I thought my son took more pictures during the build, but guess not. These should be enough though and then I'll take some of the 'semi-finished' cab. The bezel, monitor, marquee artwork, and cp are all temp just so we could get it up and running while he was here on vacation...
There is no reason to show a step by step of the build, it really is that straight forward and easy.
Here is the lower section on its side with the bottom panel installed. I don't know if you can make it out in the picture, but the bottom panel isn't flush with the bottom of the sides.
Also shown are the appliance casters I used. No fear of these not being able to support the weight- they are designed to put under refrigerators/freezers so you can move them around more easily. No MAME or arcade cabinet that I know of would exceed the weight capacity of these. I like them because of their strength and they are very low profile.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_01.jpg)
Here are the casters mounted on the bottom panel.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_07.jpg)
Lower Cab finished with casters installed and standing up. It rolls around easily but you can't see the wheels and they only add less than a 1/4" to the height.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_09.jpg)
Next is the speaker panel and speakers. I didn't go nuts with audio because it's just an arcade and not a THX sound system or anything like that. Surprisingly though the car speakers sound much better than either my son or I thought they would. They are just some cheapo 4" Durabrands I bought at Walmart and are hooked into a 30W powered subwoofer I had laying around for a 2.1 system. (Except for the UAII and TankStick, and speakers, everything else were things I literally had laying around not being used)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_13.jpg)
One thing to note about the UAII speaker panel- They cut out curved slots and although it somewhat looks like a 'grill' there is a lot of wood still there. Still, in the end it sounds much better than I expected. Second note, the 'grill area' isn't black on the inside where they made the cuts. You'll definitely want to paint them black or they will look terrible.
Here's an inside shot from the back of the cabinet of the speaker panel and light installed. For the light I had a 20" fluorescent light that I also had laying around brand new and never used. They are pretty cheap though at Walmart. I think new it costs $10 or less. Just use the included paper template for the mounts, screw them in then snap the light in place.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_15.jpg)
Here is the wiring run for the marquee lighting and speakers. Yes, I know... power and speaker wires in the same run... I would never do this for a home theater install, but I wasn't as concerned about fidelity here. If I ran into a 60hz buzz in the speakers I would have moved them to the other side of the cab.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_16.jpg)
Last picture for now. I decided I did not want a permanent power cord coming out of the back of my console. What I did was I got a switch/outlet combo. I wired it so that the switch turns on and off the power from the outlet. I made a power cable with two male ends, one for the wall outlet and the other plugs into the switched outlet. On the inside (and I'll take more pictures of that) I used a good surge suppressor warrantied up to $10,000 of equipment protection. I cut the plug off and wired that to my 'on/off switch'. Now I just flip the switch and the cab has power.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_17.jpg)
I haven't decided whether I want to make a relay to also turn the PC on, or just relocate the PC power button to some inconspicuous location on the console.
Other than the wheels and power switch addition, the rest is all stock kit. I will be adding some braces on the bottom to support the weight better though.
I'll get the pictures of the top and bottom together as well as with the T-Molding in place. This isn't anything super fancy or anything like that, just showing the build of an Ultimate Arcade II is all. :)
Ease factor- 5 Stars
Quality- 4 1/2 Stars
Value- 3 Stars, unless you have absolutely no wood working skills or want a super quick cab, then it's 4 Stars. (If T-Molding and Shipping were included in the price I'd give it 4 1/2 Stars, but it is a bit expensive, shipping was $80, but it is heavy and came in four boxes... but still, a little salty for some I am sure at $530)
Here are some shots of the completed cabinet up an running with the TankStick.
This is just a semi-temporary control panel because I am planning on building a custom modular panel. For now it works great and lets us play games while I work on the main control panels.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_18.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_19.jpg)
Here is a shot of the keyboard drawer.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_20.jpg)
And one of the TankStick. Since I knew this was going to be a temp setup, I made a shelf out of MDF and painted it black and put satin poly on it. It looks a lot better than the raw rough looking MDF and actually this is rather nice because it also allows us to have a spot to put soda's on!
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_22.jpg)
Here is a shot of the Marquee. It looks better than in the picture. This isn't anything fancy or thought out, I just wanted some artwork up while I decide on the final look. This is a Marvel super hero poster that I just trimmed and put behind some pexi.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_23.jpg)
A shot of the Defender game screen.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_24.jpg)
Here are a couple looking from the hallway door into the room with everything on! Chronical's of Riddick is on the projector, Assassin's Creed is on the SXRD from the PS3, and then the Arcade in the corner! First is all lights on, which include three 60W bulbs off to the left of the screen and a 60W lamp in the adjacent corner of the room. The next shot is with lights out.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_30.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_31.jpg)
Another gatuitous shot with just the three 60W bulbs on...
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_32.jpg)
This should give anyone interested the amount of light we're talking about and it's location to the screen.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_41.jpg)
And then some of the other 'toys' I have to rig up to the arcade for the modular panel.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_38.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_40.jpg)
This one is kinda interesting... It's not a real coin door but a printed sticker! It looks real until you get up close to it and is a nice, yet easy finishing touch. I plan on getting a real coin door though but for a different reason- I plan on converting the coin slot push buttons into on/off switches for the computer and sound system. That's a bit overkill though for some, so I wanted to show how good this printed decal looks.
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/ArcadeBuild/UAII_39.jpg)
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...
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l190/wbassett/Arcade/1547_1.jpg)
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.
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. ;)