McCann Games Project Announcement

[Bartman]

Hello Everyone,

Well after months of hanging around learning and ordering parts, I've finally started construction of my first cabinet.  So far things are coming out ok.  I'm going with a basic two person layout with a singe trackball.  I'm also going to have it double as a jukebox, using DWJukebox. 

Some things I've learned:

Don't angle joysticks!  Laying it out, I though it looked nice, but as soon as I tried playing some games, I realized my mistake.  And sure enough, a few days later I read a post advising against it.  But hey, thats why you build a prototype first right???

However long you think it will take triple it!  Of course I'm also a believer in take your time, and do it right the first time.

I'm currently getting my site together http://www.mccannhome.com/mccanngames/.  Its not much yet, but over time, I hope to polish it up a bit.

Many thanks to everyone who's posted in the past.  I was able to learn a lot before I ever started, and thats made the job much easier. 

I welcome any questions or comments on what I've done so far.

-Bart

[bluevolume]

Looks pretty good, but why all the buttons in the top center?  Looks a bit excessive.

[bfauska]

Looks pretty good, but why all the buttons in the top center?  Looks a bit excessive.

Mahjong.  Duh, everybody's favorite MAME option.

The cab is looking nice other than the excessive buttons.  Are you using those for a Juke?

[Anubis_au]

So, your arcade buttons are on an angle (at least that's how it looks in the pics) and yet you are not going to angle the joysticks? Seems to me that would be confusing...

Still, very nice looking cab and good luck with the build.

[Bartman]

Well the buttons on the top are for a jukebox.  That was the final selling point to the wife for building it!     I know touchscreens are "all the rage" but I like the old school feel of buttons.  However, I don't plan on the jukebox being part of this cabinet for all that long.  So its really more proof of concept.  Once I get this cab done, I plan on building a dedicated jukebox, and at that point, I'll just build a new cp top for this cab, minus the buttons, which I'll move to the jukebox.  It also means for now, I won't do any CP artwork, cause it would just get tossed in a few months.  I plan on using a black laminate for the cabinet, and I'll use the leftovers on the CP for the time being.


As far as the joysticks being straight, but the buttons angled, no, the buttons I will straighten out as well.  The control panel in the pics is my first prototype, so once I get the main cab build finished, I'll layout my next iteration of the control panel, with the joysticks/buttons level.

[DaveMMR]

Yeah, angled joysticks is my biggest pet peeve so I'm glad you realized first hand why it destroys so many lives day after day (well, the video game sprite's lives at least).   Anyway, it's looking good.  And if you're rebuilding anyhow, then I wouldn't worry too much about the excess buttons (just kind of segregate them from arcade buttons like Start and so forth). 

[atarihomestar]

I'm in the process of figuring out a control panel layout, so I'm glad to know that angled joysticks are bad. 

Looks like you're headed in the right direction.  Good luck.

[Bartman]

Thanks.  Its definitely worth a piece of scrap wood to try out your planned layout.  It sure looked good on paper, but as soon as I fired up a few games, I realized appearance and functionality can sometimes be two different things.

As far as the jukebox controls, I've tried to run them up near the top of the CP so as to not interfere with game play.  For now, you'll only be able to do one or the other (play or listen to musci) at any given time, so I think it will work fine in the short term.  I'm not even done with this cabinet, and I'm already thinking of plans for the jukebox!