Linux Journal August 2007: Build Your Own Arcade Game Player ...

[fatfingers]

... and Relive the '80s!

Save your quarters; you won't need them when you build your vintage arcade player.

By Shawn Powers.


A nice little article about converting to MAME, but not a real pretty conversion.  Also very short on space and details.  www.arcadecontrols.com is mentioned though.

The Linux Journal Web Site.

It seems you need an account to read it, which I do not have (but I do have the magazine in front of me).

[FrizzleFried]

I have to say that they could have taken a little time and found a GOOD LOOKING MAME cabinet to stick on the cover of their magazine?  That one,  while functional,  is just about as ugly as they come?!   Take a look at that home made wood CP that doesn't fit the cabinet correctly.   Gotta love the "NEW GAME" marquee and the half chewed up NEO-GEO side art.  The 13" monitor with the Godzilla sized bezel and the oh-so-nifty "character" artwork glued to it.

The cabinet looks half-assed to me...VERY half-assed and I'd be embarrassed to have it on the cover of my magazine.  Hell,  i'd be embarrassed if it were my cabinet,  to post it HERE,  let along on the cover of a magazine.   I mean come on,  did these guys go to crapmame to find one of the ugliest cabs they could find??  But I am an anal pain in the ass...so take that with a grain of salt.

[telengard]

I have to say that they could have taken a little time and found a GOOD LOOKING MAME cabinet to stick on the cover of their magazine?  That one,  while functional,  is just about as ugly as they come?!   Take a look at that home made wood CP that doesn't fit the cabinet correctly.   Gotta love the "NEW GAME" marquee and the half chewed up NEO-GEO side art.  The 13" monitor with the Godzilla sized bezel and the oh-so-nifty "character" artwork glued to it.

The cabinet looks half-assed to me...VERY half-assed and I'd be embarrassed to have it on the cover of my magazine.  Hell,  i'd be embarrassed if it were my cabinet,  to post it HERE,  let along on the cover of a magazine.   I mean come on,  did these guys go to crapmame to find one of the ugliest cabs they could find??  But I am an anal pain in the ass...so take that with a grain of salt.

Well, I think it may have something to do with it running Linux.  Not many of the cabinets I've seen do that.  I'm considering it but right now SDLMame is too slow.  I agree it's not my cup of tea visually but I do like to see more exposure for the hobby.

~telengard

[RayB]

Frizzle said everything I was thinking.
 

[fatfingers]

Completely agreed, Frizzle.  The first thing I did was open the article to see the finished product -- only to find out the cover WAS the finished product!!! 

[pointdablame]

  I agree it's not my cup of tea visually but I do like to see more exposure for the hobby.

~telengard

I think that the hobby would benefit much more from more GOOD exposure and more GOOD information.  The cabiniet isn't the nicest thing in the world, but at least it's finished and functional.  However, his recommendations leave a lot to be desired, and some of the "knowledge" he gained while making the cab is questionable.

[steveh]

i have not read the article.. but since he is running linux, maybe the whole machine was based on a budget, showing people for only a few hundred dollars you can have a game machine build.

[Crowquill]

i have not read the article.. but since he is running linux, maybe the whole machine was based on a budget, showing people for only a few hundred dollars you can have a game machine build.

Making something that looks good doesn't take a lot of money. Maybe a little more time and a bit more effort, but not money. The 2x4 control panel is just too much.

I'll probably pick up this issue, though. I was thinking about using Ubuntu for my cocktail I'm working on, but then I found a Win98 disc in my closet.

[Havok]

The cab matches the OS as far as how good it is for gaming...

Crappy...

 

[tba]

are you kidding? i LOVED that cab... threw out the CP i am working on and just nailed a few 2x4's together, i bent one of the nails over, but hey, that lends to the charm.

i am gonna take some sandpaper to my side art next!

[DarkBubble]

Making something that looks good doesn't take a lot of money. Maybe a little more time and a bit more effort, but not money. The 2x4 control panel is just too much.

As I read the article, I understood why he did what he did.  It reminded me of a lot of stuff I was seeing when I first found the diy arcade scene in the 90s.  The first home-built Playstation joystick I saw was built into an old 80s stereo speaker box.  He's been bit by the bug.  I bet he starts updating the panel and the cabinet.

[shardian]

Now if only we can all band together and convince the Abercrombie and Fitch generation that beat up, half-assed arcade machines are hip and cool like their pre-stained, per-cut up pants, we can all be rich!!!