Gameboy Color Coffee table underway!

[jay_red]

A while back I discovered the awesome NES controller coffee table, and immediately wanted to do something like that, but was not sure what. One night, my Wife and I were talking about it, and she had the greatest idea, make a fully functional Gameboy Color table! The wheels in my head started turning, figuring out what would be needed to complete it, and I started getting things in order.

The electronics part was no issue, I immediately thought of using a gamecube with gameboy player attachment, seeing as I have no less than 3 cubes laying around. I got a player with disc from a member here for a very good deal. I had a strange 19" LCD tv that I was going to use, it was thin enough that it would be no issue.  The controls are something that  I am still getting situated, the buttons should be no problem, but the D-pad will pose the hardest part.

My main sticking point was the actual building of the table, electronics are no problem, wood working is another story. This caused me to basically put it on hold till I could figure out what to do. I also had some other projects I was working on so it was not a huge deal.

One night, walking through Wal-Mart, I see something that catches my eye, a coffee table that has a top that lifts up, and has storage! I stewed on the idea of using this table as the base for a couple of weeks, it was $80 and basically would get me to a place that  I could do the rest of the work comfortably. Tonight I took the plunge and got the table, it is a little smaller than my original plans, but i should be able to scale it all down. Sadly, the TV i was planning on using will not work, as it is too wide, and I will have to mess with the gamecube, as with the player attached, it is about 1/2  inch too tall to close the top.

Here is the table I got:


Here is the original print out I made (I will make this to scale, then get a piece of lexan cut and place over the top)


I will be on the look out for a 17inch LCD monitor, and will use a composite to VGA converter for the video duty. And I know what a lot of you may be thinking, yes, this will be impractical to play, but thats not the point!

Does anyone have any advice on how to tackle the oversize d-pad? For the buttons, I was planning on using the 100mm arcade buttons (pop n' music style), unless there is a better suggestion?

[Yenome]

i cant help with your questions but ill take one in poka dot pink. did you seach for the nes table on google see how they handled the buttons. i would say depending on the size of the dpad 4 big buttons(one for each direction) under it should work and help return it to neutral when its not being touched.
google seach turned up the first nes controller table i had heard bout with buuild log http://ultra-awesome.blogspot.com/2008/05/nes-coffee-table-final-post-rah.html

[Louis Tully]

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[jay_red]

I have read about the NES tables, and how they made the d-pad, but honestly, some of the ones I have seen are way over engineered.

[jay_red]

I have started to brain storm on how to make the d-pad and buttons ( I may not go with the 100mm push buttons after all). I started looking at all the spare parts I have kicking around, and the large spring off of an IL joystick caught my eye. I then grabbed some micro switches and made a d-pad out of card board. After a little bit of testing, I think I will be able to make a self enclosed d-pad, I still need to work on some other aspects, but the wheels are turning. As for the buttons, I applied a similar idea, but started looking for plastic cups in the cabinet. I found one that would be the perfect diameter, and would just need to be trimmed down to size, then add a spring and micro switch (removed from a sanwa style button) and it should be good to go!

[jay_red]

had a pretty awesome breakthrough on designing the d-pad today! I was throwing around ideas in my head, and decided to make some crude prototype of what I had, I originally planned on using springs under each direction, and they would trigger a microswitch, but after some experiments, I found the springs to be not necessary, as the micro switches would do the job by themselves!

(Forgive the extreme crudeness of this prototype, its a mess of poorly cut pieces, and lots of hot glue! )

It will be a self contained unit, that I will attach to the table top with 4 long bolts and will be able to adjust the height.

Placement of the switches, I will be adding a center post of some sort to attach the d-pad to the bottom board, I might possibly have a spring on it


One downside to trying to have the switches sit like this, is that the bottom terminal causes it to be lop sided, so i grabbed a scrap piece of lexan in the garage, and cut little shims to even it out:
 



I am pretty excited by this, and cant wait to get the final part underway!

[Louis Tully]

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[binarydump]

Why not get some capacitive touch sensors attached to a glass top, then it can be used as a coffee table?

[jay_red]

Wow the capacitive idea is something that had not crossed my mind! My current plan is to make the buttons and d-pad slightly recessed past the lexan surface, then have cutouts that will cover them when not in use, allowing minimal obstruction. My idea for mounting the buttons and d-pad will allow for easy adjustment as well, so I could just raise and lower as needed.

[mcseforsale]

That's awesome.  Watching with pregnant anticipation!

AJ

[jay_red]

I got my Lexan yesterday, I considered the cheaper acrylic sheets (like half the price) but then remembered the frustration I had trying to drill and cut those for my MAME control panel, and how I threw the piece across the garage at one point, and shelled out the extra dough for the Lexan.

At this point, all I need to do is cut holes, and make the buttons.

[mcseforsale]

Lexan is softer and will require more care to keep from scratching.  Acrylic is harder (making it harder to machine than lexan), but is more scratch resistant.

AJ

[mike boss]

Cool project.
I cant wait to see it done.

[thehammer12]

Why not get some capacitive touch sensors attached to a glass top, then it can be used as a coffee table?

Very interesting, and now I got a 100 ideas running through my head haha.

[jay_red]

Huge progress on the D-pad today, I have been worrying about trying to cut out the "+" shape in the tabletop, as well as the lexan without messing up either, so I came up with the idea to make the d-pad more "sega" like (ie: a disc). This way, I just need to use the hole saw in all the surfaces, easier, faster, and much less room for error. With that in mind, I went to creating a beta version.

The white area will be black, and the MDF circle will be the same blue as the gameboy.


There is a 2 inch screw, with a washer, then a spring, then another washer, a bolt, washer, bolt. This allows it to stay in place, and rock back and forth. I have an idea as to keep the disc from spinning, which I will implement in the next stage.

[ChanceKJ]

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[jay_red]

More progress today with the A and B buttons well underway. I applied the same idea as the D-pad, but since the buttons dont rock back and forth to activate the switch, but rather need to press straight down I had to use 4 springs with the switch in the center.

So I glued 2 circles together to make the button, in this pic you can see that this is only the first layer, I counter sunk the screw heads, and glued on the top half, this allowed me to keep the surface smooth and free from the head of the bolt.




This is with the 2 pieces glued together:


Top View:


They are a little hard to activate the switch (which might actually turn out to be a good thing) but you only need to press it down a couple of mm's to get the switch to activate.

With this, my controls are all sorted out, I am taking the easy way out with start and select by using standard arcade buttons. Hopefully i can get to cutting into the table in the next couple of days!

[jay_red]

On a roll, today I went past the point of no return, and started cutting into the table top. I cut out the hole for the monitor, and the large circle for the d-pad. I cut the monitor hole with a jig saw, then used a router to smooth it out, since you wont really be able to see the hole, it didnt have to be perfect.



And to test how viewable the monitor will actually be:

This pic is taken at the exact angle and height you would be looking at it. After some messing with brightness and contrast I was able to get a pretty decent picture at this angle.

While cutting the hole for the D-pad, my 5-year old Harbor Freight drill finally gave up the ghost, I got about 3/4 of the way through the table before it started letting out smoke, and I just finished the hole with the jig saw.

[Yvan256]

Nice progress so far, I am wondering if you are going to use the proper scale for the speaker, both in diameter and watts.

[jay_red]

sound will be handled through some dinky PC speakers, I wont be using the grille of the GBC for the speaker.

[jay_red]

wasnt able to get too much done this weekend, but I was able to get the buttons and d-pad mounting figured out.

A and B buttons mounted, the holes look rough, but they will be covered, and not be noticeable once its finished.


Here is a closeup, the height is easily adjustable, and I will dial it in once the table is complete.


Underside, you should be able to get a decent idea of how I did it.


Got the d-pad mounted the same way, I plan on using the "disc" method that I mentioned earlier, but will keep the print out like it is here so it will look correct. I will go for cutting the "+" into the lexan.

[jay_red]

must...kee...posting....updates! I can't be outdone by that awesome giant gameboy project a few posts away!

Well, the hard part is over! I have successfully created a gameboy coffee table that looks kick ass. I was able to get the buttons and d-pad cut out of the 3 layers (table, print out, lexan) with no huge issues, and after a little work tonight, I carefully removed the protective layers on the lexan, no going back now!

Here is the table top, just placed on the table, there is a bunch of stuff inside (yes some controllers found their way into there haha.


You can see the buttons coming out of the table here, I can adjust them to any height. I still need to paint the d-pad black. Start and select are fake, I will be putting arcade buttons on the side of the table for those functions.


another angle:


How it looks from the couch:


Now I just need to tackle wiring up the buttons (just doing an easy pad hack on a controller) get the monitor mounted in place, and figure out how to get the gamecube in there (its about 3/4 inch too tall with the game boy player attached) I should be able to knock this out this weekend and have it good to go!

[severdhed]

Awesome

Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 2

[BC_Jeffro]

just great !!!!!

[jay_red]

I got the controls working last night, and was able to play some tetris on the table! I am on the home stretch, but had to figure out a couple things tonight, such as installing start and select, and the biggest issue, getting the gamecube to clear the table top.

I had been planing on de-casing the gamecube in hopes of gaining the extra 3/4 inch or so I needed, but after removing everything I could (and still have it hold its self together, it still would not clear the top. Then I thought, why not just cut a hole in the bottom of the table to let it drop down the necessary height? And with that in mind, I traced a square and cut away! After looking at the cut, there was no way this would work... or would it? The gamecube fit perfectly! the little ridges on each side stick out enough to catch it, and allow it to sit in the perfect height, I made a quick bracket to ensure it would stay in place and its good to go!

Start and select:


the cube, in its new home.



Now I have plenty of clearance, and am another step closer to being finished.

Edit:
I felt like I was on a roll tonight, so I finished up the control wiring, and threw everything together to experience it in a "finished" state. I have to say, it plays better than you would think, I tried a few different games, Tetris DX, Iridion II, Metroid Zero Mission all were playable, and the controls are very responsive. I cant imagine sitting in the position for an extended gaming session, but this whole thing was a novelty.

Here is the pad hack with wires, hot glue is my best friend when it comes to projects like this!


A full shot of the interior, all the wires will be cleaned up once I get everything finalized


A view of the "finished" product. I still need to get the monitor secured, and get the speakers hooked up.