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Cheapest + Easiest way to mame a cocktail cab.
JoyMonkey:
I'd get an old Dell Optiplex PII or PIII from CraigsList or a local surplus- the onboard ATi Rage video is perfect for an arcade monitor and the onboard sound is simple to get going from DOS.
Get a J-Pac from Ultimarc to hook up the controls; if it's got a standard Jamma game in it already, hooking this up will be simple plug n play. It'll also protect the monitor from any bad video signals from the computer.
Then I'd carefully set up AdvMame and ArcadeOS (or GameLauncher) to run on that monitor.
It'd take a little time and patience, but I likes arcade monitors.
What game is the cocktail cab?
slicer_d:
Its either a Pacman or a MS Pacman cocktail.
I'm kind of liking the idea of using advmame and skipping the Arcade vga and saving almost 100 bucks. Like others have said thats may not be the easiest way but it would be pretty cheap. I need to talk to the people some more though if they want more than like 20-30 games on it I will just tell them to go for the arcade vga and better setup
JoyMonkey:
If it's an original Pac or MsPac, it would be a shame to make any major changes to the machine. You should think about maybe only using games that run on a vertical monitor with a 4-way joystick and no buttons, that way you wouldn't have to modify the control panels or do any wiring.
That does limit the amount of games that would be playable though.
Lilwolf:
There is a guy selling control panels that fit that on the b/s/t forum.
If it really is a mspacman they will probably want a button or two.
DONT destroy the cab unless its already gone. Mspacman cocktails retain their values better then any other game out there (minus starwars and maybe tron / dot and a few others).
But replace the control panel.. and your good to go.
Also... the advance mame will allow you to run as many games and even more then arcadevga + windows. Unless of course there are games taht would require hwstretching... But your still talking 1000s of games (or all the vertical ones) if the controls are there.
slicer_d:
Dont worry about guys I greatly respect the classics and will try my hardest to change as little as possible on the actual cabinet.