Poll - Bartop or Mini Arcade cab

[JayB]

This is just curiosity really. I have a full size machine (Still not complete) but, have been thinking of the next one. Had thought about a Bartop although now considering a mini arcade machine instead.

Also, any preferences for a particular cab that you would base it on? I'm thinking a scaled version of the Tempest cab.

[Franco B]

You could build a bartop and then if you decide you want a mini arcade you could build a pedestal base for it. You could put a coin door in the base and/or extra speakers.

If you designed it well it wouldn't look like you had just put it of a pedestal. You could have some overlapping sides, something similar to the UAII, to mask the join.

[JayB]

Hi Franco, yeah I've seen a few done with a pedestal although something never seems quite right with them. So your right on getting the design looking right.

I like the idea of a Mini cab as they look good visually but, a bartop is handy to take to places. Just curious to see what others preferences would be and what style to go with.   

[Franco B]

I think If I was you and had a cab that I had nearly finished my next project out of the two would be a bartop seeing as you still have all the fun to come from your upright. A mini cab will essentially just be a smaller cut back version of a big cab (duh! ) and you would probably just end up playing the bigger one. I'm assuming alot of things here so I could be wrong. I would go with the bartop as like you said you can take it places.

If I was to build a bartop I would design my own but if I was to base it off a cabinet shape I think a bartop candy would be pretty nice if you got the finish right.

[patrickl]

How is a mini cab going to work for an adult though? I thought these things were usually made for someones kid?

[JayB]

I think If I was you and had a cab that I had nearly finished my next project out of the two would be a bartop seeing as you still have all the fun to come from your upright. A mini cab will essentially just be a smaller cut back version of a big cab (duh! ) and you would probably just end up playing the bigger one. I'm assuming alot of things here so I could be wrong. I would go with the bartop as like you said you can take it places.

If I was to build a bartop I would design my own but if I was to base it off a cabinet shape I think a bartop candy would be pretty nice if you got the finish right.

You're right, I think I just like the look of the mini's. A bartop would make more sense and won't get the expected response from my missus when explaining why haha

[JayB]

How is a mini cab going to work for an adult though? I thought these things were usually made for someones kid?

I'd be making it as a single player with a 17", maybe just old classics with a couple of buttons. Perhaps they are more for kids but, sure it could be used when sitting on the couch etc.

[javeryh]

Mini cabs are really perfect for kids.  They work OK for adults but you need a chair or something to be comfortable.  I'm not completely sold on a bartop though since you basically have to keep it on a table taking up space unless you plan on dragging it out of the closet or whatever.  I don't know. 

[Turnarcades]

Many adults in the UK have bought Mini cabs from us for themselves, rather than for kids. Mini cabs are the perfect height for kids, but like mentioned here, seated adults can play comfortably and I vouch for that. If you are building a cab purely for effect rather than practicality, you could try building a tiny upright like the Neo-Geo replicas on this thread.

[leapinlew]

I vote bartop.

[JimmyU]

Many adults in the UK have bought Mini cabs from us for themselves, rather than for kids. Mini cabs are the perfect height for kids, but like mentioned here, seated adults can play comfortably and I vouch for that. If you are building a cab purely for effect rather than practicality, you could try building a tiny upright like the Neo-Geo replicas on this thread.

How much would one with just the wood and not the electronics be shipped to the U.S.?

[Turnarcades]

Still looking at viable international postage I'm afraid. At most I imagine we could do a bare-wood flat-pack over the pond. PM if you semi-serious and I'll see what I can arrange.

[cool69rtcharger]

Well, what i think you should do is make a bar top and then if you wanted yo could make a mini cab to work as the pedestal base for it.  ( This may only works in theory)

[MAME TIME]

mini

[leapinlew]

When you say Mini - what are you thinking about height wise? Using Galaga as an example:

This is a 20" mini galaga


This is a 20" bartop galaga


IMO, the bartop is much more playable. Even if you made a 4' mini, the angle of the monitor is troublesome.

[ark_ader]

IMO, the bartop is much more playable. Even if you made a 4' mini, the angle of the monitor is troublesome.

This is exactly my problem at the moment.  I'm half way through one of my sub-mini builds and cannot get the monitor angle right, as the original cabinet is designed to be viewed standing over.  Vertical screened cabs are easier to build.  It looked good on paper though...

[TOK]

Bartop. The kid sized standups seem useless to me. They're awkward for adults to play, and I think kids lose interest in that stuff fast.

[yalborap]

Well, look at it this way: A mini's pretty much an automatic conversation piece, since a person has at least a chance of having seen a bartop before. But a fullblown mini is pretty much the realm of the homemade rig, aside from a few exceptions.

Of course, things also depend on how mini you want to go. A 4' mini set up at an angle so that you can pull it over to the couch and play it perfectly with friends or whatnot is a highly different beast than a 2' mini you practically have to lie on the floor to play, for instance.

A bartop will run into similar, though distinctly different, problems, of course. Your average design just does not work without being on a table or counter of decent height, which limits where you can put it. On the other hand, you can also make your bartop wider than your mini without it starting to look funky, which might be nice for 2-player setups.

Me, I'd go with the mini. But I also didn't grow up in the '80s, and thus have no major urge to perfectly recreate a more classic arcade machine design. If you're more of a stickler for having a machine that DOES look like it could've stepped out of your childhood/young adulthood nostalgia, the bartop might be a better choice.

[retrofuture]

Lew,

Is that your 20" mini galaga? I've checked out your bartop and it's inspiring.

How playable is the mini in comparison to the bartop?