Custom Capcom Coin-op Classics Collection Cabinet

[XYXZYZ]

I had this MAME cabinet, see... the graphics were generic MAME logos.  It was neat at first but to tell you the truth I got tired of how dull it looked; a big black hunk of wood that said "MAME" on it. I wanted something a little more colorful, something that looked more like a machine I would have found in an arcade years ago. I also didn't want just another MAME cabinet, I wanted something a little more focused. Many of my favorite arcade games come from Capcom, and after playing Capcom Classics Collection vols. 1 and 2, I thought it would be really cool to have a dedicated Capcom cabinet, sort of like that Street Fighter Anniversary cabinet from Ultracade. That idea sat well with me.

This machine began it's life as a Killer Instinct, and eventually some operator converted it to a Street Fighter EX 2. I won it at an auction in Nashville, I probably paid too much considering the monitor looked like watching colored syrup running down a piece of glass. After a one by one pieced together capkit, a new flyback transformer and a lot of time adjusting things, the monitor looks pretty good now.

The guts are a modified Xbox, video is output with the Xbox > arcade monitor adapter from Ultimarc, it works great, no problems at all.

The adapter outputs sound via a mini-audio jack, unamplified of course. I didn't feel like waiting for another shipping period for a good amplifier, so I just went to Wallyworld and got a cheap set of Creative powered PC speakers. It was hard as hell taking the thing apart to get the amplifier out, and I ended up breaking the volume pot. I couldn't get another dual pot locally, so I wound up connecting two 8 ohm arcade speakers, in parallel, to one channel on the amp with a single linear 10k pot. The amp was designed for a 4 ohm speakers, but it works fine and sounds great the way it is. I'll probably get a better amp if this one ends up melting or something, but until then I'm too lazy to do it. I ended up hanging the subwoofer under the control panel, it rattled everywhere else.

The controls are wired to Xbox gamepads, one of which was really strange because it had two different grounds. (Wiring the button ground to the D-pad ground won't work) So I ended up getting creative with some alligator clips there. Wired the coin switch, test and service switches to the control pad too.

I installed a 40 gig hard drive in the Xbox, and dumped the Capcom Classics Collection 1 and 2 to it, and I can select the games with a custom menu rather than the one in the game. I also loaded Xbox ports of Capcom games like Capcom vs SNK 2, SF Anniversary/Street Fighter III Third Strike, Marvel Vs Capcom 2, etc. And of course I have MAME, for the times I want that authentic coin-inserting arcade feel. But the CCC versions look better, so it's nice to have the choice. I also have MAME installations for other games like Konami, SEGA, etc.

I designed the graphics at the same time as the Danmaku cabinet in the other thread, great job by  Mamemarquees once again. I wanted that Chun Li image on the marquee, (Quite possibly my favorite video game character) but there aren't any hi-res scans on the interweb. I ended up taking a photo of the "Magnificent World of Chun Li" book, and edited out all the writing by hand, that took awhile. (It was covering parts of the character). Oh, and I called the cabinet "Capcom Anthology" because I thought that looked better on the marquee.

Anyway, here it is-



The marquee


The control panel


The Xbox


The controllers, just look at that beautiful, clean precision wiring job. Note the subwoofer haning in the back, makes a good thud you can feel with your hands sometimes.


What do you think, sirs?

[leapinlew]

 

Good work.

[btp2k2]

Yeah, real sharp man....I like it alot!

[SNAAKE]

awesome

[BobA]

Nice remake of your cab.   It is great looking now.

[amadama]

Nice!

[javeryh]

That cab is totally sweet.  I really love the shape of it (perfect for fighters) and the artwork is great too - very nice work!   

[dwyzane]

Looks really nice. I was hoping I could see some more of the wiring done to the controllers....I'm thinking of doing the same. Got a couple of Xboxes sitting around. Use one for a media center, another for older console emulation, and another for a bartop arcade. Might try to blend the last two together. Still I would like to see what kind of controllers were used, brand that is, and the wiring used for it.

[GlennM]

I would also like to see a more detailed explanation of the wiring job on the xbox, my next project is an Xbox based Bartop as well.

[rlemmon]

That looks great. It looks light a real cab that could have been produced.

Great job !

[blueznl]

Yes. Second hand X-boxes are now becoming more available, so they might become an interesting platform to mess around with...

[theCoder]

Still I would like to see what kind of controllers were used, brand that is, and the wiring used for it.

While trying to get a IGR reset button working on my XBox driving cab, I hacked 4 different makes of controllers.  By far the easiest was the controller for the Fanatec steering wheel.  It has really big, labled plugs, wires, and pads.  Unfortunately they are kinda expensive ($50).  The next easiest was a madcat mini controller.  The pads were big and easy to solder on.  My local GameCrazy had 2 in stock last week for $10 each.  Stay away from Microsoft originals, the pads are very small. 

Great look for the cab.  What front end are you using?

[XYXZYZ]

Well, one of those controllers is a MadCatz Xbox controller, and the other is... some XYZ brand controller, I forget what kind. Just go to Gamestop or something and get a cheap Xbox controller. And yes, stay away from the Microsoft originals because the pads are covered in that carbon junk and they're pretty small, not very hack friendly.

As far as the wiring, it's just a simple pad hack... the cabinet's control panel wiring harnesses had  12 pin connectors in the middle, and I soldered wires from the controller pads to those pins.

And there isn't any front end for MAMEoX, it has it's own skinnable GUI. And I use UnleashX for the dashboard. I made Capcom themed skins for both, I'll post images whenever I get more webspace.

[bfauska]

You can attach pictures to posts if you go to the "Additional Options" section of the "Post Reply" page.  That way you don't need any webspace. 

[GlennM]

First of all, this is a great project, I have looked at it before, and thought of something you may wish to add to it.  Have you thought of adding XMugen, it has a long load time, but you can use it to make new fighters that the Xbox otherwise wouldn't be able to have, I am currently compiling a complete Gundam game, thanks to the Gundam War Project.  YOu may find something that you would like as well, just google Xmugen, also since it is not built with the Xbox development kit is actually completely legal.  Instead it runs a basic version of Linux.

Anyways, your work has helped inspire my Gundam Bartop a lot, thanks.

[MrQuan]

That's totally rad!  I love the art work you've done and the idea of a dedicated Capcom cab

I'm very interesed in the use of an XBox, I'll have to check that out.  I have an XBox here collecting dust, I'd love to throw it in a cab!

I sense.... I sense the future.... I sense another arcade project.... 

[GlennM]

I would suggest checking www.xbox-scene.com , they have a lot of useful information there.
The only problem is newer roms tend not to play well, you'll find around half of N64 games work fine, the other half have some sort of problem, anything prior to that tends to work fine though.  Except MAME which doesn't want to run anything newer, say mid-90's or so is the limit. But it does depend on the game, I have a 2000 game that runs fine.
All in all it works pretty well, and since it is a game console, the boot time is pretty short.
If you need help feel free to PM me and I'll help you where I can.