Build v Play

[mrtim30]

I was playing a few games last night on my PC ( Im just about to start on my first cab) and I realised that maybe Im into the whole building and designing thing more than the actual gameplay. How many of you are in the same boat. Addicted to the design and build but not so much into the gaming?

[8way]

That's funny I agree 100%.

[Kevin Mullins]

Build and repair.

[Paulson]

 Me too... & self satisfaction  And impress others  And will always be there if required
 like any other games machine / console.

[Dexter]

90% build, modify and repair, 10% actual playing (and even then, mostly when I have friends over)

[GAtekwriter]

Definitely enjoying the building (but it's slow going).  I'm just happy to keep learning new techniques, including getting more out of my router.  I probably won't play the actual games all that often, but I do get a little proud moment staring at it and realizing I built it all.

Jim
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=67651.0

[cadmium]

I'm probably going to have to agree. I'm almost done my build, and I'm kind of sad. I don't think I can talk the wife into building a second one just yet 

[GAtekwriter]

I'm going to do a bartop next (and probably at a faster rate now that I know a little more) and my wife is okay with it... part of me does wonder if I'm taking my time because I'm enjoying the building more... nah - just not enough time in a week (or month... ).

Jim

[leapinlew]

I enjoy playing, collecting and building. In that order...

I found out I enjoy building things, and I've gone on from building arcades to other things in the house.

[extendedplayarcade]

My order would be Playing, Playing, and designing.  My abilities to build a full cabinet is questionable.  I know how to do repairs and trouble shooting but when it comes down to wood working.  Wood Putty is my best friend.

I do work well with pine but I don't think anyone would want to make an adirondack looking cabinet.  The tricky thing is installing that t-molding. 

Brent
www.extendedplayarcade.com

[Ginsu Victim]

Building is definitely my favorite part. Also, I find that I'm always tweaking the cabinet in some way even after it's been finished.

[mrtim30]

Im totally addicted to this and I havent even began my build yet. My wife is sick of it already. Especially always reading whats going on here.

[Paul Olson]

I play games on my cab for a couple of days, then I end up changing something on it. It is down most of the time it seems. I never play a lot when it is working. I just like having access to it when I want to play. It is the same with the 360 and the Wii; I rarely play games, but I like being able to when I want to.

Someday, I want to leave my cab alone for a year or so to see how much I actually play on it, but I don't know if that is even possible. 

It is kinda cool though. Our hobby of building arcade cabinets is enjoyable enough that playing the games is optional. People always think I am lying when I say I never get bored, but it is true; I always have something to keep my mind occupied.

[Ginsu Victim]

Right now, I'm in the process of trying to get a nice PC upgrade for it, plus I might be doing a complete CP redesign.

[TheRed]

yeah...building things and fixing them are my fav....but I ran out of room in my gameroom. Now I have to wait until I have a garage for anymore projects. 

[shmokes]

Does anyone else find that BYOAC is a double-edged sword.  I tend to take quick breaks from building to check the forums and the quick breaks turn into an hour or two.  It really slows down my progress tremendously.  On the other hand, it's by far my most important tool/resource.

[Paulson]

 I'm always in here...at the moment anyways
 I'm still waiting for supplies so I can't continue with my build even if I wanted to
 ...however I have all my MDF cut to size & marked up ready...hopefully I'll have a new
 jigsaw this week too & I'm waiting for T molding & cutter, some artwork also.
 No problem though it's taken a long time to get this far as it is...& I'm in no rush
 
 Have any of you took time to think how it would be without the internet? All
 this help we have before us & all the emulators & roms...plans etc...

 I'd be doomed for sure.

 Just a thought.

[miles2912]

I thought the build part would be terribly boring as I couldn't wait to play the games.  it turned out that the planning and actual build were a blast.  Now that the arcade game is a few years old we have a lot of fun playing and the one of the best parts is that every few months someone here will mention a game that I have never heard of and I get to try it out.  They usually end up in a favorites list.

My suggestion is never loose sight of the fact that you have a fully functioning pc in there.  Use it.  Don't go with cheap arcade speakers, buy a sub woofer and get some good speakers.  Let the cab pull duty as a juke and karaoke machine.  The free cdr+g plug in w/ winamp is your friend.

The whole 'You don't know Jack' series of games are too much fun and usually gets the girls involved.  Some people have made 'remotes' that you can buzz in with, but I have found that a keyboard on a long extension cord works great... if I have more than 2 teams then I just plug a kb in the mini-pac.

Last suggestion.  PinBall.  Mount some side buttons and have at it.

.. and you guys are right.  This site is a godsend.   Thanks Saint!

D-

[releasedtruth]

As a kid I never had a single quarter to play games so I watched a lot. Then I decided to build an arcade and make up for the lost youth. What I found was the complexity of building was more satisfying than the playing and I calculated that once I'd spent 6800 quarters (what it cost to build) I would have broken even. In 2 years I've used ~2200 quarters so I'm a long way from even from that perspective.

Love the build and love to play, but not much time and not many friends to get down with these days. That said.... I'm having an Old School Game night on Saturday with about 25 people over. Have 4-player N64, Saturn, Dreamcast on various TVs as well as the arcade going. Big free for all, drinking crappy poor college kid beer and talkin trash. Reignites the love.

[pinballwizard79]

Um, don't shoot but I prefer not to build.

Playing is a lot more fun & that's why my arcade has a few rough edges still.

I totally relate with releasedtruth 100% regarding the costs or quarter during childhood. This hobby for me was fueled by revenge & having it all but has since been maintained by my addiction to gaming.

Unfortunately every time I build an arcade one of my pals offers me an attractive sum of money (without the roms of course). First I accepted it to offset the ROI of building the arcade thinking I could end up with one for free, the 2nd flip bought my first pinball.........suddenly I am on arcade 6.

Now I have a few interested candidates yet again & I finally joined this forum to look for inspiration in the next cabinet.

The topics, rants, help, stabs & etc caused me to check this site every few days.

& now I want to make a scratch built.......................this is a love hate project for sure, a bittersweet victory but hopefully rewarding.
 

[erictrumpet]

Great topic.

I love to build and I love to play, but this whole hobby is more about playing than building for me. My builds are designed around play, inspired by a desire to play, fundamental decisions about the project are dictated by how they will affect its play, etc.

Great advice above from miles2912 - use the PC in there to its full potential. My cab is first and foremost about playing classic coin-op games in an authentic way, but is also plays PC games, I have my Xbox360 integrated in it, it houses all my mp3s and family photos, it is also an email/web browsing workstation.

Eric.

[nipsmg]

I've seen this topic come up in threads before.

I'm more on the "build" side too.  I just yesterday got my new cabinet fired up (thread coming soon), but I only played it for about 5 minutes.  It was like, OK Done, what's next?

I think the cab is more fun with guests over.  I'd rather play against someone (or with someone, depending on the game) than sit there and play by myself.

I think it's more of a pride thing.  Like *LOOK WHAT I HAVE CREATED!"   

[Ginsu Victim]

I think it's more of a pride thing.  Like *LOOK WHAT I HAVE CREATED!"   

I've had people come by that I hardly know, just because they've heard about my cabinet (and couldn't believe I was capable of it). I like showing it off, but only to the people I choose.

Somebody needs to keep their trap shut...

like, for instance, my mom.

[Jack Burton]

Definitely play for me.  I use an old piece of cardboard from a box a washing machine came in for a bezel. 

But it plays excellent.

Oh, and the quarter comparison is interesting.

I've put about 200$ into my cab so far, and I've played 3200+ credits.  So I think I came out ahead!

[grichard]

Play for me as well. I got a little impatient at times but I really enjoyed figuring out the little things in the construction of building my first cabinet from scratch. As soon as it was playable and painted I spent more time playing than finishing off the art and the bezel.

[biktorrr]

Building definitely comes before playing for me. But I think that the sheer awesomeness of having a self-built black Mame monolith in my living room is the best part about the whole experience.

Everytime I look at it I think: I built that?  why? how awesome!

[wbassett]

I was playing a few games last night on my PC ( Im just about to start on my first cab) and I realised that maybe Im into the whole building and designing thing more than the actual gameplay. How many of you are in the same boat. Addicted to the design and build but not so much into the gaming?

I'm a little of both... I love playing my cab, but I also love designing things.  My new super duper swappable cp system is going to take a long time, I know that, but in the meantime I have fun playing it the way it is.  I have to admit though, it feels pretty good when someone comes over and they freak out at the idea of someone having an arcade cab in their house.  That's the reward from all the work and designing things!

I also do HT screens and help people build their own HT setups and screens.  Part of it is saving money and knowing you have a screen that more than rivals the commercial ones, but the other part is the satisfaction a person gets knowing they built it and it works.  Same with cabs. 

I think we all love them because they bring back fond memories, but building them is half the fun!