The Colosseum

[PhysicsTeacher]

I was born in 1969 and started playing Space Invaders as soon as it was in American stores.  When I first started learning the actual concept of money, I did not count it in dollars but SIG's.  There were four SIG's in a dollar, and SIG stood for "Space Invader Games" because there was nothing that money was better spent on than those. 

I've been planning on building a MAME cabinet since MAME came out.  I bought Saint's book when it came out.  I have a few notebooks with old plans in it. 

I have two basic requirements for my MAME cabinet. 

1.  I want it to be larger than life sized.   I am 6'1", but I want to cabinet to be oversized so that I feel about as big as I was at about the age of 13 or 14 when I am standing in front of it.  That means that my head has to fit under the marquee display.  This also means that the monitor ought to be a bit on the big side, so that the screen does not feel dwarfed by the cabinet itself. 

2.  I want the monitor to replicate the look of Space Invaders/Pac Man/Defender.  I've long since forgotten the technical specs, but I know that this means I will need a CRT monitor that can accept the right inputs.  I glanced around the forums, and it seems that the hard part nowadays is that no one is even making those kinds of monitors anymore. 

Twenty eight years ago, I was an electronics technician.  I had the skills to troubleshoot and repair radar units.  I don't see why an old CRT should be much harder to deal with.  I still own an o-scope. 

I'm going to name my cabinet "The Colosseum" after the amphitheater in Rome.  I'm also going to decorate the outside of it with arches reminiscent of the Colosseum, and figures from my list of Classical Games.

This includes Space Invaders, Asteroids, Pac Man, Tron, Centipede, Zaxxon, Tempest, Gorf, Joust, Time Pilot and Spy Hunter.  I'm probably going to add some artwork from Gauntlet, because that was the last game that I was obsessed with.  I know it's not in the 1979-1983 "Golden Age" era, but here in 2018 that seems a minor point anymore.  I'm not including Donkey Kong because Jumpman became Mario and a whole new thing was born after that.   OK, I might include one rolling barrel somewhere in the art, but that's it. 

I'm also going to make the cabinet two player friendly and encourage contests and such.  Putting on a show of competition is within the spirit of the Colosseum. 

So, that's my introduction.

P.T.

[Nephasth]

Took you 21 years to announce this thing... Things aren't looking so hot for this getting started, much less finished.

[Mike A]

Just make the cab a standard height. Your life will be much easier. The controls won't be oversized so the cab will look out of proportion if you giant size it.

[yotsuya]

Just make the cab a standard height. Your life will be much easier. The controls won't be oversized so the cab will look out of proportion if you giant size it.

Exactly. Everything else will be out of proportion too if you make it tall but not wide. The monitor area won’t work because you won’t find a 4:3 that will fit it right.

I’d do this - search CL or OfferUp for a Midway JAMMA cab, like Mortal Kombat or NBA Jam. The layout, screen size, and proportion is great for adults, especially tall ones.

[yotsuya]

Conversely,

[keilmillerjr]

It’s not hard to get a large curved 4:3 sd crt for free. See them on Facebook and at savers all the time. I’ve seen modern arcades with oversized joysticks and controls too, so I’m sure some one sells them. Just don’t make the cabinet so huge you can’t play.

[Ian]

This thread has the potential to be GREAT. I wait patiently...

[Howard_Casto]

Just make the cab a standard height. Your life will be much easier. The controls won't be oversized so the cab will look out of proportion if you giant size it.

Exactly. Everything else will be out of proportion too if you make it tall but not wide. The monitor area won’t work because you won’t find a 4:3 that will fit it right.

I’d do this - search CL or OfferUp for a Midway JAMMA cab, like Mortal Kombat or NBA Jam. The layout, screen size, and proportion is great for adults, especially tall ones.

^This^

Midway's cabs were the bees knees.  If you can find a Mortal Kombat cab you have the bonus of some of the most amazing artwork ever to be featured in an arcade.... MK2 and 3 are especially good.