Mamestation (3 pictures)

[slappyhooper]

I finally decided to commit to building a project I've been kicking around in my head for the last month or so.
In a nutshell, I want to build a console-style MAME playing machine that I can plug into my television.  I realize this is nothing new, but my goal is to make the thing out of nice oak, stain it pretty, and basically not have it be an eyesore that my wife will hate. Also it will be wireless.

I tested the concept for my folks this past summer. My parents have a HTPC that they use to watch netflix, movies, etc. I built a joystick for the box and loaded a shortcut on their desktop for MALA. (My dad's a Galaga fanatic, so he loved it. )

In short, the idea worked pretty well, but there were a few shortcomings, namely 15 feet of USB running to the joystick looks ugly.

My goal is to:

1. Create a nice wooden ITX sized computer case that my wife wont' hate.
2. Hide the boot up so the computer goes straight to MALA. (already have the guide)
3. Play from my couch on a nice custom arcade stick.



Today I started working on the wireless fight stick. I picked up an el-cheapo wireless PS3 controller in Wal-Mart for 25 bucks that did the trick nicely, supporting 13 buttons plus D pad.
As a bonus, the stick has a common ground, so it saves some time. I soldered and hot glued every connection, and the connections are rock solid. Tested with Windows after soldering and it works perfectly.





As you can see from one of the pics, I hot glued the analog sticks to the center. I recall reading somewhere that if you de solder the analog sticks it will make the controller go crazy in windows...Don't know if this is true, but I figured it's worth the time to do it.
This weekend will be spent building the box. More to come.
[Edit] "analog" not "analogue"

[stinkyrob]

This sounds like a great project, good luck!

[BadMouth]

I recall reading somewhere that if you de solder the analogue sticks it will make the controller go crazy in windows...Don't know if this is true, but I figured it's worth the time to do it.

Yup. Modern gamepads expect to see the pots in the analog sticks centered.  Strange things happen when removed completely.
If you wanted to get rid of them though, you could replace them with a pair of 5k resistors in place of each pot (between where the center pin and each outer pin of each potentiometer was, so eight total would be needed to cover both analog sticks).

EDIT: Just had the thought that you could just disconnect the pots from the joystick body and fold them flat against the pcb.  As long as they're still centered.