Inspiration needed

[TheGameAh]

Hey guys.  I was just looking for some different ideas on what you've done with your cabinets.  Right now, my cabinet plays games and I have arcade jukebox loaded.  What else have you done/can be done?  I'm just looking for the "Oh, that's cool" factor.  Anybody got any unique things they've done to their cabs?

[grafixmonkey]

Hey guys.  I was just looking for some different ideas on what you've done with your cabinets.  Right now, my cabinet plays games and I have arcade jukebox loaded.  What else have you done/can be done?  I'm just looking for the "Oh, that's cool" factor.  Anybody got any unique things they've done to their cabs?

Mine currently has "smells like cedar action".    The power supply for my would-be MAME pc had a fan go out so it's out of commission.  

But, I saw a cool discussion about making it have a nice unified startup/shutdown using relays...   how about using 12V relays plugged into your PC's internal power plugs to turn on/off the lights in the case?  You can also add a few logic chips and some 5V relays to make the lights and screen delay turning on until the PC is booted and MAME is loaded.


Personally, I'd add a coffee maker to the side, so you never have to stop playing to sleep!!!!!  

[JK99]

I have wired (using a relay) a strobe to trigger when selected songs are played. Though I'm using custom written jukebox software to do this.

I have a kit to build a light controller (but cant be assed building it), and have been considering building a smoke machine into the cab.

Over the top... absolutely, but what the hell.  

 

[Apollo]

Mine feeds the dog and cuts the lawn at night.
It also does all my online banking.
Hmmm I may have been playing on it too much la la la la la.

[MinerAl]

Keg Fridge.  Beer Tap.

[slug54]

Mine serves as a dedicated server for
Unreal Tounament Internet games.
It's also a Karaoke machine.
Oh and my cab is the absolute best place to hide things from the wife. I'm  not sure if she's strong enough to pull it away from the wall and even if she did
I'm not sure if she would open the door,She's terrified of the inner workings of the beast!.
So it makes a great place to stash money and arcade parts before I install them in my cab when shes gone.

                                  Slug54

[AlanS17]

Simple party fun factor points: cup holders (preferably with a slot in the side for beer mugs)

pinball flipper buttons (almost standard these days)

You could make it a full-blown media center with a tv input card and DVD-ROM drive.

Ummm... that's it of the top of my head. If I think of any others I'll add them in.

[grafixmonkey]

Simple party fun factor points: cup holders (preferably with a slot in the side for beer mugs)

Good call!  I think I saw some on Happ's site too.  

Thought of something else too.  If you can find 'em, these nifty little boxes were made in the 80's that take sound as input, chop out three different frequency ranges, and drove a wobbling mirror with one freq. on the x-wobble and another on the y-wobble, and the third on a color-change wheel.  They're probably going between cheap and free nowadays, since they used incandescent lamps and not lasers, but I've got one tacked onto my stereo for parties and it makes a real sweet light show on the wall.  Mine has a mounting hole on the back too, so you can just tack on a screw or nail and hang it - no hacking necessary.

They're called 'LaserFX' or 'Laser FX'.  Made in Korea, and the words "With Design In Mind (TM) - Chatsworth, California"  are printed on the back of mine.  Might be a company name.  


Oh and EL Wire.  Fun stuff.

[Generic Eric]

Since I will be most likely using a 27" or larger tv for display, my cab will have a large foot print.  I plan on leaving space under the cab to be able to drag or slide out a home made DDR pad.

I still live in an apartment.  I have the itch, or sickness, to build a cab now.  I will have to build it so it will be easy to move.

My cab will be in two or more pieces.

My cab may have a frame.

I will probably leave the artwork on the upper part of the cab.  I want to be able to mount a framed panel to the side so that I can insert new artwork in case I get tired of what I first put in.  I want to use "black light" paints I think.

I am still debating on the internal wiring of the cab.  I want to be able to power off every thing at once.  On the other hand I don't know if I will want to have everything powered on at the same time.

My cab will have service door on the back side.  Split in half for input side and out put side.  Input would be network access(or just the cable/dsl)  power input (think of the back of the pc power supply.)  Also cable, because my video card has a cable in jack.  Not sure about the output half, haven't considered that yet, might drop that after all.

On the front, I am considering mounting the cd/dvd drive behind a coin door or coin door blank.

On the front or back, there will be usb hub mounted.

I am considering the same sort of thing console controller access in the case of more than two players in a game.

When I start my dreamcast control panel, I plan on interfacing the VMU to the control panel.  

For the playstation 2, I also want to interface the memory card.

Since I will have at least the two consoles included, I am considering intergrating my reciever that I am not using(my wife doesn't have the same musical tastes as I do so its just being wasted now) into the cab.  I am considering using wireless speakers too.

A long while back, cabinet heat was a big issue. Since I will be building this cab from scratch, I will consider that too.  Just not sure how deep I will have to go into it.

I was in the Air Force, and a lot of our equipment had cannon plugs on them.  I am looking for an excuse to use those.  The cool thing about cannon plugs is that they were designed so that there is no wrong way to connect a cable to what you are trying to connect it to.

Oh, I am definetly doing a rotating control panel.  I like all the examples, because its such an awsome idea.  Each one has been great example of the idea.  I like REBIRTHs implementation because it rotates with out opening anything, I am going to shoot for something like that too.

You may have noticed I posted that I have a 4.5 inch trackball, and I will be making a scratch built assembly for the ball.  I haven't gotten very far on that though. Due to lack of time.

I like the idea of the lighted push buttons too.  I am eagerly waiting to hear more from dinoroger about that.  

I bought a couple of the translucent joysticks from best buy after 1UP posted his illuminating project. I'll try that when the time comes.