Micro Arcade Cabinet (could use some community input)

[Tanden_Renki]

hey whats up everybody?

ive recently started fiddlin' with the idea of building a MICRO bartop arcade cabinet.(ive had the idea a few years ago but ive never did anything with that cause i didnt have any free time at my disposal)

ive been around the arcade scene since the early 90s,ive built a full sized cab,a standard bartop,restored some old neo geos,helped a friend bring some NAOMI hardware back to life etc...but this latest project is making me dip my toe into uncharted waters with hardwear,monitors and logistics that im not familiar with,so im looking for some input,ideas and possible solutions/workarounds from the community.

so,the idea is to build a fully functioning MICRO arcade cabinet...thin MDF,headrest car monitor for the display,a PLAYSTATION PORTABLE running cps2 and neo geo emus as hardware,24mm pushbuttons and a standard jlf joystick rigged to a multiconsole cthulhu i have lying around connected to the psp via ps2 male connector.

i attached some very very crude mock-ups ive made with the first few pieces of cardboard i could find(the screens represented by a ps3 game,the buttons are 30s(cause i dont have six 24s just lying around))but it does give you a basic idea of what im trying to do




altho' the final product will "look" like a novelty item,its gonna be a fully functioning arcade cabinet....ive been playing 2d fighting games for 20 years and im very serious about them...so whenever i go somewhere for a few days,i need to pack a ps2,a fightstick,games(sometimes even a tv)...i wish i could just grab a psp and play on that,but a joystick and pushbuttons is all ive ever known(so any other control scheme  feels alien and unacceptable to me).
with this micro cabinet,i'll be able to bring the arcade experience everywhere i go in one compact,tiny,easily portable package.

altho' i have considered a couple of other things as hardware(early samsung galaxy phones,neo geo x) ive come to the conclusion that the psp would be the best solution...the emulation is superb,it doesnt heat up(altho' i might put a tiny vent in the micro cab),it has av out trough a special psp-av cable  and most of all its very thin and small so it will fit(the size of the cab is not something i will compromise on...it has to be micro,cause thats the whole point).now,for the controls,ive found this:
http://xcm.cc/products/psp2tv-for-psp-1000-series-pal-version
it has some sort of custom flexible pcb that replaces the one in the psp and routes the inputs from a ps2 controller into the psp or something or other(altho' i'd gladly find an alternative because it costs a pretty penny)...i know theres hacks outther to use a ps2 joystick on the psp(i modded plenty of fightsticks so gettin down and dirty into the psps guts isnt a problem)...but if anyone has done it before i'd appreciate some pointers

for the screen,i'd like to find a 4:3 sd headrest monitor(8 or 9 inches) but ive had no luck so far...they all seem to be 16:9

so yeah,i still have some things to iron out...

my biggest problem is...ive never seen a headrest monitor in my entire life...and i have no way of testing what kind of image would the psp feed to it...is it gonna stretch to fill the whole screen?is it gonna get letterboxed?over zoomed?the psp has its own formats and resolutions(and information on these two particular things working together seems to be scarce).so PSPs and headrest monitors is something i know very little about...if anybody had any experiences with this combo or has a headrest monitor,psp and psp-av cable to test it out,that'd be fantastic...altho' i think its a long shot.
also,these headrest monitors usually come in pairs.one being the main unit with some sort of dvd player attached to it and the other is a slave unit(passively transmitting the immage from the main unit)...now i wonder how would the slave unit function as a stand alone screen...does it have its own separate power supply?can you feed it any AV signal?or are they designed to only work in tandem?if anyone could shed some light on this that'd be great!

the last thing i wanted to do was to make a mdf cover so the whole thing could close up like a box(to protect the screen stick and buttons during travel)
i could use those things that come on guitar cases only smaller(you know,the little clicky snap things that keep the case from opening...im sorry,i really have no clue how they call those):



alright,well thats it for now...i hope i can get some imput from you guys(if you have any experiences with PSPs and or headrest monitors).
i think the project is very do-able but if you see any flaw in it feel free to point it out...sometimes the reason why something couldnt work is right in front of you but you dont see it till some fresh eyes point it out!

i'll be posting pics and i'll do a step-by-step video turorial too probably

[Jigenjuke]

Hey there, You could search the forum for Mini cabinets to get some ideas.  I know there there was a really awesome Mini Donkey Kong a little smaller than a beer bottle that was fully playable.  There are a lot more out there than you would think.  The tech is getting smaller and cheaper.  You could also check out the ones I made.  I built 4 mini machines with 8 inch touch panel monitors.  They also ended up having composite video and audio out as well as HDMI output later on.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,106894.0.html

Hope you enjoy and good luck.  Like I said search around.  There be all kinds of talented folks here.


Jigenjuke

[ChanceKJ]

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,132902.0.html

'Nuf said.

[JDFan]

I build a mini unit (definitely not a micro like LT's that CHanceKJ linked) awhile back using one of the Jakks plug and play units with a 7" DVD secondary monitor -



One thing to keep in mind is that the small build does not allow a lot of room inside so be sure to check the fit of things like the joystick and buttons to make sure you leave enough space for wiring them up etc. (remember the wiring atttachment adds a small bit of depth so be sure it all can fit before finalizing the dimensions.

One nice thing about them is the artwork is simple to print on your home printer with some sticker paper.

As far as the 16:9 monitor on the 7" Portable DVD secondary monitor, I have it had a switch to change to 4:3 for the display or it would stretch the screen to fill the 16:9 so you can switch back and forth but I usually have it set to 4:3 with the black bars on the sides, even though it makes for a slightly smaller display size I like it better than having the stretching.

[Tanden_Renki]

Hey there, You could search the forum for Mini cabinets to get some ideas.  I know there there was a really awesome Mini Donkey Kong a little smaller than a beer bottle that was fully playable.  There are a lot more out there than you would think.  The tech is getting smaller and cheaper.  You could also check out the ones I made.  I built 4 mini machines with 8 inch touch panel monitors.  They also ended up having composite video and audio out as well as HDMI output later on.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,106894.0.html

Hope you enjoy and good luck.  Like I said search around.  There be all kinds of talented folks here.


Jigenjuke

those Kuroneko monitors look perfect...could you give me an exact model number for them?

[AzureKnight]

You might want to check out this thread as well for Benderama:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,84113.msg880206.html#msg880206

A folding bartop, it sounds like you might be interested in something similar.  It is easily portable for travel and fully functional.

[Tanden_Renki]

I build a mini unit (definitely not a micro like LT's that CHanceKJ linked) awhile back using one of the Jakks plug and play units with a 7" DVD secondary monitor -



One thing to keep in mind is that the small build does not allow a lot of room inside so be sure to check the fit of things like the joystick and buttons to make sure you leave enough space for wiring them up etc. (remember the wiring atttachment adds a small bit of depth so be sure it all can fit before finalizing the dimensions.

One nice thing about them is the artwork is simple to print on your home printer with some sticker paper.

As far as the 16:9 monitor on the 7" Portable DVD secondary monitor, I have it had a switch to change to 4:3 for the display or it would stretch the screen to fill the 16:9 so you can switch back and forth but I usually have it set to 4:3 with the black bars on the sides, even though it makes for a slightly smaller display size I like it better than having the stretching.

what did you use as hardware?
ive been eyeing some 10" laptops today on ebay...had no idea they go for so little(30-40 bucks) and you get the screen + the hardware(plus theres speakers already included)and the cthulhu would just plug in the usb directly without hassle...once i detach the screen,the rest should fit on the bottom or back panel.

hmm....maybe the psp wasnt the best way to go afterall...

[Tanden_Renki]

You might want to check out this thread as well for Benderama:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,84113.msg880206.html#msg880206

A folding bartop, it sounds like you might be interested in something similar.  It is easily portable for travel and fully functional.

wow,thats awesome...the guy really went all out.

[JDFan]

what did you use as hardware?
ive been eyeing some 10" laptops today on ebay...had no idea they go for so little(30-40 bucks) and you get the screen + the hardware(plus theres speakers already included)and the cthulhu would just plug in the usb directly without hassle...once i detach the screen,the rest should fit on the bottom or back panel.

hmm....maybe the psp wasnt the best way to go afterall...

THe hardware was one of the Jakks Pacific Pacman games that plugs into a TV. Broken down and soldered new wires for the joystick and buttons, and a second screen from a dual screen DVD player designed for use in a car (from Ebay cost about $15 shipped since it was just the secondary slave monitor without the DVD player)   and then used an old 12V AC\DC adapter to power both the screen and game system (using a voltage regulator to drop the 12V to 5V for it) -- The build thread is HERE (
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,139689.msg1444799.html#msg1444799 ) that details the build.

[ChanceKJ]

This might help too...

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,136983.0.html

[JDFan]

This might help too...

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,136983.0.html

That reminds me --- Did it ever get finished ?

[ChanceKJ]

It's an ongoing side project with no end date.

[Tanden_Renki]

This might help too...

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,136983.0.html

thanks man

[Tanden_Renki]

btw...is there an industry standard for laptop screen chords?what influences the number of pins the connectors have?is it based on screen size or are there proprietary chords that vary from model to model,brand etc?(never worked with led/lcd before...always went the 15/31kHz  route but for a project this size,thats out of the question)

i'd like to look for extension chords and possibly order the right one before the 10" laptop gets here

[Tanden_Renki]

oh yes...the joys of wood working in a 7x4 ft bathroom