Corner cabinet designs?

[tetsujin]

Hey, I still haven't built my first cab yet but I'm thinking about the design I want and also how it's going to fit into the house I'm looking to get within the next few months.  Right now it looks like I'll have some kind of family room, probably 12x20 or 16x20 (feet), and one thing that occurred to me about my design (CP's a bit narrow for the amount of controls on it, but it's still fairly wide - basic design right now is kind of LuSID-ish in overall size) is that if I put it flat against a wall it'll reduce the amount of usable space in the room significantly - it'll stick out about four feet and occupy at least 4-5 feet of wall space (when you factor in elbow room for the players) - that would be a significant impact on that size room, I think.

Anyway, I'm trying to figure out ways to deal with this and one thing I came up with was to have a cabinet designed to sit diagonally in a corner - the back of the cab would be narrowest, and it'd get wider toward the front (to accomodate the CRT and control panel).  'Course, it also sacrifices the typical game cab aesthetic, and for that reason (plus the fact that it's more complicated construction-wise) I probably won't attempt this - but I was wondering if there were any existing examples of this type of design that people could point out for me.

[lloydcom]

Anyway, I'm trying to figure out ways to deal with this and one thing I came up with was to have a cabinet designed to sit diagonally in a corner - the back of the cab would be narrowest, and it'd get wider toward the front (to accommodate the CRT and control panel). 

Considering the cost of LCD TFTs today is dirt cheap (the Daewoo Pivot is totally awesome) that should factor in the issue about how far it sticks out.  Family rooms are a great place to put a cabinet, but it shouldn't be a focal point that's blatantly obvious.

Have a look at some computer furniture catalogs, especially the corner Digital Dock ones as the overall structure is a good way to build corner arcade cabinets.  I looked at building a corner arcade cab, but with my requirements went for a cabaret design.

I use my cabinet as a multimedia station, and a place to hook all my electronic gear.  Figure a nice 19" Daewoo Pivot (for those vertical games) and a adjustable control panel that hides away when not in use, which is a bonus if the other half starts complaining.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=394487

[Bill Mote]

A corner cab would not be more difficult to build.  Seriously.  I too was going to suggest that you choose a smaller monitor/TV.  I built my first cab around a 25" TV that I had.  It's big.  Really big.  My next cab will be based on a 20" screen.  Keep your CP to a 2-player design and I should think you could really build a compact cab!

dot

[CheffoJeffo]

Family rooms are a great place to put a cabinet, but it shouldn't be a focal point that's blatantly obvious.

Blasphemy!!! 

OTOH, if you guys are looking for something that doesn't intrude on your space, look at cocktails (the floorspace required is greater, but the imposition on the room is less), classics or something like Knievel's Woody.

Cheers

[Donkey_Kong]

 

Family rooms are a great place to put a cabinet, but it shouldn't be a focal point that's blatantly obvious.

Blasphemy!!! 

I second the...Blasphemy!!!

If an arcade machine should not be the focal point of the family room...lloydcom: What, may I ask should be the focal point in the family room? eh? I gotta tell ya, I ain't done yet but when I am that arcade machine is gonna SCREEEEEEEEM    focal point baby!

Looking at my house, I don't even have a corner available for a machine...Fireplace in one, doors in the way of all other corners. I would also check into a cocktail cabby as an alternative. Althoug if you had a corner available it could be very cool and unique. I would just be afraid that your game would always be restricted to the corner...

[lloydcom]

If an arcade machine should not be the focal point of the family room...lloydcom: What, may I ask should be the focal point in the family room?

The projection TV?

The Reclining Sofa?

Whatever the wife wants?

Just pick one of the two because the last one will determine if the cab will eventually reside in the garage/shed if she keeps having to clean it everyday.  As as arcade cabinets are dust magnets.

 

Seriously though, I like the cocktail cab idea too, corner cabs can be restrictive.

[Donkey_Kong]

Lloyd,

I talk tough now but my machine ain't in the family room yet. It might not last long there either if the other half has any say about it...

[tetsujin]

Anyway, I'm trying to figure out ways to deal with this and one thing I came up with was to have a cabinet designed to sit diagonally in a corner - the back of the cab would be narrowest, and it'd get wider toward the front (to accommodate the CRT and control panel). 

Considering the cost of LCD TFTs today is dirt cheap (the Daewoo Pivot is totally awesome) that should factor in the issue about how far it sticks out.  Family rooms are a great place to put a cabinet, but it shouldn't be a focal point that's blatantly obvious.

Obviously, the machine could simply be scaled down or down-graded.  That's not what I'm talking about, though.

What I'm thinking of are ways to have the same hardware (big 25" monitor, full two-player CP with trackball, etc.) but with less wasted space.  Consider:

The players, standing shoulder to shoulder, would need around four feet of width in order to play side-by-side at the machine.
The CP itself, however, only needs to be about 32" wide to accomodate a healthy collection of controls and space to use them.
The front of the monitor would be about 26" wide.  The back of the monitor is narrower, and the monitor space actually ends after just a foot or so of depth.

So you see where I'm going with this?  The cab only needs to be wide at the front.  If it's tapered at the back it could potentially save a lot of space.  If the cab needs to be deep in order to have stability, it can still have that - it'll just be a more triangular foot instead of a rectangular one.  Or so goes the theory, anyway.

By comparison, if you stick a LuSID-like design in the corner - it'll take up a bunch of space, and you won't be able to put it right in the corner without wasting more space or jamming a player against a wall.  Either you put the back of the machine against a wall, and slide it out so the player on the corner-side has some elbow room, or you turn it diagonally - which doesn't work so well with that kind of design.  Machines like that, they're designed to be lined up side-by-side, not to be stuck in a corner.

I do want my cab to be pretty normal-looking, though, and that's one of the main reasons I probably won't specifically design it to live in the corner.  But I did want to see if it'd been done, and if so how it played out.

[Donkey_Kong]

Sometimes when you do alot of reading at byoac you start to get the feeling that there are almost rules for proper cab building techniques, materials etc...YOU have to remember though, It is your cab and in reality there ain't no F-in rules!

[kelemvor]

Most of the back of a cab is wasted space anyway.  The TV/Monitor is pretty much the largest thing in there and will definitely be the determining factor in the size of the cabinet.  Just find the TV and see where it will fit in the corner and go from there.  Just use a normal cab design but make it a Triangle and cut off the tip and there you go.