Neo Geo MAME Bartop

[flampoo]

I sent the wife and child home for a month (weddings) so I have a bit of time on my hands. And since I have most of the materials needed I decided to contstruct a bartop MAME with a NEO GEO style. NG's have always been my favorite.
Goofing around w/ photoshop I came up with the following template. Nothing too sexy. 17" CP. I'll be using a horizontal monitor (not many vert NG games). I'm not going to bore you w/ computer specs. It'll be enough to run the games.



I can't decide whether to use a balltop or if I should just use a black competition. And if I decide on a balltop, should I go red or black? If my memory serves me correctly, most NG games that include in-game instructions use a red balltop for reference, don't they?

[javeryh]

That looks sweet!

[stellarola]

Yea! That would be the shiz-NITE!! 

If you need any tips on tabletops, lemme know.

[The 80s Man]

Man, that looks nice.

[Gunstar Hero]

To be authentic, I believe you need a black super or comp for the stick, and I'm pretty sure there were no vertical NeoGeo games. 

[DYNAGOD]

i hate to say it,but its a crime against humanity to have a 1 player neo geo anything..
the entire foundation of their stronghold on their respective market has been the focus on fierce player on player competition in their titles..
to make it a 1 player bartop would certainly make it far less attractive..i mean what fun is samurai showdown without a friend to showdown..
just food  for thought..

[Witchboard]

To be authentic, I believe you need a black super or comp for the stick, and I'm pretty sure there were no vertical NeoGeo games.

[RetroJames]

i hate to say it,but its a crime against humanity to have a 1 player neo geo anything..
the entire foundation of their stronghold on their respective market has been the focus on fierce player on player competition in their titles..
to make it a 1 player bartop would certainly make it far less attractive..i mean what fun is samurai showdown without a friend to showdown..
just food

[tommy]

That looks good flampoo , i guess you going to have to use an 19'' monitor if not smaller,i agree about the two player feature but it will be cool with one

[pointdablame]

That looks good flampoo , i guess you going to have to use an 19'' monitor if not smaller,i agree about the two player feature but it will be cool with one

A 19" monitor would make for quite a large bartop.  Most use 13" - 15" screens.

I would sort of agree about the lack of 2p capabilities, but as a big NeoGeo fan, that looks very cool.  I might have to rethink my next bartop design

[HaRuMaN]

Yeah.. 2 fully enjoy some Metal Slug... you need 2 people running around, causing mayhem...   

[GGKoul]

I would love to get a copy of the plans!!

[the3eyedblindman]

I don't really understand these bartops, they run off of a pc thats not inside of the cabinet? So all it really is is the monitor and controls in the cab, with a separate computer?

[AmericanDemon]

The PC is inside.  a bartop is merely a bar sized cabinet with all the components inside.

[the3eyedblindman]

seems way too small to hold a pc.

[Setabs]

seems way too small to hold a pc.

http://www.mini-itx.com although not alot with monitors built into their projects some of those boards don't take up any room at all.

I guess you could save more room by using an lcd monitor, but those have quality issues I hear.

I would work it into a 2 player panel if possible.

[flampoo]

i hate to say it,but its a crime against humanity to have a 1 player neo geo anything..
the entire foundation of their stronghold on their respective market has been the focus on fierce player on player competition in their titles..
to make it a 1 player bartop would certainly make it far less attractive..i mean what fun is samurai showdown without a friend to showdown..
just food

[GGKoul]

I don't really understand these bartops, they run off of a pc thats not inside of the cabinet? So all it really is is the monitor and controls in the cab, with a separate computer?

You can easily put the PC guts under the Monitor in a bartop.

[NiN^_^NiN]

If you actually look at a normal sized MB it would fit easily in the Bartop 

Power supply would be a bit harder if it can't sit next to the MB

Altho u can get a small PSU to use it for

The mini ITX motherboards are only 17cm x 17cm and the new NANO ITX boards are hald the size of the mini ITX

And psu's are very thin and slim to

I just made a Carputer and have a mini ITX and a 7" XGA touchscreen in the dash and the pc can fit basiclly anywere

PC's can fit anywere you want.

But back on topic

I love the Neo Geo bartop u made it looks great but it's a bartop and is ment for some1 to enjoy some games on a bar stool if possible.

Making it a 2 player just defeats the purpose of a bartop (in my mind anyway)

I like the way you have it looks great

Also the neo geo games all show a red balltop

even on there instruction cards for almost all games

But a black comp stick would look better as i haven't ever seen a neo geo with a red balltop.

It all depends on which you like more

Wish i could find a old laptop to make a cool neo geo bartop like this but it still cost $100 for a 486 DX2 100 laptop

what a rip 

Great work on the mockup i love it 

[MameMaster!]

anyone here  actively using one of those mini ITX boards?....how much does the whole thing cost (including operating system)?....

MameMaster! 

[NiN^_^NiN]

mamemaster: I actively use Mini-ITX boards on a few different projects.

There are a few diff boards but the 2 boards that you would want are

MII 6000E (which i have)
MII 12000

the 6000E is a 600mhz Fanless cpu board and runs in tight places without the need for fans.

the 12000 is a 1.2ghz which is the same as the 6000E just a faster cpu.

Both boards have onboard CF slot and a PCMCIA slot
They also have built in mpeg2 decoders.

Both have VGA TV-Out 5.1 sound and you can do dual screens using TV-Out as 1 screen and VGA as the other

The machines are made for any kind of job you can think of.

I have the 6000E in my car and have wifi in the PCMCIA slot so i can get music from my main pc when im about to leave for a drive.

I won't bore u with what i've got in the car but the boards are well built and are fast

There is only a $30 difference (in australia) between the 600mhz and the 1.2ghz

I'm not sure what the cost is in america or other countries but down here it cost me

$240 for the Mini-ITX MII 6000E MB
then $120 for a 80w psu

[MameMaster!]

thanks for the info.....do they come w/XP?....or do you have to purchase that on it's own?

Are they fully functioning PC's?....or do I need to add a video card?

they seem to be awfully cheap for a fully functioning mini PC....but maybe I'm overanalyzing.

If these are as simple as they appear....I think I'll have a bartop as my next project soon!

[JoyMonkey]

The Via Mini-ITX boards are sold as a motherboard/cpu combo. Most, if not all have onboard sound, graphics, LAN, USB, FireWire etc.
All you need to add is some memory, a hard drive of some kind and a power supply.
http://logicsupply.com is a good source for Mini-ITX bits n pieces. I bought a tiny fanless power supply from them and it works great with my MII-10000 board (the power supply comes with a laptop style connector and AC power adapter).

[MameMaster!]

hmmm...thanks for the info!....I have my creative juices flowing now.....hmm.......what trouble can I get into now?

[Sasquatch!]

 

DANGER!  SMILEY OVERLOAD!

Seriously though, that stuff you posted about the mini boards was pretty good info, so thanks!

 

[GGKoul]

where are I read more info on installing a PC in my car?

[NiN^_^NiN]

Glad i could help

check out www.mini-itx.com to see what people have put these mini-itx boards in

i've seen t in old c64 a snes basiclly anything even model cars

Now i'll give u some quick info on what I have installed in my car

the pc's just a mini-itx with a 80w Morex psu and a morex case.

I have a 7" Xenarc XGA Touchscreen built into a fold out LCD case so i fold it out of the radio slot (some people mould it into the dash which looks good)

thats basiclly it i have a wifi card in the pcmcia slot on the mini-itx board and the rest is software basiclly.

What my carputer can do is play mp3/dvd/movies/phone/gps

you can use a bluetooth phone and use software that has been made for carpc frontends so when someone calls there number and picture comes up on the LCD screen and you can choose to accept it by pushing the ok button on the LCD while the phones in your pocket it does sms and phone book so u can read the phonebook to call someone or sms someone with the onboard keyboard.

GPS is great we have some navigation software where it will give us visual directions in 2d or 3d mode while vocal directions like: in 500 meters turn left, in 200m turn left, turn left and it evens tells u if your over the speed limit

we also have a few things like dual screens etc.

I have mame installed on my carpc and i use a gamepad to play some games when im in the car waiting for someone or something along thoese lines.

You can check out some other cool stuff on www.mp3car.com you go to the forum to see other peoples installs or to get ideas on how to install it in your car (usually someone has installed 1 in the same car as u)

As of projects you could make well here's a small list of what people have used the mini-itx boards for:
HTPC
Linux Server
DVR
Games Console
Guitar Wa Wa effects pedal (plays certain sounds when u hit the pedals)

There are alot of stuff you can use them for

My personal idea is you could make a Bartop thats so small you would use a 10" crt monitor and have enough room for controls and anything else you needed

And sorry for another SMILEY OVERLOAD 

I do feel bad taking over this thread so lets stick on topic

If you have more stuff you wanna know u can PM me or you can make a topic in the everything else section just tell me hehe