trackball only cabinet

[paigeoliver]

If you were going to make a cabinet that had only a 3 button trackball for controls, would you want the monitor horizontal or vertical?

Centipede, Millipede, Capcom Bowling, and Quantum make me want to say vertical, but Star Wars and various PC games need horizontal (I already own a Crystal Castles, else that would probably be the deciding factor).

[jakejake28]

personally, if i were to make a 3-button tb cab, i would make a cocktail. but that is me. if not, go verticle

[MinerAl]

Go with a 25" vertical.  The games that are letter-boxed would be very close to the same size as they would be on the 19" horiz. that'd fit in the same space.

(You don't want/need this explination, but I want to show my work just in case I'm wrong.)

Old fashioned TVs (and most/all arcade monitors) are measured diagonally, and that measurement is the "5" part of a 3-4-5-right triangle.  So a 25" arcade monitor has a  hypotenuse of 25" and sides of 15" and 20"; therefore oriented horizontally it is 15" tall and 20" wide.  Oriented Vertically it is 20"tall and 15" wide.

A 19" horizontal monitor is 15.2" wide and 11.4" tall.

Most cabinets, regardless of monitor orientation, have a taller space for the monitor than it is wide.  So for the same horizontal space go for the monitor that uses that height and gives you the best verticals.

[paigeoliver]

Eeep. Can't use a 25". I am using things I already own, which include 21" kiosk monitor, PS2 3 button arcade trackball, and standard sized cherry master cabinet.

I am basically just trying to use up what I have without spending any more money.

Anyway, I personally can't stand 25" monitors with old school games. Those Ms Galapacs and MilliCentiMissileBowlingPedeCommand machines both have 25" monitors and I find it difficult to see the whole screen at once.

[MinerAl]

Ok, well, the math holds true... can you stand to have your horizontal games only be 12.6" wide, or would you rather have your verticals only be 12.6" tall?

Regardless, I'm a classics man.  Go with vertical.

[Apollo]

I agree, vertical. But can't you stick just one joystick on there. It seems like such a waste not to. You will have your lovely realistic vertical monitor but no access to Galaga, Pac Man, Donkey Kong etc etc. For the sake of installing one joystick? Just chuck a 4 way on there as well. I'm sure you won't regret it.

[paigeoliver]

There is a dedicated 4-way vertical cabinet sitting right next to it actually.



http://paige.onecloud.org/arcade/mame.html

The lack of any planned joystick is due to the fact that adding a stick would require adding an interface, and since I already have a dedicated 4-way vert cabinet, then it would have to be an 8-way, and those 8-way games would need a better computer, etc. Next thing you know I would be spending hundreds on it, as opposed to just using what I had laying around.


But, IF, I can scrounge up a half decent computer over the next 2 weeks, I MIGHT add an 8-way stick to the setup (in which case the monitor would definitely go vertical, since I still have a 2-player 8-way horizontal cabinet planned).

Or, option #83.

Use the Athlon 650 that I had planned to use in the 2 player cabinet, then use my desktop Athlon 1200 for the 2 player cabinet, and then replace my desktop altogether (which gives me an excuse to get a new computer!!)

[Apollo]

You have far too much money and time on your hands and I'm guessing you are single  
Either that or you are married to the best woman in the world.
Just kidding, I'm just jealous. I haven't even got the money to get my first cab going. It's going to take me over a year to finish whaaaaaaaaa!!! I want to play now!!!

[paigeoliver]

Yes, I am single. But no I don't have a lot of money on hand. All my projects have been very cheap, and have been easily totalled financed by the profits I have made fixing games and selling them.

In the last few years I have sold and traded off Sega Turbo, Assault, Final Fight, Street Fighter 2, Streetfighter 2 Champion Edition, Vs. Super Mario Bros, Double Dragon, Top Gunner, Street Smart, another Final Fight, English Mark Darts, and Jack the Giantkiller machines, along with three empty uprights and two empty cocktails. (Egad, I never realized how many games I have actually owned up until now).

All those sales/trades were profitable, at least in the sense of cash, but not really if you count labor. They easily paid for what I do own now, which is a nice Crystal Castles, a MINT Kangaroo (looks like it just came out of the crate), a rare dedicated Time Pilot cocktail (which also has a Time Pilot '84 boardset as well), a Gottlieb Victory pinball, Artic Mini Mame, the trackball Mame cabinet going inside my empty cherry master cabinet, and the 2 player horizontal Mame cabinet that I will eventually put together inside my empty Amazing Maze cabinet (which will of course be called "Amazing Mame").

I may also purchase a dedicated Black Widow vector from a friend of mine, assuming he eventually gets the monitor fixed. Not sure what he is going to want for that one yet, but I should still be on the profitable side of things. Anything over that would send me into the realm of actually spending money though. If that doesn't pan out, then I may save for a Star Wars (assuming I can find a nice one, everyone I see looks beat to crap), or a Space Duel (basically looking to round out the collection with an Atari color vector title).

[Apollo]

Wow.