What do you think of my cabinet "theme"?

[pmc]

Mechanically complete for perhaps 1.5 years. I'd like to finish it off with real artwork (marquee, side art, control panel), a lexan cover for the CP, and a potential change in T-molding. Basically take it from "working but plain" to "polished and complete".

I'm seeking comments on the color coordination, theming, and overall look. I think it's kinda generic looking but at the same time I am not really overly inspired to get too custom in any particular way.

Here's a pic of the current state. It's a home-built Defender cabinet with swapable control panels (only one panel so far). I'll post my future vision and a close-up of the proposed CP in another post.

- pmc

[pmc]

Here's my Photoshop mock-up of a potential future.

I went with the original marquee because it had some red and blue in it. I have red joysticks and white buttons. I have a couple black and blue buttons too. So I stuck with the black-blue-white-red theme. But now I'm liking the Purple nebula mame logo... and I'm still thinking of adding some character art to the marquee and/or CP.

[pmc]

And here's my proposed control panel overlay. I used a background pic that I downloaded (surely designed by someone here). It's nice, but I'm happy to change it to something else and add some character art too. The blue background pretty much ties me to the blue theme which is nice, but kinda common it seems.

7th buttons for Defender are being considered but not likely (I can pretty much reach button-4 with my thumb now). I think 6-buttons already crowd the panel so I'll leave well enough alone at this point.

The font is IMPACT. I tried an Atari font, Tron, and a Defender font. But I thought that the simple san-sarif look did the job better.

-pmc

[pmc]

One last note...

I already have the blue t-mold, but have not yet installed it. I bought it because I decided that the black t-mold didn't show up well against the black cabinet. Add a black coin door and the whole thing is kinda like a big black blob.

I think that the colored t-mold will set off the cabinet, but the final mock-up with the side-art may begin to look a little overdone like a race-car with adverts all over it. Especially when I add instruction panels to the bezel.

Anyway... I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. I'm getting fast enough with Photoshop and Illustrator that I can easily play with different ideas. I should done this a loooong time ago!

[mahuti]

Ace the word MAME. There are SOOO many other samples that you can build off of. I understand you dont' want to get too custom, but anything is more exciting than the word "mame". I'm not going to go over thy whys again... search my posts you'll find a few dissertations on the subject.

Your stuff looks fine, but with just as much non-effort, you can do something that looks much better.

Start here.
http://www.localarcade.com/arcade_art


Marquee
http://localarcade.com/arcade_art/details.php?image_id=255

Side Art
http://localarcade.com/arcade_art/details.php?image_id=424

OR
http://localarcade.com/arcade_art/details.php?image_id=338
http://localarcade.com/arcade_art/details.php?image_id=343
http://localarcade.com/arcade_art/details.php?image_id=346


etc.

[rohan]

Gotta agree with Mahuti on this one...The MAME name is lame.  I do dig the shade of blue...It needs lights like a blacklight or lit transluscent blue buttons.  Did I mention I like Tron and shiny/glowy things?

[pmc]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I like having a MAME logo on there because it's really the reason I built the cab. That said, I know those logos and graphics are tired and overused.

I kinda like the small MAME logo on the control panel. Maybe that's the best way to work it in without making it the "headliner". That said, I was never a big fan of generic "arcade" marquees or those jumbled multi-marquee marquees. Without a custom muse, that left me with the simple MAME marquees.

I've been thinking that an original game Marquee might look just dandy on there (Defender for example).

I'll try some other ideas and then post here some more....

[mahuti]

I can't fault anyone for using original game art. (just look at my arcade cab for that matter)

You don't need to have a "generic" name to use the art at the library. You can always come up with a cool name and add it on your own.

[pmc]

I can't fault anyone for using original game art. (just look at my arcade cab for that matter)

You don't need to have a "generic" name to use the art at the library. You can always come up with a cool name and add it on your own.

Interesting. I see yours as a more of a Defender cab that is running MAME. The artwork and theme is therefore laregly pre-destined as Defender. I feel like mine is a MAME cabinet that happens just happens to be in a Defender style. Maybe that distinction is irrelevent. Bottom-line is that I long ago decided not to use Defender artwork to make a simulated Defender cabinet. While I really like the Defender marquee, I'm more of a fan of PacMan and Galaga style graphics -- especially for the side art.

I've allowed my own indecision drive me toward the MAME theme rather than embracing any particular classic game theme (of which Defender would be the obvious choice) or a collage (of which I've created several).

I have no cool ideas to name the machine. In my house it's called "the MAME cabinet" or "the arcade machine" or, as my daughter calls it, "the 'cading machine" (which could be a catchy name).

Maybe ApathicArcade is a cool name?

[mahuti]

I like 'cading machine.

[BobbyG66]

Yes, drop the name "MAME" Use anything else.

Why not just call it "BLUE" or something.
I'm sure there is some other name you like...

[Patent Doc]

Normally I'd agree with everyone to lose the MAME, but now that we're in the times of Ultracade and Mr. Foley..I say $#%& him, put MAME on everything...big and bold. 

[mahuti]

Yawn. No thanks. The name mame is lame. Losing it to DF could be a blessing in disguise. You might be a patent doc, but I'm a marketing guy, and I would have thrown that name out years ago.

[Patent Doc]

Touchee.    I can't say I named my machine MAME either or even have it placed anywhere on the cab.  Just a reactionary post.  And yeah, your right you are the marketing and artistic guru here...no doubt about it.

[Chris]

I say do what you want.

[mahuti]

I don't advocate using the word "Arcade" either. My point is that there is plenty of available art that is more interesting than the mame nebula which can be easily paired with a unique and interesting pseudo-game name that's not lame like "mame".

If somebody is going to use the MAME theme, okay fine. PMC is asking for advice about his theme. He has received some advice. Regardless of whether lots of people have used the name "MAME" around here, he's using the most generic most common version of the MAME art. When there are other available MAME art sets which can just as easily (and simply) be applied to his cab, it seems a disservice to add the hackneyed mame logo and dated nebula graphics.





Those are 3 different versions of the mame art that are at least a bit different from the norm if the word "MAME" is the nom du jour. Mamemarquees.com, for instance, has lots to pick from.

You're not doing art to impress us, you're doing it for you.

Right. Ultimately, just carry on and do what makes you happy. It's not our machine. If you're asking for advice though, step it up a notch. Just one. Or at least look into the other readily available & cool alternatives. If you dig mame nebula then that's fine, but there are other easy alternatives for you to explore.

OK Back to the REAL subject.
The blue t-molding is good, and will nicely compliment the rest of the art you currently have, especially the CPO art. Defender has a very retro shape, and setting it off is a good decision.

[pmc]

Well, I spent the last week trying out different combinations of graphics and didn't get to a place where the machine looks better than what originally proposed. I'm not posting any of my alternative designs at this point. You can imagine what they look like without too much help as you've all seen the graphics already. I'm going to keep slugging away at variations though.

I wanted to comment on the discussion...

I can see both points of view and I appreciate them both! I like the MAME logo and look (I don't think it's lame at all). But it's certainly common place now-a-daze and therefore my use of it, by default, is certainly "lame". It's a cop-out anyway. I risk resulting in a "check out my cab that looks like like everyone elses!" thing.

I certainly have the ability to step it up a notch and I'm up to that challenge. After several days of trying different things with Illustrator and Photoshop I'm starting to realize that I can create custom graphics that rival some of the generic premade stuff out there. I can do better than your ordinary MAME design without having to go all-out custom and theming the design to my nickname or something like that (I actually find that to be somewhat cheesy).

I'm starting to like the look where the MAME logo is like a footnote or trademark. Makes me think "powered by MAME". I agree with Chris that MAME is what the cabinet is all about and my family and freinds have no idea about this community and therefore how commonplace my cabinet's design might be. It's unique to them and noting the core of the matter by putting a MAME indicator on there somewhere makes perhaps more functional than asthetic sense. I changed my CP to use one of those blue and black grids with a blue nebulous cloud in the background. The MAME logo sits near the edge and is not a headliner. Here's what it looks like:

http://www.mamemarquees.com/product_info.php/cPath/25/products_id/87

A little generic. I might go create my own to give it a little more pizzaz.

The use of (classic) character art in the marquee appeals to me and I'll persue that for the time being.

I've decided to skip side-art. I think it looks OK without it and it fits into my decor better. The machine is positioned in a corner and is generally approached from the front anyway. And that leaves the option open to me in the future.

I'm going to go forward with the blue t-molding which I agree will really make the cabinet stand-out in a way that the current black does not. I can't think of another color that would work better but I worry a bit about the blue theme ending up somewhat derivative again (another "just like every other blue-themed MAME cabinet" concern).

All of your advice and feedback has been and will be appreciated. I'll keep you posted if you are interested in what happens.

One last note: at $20 a whack for marquees, maybe I'll print a couple and swap 'em when I get the urge!

- pmc

[Chris]

Take a look at the generic Romstar and Taito side art at http://www.localarcade.com/arcade_art/categories.php?cat_id=5&page=3.  Side art doesn't always have to be elaborate or strongly themed.

[Buddabing]

I'd like to add that, in addition to removing the generic "MAME" logo, you should also not name your machine anything that ends in "CADE".

There are many examples of good, creative names out there.
"The Gold Mine"
"Basement Boomerang"
"Mission Control"

Mine is "The Purple Monstrosity".

Regards,
Buddabing

[DreamWeb]

A couple of names I've thought of are...

"The Wife".
and
"King Koin"

d.

[Radar]

I'd like to add that, in addition to removing the generic "MAME" logo, you should also not name your machine anything that ends in "CADE".

What about "Radarcade?"  Is that okay?  Heh.

[pmc]

"The Wife".

I can't think of a single thing that would piss her (my wife) off more!