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My Mameroom Ultimate Arcade II review
wbassett:
I'm definitely not done but it's up and fully functional with any joystick, button, or trackball game! Soon I'll add more features but the beauty is I can add on as I want.
I also picked up these...
Right now, total cost as I am sure some are wondering...
[*]$540 for the Ultimate Arcade cabinet (very easy and nice). If your good at wood working and have the tools already then you can build your own cabinet for a fraction of that price.
[*]$250 for the TankStick and a separate ipaq style controller board with wiring, for when I start building the custom controls. (I'll probably go with an ipaq controller, but figured what the hell, I was ordering the TankStick and wanted to check out their controller kit)
[*]$20 for the plexi bezel and marquee plexi.
[*]$14 for the car speakers I used.[/list]
For a total of $824. Round up for some screws and other miscellaneous items, $840.
Like I said, some people may be able to trim an extra couple hundred off the price by making their own cabinet, and maybe another $50 for the control panel(or the cp could cost more, depending on what a person wants). The rest are all spare parts and an old computer just laying around collecting dust.
This will jump in price though because I plan on replacing the 21" Trinitron PC monitor with a 27" monitor. That will raise the price by another $500. If you don't plan on playing any computer games, you can get away with a 27" TV which will lower the price as well as open up a ton of options for light guns!
May seem like a lot of money to some people, but this is one cool addition to our multi-purpose 'theater'. In a year or two I plan on building an addition to the house for a dedicated Home Theater and I plan on having a 'lobby' room and I will probably have a couple of arcade systems in that area.
My son and I did most of the work as a father/son project when he was up on vacation and that was a lot of fun to do with him. He invited a couple of friends over and they were flipping out! :) And that was before the T-molding and some of the temporary details were done.
All in all I am very pleased with this project. I was debating on whether to do this or build an HTPC and I really couldn't justify the HTPC. It wouldn't really add anything to my setup and room... I already have an HD DVR, Bluray and HD DVD players, as well as around a TB of hard drives connected to my PS3 for DVD archive playback. I'm glad I decided on the Arcade project and hope it sparked some interest in others out there.
My grandson (who is my buddy!) has been playing MAME games upstairs when he comes to visit and he thinks it's the coolest thing in the world, and that was just on the PC. He said it was just like being at Chucky Cheese... well I have a huge surprise for him the next time he comes to visit!
10 Stars For the fun and coolness factor
5 Stars For ease of construction, especially if you go with a cabinet kit.
4 Stars For price. Depending on your point of view it could have more stars since the pre-made Arcade consoles sold at Sears, Sams Club and other places run around $3K. For some though this is a bit extravagant and not worth the money to them, so it depends on your mindest. For anyone already on this forum, I don't think they are the ones thinking this is a waste of time and money though. ;)
nickeltitanium:
Very nice entertainment setup! Wife knows that I want a similar setup but I can only get a room for myself when we move to a bigger house.
:(
wbassett:
I lucked out and we found a big ole Victorian house that has two living rooms, kitchen, and dining room. The wife owns the kitchen and dining room, and I have run of the living rooms! :)
She decorates her rooms how she likes and my rooms are mine to do with as I want as long as it's nothing crazy! The adjacent living room will ultimately have a pool table and maybe a second arcade machine in there.
MikeFalz:
Great write-up and the cab looks great. I'm actually following in your footsteps...
Couple of questions:
Where'd you find the image for the coinbox? I found a decent shot at happ controls, but it's a little small. Yours looks very clear in the photos.
Where did you get your casters?
Thanks!
wbassett:
Coin door decal was from groovygame gear and the appliance casters were from Home Depot.
Someone in another thread brough up a good point, these may not work well on carpet. We have hardwood floors throughout the house and I never thought about carpet.
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