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Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: MPTech on November 13, 2015, 11:10:39 am

Title: DIY Micro Arcade Cabinet by Adafruit
Post by: MPTech on November 13, 2015, 11:10:39 am
Didn't know if this had been posted here before, but first time I've seen it offered.

Micro Arcade Cabinet by Adafruit (Raspberry Pi B not included) - Advanced  $119

http://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=122&cp_id=12205&cs_id=1220502&p_id=13968&seq=1&format=2&cl=res&utm_source=151113_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=13968&utm_campaign=151113_friday (http://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=122&cp_id=12205&cs_id=1220502&p_id=13968&seq=1&format=2&cl=res&utm_source=151113_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=13968&utm_campaign=151113_friday)

(http://images.monoprice.com/productlargeimages/139681.jpg)

(http://images.monoprice.com/productlargeimages/139682.jpg)

Quote
We played a bunch of memorable old arcade games, like Ms Pacman, Galaga, Donkey Kong, Arkanoid, DigDug, Gauntlet, etc.   
you can configure it for either vertical (Ms Pac-man! Donkey Kong! Arkanoid!) or horizontal screen (Joust! Qix! Nintendo!). The controls can be set to either joystick-in-center or to the side.

Looks kinda cool, but I think the real challenge is building it and running it with Raspberry Pi B!
Title: Re: DIY Micro Arcade Cabinet by Adafruit
Post by: vwalbridge on November 13, 2015, 11:14:46 am
Yea, that kit has made its way around the internet a few times. Pretty neat and fun little project to learn on. $120 aint too bad either.

That joystick looks like a PS3 thumb-stick.

Also, looks like the speaker they put in the kit is over sized.
Title: Re: DIY Micro Arcade Cabinet by Adafruit
Post by: vwalbridge on November 13, 2015, 11:18:19 am
I also got a pretty good chuckle at their "Volume" pricing. How generous of them!

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=339225;image)
Title: Re: DIY Micro Arcade Cabinet by Adafruit
Post by: aldub516 on November 13, 2015, 11:33:32 am
eh... honestly its pretty damn fugly, and too damn small to really do anything with... the raw sides with the screws sticking out.. eh. My fingers are the size of the whole machine..  Im currently customized icades which seem a lot more reasonable.. Im not a fan of this product. And for that price its even more eh
Title: Re: DIY Micro Arcade Cabinet by Adafruit
Post by: DeLuSioNal29 on November 13, 2015, 01:04:17 pm
Looks like the SD card they provide comes with an image that's "ready to go".  No roms of course.  According to the manual you need to download the image from their website and then you can simply drag and drop the roms yourself on a PC.  (You're really paying for convenience of the image).

This is a cool little project for my 7 year old.  I'm giving it some thought myself.   :applaud:

D
Title: Re: DIY Micro Arcade Cabinet by Adafruit
Post by: pbj on November 13, 2015, 03:09:22 pm
Can't one of our resident CNC jockeys rip this thing off and sell the wood for $20?

Title: Re: DIY Micro Arcade Cabinet by Adafruit
Post by: keilmillerjr on November 13, 2015, 11:25:41 pm
Can't one of our resident CNC jockeys rip this thing off and sell the wood for $20?
Title: Re: DIY Micro Arcade Cabinet by Adafruit
Post by: paigeoliver on November 14, 2015, 12:39:56 am
So it is like a Gameboy, except way worse and a lot more expensive? This is garbage. The completed project looks like garbage.
Title: Re: DIY Micro Arcade Cabinet by Adafruit
Post by: mgb on November 14, 2015, 01:11:03 am
as an electronics geek, I love companies like Adafruit, Sparkfun and all the many others that support that hobby.
but I kinda wish they would leave the arcade hobby alone because though it may sound odd to say, its comes off as a little novelty and not as genuine as what we have here.
Title: Re: DIY Micro Arcade Cabinet by Adafruit
Post by: geeteoh on November 14, 2015, 07:07:25 am
I'm also an electronics geek. I bought one if these to get back into modern single board computers. It's a good intro to the Raspberry PI as well. Although this uses the first gen. Joystick is a bit loose, being an analog type. But it works for both analog controlled games as well as 4/8 position joystick games. Only two buttons, P1 and P2. They are a bit stiff. Black ones are coin up and player 1. Press both for Escape from games. Insert keyboard USB plug into hole under black buttons for admin access. You can add ROMs with drag and drop from a Windows machine to removed SD card. Probably works on Apple computer as well. I added some of the graphics obtained from their forum.

Uses GPIO and a special board for controls. They indicate that all the GPIO pins were used. I started a project to add a third (P3) button with a tiny microcontroller from Adafruit configured as a keyboard controller plugged into the unused UBB port. But my computer was acting goofy with getting the compiler installed.
Title: Re: DIY Micro Arcade Cabinet by Adafruit
Post by: mgb on November 14, 2015, 12:23:57 pm
it looks good with the Pacman graphics
Title: Re: DIY Micro Arcade Cabinet by Adafruit
Post by: aldub516 on November 14, 2015, 12:47:20 pm
Theres no convenience in paying for the sd card... there are a handful of sd image ready emulators out there that are basically drop and play
Title: Re: DIY Micro Arcade Cabinet by Adafruit
Post by: aldub516 on November 14, 2015, 07:28:43 pm
upon looking it over again, I will say i think its a very cool idea to inspire new people to get into a new hobby. Just tinkering with all those different components and coming out with a finished product using all of it could be kind of rewarding. I edit my opion of useless trash, to respectable idea for a product..  :afro:
Title: Re: DIY Micro Arcade Cabinet by Adafruit
Post by: pbj on November 15, 2015, 10:00:07 am
I still like it better than the $500 cigar box game boys.
Title: Re: DIY Micro Arcade Cabinet by Adafruit
Post by: dezmond on November 15, 2015, 10:06:34 am
If someone wants to come up with a cleaner design, I would be more than happy to cut a half a dozen or so kits on our CNC Laser to give back to you.

Why not have a BYOAC mini cabinet?  That would be cool...

I will donate my time and wood or plastic for the cabinet

Dezi