Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum

Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: wbassett on August 21, 2012, 04:16:12 pm

Title: Desk with arcade controls- anyone do this?
Post by: wbassett on August 21, 2012, 04:16:12 pm

As the title says...  has anyone made a desk that has built in arcade controls, or an arcade/bartop that doubles as a desk?

I have a full size arcade in my home office.  My grandson wants an arcade in his bedroom he uses when he comes to visit.  He also wants/needs a desk.  Unfortunately he has a small room so space is a premium.  I am trying to figure out a way to set up a desk with built in arcade controls.  Right now probably the easiest option is to just put a bartop on a desk and he can use that as his computer and also play arcade games too, but not sure how it would look.

Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone on here has done this and made it look cool as well as be functional. :)

Title: Re: Desk with arcade controls- anyone do this?
Post by: mgb on August 21, 2012, 07:28:50 pm

Have you thought about usinga cocktail table like one of these. I see them go pretty cheap often with trivia games in them

Title: Re: Desk with arcade controls- anyone do this?
Post by: paigeoliver on August 21, 2012, 11:28:20 pm

I slapped some controls onto my desk about 10 years ago, wasn't really happy with it.

Just build him a mini cab with a 15" crt monitor from the thrift store. 18"x18" of floor space should be able to be found somewhere, take the nightstand out if you have to.

Title: Re: Desk with arcade controls- anyone do this?
Post by: wbassett on August 22, 2012, 01:28:34 am

I'm leaning toward the mini-cab or a bar top. 

Just curious about the desk setup, what didn't you like about it?

Title: Re: Desk with arcade controls- anyone do this?
Post by: Unstupid on August 22, 2012, 03:52:15 am

A desk with joysticks and buttons mounted in it is not a desk.... It is crapmame fodder!

Title: Re: Desk with arcade controls- anyone do this?
Post by: drventure on August 22, 2012, 08:48:17 am

But there was a project around here a while back where a guy built a mame machine into a roll-around kitchen island thing, complete with a wooden inlaid pac-man. I don't know about playability, but it looked awesome.

Title: Re: Desk with arcade controls- anyone do this?
Post by: BadMouth on August 22, 2012, 09:04:58 am

How about a vewlix style cab with a CP that can be lifted out and reinstalled upside down, so the bottom of the cp makes a flat desk surface?
The monitor could just be mounted to the wall and it wouldn't take much more work to make it manually rotate.  :P
(the more I think about this, the more I want one)

(http://image.jeuxvideo.com/imd/j/JapanExpo_235.jpg)

Title: Re: Desk with arcade controls- anyone do this?
Post by: Louis Tully on August 22, 2012, 09:13:00 am

.

Title: Re: Desk with arcade controls- anyone do this?
Post by: jpS14 on August 22, 2012, 09:13:49 am

You could do something like this guy on the shoryuken forum is doing with a laptop desk. It's a pretty cool idea and you could probably make it work.

http://shoryuken.com/forum/index.php?threads/wal-mart-laptop-desk-portable-arcade-cabinet.166885/ (http://shoryuken.com/forum/index.php?threads/wal-mart-laptop-desk-portable-arcade-cabinet.166885/)