Looking at that bare zotac board (and NUCs as well) gets my gears turning as well - that would be cool for a lot of projects. How's the performance generally for later Mame? Do you think it would stand a chance with say, Demul or Dolphin?

You know it's a good project when it's making me think about new projects!

[vwalbridge]

This is an awesome build from start to finish! I would love to own one, very nice work.

You mentioned carpet tape for your stickers...I could definitely have a use for something like that with the removable paper back. Do you have a link for the product you used? It would be very helpful 

Looking at that bare zotac board (and NUCs as well) gets my gears turning as well - that would be cool for a lot of projects. How's the performance generally for later Mame? Do you think it would stand a chance with say, Demul or Dolphin?

You know it's a good project when it's making me think about new projects!

Thanks for the compliments! One of the funnest projects I've done.

This is the exact carpet tape I used: Robert's Max Grip Carpet Installation Tape

I think there are several brands of this tape but most importantly look for the tape that has that black thread pattern on it. It's VERY sticky but also very thin.

I've used both the Intel NUC and the Zotac pico for arcade builds. If you have the room (and the budget) the NUC is much better.

Why?

 - The NUC has removeable ram and hard drive. (Depending on the model)
 - The NUC has more power (Depending on the model)
 - You can install whatever OS you want on the NUC

The Zotac is very good for such a small package but (at the time) I was stuck with Windows 8.1  But the good news now is that you can get win 10 for free.

Another important item to note is that both are only going to come with integrated Intel HD graphics. So they can only handle so much HLSL that you throw at them. I was only able to max out SNES titles on the Zotac. N64 wouldn't run.

Most important to me was that they ran Windows so that I could run Hyperspin for the Front End.

On the Intel NUC I kept it simple with classic vertical games so I don't know how high it could have gone. There are even newer NUCs since my Mini DK build that could perform even better. The CPUs on NUCs are great, but just know what you are getting into with the stock Intel HD graphics.

[mvolke1]

I love this build!

Do you think this could be a quick back project?

http://www.dreamgear.com/my-arcade-retro-machine-gaming-system-with-200-games/

[vwalbridge]

I love this build!

Do you think this could be a quick back project?

http://www.dreamgear.com/my-arcade-retro-machine-gaming-system-with-200-games/

Thanks!

The link to the micro cab you provided is pretty neat for 200 games. But for only $40 I'd be leery of its quality. Also, since you mentioned "project"...I assume you would convert that micro cab?

[mvolke1]

Yea, I would get it. Probably keep the monitor, maybe the buttons. I think the 200 games are all just knock-offs. Probably, I'd put a Pi in it.

[yotsuya]

You assume the monitor is going to work with the Pi.

[vwalbridge]

You assume the monitor is going to work with the Pi.

+1

That screen could have a proprietary connection ribbon that would be impossible to interface with.

Here is a video of it in use:



And it gets mixed reviews at best on Amazon

I'b be really sure you are ok with throwing $40 down the tube. I didn't realize the games were knock-offs. That seems pretty obvious now.

[DarakuTenshi]

Very cool!  I used to own one of those DK games, but gave it to a friend of mine about 15 years ago... wish I had it right now.

[tigernut]

Amazing project and craftsmanship, thanks for sharing!

[MrThunderwing]

Hey vwalbridge, this is a fantastic looking project. I love the idea of people making mini-arcade machines out of the pre-existing designs of the sort of tabletop games that were around when I was a kid. It's the sort of thing that would have blown the mind of my 11 year old self, the idea that in the future an actual arcade game would be playable in a cabinet that small. With that in mind, if you're looking for inspiration for another project how about this: Turning one of these old Grandstand LCD Outrun games into a fully working driving cabinet. By all accounts the game was terrible but I always liked the design of it.

[javeryh]

Just wanted to say that this is an amazing project.   

[vwalbridge]

Hey vwalbridge, this is a fantastic looking project. I love the idea of people making mini-arcade machines out of the pre-existing designs of the sort of tabletop games that were around when I was a kid. It's the sort of thing that would have blown the mind of my 11 year old self, the idea that in the future an actual arcade game would be playable in a cabinet that small. With that in mind, if you're looking for inspiration for another project how about this: Turning one of these old Grandstand LCD Outrun games into a fully working driving cabinet. By all accounts the game was terrible but I always liked the design of it.

LOL, yea I've heard that tabletop was awful as well. It's certainly begging possible to be modded. It could certainly be done because there is plenty of room in there but that screen is just a bit too small. One would have to make adjustments for a larger screen for sure.

Just wanted to say that this is an amazing project.   

Thanks man! Appreciate it!

[numach]

I am so glad I stumbled on to this thread.  I saw the final product initially on YouTube.  I had this idea in mind for the Coleco tabletops for a long time (I can honestly say I first envisioned it as a kid - but only for one game in the cabinet back then, lol) and was sitting around thinking "why not do this?" recently as I was looking at my restored Coleco Pac-Man in my living room. 

I figured I'd just use a Raspberry Pi - I have a model B and ordered the new Pi 3 too already.  Then I thought "Other people had to have done something like this already"... so I started looking.  Your build is so elegant!  I had a bunch of questions after seeing it (I posted one on the YouTube video actually) but now that I found this AWESOME thread they have been answered.  Funny too because I was already a member on here from years ago.

I use Hyperspin on a full size Berzerk cabinet at home that I converted to MAME (built a completely new control panel for it needless to say) years ago.  Back then MAME didn't support things like these Coleco games - I guess the convergence with MESS helped that along.  I had wondered how you included them until I found this thread.

Anyways, I don't know if I will go the Zotac Pico route (even though I LOVE the use of Hyperspin) since I already have the Raspberry Pi's (plus I only paid $35 for them vs. $175-$200 for the Pico)... but I am taking so much away from this very well laid out thread that I will be using in my build.

This was so INSPIRED!!! Kudos VWALLBRIDGE - this is honestly fantastic compared to others I have seen - top notch!  I just had to commend you man!!!!