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Pre-Build Arcade Machine Discussion

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Malenko:
not exactly  on topic but I hacked some sidewinders for my first panel and the solder joints kept breaking, so I gave up and got a hot rod... that makes me a lamer? if it makes you feel better I broke the hot rod, but then again Im sending it back for them to fix cause I dont wanna solder it =)

I do my own custom artwork, and Ive done other art work for other mamers (and if anyone wants something done, justdrop me a line llinrac at comcast dot net)

But Ive retro fitted 2 cabinets now, I got a slightly better cab for my mame and my MOM wants my old cab for her mame machine (dont get too giddy, shes a pac man nutcase)

Well anyways Ive said too much and typo-ed too much as well. I'll close withthis:  If you cant do something  and order it pre-done good for you, you get to play mame anyway =)

Thom

CthulhuLuke:
How could I have turned down a perfectly good offer for a free cabinet large enough for a 4 player control panel, with an extra big marquee space, already installed late 80s styled speakers, and a working coin door!  There was no monitor, and I'm having to rebuild the control panel and built a special holder for the tv.  Ya know what, with all the laminate on the sides and the t-molding pre installed, along with the power supply that came with it, this thing in parts alone would have cost me a few hundred to build.  Why not save myself having to save up hellllza money and all that effort working to buy the parts to build my own cabinet, when I can get the frame and work that way.  LoL, nerds arguing about arcade machines, what an awesome thread I must say.  Anyways, just puttin in my $.02 on the matter.  
   -Cthulhu32
PS: I'm only 17 so it's pretty damn hard to build my own arcade machine BY MYSELF.  I've been having my dad help me along the way, on this and that, but I've done all the wiring so far, and a bit of the wood work.  The control panel is not finished, but it should be soon, and that thing will have a lot of effort put into it by my dad and I.

hyiu:
on the other hand, I'm not sad seeing that companies now sell mame machine.  This means we actually have a large number of people out there that has a passion on these old arcade games !!

also, competition can drive price down, force companies to create new ideas, designs, convinent packages and maybe we can actually learn from them !!

truth is... not every gamers out there have the woodworking skill to build a nice mame machine as shown in Saint's example pages.... I am VERY impressed with a lot of them... also, a lot of time needs to be spend before this thing is done...

but if you're rich enough to dish out several thousand $$ and get 1 pre-made... why not ??

yes, you do get a lot of satisfaction by building it... but for those who likes to play those older arcade games and buy a pre-made cab, I don't see anything lame about it....

since I don't have several thousand $$ to spend, I'm planning to build one myself... although that will save me some $$, but I'm sure everyone knows... this project usually runs over-time, over-budget, over-work....  ;D

RandyT:
"Fight the Power" ?!?!?

C'mon, this is a little absurd.  Just because someone doesn't possess the skills or time to do this the way somone else "thinks" it should be done, doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to participate in the hobby.

I can't count the number of times I have heard "don't hack a keyboard/joystick/mouse, just buy X from vendor Y".  Just *where* would you like to draw  the line?

My cab is an old Defender that was rotting away in my basement (don't worry, it was gutted long before I got ahold of it).  It used to house my Amiga, long before Mame was a twinkle in it's father's eye.  I could have built one from scratch that was identical to it in every way, but there is some nostalgic value in having a cabinet that was actually used by a few thousand people in a real arcade.  This, however, only increases it's value to some.  To others, it's just someone elses used junk.

My control panel is comprised of a keyboard hack, mouse spinner hack, and gamepad hack.  I spent WEEKS printing control panel and marquee overlays (36" inkets rule :) ), hacking keyboard matrices, gutting a TV set,  hacking the mouse and gamepad, wiring the controls, configuring the computer,.... you get the idea.

Now, would I wish this type of project on someone without a clue?  Not in a million years.  There are so many skills needed to build one of these things, that very few people can be a master of them all.  

This doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to play.

And while *you* might get some satisfaction out of the fact that you "did it all yourself", quite frankly, I have only been impressed by a few of these projects.  Of course, impressing me isn't important, but if you are going to put your project on "display" in your living room, a certain level of quality might not be a bad idea.

Sorry if I got off on a rant here, but I'd be willing to bet that that few of the folks frequenting this site have the skills to write their own emulation software, but that doesn't keep them from using MAME.  Are we to become such elitists that we believe because others don't possess *our* skills, they should not be able to enjoy the things we have?  I would hope not.

RandyT

ophtho:
I am one of the prebuilt cab people who frequents this site.  As I have said before in other threads, I was able to buy a fully working refurbished generic Japanese sit down JAMMA cabinet with 29" monitor, controls with 6 buttons each, working coin door, etc all for $300.

Looking at the sometimes thousands of $$$ that others spent on building the whole thing by themselves I just don't have that kind of money.  I certainly admire the lengths to which people go to customize the own cabs and the hundreds of hours put into their final machine. They should be rightly proud of their work.

I unfortunately work 80 hours a week as a resident, enjoy playing these older games that I grew up with in what little free time I have left, and so the choice was clear.

Even with buying the prebuilt cab I spent a good 40 hours choosing components (video cards, scan converters, JPAC etc) getting everything hooked up right, mounting a trackball and spinner, constructing a second panel for my Dreamcast, replacing molex connectors, cleaning the dirtridden cab, mounting speakers, rewiring part of the JAMMA harness, and then replacing the monitor when I accidentily blew it out.

I'm not going to post a cabinet page and all as I don't think what I did justifies one. However, I don't think I qualify as a lamer and unworthy of MAME for what I did.

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