New byoac member on the boards.

[gatordad]

Just wanted to say hi, and introduce myself. I grew up spending my quarters at the bowling alley and corner arcade on space invaders, asteriods, joust, robotron and tempest. the first talking pin Gorgar and the double decker Black Night or was it Dark Knight (its been awhile), as a kid I remember being awed by Dragon's Lair, I had a Pong game, Atari 2600 with about 20 or so games, and my mother let me take pictures of the tv screen with a poloroid camera when I had a new High score. (good times , good times)

Fast forward 25 yrs, Married, house, job, and 3 beautiful kids later, I discovered and played with mame, I thought it was cool, but it just wasn't the same experience, there was no magic when I played, like I remembered as a kid,  I was using a keyboard and never made the connection about why it wasn't the same, and mame fell into hard drive purgatory.

2 years later
Just about 2 or 3 months ago I stumbled across this site and all I can say is WOW!!!! javascript:replaceText('%20:notworthy:',%20document.forms.postmodify.message);

It hit me like a ton of bricks, Thats exactly what was missing, This is my next project, ARCADE CONTROLS.....

Being the king of my castle and all, I told my wife that I was going to start a new project and after I told her what it was, she said great, just after you paint the kitchen, living room, and dinning room.

So actually ARCADE CONTROLS is my next, next project.

I have been reading as much as I can when time allows, and been watching some of the projects here and I have been inspired to try and build something, I don't know what yet, but something, most probally a 2 player cp to start.

I am 1/2 way through with saint's book, and after telling my boys that I want to build an arcade machine, they keep asking me when am I going to be done reading so I can start the project. I told them don't you dare dent or scratch any more walls in the house or I'll have to paint them too.....

We'll talk again soon, as I have tons of questions....

Regards,
Gatordad

[BobA]

Welcome to the BYOAC forum.  Have fun,  don't tell your spouse how much it really costs and take pictures when you build your own.

 

[CheffoJeffo]

Welcome to the BYOAC forum.  Have fun,  don't tell your spouse how much it really costs and take pictures when you build your own.

 

What he said ...

 

[Dervacumen]

You got that right.  Welcome to arcade nirvana.
Money? Nah.
Time? Nah.
Fun? YEAH!

[Kaytrim]

Welcome aboard GD   One minor suggestion, change your avatar please.  There is a crazy guy here on the boards that uses the one you currently have and I would hate to confuse you with him. 

TTFN
Kaytrim

[unclet]

Welcome to BYOAC ..... it is always fun to hear about someone who just discovered this site .... brings back memories when I first discovered it ...... felt the same way you do now .... although back then Mame only had about 300 games total.

Remember, ask a lot of questions first so you know exactly what you want to do before actually buying anything.   Then measure and re-measure everything before you make cuts.

This is a very fun project, and when you are done you, your family and your friends will be amazed at what you have accomplished.

Good luck .... and have fun.

PS:  Since you have kids, perhaps you will also like to play Gameboy Advanced, Sega, Nintendo, Atari2600/5200/7800, Laser Disc games (ie: Dragon's Lair),  Visual Pinball, etc.., etc.. games on your cabinet as well.   Emulators exist for all of them now so spend some time to decide what you really want your cabinet to have on it.

[gatordad]

Welcome aboard GD   One minor suggestion, change your avatar please.  There is a crazy guy here on the boards that uses the one you currently have and I would hate to confuse you with him. 

TTFN
Kaytrim

Done.... I used something original, and about being crazy, The doctors say I'm doing much better now!

[More Cowbell]

Welcome aboard. Prepare to get way more involved in this obsession hobby than you ever planned. 

[pointdablame]

Welcome!!  You'll find a ton of info (and a bunch of weirdos) here at BYOAC.  Enjoy your stay, and keep your hands in the vehicle at all times.

And one other note about how much it costs.  Obviously don't tell the wife but do NOT make a spreadsheet or keep receipts.  Everyone thinks this is a good idea at first just to see how "cheap" they can do it in.... but then you realize you dumped $5k into the machine heh.

Save yourself the pain (and the potential of the wife finding it)   

[shardian]

Fast forward 25 yrs, Married, house, job, and 3 beautiful kids later, I discovered and played with mame, I thought it was cool, but it just wasn't the same experience, there was no magic when I played, like I remembered as a kid,  I was using a keyboard and never made the connection about why it wasn't the same, and mame fell into hard drive purgatory.

Welcome to the hobby!

Heh, when i first heard about MAME, I thought "whoop-dee doo" It probably sucks and won't be anywhere near what the real thing was. Why get that when I can play Nintendo on an emulator! 
Then one day a buddy I hadn't talked to in a while showed me pictures of his "MAME arcade machine" Needless to say I went online faster than a scalded dog to download MAME.

The extra cool thing about this hobby is this site. I spend WAY more time on here than actually playing/working on my machines. Just being able to chit-chat with a few hundred friends about arcade stuff is an experience in itself.

[shardian]

Welcome aboard GD   One minor suggestion, change your avatar please.  There is a crazy guy here on the boards that uses the one you currently have and I would hate to confuse you with him. 

TTFN
Kaytrim

Hey, I forgot that he is in Paris right now. We can say anything about him we want!
Schmokes likes to poop his pants!

[Trebeck]

Welcome and good luck.  Lots o good heads in this forum to help you out too.
 

Beck