Markrvp's XBOX Cockpit Racing Cabinet

[markrvp]

I was fortunate to get eyedoc to sell me his Pole Position II cockpit sitdown cabinet.  I know he wanted to keep it, but lucky for me his wife wouldn't let him. 

This cabinet was completely gutted except for the steering wheel, shifter, speakers and coin door.  No wires, no monitor, no PCBs, nothing.  So, the decision was what to do with it. 

Pole Position PCBs are notorious for being the worst out there to keep working.  They break easily and generally are not at all hardy.  The only one I could even find didn't even have the standard edge connector and required a special harness.  Restoring this baby to a Pole Position just wasn't realistic.

Sooooooo - IF YOU ARE THE TYPE OF PERSON WHO WOULD THROW THEMSELVES IN FRONT OF AN ONCOMING BULLET TO PREVENT AN ORIGINAL CABINET FROM BEING CONVERTED - you should probably stop reading right now.

My options for this boiled down to MAME or XBOX. 

MAME:  Let's face it, most racing games in MAME are teh suxxorz.  Also making MAME less attractive is the need for both a 360 wheel and 270 wheel.  I don't need another swappable panel cabinet.  A cockpit cabinet is also hard to get inside if you have it stuffed back in the corner of your game room.

XBOX:  Racing games in XBOX are freaking awesome.  If you haven't played a few rounds of BURNOUT 3: TAKEDOWN you have seriously missed out.  Outrun 2006 is also a great, great update to one of my all time favorite arcade classics.  In fact, there are at least 100 great racing games for XBOX; take a look:

1. Burnout 3: Takedown
2. Project Gotham Racing 2
3. Forza Motorsport
4. OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast
5. Burnout Revenge
6. Rallisport Challenge 2
7. Burnout 2: Point of Impact
8. MotoGP 2
9. Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix
10. Midnight Club II
11. Rallisport Challenge
12. MotoGP
13. Project Gotham Racing
14. Colin McRae Rally 3
15. Colin McRae Rally 04
16. NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup
17. NASCAR Thunder 2004
18. Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition
19. MotoGP 3: Ultimate Racing Technology
20. TOCA Race Driver 2: The Ultimate Racing Simulator
21. Need for Speed Most Wanted
22. TOCA Race Driver 3
23. Colin McRae Rally 2005
24. NASCAR Thunder 2003
25. Need for Speed Underground
26. Sega GT 2002
27. Need for Speed Underground 2
28. Pro Race Driver
29. The Simpsons: Hit & Run
30. NASCAR Thunder 2002
31. F1 2001
32. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2
33. MX Unleashed
34. OutRun2
35. NASCAR Heat 2002
36. Midtown Madness 3
37. Splashdown
38. MX vs. ATV Unleashed
39. NASCAR 06: Total Team Control
40. Mashed
41. Burnout
42. MTX Mototrax
43. Apex
44. Quantum Redshift
45. MX Superfly
46. Test Drive: Eve of Destruction
47. Rally Fusion: Race of Champions
48. ATV Quad Power Racing 2
49. Juiced
50. Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions
51. Driver: Parallel Lines
52. IndyCar Series 2005
53. MX 2002 Featuring Ricky Carmichael
54. FlatOut
55. Sega GT Online
56. Freestyle MetalX
57. Spy Hunter
58. R: Racing Evolution
59. IndyCar Series
60. V-Rally 3
61. Crash Tag Team Racing
62. Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller
63. Freaky Flyers
64. Street Racing Syndicate
65. Powerdrome
66. RoadKill
67. Chase: Hollywood Stunt Driver
68. Richard Burns Rally
69. Crash Nitro Kart
70. Mad Dash Racing
71. Dakar 2
72. XGRA: Extreme-G Racing Association
73. Cel Damage
74. Carve
75. Test Drive
76. Big Mutha Truckers
77. Crash 'N' Burn
78. Speed Kings
79. Ford Racing 2
80. World Racing
81. Circus Maximus
82. Total Immersion Racing
83. Starsky & Hutch
84. Test Drive Off-Road Wide Open
85. Ford Mustang: The Legend Lives
86. Totaled!
87. Spy Hunter 2
88. 4x4 EVO 2
89. The Simpsons Road Rage
90. L.A. Rush
91. DRIV3R
92. Ford Racing 3
93. Hot Wheels Stunt Track Challenge
94. Furious Karting
95. Sonic Riders
96. Auto Modellista
97. The Italian Job
98. Motor Trend: Lotus Challenge
99. Jacked
100. Group S Challenge


Making a dedicated XBOX racing cabinet just seems to be a great option.  So that's the direction I went.  I am almost finished, but I wanted to bring you up to date on what all I have done.  This is absolutely going to be my favorite cabinet, and hopefully it will be 100% tomorrow night.

Here she is when I brought her home a few weeks ago:

[BobA]

Sounds like a great cab.
 

Ohhhhhh!  The Suspense!  Waiting for your 100 % pictures please.

[markrvp]

One of my biggest concerns was what type of monitor/TV to put in the cabinet.  The limiting factor was the actual size of the opening for the monitor.  There is plenty of depth, but height was limited.  I was able to determine right away that 20" was as big as I could get away with.

Now, what type of monitor to choose from:

1.)  20" TV - CRT
2.)  20" TV - LCD
3.)  19" CGA - arcade monitor

My first thought was that a TV with S-video or Component video would give me the best quality.  I went to Wal-Mart with my trusty tape measure and discovered that LCD TVs were out of my price range for this project.    I think that would have looked awesome.  Soooo, I measured some 20" TVs.  There was an Emerson that MIGHT have fit without de-casing, but it looked like crap on screen.  There was another 20" that had component inputs for $134 and looked great, but was too tall in the case and would have to be de-cased.

Now, even as handy as I am, I shudder at the thought of de-casing a TV.  There is a tuner and two speakers that have to be removed as well as the IR sensor and whatever adjustment buttons that are in the front of the case.  The input connectors have to be mounted somehow and the tube and chassis would have to be transferred to a shelf-mount bracket.  How do you mount all that stuff?  I know people have done it, but it seemed like more than I wanted to engineer.

So I shifted my thoughts to a 19" CGA arcade monitor.  I posted an inquiry in the Console forum, but NOBODY could say, "yeah games look great on one."  In fact, only one person said they had used a CGA monitor on his Xbox and all he mentioned was that .avi videos looked pretty good on it.  I hate it when I have to be the first to do something to find out how it works.

The best deal I could find on a CGA monitor was from Betson in Dallas.  They are on sale through May for $149.95.  These are the monitors that DO NOT need a separate isolation transformer.  They are plug and play.  The only other thing I would need is the Ultimarc XBOX to ARCADE Monitor adapter.  These are $32 and worth every penny.  Mine arrived from England in about 3 days.     This adapter also provides a stereo miniplug for audio out of the XBOX.

I removed the glass and installed the monitor.  I added a Happ 19" black plastic bezel (which was a slow process to get cut the right size), and replaced the freshly cleaned glass.  The monitor is held to the cabinet monitor shelf by four 3/4" #6 wood screws and fender washers.

[markrvp]

This space reserved for sound discussion

[markrvp]

This space reserved for steering wheel discussion

[Havok]

So, how is the video quality?

Did you use the original steering wheel and shifter, or did you go with an XBOX replacement?

Also, what do you think of the monitor size? I am using a 20.1" LCD display in my cab, and I personally think that is large enough, considering I am two feet away from the thing.

[MinerAl]

So, how is the video quality?

Did you use the original steering wheel and shifter, or did you go with an XBOX replacement?

Yeah, what he asked.

[markrvp]

The video quality is amazingly good.  I am very happy with it.  It should be almost as good as component video since the video signal is separated into RED, GREEN, & BLUE.  Text is as sharp as could be hoped for.  The color is very crisp and there is no "bleeding" of colors like you get on composite video.  I would prefer slightly more saturation which I could probably get by tweaking the gain on each color channel on the chassis.

I also popped in a DVD movie to see how it looks and it is very, very nice.  This cockpit cabinet is a self-contained home theater.

The 19" monitor is plenty big, since as Havok says, you are 2' away from it.  I find that a 19" monitor also makes it easier to keep track of all the action since you don't have to look as far from side-to-side as you would on a 27" monitor. 

I am using a Fanatec Xbox racing wheel.  To mount it to the existing control panel I am having to get a custom metal plate built.  I've already called and gone by the welding place today, but they are still not finished.  It's a very small job compared to what they normally do, so it's at the bottom of the priority list.      I am going to give a detailed description of how to make this work a couple of posts up when I get it installed.  That's the only thing keeping this puppy from being finished.

[mccoy178]

Sounds like you should abandon the project.  If you want, just send it my way and I'll try to figure out something to do with it.

Thanks,
McCoy


P.S.  Please do not use the USPS this time.  They lost the package last time.  I waited outside for over three days.  I have to remember to take water with me this time.

[markrvp]

Hey McCoy:

I have built or restored 3 cabinets in the amount of time it has taken you to build one control panel you can't even play on yet.  I just may have to send you one of my projects so you will have something to play with. 

[mccoy178]

That's what I'm sayin'!

[Raven..]

Mark, that looks great!  You did what I was going to do!  I love XBox racing games (even though I am bad at everything but the Burnout series).  I was going to use a 21 PC monitor and an XBox VGA connector.

Actually, I was going to put an XBox and a Dreamcast both in there.......

I'm glad it's getting some love anyway!!!

[psychopanda]

That looks awesome. Love the artwork on the side of the Pole Position cab. It looks like you'll end up with the best of both worlds by mixing the console system with the old cabinet. What do people use if they want to hook up an Xbox to a vga monitor? I thought I heard that the Xbox360 has cables for that, but alas that console is too much $ for this panda.

[Gunstar Hero]

If it's going to be XBOX specific, you MUST use a Speedster3 wheel (the FORZA one) or if you can track an old one down, the old Lotus Wheel looks and feels pretty good, and performs pretty well for the cost (typically very cheap.) They both use mounting clamps as well, making mounting them less of a chore.

If you want to go multi-console, the Madcatz MC2 will work just fine, but I've never liked using it's "suction cups" mounting system, and using it on my lap is just... not so good. It's housing is also very wide... but since you can sometimes find them CHEAP CHEAP (we've sold them used for under $10) it might be worthy to see if you can gut one and attach it to/through the old PolePos controls somehow. That would be neat, if somewhat complex!

If (when) I do a cab like this, I'll do it around a PS2 if only so I can use the Logitech Driving Force Pro wheel... which will also work with MAME games, as it's a USB wheel.

[markrvp]

If it's going to be XBOX specific, you MUST use a Speedster3 wheel (the FORZA one)

That's the one I'm using.  I think you'll like the way I'm mounting it to the control panel.  Hopefully I'll have pics tonight.

[Gunstar Hero]

Sounds awesome, I'm looking forward to seeing this!

[markrvp]

I'll post a lot more details, but I'm pretty close to being finished.  I'm going to have to take the wheel back out and grind away some of the thickness of the mounting plate so the set screw will line up with the wheel.  I think I'm also going to re-work the area under the monitor to make a shelf for the XBOX and so that the pedals can be dead center.

Here is the cockpit all put together.

[MameMaster!]

that looks awesome!

[mhermann]

Well done. I am impressed.

[Gunstar Hero]

Nice! I do like how you mounted the wheel up. Are you using the original pedals or the Speedsters pedals?

[markrvp]

Nice! I do like how you mounted the wheel up. Are you using the original pedals or the Speedsters pedals?

I'm using the Speedster pedals currently, but I've got some HAPP arcade pedals that I will hack into the Speedster PCB.    I've got to determine the correct pots and then replace the HAPP ones.

[Raven..]

After seeing how that looks, I am going to go shoot myself in the head for letting it get away!   

Nah, I just kidding.  Your son was so jazzed when he saw that cab, it was worth it.  I would never have enough time to play it the way he will!

Good job Mark!!

[markrvp]

After seeing how that looks, I am going to go shoot myself in the head for letting it get away!   

Nah, I just kidding.  Your son was so jazzed when he saw that cab, it was worth it.  I would never have enough time to play it the way he will!

Good job Mark!!

Thanks.  My son now lives inside this cabinet.  Tonight after a couple of hours my wife asked him what he thought about me making that cabinet for him and he said, "Dad is the most awesome dad ever!"
That kind of made it all worth it. 

[dweebs0r]

"Dad is the most awesome dad ever!"

PLEASE adopt me.  I'll keep my room clean and stuff.

-D

[nullb0y]

very nice im not one who likes destroying classics but it looks good to me cause u kept that art DONT PAINT IT LOL

[CheffoJeffo]

More brilliant work ... I have lazily planned a Dreamcast-based cockpit for a while and had been considering the Super JAMMA interface from excellentcom (interfaces with arcade wheels and pedals), but I really like the way your wheel mount turned out.

Once again, very nicely done!

Cheers.

[MYX]

Wow, you just don't stop. How does the cockpit effect the sound? What are you using for sound?

[SNAAKE]

NIIICE ! you wanna post more detail pics of the inside..I wanna see how you mounted the steering wheel just like the real thing

[deadkenndys1105]

I have been thinking of going this with a ps2 or and x-box.  Its nothing more than a concept now because I need to finsh my upright thats almost done and I have a few more concepts.

[mhermann]

Let me say that it looks great! I have a question for you. I am researching a racing cab myself and saw that not all Xbox racing games listed above say they support a steering wheel. But is that the case? For instance Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition does not say it supports a steering wheel, and Project Gotham Racing 2 says that it does support a wheel. Can they both be used with a wheel. The only thing I can think of is that FF is not supported.

[markrvp]

I'm not sure.  I haven't tried all the games yet.  Within the cabinet, it is easy to unplug the wheel from the Xbox and plug in a regular Xbox controller.

[theCoder]

You're out of control dude.  This is what, two cab projects in two months?

[markrvp]

You're out of control dude.  This is what, two cab projects in two months?

There are three more in the works.  I took a break for two weeks to learn all about modding Xboxes. 

[mhermann]

Another question for you. Does the original gear shifter work? If not do you have plans for it? Also, what mod chip did you go with?

[markrvp]

The original gear shifter does not work.  It is just for show.  The Speedster 3 wheel has "flipper" shifters on the steering shaft.

I got the DuoX2 chip and a 250 GB hard drive.  I paid one of the members here to mod it for me, but I have successfully modded another Xbox this week on my own. 

[Timoe]

Good for you 

[markrvp]

Good for you 

It was a total feeling of satisfaction to see that Xbox fire up the first time after modding.  dweebs0r held my hand through the whole process.  A big    to him.

[dweebs0r]

 

Thanks!  You did it though.  Congrats.  Glad to be of service.  My goal is to have every BYOAC member with a modded Xbox!  They work great with emulators and they are relatively cheap.  You cant build a $150 computer that will run emulators as well as an Xbox.

Now, lets see pictures of those ofther project cabs!

-Dweebs

[theCoder]

It's been a few months. 

Did you change out the pedals with the HAPP pedals & if so, did you run into any problems?

How is the steering wheel working out?  Would you still recommend the Speedster3 if you had to do it over again?

[markrvp]

I haven't done anything else to the cabinet.  I've had a heck of a couple past months and haven't been able to do a lot of things I would like.