What's your favorite upright arcade cabinet shape?

[1UP]

What is your favorite upright cabinet design?

I'm mostly interested in actual arcade cabinets (esp. classics).  If you have a favorite homebuilt cab, those are good too, but a link or pic would be appreciated!

I'm in the middle of redesigning my cab for production, and I thought I might draw on some classics while I'm at it...  

1UP

[OSCAR]

Ahhh, there's so many!  IMO, probably the best known cab shapes are the various old Midway cabs like the Pac, Rally-X, Galaga, Ms Pac; and the older Atari cabs like Asteroids and Centipede.

My personal favs are the Williams cabs like Joust/Robotron, and I *really* like the Gottlieb Q*Bert/Mad Planets cabs.  In fact, I like my Mad Planets cabinet so much, I'm just starting my Mini-Planets project, which is a 75% scale version of my Mad Planets cabinet.

[Stingray]

Midway & Williams.

-S

[Sasquatch!]

Asteroids, definitely.  It has such a strong "stance" to it.  That said, it's not the most ergonomic/comfortable shape, but damn, it sure looks cool.

[Edgedamage]

#1 stargate cab      #6 space fury cab

#2 defender cab     #7 star castle cab

#3 tempest cab

#4 neo-geo cab

#5 galaga cab

[dirt]

i know this may not be popular but i love the super pacman cab. i think that cut out for pacmans mouth is cool.


dirt

[Zakk]

I'd go with Asteroids.  It always said "serious business" to me.  Runner up would be Space Invaders, since the setup was just so damn simple, and the cab had a good look to it.  

[Gumby]

I personally was always a big fan of the old Nintendo cabs...

Playchoice/Punchout dual monitors, DK/Popeye/VS...

the only issue I ever had with them was height, they are rather short (tho that does make them very nice to move around...light with wheels)

Plus I think they just look real cool

-G

[maraxle]

Aqua Jack all the way!

[paigeoliver]

Defender (easy to work with), other Williams cabs nearly as good.

Pac and Galaxian (but not Ms. Pac or Galaga), classic design, good plywood construction. The Ms. Pac/Galaga design is not as attractive, and some of them are particle board.

The "standard" atari upright (with some variations, Centipede, Kangaroo, Asteroids, Lunar Lander, Dig Dug, Arabian, Space Duel, and several others). These vary a bit in exact design (mostly control panel, and the cut at the back of the cab), but they all have that LOOK.

Standard "woodgrain" uprights. Sega convertacab, Frogger, many Centuri games.

Cinematronics cocktail (largest cocktail control panels available conbined with a 19" display that fits either direction).

The DOnkey Kong cabinet (used on like 6 different games).

BAD cabinets (for Mame at least) include.
Most driving cabinets.
Assault and Toobin (too skinny, will ONLY hold a vertical monitor)
Dedicated Playchoice (has dual monitors, currently no frontends take advantage of this).
Dedicated VS. Dualsystem. These are actually great IF you want to do 2 Mame cabinets in one.

[mahuti]

Defender. But I'm biased.

Actually the reason I love the Defender cabinet is for a few reasons.

It's not too wide. It's not too deep. You can easily mount a monitor inside due to the large almost flat shelf. There's a great shelf up front for the coin door & box. The speaker is up front & very close. I'm surprised how good the sound is sometimes.

The shape is somewhat aggressive, and has very retro lines to it. It's boxy & edgy, with only a few tight curves. It's shape is raw & unrefined, and really points back to the golden age of the arcade days.  

I think the major drawback of this cab is the shortness of the control panel (due to all of the ledges underneath it, but for the most part is very serviceable for a variety of controls)

[Apollo]

Got to be "Defender" the all time greatest game ever and wickedest looking cab.

[Jakobud]

Browse through all the plans on my website, bro.

[NoOne=NBA=]

Asteroids.
I especially like it with the Star Trek conversion art on it.
I actually designed my cab to be similar in style to that type of cab.
I think the front sweeping sides on it are very distinctive.
This is probably the only cabinet in my list that would fit the bill for what you are looking for 1-UP.
I don't see any way you could really go wrong with this style of cab because it offers alot of real estate in the CP area along with visual appeal to most people.

Another cab I really liked was Crystal Castles.
I loved the double marquee and the fact that it had FULL cabinet art.

I think one of the most unique cabinets has to be Wacko.
I'm not sure what inspired that one, but it is definitely an eyecatcher when placed along side "normal" cabs.

And lastly, I've always been fond what I call the "E.T." cabs.
I'm not sure what the real name for them is, but samples would include Major Havoc (dedicated), Xenophobe, and Xybots.
The ones that have a "monitor on a neck" style to them.

[Generic Eric]

I like burger time, because it has character to it.   I think a quasi-pseudo-similar "jumping mario" would look sharp... So that Mario's fist is outlined (instead of the burger-time chefs' hat)

Defender is pretty cool too.
I also like the tempest cab.

Pixelhuggers "proposed" cab was pretty sweet too.

[GamingGreg]

My vote is for Defender.  My MAME cabinet is a old Defender cabinet (didn't know that at the time, as it had been through a few conversions).  I like the shape and it was real easy to work with.

[Tailgunner]

Computer Space.

Really though, classic Atari cabs for looks, Mortal Kombat style Dynamo cabs for ergonomics.

[SkateDetroit]

I recently chose to work with a Rock-Ola cab simply for it's small stature.



The Atari Centipede style cabs scream "ARCADE" to me.



Im quite found of my hulking 400+ LBS Virtua Fighter Cab though.

[Magnet_Eye]

I'd have to also go with DEFENDER or JOUST/ROBOTRON cabs..the Williams cabs ROCK!

I dunno what you plan to do with the ideal cab design, but either a Defender or Joust cabinet that was wider would be the perfect cab IMO.

 

[Santoro]

Centipede.  

[abrannan]

Centipede.  

Yeah, Centipede.

[Khenemet Heru]

mine would have to be:

#1 - Solar Fox
#2 - Tron
#3 - Centipede
#4 - Tempest
#5 - Asteroids

Neo-Geo cabs are also good shapes esp. for the type of control panels we all seem to design.

[NoOne=NBA=]

1-UP,

I'm seeing alot of Centipede and Defender votes here.
If you do a knock-off of either of those, I would recommend you work a CP into it similar to what Justin did with his.

I don't think either of those cabinets had enough CP room as they shipped from the factory.

[mozzer]

I'd have to say the older Nintendo cabs....

followed by the Neo-geo cab

[Minwah]

I'm very fond of Atari's System 1 cabs (best known for RoadBlasters & Marble Madness).  Quite an unusual shape with no overhang for the marquee.

My cab (in progress) is based on this design

[pointdablame]

Defender
Galaga
Neo-Geo

I also love my Xmen cab, but I know the 25" monitor and oversized CP doesn't appeal to some here. Plus, its not quite a "classic" design.

[krick]

I always thought the Williams 25" cabinets from the 80's like Smash TV with the "beveled" fronts look really nice...

(more pics... http://www.appolo.com/projects/smashtv/smash_tv.htm)

I think the lines of my cabinet are really nice too.  I really like the angle of the monitor and the size and angle of the control panel.  It all just feels really well balanced...


I think it was originally a "Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder" cabinet... http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7968

[tripppsk]

Ive always liked the shape of the Xenophobe cabinet.  It was pretty comfortable and had that unique look.

[patrickl]

I love the rounded curves of the Galaga/MsPacman cabs best. Their sleek top looks better to me than the bulkier shape of the PacMan/Galaxian cabs.

I also love the Moon Patrol cab. Nice and simple.

Centipede is nice too, but I guess people mentioned that one a few times already.

[DougHillman]

When designing my cab,  I whipped up what I see in my mind when I reminisce upon all my days spent in dingy 80's arcades.

While it doesn't seem to be a replica of any one particular cab (as fas as I know), it's got hints of several early 80's machines in it.  

Here's an uncompleted 3D rendering that should at least give an idea.

[1UP]

WOW.  Centipede and Defender.  My current design is basically a mixture of those two already...maybe the design won't change that much after all!  

[nomad]

#1 Mr. Do w/the curvy sides
#2 Centipede
#3 Mortal Kombat

[telengard]

The centipede/dig dug style is my fav.  I wish I had waited to find one before starting my project.  Bally/Sente cabs aren't exactly "classics".  

[ArcadeMaze]

Asteroids, hands down.  Then Centipede, followed by the pacman/galaga style cab.  These three cabs are the gold standard of the arcade shapes.

[SNAAAKE]

Ultimate arcade 2,one word.
Badass

If we are talking about "dedicated" then NFL blitz style cab for me

[Vol]

Favorite Dedicated:

Tempest
Star Wars
Space Invaders

Favorite Generic Style:

The modern midway cabs used for Mortal Kombat 2+, NFL Blitz, etc.

[paigeoliver]

One note about Defender.

It is actually just a smidge wider (about 1.5") than most classic cabinets. Meaning it is one of the FEW classic cabs around that will hold a 2 player layout AND a trackball on a stock sized panel (I measured, it is going to fit, but just BARELY, that is with a 3" ball, a 2.5" would be easier).

Unfortunately that is also what is wrong with the Defender cabinet. Since it is that tad bit wider than everything else, then you often run into the problem that overlays (I am thinking NOS 80s stuff here), and marquees (both NOS ones, and anything already chopped for installation), are not wide enough to fit the cabinet.

I have a half dozen NOS overlays from the 80s and every single one of them is too narrow for a Defender panel, as is my entire marquee collection (except for my STACK of marquees for that Global VR golf game that I can't remember the name of).

[XtraSmiley]

For production man, nothing beats the Midway Mortal Kombat cabs mentioned on here.  I'm 6'2" and standing at these is the best.  The monitor is at the perfect angle and the CP has enough room for a bunch of stuff.  Now I LOVE my Crystal Castles cab for how it looks, but I HAVE to sit to play it becasue the darn monitor is too veritcal.  Since you are trying to sell these things (and I'm waiting to buy one!) you should go with what is most comfortable first, then what looks best.  Not just looks over functions.  That said, can't wait to see the final product!

[1UP]

For production man, nothing beats the Midway Mortal Kombat cabs mentioned on here.  I'm 6'2" and standing at these is the best.  The monitor is at the perfect angle and the CP has enough room for a bunch of stuff.  Now I LOVE my Crystal Castles cab for how it looks, but I HAVE to sit to play it becasue the darn monitor is too veritcal.  Since you are trying to sell these things (and I'm waiting to buy one!) you should go with what is most comfortable first, then what looks best.  Not just looks over functions.  That said, can't wait to see the final product!

Function will always supercede form with me, but since I was kind of back at the drawing board, I wanted to see if I could come up with a better shape for the sides.  As the most important function of my design is the rotating panels, it kind of limits what form the whole cab can take.  So it would be difficult, for example, to put the monitor at a more horizontal angle without a major redesign, such as making a much larger cabinet, or severely limiting the size of controls that can go on the panels (i.e. no more Tron sticks or yoke in that case...)

I think I will stay pretty much with what I've got, which is a very Defender-esque shape, with most of the Centipede-like features (such as the extended edges around the monitor) being diminished for various reasons.

Thanks for all the input!  

[dmsuchy]

Take a look at SkateDetroits cab on the project page, it has a nice clean look to it.