Project Game Station

[spyderdsm]

I decided to build a two-player fighter style arcade cabinet cause I always liked to play street fighter II and Mortal Kombat.......The machine will actually take quarters and you will hear the caching sound when a quarter is inserted


one of the major obstacles i had was space for building this beast....I live in brooklyn and space is scarce here...good thing i have a big room and back carport to work on...

I used 3 sheets of MDF to cut everything and plans of course...MDF really spells and is very dusty..The cutting process took like a week or so....





Putting the game station together

[spyderdsm]

working on the coin door


its alivee!!!..i used wood filler to cover up the screws...after it dried over night i sanded it all down outside


all sanded and primed :p



all painted with semi gloss paint ....i used 2 coats of paint and then sprayed polyerethane on it to give it a smooth finish

[spyderdsm]

added red t-molding...now its starting to look like something



look what came in the mail....i got the marquee printed from mamemarquees...very slick and smooth work...i also got a control panel overlay....Scott is great to deal with A+++


I added the speakers which i got from Happscontrol and marquee


and here is where i stand at now...this is far from done....still need to work on the control panel, tweak the PC that will run mame with game ex as the front end...

[spyderdsm]

I received my control panel this week and it looks awesome...It was custom made with a player fighter style config..thanx 123gumby/Jack...It also came with the plexi to cover it up on top and recessed trackball for a flush look...I could have made the control panel myself, but i wanted a perfect outcome ,so paying the extra $$ was worth it cuz the controls have to be right for it to feel like a real arcade game station..

this is how i received it, unpacked and layed on top of my cabinet




and here it is all dressed up with joysticks,buttons,trackball, and artwork on top

[spyderdsm]

here is whats under the hood,all ready to be wired up


i decided to solder all the wires , so a really secure fit and better contact then they all get connect to the IPAC interface...I just need to do some cable management and add the trackball LED light and the control panel is done...


here is what it looks like now...all i need to do is make a bezel to cover up that TV and wire the coin door and tweaks here and there 
 

[DrTongue]

Dude, that looks great! Nice job! 

[arcadefever]

very nice !!!! i've to give you credit about building a cab in a such small room 

is the bezel going to be same design as the cpo ?

well done ...

[spyderdsm]

very nice !!!! i've to give you credit about building a cab in a such small room 

is the bezel going to be same design as the cpo ?

well done ...

the room is pretty big...its just that the cabinet is H-U-G-E

for the bezel ,im goin to use plexi glass and paint the borders around the tv black..i want to see how that looks..if i dont like it, i will order a bezel from mamemarquees to go around it

[spyderdsm]

Dude, that looks great! Nice job! 

thanx for the help with the paint by the way...i used ur cabinet for reference
and GAMEX rocks!!!thats the frontend i use...

[johnperkins21]

I must say, I'm not a huge fan of that control panel art. It seems just a little too busy for my tastes, but then again, this isn't my cab. The marquee on the other hand is quite sweet.

And I must give you mad props for doing so much in so little time, and in such a small space. I would also suggest you at least look into doing the $2 bezel behind the plexi. This will allow you to completely hide the monitor case, giving you more freedom with the plexi top layer. Just an idea.

[spyderdsm]

I must say, I'm not a huge fan of that control panel art. It seems just a little too busy for my tastes, but then again, this isn't my cab. The marquee on the other hand is quite sweet.

And I must give you mad props for doing so much in so little time, and in such a small space. I would also suggest you at least look into doing the $2 bezel behind the plexi. This will allow you to completely hide the monitor case, giving you more freedom with the plexi top layer. Just an idea.

i thought the same thing for I bought the CP art...But it looks so much better in person....

I was thinking about doing the $3.00 bezel.....would i still need to paint the plexi if i do  it??

[johnperkins21]

I was thinking that you do the bezel in addition to whatever you're doing with the plexi. So do the plexi up like you don't have the bezel? Does this make sense. Basically if you just paint the plexi, you'll see the edges of the monitor. For an extra couple of bucks, you create a bezel that hides your monitor from the angle views of your cab. This is the way I plan on going. So the painted plexi hides the crudeness of the cheap bezel, although I will probably go with a smoked plexi anyway.

[Crafty]

Looking Great

What size TV did you slot in there?

[spyderdsm]

Looking Great

What size TV did you slot in there?

27" flat sony wega

[spyderdsm]

here is the finished product.....got my hands on some smoked plexi glass and bought 2 bar stools to go along with the cabinet...


the smoked plexi glass give the games a more vivid brighter look....

[Knievel]

Nice job...love the stools.

[SNAAKE]

nice cab !

that marquee and panel looks...familier

[ChicagoDave]

Wow!  It looks great!  I just added the smoked glass also, and I can't believe the difference it made.  It was well worth the money.