Introducing logiq, a new design for a MAME Cabinet

[kevilution]

Hey there,

I've decided to put my SPEED racing cabinet on hold to build my first MAME cabinet, which is a much more obtainable goal. My design for this one takes it's inspiration from the game console kiosks you'd find at a game shop. Very lightweight, easy to move, and eye-catching. So right off the bat, it's not your typical MAME setup. It's narrow, mostly fiberglass with supports on the inside, and I plan on using a 19" LCD.

It will feature 4 fiberglass "Spines" on each corner, wide at the bottom, curved in-ward at the middle, then back wide at the top. Each spine will hold an array of LED's powered by an LED-Wiz for some eye candy. The bottom half of the cabinet will house the PC, subwoofer and other componets and will be fully enclosed. The top half of the cabinet will feature some sort of steel honeycomb mesh for accents around the display. It will also feature a standard control panel suited for a majority of the MAME games out there.

This rendering doesn't do my design justice (I'm still figuring out Sketch-Up!) but it shows the basic design.

[BobbyG66]

Looks like a cool design.
Just not sure what the fiberglass spines are or hom much weight they will support.

Good luck, can't wait to see the progress on this!
BG66

[Kaytrim]

If your plan is to have only 4 thin rods holding up everything then I don't see it working.  The rods will flex, bend, tip over and even break under normal usage.  Now if you are thinking of using 1/4" - 1/2" plexiglas for panels then I can see it standing up to some normal usage.  However due to the light weight of the case and the heavy nature of the control panel I can still see it tipping over easily.

I like the fact that you are thinking out of the box.  You just have to balance aesthetics with functionality.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[TOK]

My loaded 2 player control panel weighs at least 30 pounds, and then people lean on it. That design looks way too weak, even with the fronts and backs joined at the panel. I'm not familiar with the kiosk you're drawing inspiration from, but similar ones I'm familiar with are made from larger, welded steel tubing and have gussets on them that provide strength as well as a secure housing for the PC/console hardware. I think you should incorporate something like that as well as a channel to hide the hardware and cables, or your clean looking design is going to be spoiled by the reality of the hardware needed to run it.

[phishpac]

most game kiosks that you see have wired remotes that are away from the unit.  people hitting on joysticks and buttons will likely shake/tip that design.

[kevilution]

The spines aren't going to be thin like in the picture. The spines will not be structural support, they are actually going to be 1/4 of a 4 inch diameter pipe that follows the curve of the structure.  The structure will be 2x2s for strength with fiberglass around it to follow the curves of the cabinet. Hard to visualize, I'll try and draw what I'm planning.

[Zakk]

I used to have one of these in the 70's.  It was shorter, and we just put a fish tank on top. 

[AcidArmitage]

you could always bolt it to the ground!