New member - Looking to build a stand up multcade game, looking for advice

[akakillroy]

Greetings! Thanks for adding me in advance. I have a small entertainment room/lobby in my Theater Room, and I currently have populated it with a Jukebox, Pinball machine and a slot machine. To finish it off I would like a stand up arcade (multi-game) with Defender, Galliga, Battle zone, Pack-man etc.. It seems to buy these systems is pricey compared to my investment in my other novelty items, sub $500, so I plan to build one. I am looking for options and advice. I have done a bit of research and have found no real plans to build a classic cabinet from scratch. I have the skills required to make this happen. I found some options on eBay for a Pandora box that I could use from the controls, but then again that is why I am here to get some advice from those who have been down this road. Thanks in advanced.

[barrymossel]

I don't think you really did research, as you can find tons of arcade cabinet plans online (https://goo.gl/5BoFjz). But ok:

Classic cabinet plans:
http://jakobud.com/cabinetPlans.php
Check https://goo.gl/ckkqSq for inspiration.

Hardware:
XXX-in-1 board, PC or Raspberry Pi. Most people will say go with a PC. An old and free/cheap PC can emulate quite a lot and pretty good. Software side of a PC is not that easy though. Raspberry Pi with RetroPie is very easy to setup, but some people think it doesn't emulate that well. Others (most?) won't notice. No experience myself with the XXX-in-1 boards, but you are limited in the number and choice of games. Also I read quite some bad stuff about these boards.

Software:
Depends on the choice of hardware. PC: emulators + frontend. Raspberry Pi: RetroPie or Lakka or Recalbox.

Controls:
Don't cheap out on controls. So don't get those packages they sell on eBay or Amazon. Go to a dedicated Arcade webshop (Ultimarc, GroovyGameGear, Paradise Arcade Shop, etc.) and get quality. Some games need an 8 way joystick, some 4-way. Get a joystick that you can change from 4- to 8-way (servo-stik, mag-stik, Ultrastik360, etc.) or get a dedicated 4-way and 2 (depending on the games you want to play) 8-ways. For buttons make a choice between concave or convex. Depending where you come from you might have a preference (f.i. concave was the standard in the US I believe).

Monitor:
CRT is more original, LCD allows for a slimmer cabinet. CRT has scanlines, for LCD you should get scanlines through hardware (scanline generator) or software for a more authentic view.

Side art:
Make sure to not cheap out on the outside of your cabinet and get yourself some decent side art + marquee. You can get it printed or ordered somewhere. Won't cost too much, but makes a big difference.

Coin door:
For the ultimate original feeling, get a coin door. Looks great!

[paigeoliver]

Also, if you just want to pay cash and go, then find your local arcade group on facebook, explain that you want a clean stand up multicade and you are offering $500, and see what you get offered. It might surprise you.

[Howard_Casto]

I would skip the artwork step.... at least initially.  Some people think they want a mame machine only to find a month after completion that they never really play it.  Also some people build a control panel only to discover a month later that the ergonomics are bad and they are going to have to re-do it.  Blowing 300 bucks just on looks adds insult to injury. 


In regards to CRT vs LCD, I think lcds have kind of won this battle.  Crts larger than 19" are difficult to find cheaply and it's a pain in the butt to deal with the 15khz frequency, the bigger ones weigh a ton, ect.  I love the way crts look and if I'm converting a real cabinet I keep them, but if I'm scratch building something, especially if I want to play more modern games like the last two street fighters on it I go with an lcd and some hlsl goodness. 

[Haze]

Hardware:
XXX-in-1 board, PC or Raspberry Pi. Most people will say go with a PC. An old and free/cheap PC can emulate quite a lot and pretty good. Software side of a PC is not that easy though. Raspberry Pi with RetroPie is very easy to setup, but some people think it doesn't emulate that well. Others (most?) won't notice. No experience myself with the XXX-in-1 boards, but you are limited in the number and choice of games. Also I read quite some bad stuff about these boards.

The XXX-in1 boards are mostly junk, completely unlicensed, and won't run a lot of titles anyway, including some that were mentioned.

Keep in mind that a Raspberry Pi 3 (the fastest model) is 6 times SLOWER than a 3 Ghz Core 2 Duo, and at this point a 3 Ghz Core 2 Duo is a 10 year old machine, you can pick them up almost as scrap.  Choosing a Pi is the biggest corner cutting you can do, so it's kinda frustrating reading "Don't Cheap Out" in so many other places, and then promoting a Pi.  Defender was mentioned, and emulation of those Williams games (especially Robotron) has been tweaked a lot over the years, the PC will do it better.

I was actually surprised by just how bad they are myself, but using the benchmarks provided by the person maintaining the Pi builds, and comparing them to the junk machine I have in the spare room that is the performance difference, and something that should be kept in mind, at this point I'm not even sure it's cost saving when a 10 year old PC wipes the floor with it.

[dmckean]

Greetings! Thanks for adding me in advance. I have a small entertainment room/lobby in my Theater Room, and I currently have populated it with a Jukebox, Pinball machine and a slot machine. To finish it off I would like a stand up arcade (multi-game) with Defender, Galliga, Battle zone, Pack-man etc.. It seems to buy these systems is pricey compared to my investment in my other novelty items, sub $500, so I plan to build one. I am looking for options and advice. I have done a bit of research and have found no real plans to build a classic cabinet from scratch. I have the skills required to make this happen. I found some options on eBay for a Pandora box that I could use from the controls, but then again that is why I am here to get some advice from those who have been down this road. Thanks in advanced.

You'll end up paying far more than that anyway to build you own, just printing the art for the cabinet will cost $200.

[barrymossel]

Hardware:
XXX-in-1 board, PC or Raspberry Pi. Most people will say go with a PC. An old and free/cheap PC can emulate quite a lot and pretty good. Software side of a PC is not that easy though. Raspberry Pi with RetroPie is very easy to setup, but some people think it doesn't emulate that well. Others (most?) won't notice. No experience myself with the XXX-in-1 boards, but you are limited in the number and choice of games. Also I read quite some bad stuff about these boards.

The XXX-in1 boards are mostly junk, completely unlicensed, and won't run a lot of titles anyway, including some that were mentioned.

Keep in mind that a Raspberry Pi 3 (the fastest model) is 6 times SLOWER than a 3 Ghz Core 2 Duo, and at this point a 3 Ghz Core 2 Duo is a 10 year old machine, you can pick them up almost as scrap.  Choosing a Pi is the biggest corner cutting you can do, so it's kinda frustrating reading "Don't Cheap Out" in so many other places, and then promoting a Pi.  Defender was mentioned, and emulation of those Williams games (especially Robotron) has been tweaked a lot over the years, the PC will do it better.

I was actually surprised by just how bad they are myself, but using the benchmarks provided by the person maintaining the Pi builds, and comparing them to the junk machine I have in the spare room that is the performance difference, and something that should be kept in mind, at this point I'm not even sure it's cost saving when a 10 year old PC wipes the floor with it.

Sure a PC will run better (never experienced the difference), but setting up a RPi is far easier and I can see that certain people do not wish to go the PC way because of that.

[Haze]

Hardware:
XXX-in-1 board, PC or Raspberry Pi. Most people will say go with a PC. An old and free/cheap PC can emulate quite a lot and pretty good. Software side of a PC is not that easy though. Raspberry Pi with RetroPie is very easy to setup, but some people think it doesn't emulate that well. Others (most?) won't notice. No experience myself with the XXX-in-1 boards, but you are limited in the number and choice of games. Also I read quite some bad stuff about these boards.

The XXX-in1 boards are mostly junk, completely unlicensed, and won't run a lot of titles anyway, including some that were mentioned.

Keep in mind that a Raspberry Pi 3 (the fastest model) is 6 times SLOWER than a 3 Ghz Core 2 Duo, and at this point a 3 Ghz Core 2 Duo is a 10 year old machine, you can pick them up almost as scrap.  Choosing a Pi is the biggest corner cutting you can do, so it's kinda frustrating reading "Don't Cheap Out" in so many other places, and then promoting a Pi.  Defender was mentioned, and emulation of those Williams games (especially Robotron) has been tweaked a lot over the years, the PC will do it better.

I was actually surprised by just how bad they are myself, but using the benchmarks provided by the person maintaining the Pi builds, and comparing them to the junk machine I have in the spare room that is the performance difference, and something that should be kept in mind, at this point I'm not even sure it's cost saving when a 10 year old PC wipes the floor with it.

Sure a PC will run better (never experienced the difference), but setting up a RPi is far easier and I can see that certain people do not wish to go the PC way because of that.

"Building a cabinet out of reinforced cardboard and wiring up some xbox 1 pads for controls would also be far easier, and you'd be able to play the games just the same.  Why spend all that time and money on proper wood, controls and construction?"

I can understand that this forum is more aimed at the physical build side of things, but as a developer of the software that is pretty much the equivalent of how any of this advice reads and I'm fairly sure the majority of the people here would be horrified by that idea.

Just something to keep in mind anyway, a good build isn't going to cheap out on anything.

[akakillroy]

Thanks for all the replies and discussion! I have been spending more time researching, and your right there is a LOT of info out there. I will read more and get back to you all. Thank you again!

[akakillroy]

There is a local dealer/individual selling retro cabinets from the 80's converted over to a 60 in 1 Jamma boards, they want $900 complete. It seems that does NOT seem like a bad price if they are done correctly. Thoughts on that?

[Cynicaster]

There is a local dealer/individual selling retro cabinets from the 80's converted over to a 60 in 1 Jamma boards, they want $900 complete. It seems that does NOT seem like a bad price if they are done correctly. Thoughts on that?

That's a quick and easy route, but IMO the bang-for-your-buck factor is very low.  Those multi-boards, as mentioned, are very hit and miss on emulation quality (missing sounds, etc.)  I hate them, myself. 

You said you have the woodworking skills to build something, so my vote would be to do that.  If you're willing to throw $900 at a scratch built project, you have the potential to end up with something really great. 

If you don't have a good set of wood working tools, you'll have to factor that into your budget. 

Just be warned -- a scratch build, especially if it's your first, takes a LOT of hours from the planning stages through to completion.  I repeat: a LOT of hours. 

[akakillroy]

There is a local dealer/individual selling retro cabinets from the 80's converted over to a 60 in 1 Jamma boards, they want $900 complete. It seems that does NOT seem like a bad price if they are done correctly. Thoughts on that?

That's a quick and easy route, but IMO the bang-for-your-buck factor is very low.  Those multi-boards, as mentioned, are very hit and miss on emulation quality (missing sounds, etc.)  I hate them, myself. 

You said you have the woodworking skills to build something, so my vote would be to do that.  If you're willing to throw $900 at a scratch built project, you have the potential to end up with something really great. 

If you don't have a good set of wood working tools, you'll have to factor that into your budget. 

Just be warned -- a scratch build, especially if it's your first, takes a LOT of hours from the planning stages through to completion.  I repeat: a LOT of hours.

Its hard to make decisions on what cabinet to make. I have all the normal, Circular saw, table saw, router, bits, drill driver, etc... Just have to do more research. Thanks!

[akakillroy]

Thats another thing, I would like to obviously play the games that are both vertical and horizontal, and those 60 in 1 units usually are one or t he other. I conciderd the 1up cabinet as they are small and cheep, but I would have to buy two of them to get all the games I want LOL

[akakillroy]

I wonder if this would be a good option, if the screen works?