My First Project - The Icebox Cocktail Arcade! Now with Glass and Lights

[MazzMn]

Hey everyone, it's cold out so I thought I would post results of my nearly finished cocktail arcade. I couldn't have done it without the resources on this website and forum, so Thanks!

I wanted an arcade with a high Spousal Approval Rating so it didn't end up in the garage. This was accomplished by going with a modified cocktail style. I wanted to be able to play side-by-side games such as Joust and Berzerk. I thought pinball games would be fun too. I also tried to reduce costs, used gpwiz econo controller, and 4/8 way convertible joysticks.

Let me know what you think. See the end results here
http://ripplinriver.com/?page_id=4

Update...The name The Machine is too generic...thus the name The Icebox has taken over....marking the fact that we've had a cold spell (down to -18F), the thing reminds me of an antique icebox and it's actually cool :-) having a playable arcade machine.

Glass comes tomorrow!! (but gone for the weekend so can't work on it :-( )

[pacmandude]

I like the design. You did an excellent job, so congratulations on the neat cocktail! 

Cocktails have always had a special place in my heart.

[dmworking247]

Hey, congrats on your first arcade build!

I like the simple shape of this cocktail and how the sides look like one piece (even though they're not)

My only critique would be that colour buttons cheapen a wooden cabinet (IMO) and I'd stick to black buttons for the player controls and some black or white buttons (consistent color) for the function buttons.

Otherwise, looks great and very fine quality for your first build, well done! Are you going to put tinted glass on the top?

PS: You realise your cat is possessed right?:

[MazzMn]

Hey, congrats on your first arcade build!

I like the simple shape of this cocktail and how the sides look like one piece (even though they're not)

My only critique would be that colour buttons cheapen a wooden cabinet (IMO) and I'd stick to black buttons for the player controls and some black or white buttons (consistent color) for the function buttons.

Otherwise, looks great and very fine quality for your first build, well done! Are you going to put tinted glass on the top?

PS: You realise your cat is possessed right?:

Thanks very much.
The sides are actually one piece, I had just enough room to cut 2 of them out of a 4x8 sheet of oak plywood.

Color was an issue for the buttons, you notice I have one yellow joystick...that is a loaner from a friend...my eventual goal is to order another 4/8 way joystick that is switchable from the top...so my goal was to have one set red one set black...my supplier was out of black joysticks over the holidays. I thought red and black were pretty basic and better than a set of black and a set of blue.

Tinted glass is a good point...I see many people use tinted glass, but doesn't that make it tougher to see the screen? I have one pinball game UltimatePro pinball which is dim enough as it is? I like the idea of tinted, but I think I'm worried about making the screen dim.

Hehe, I hadn't notice those evil cat-eyes before scary! 

[dmworking247]

You'd be surprised how little tinted glass takes away from a screen. Because the screen/LCD is brightly lit its as if the tint doesn't exist, however when the monitor is off it hides things really nicely.

Think about being outside of a car with tinted windows and looking in - its hard because its dark inside. This is kind of what happens with the monitor OFF.

However if you're inside a car looking out through tinted windows on a sunny day you don't have any problems seeing things clearly because its so much brighter on the other side. This is kind of what its like with the monitor ON.

[MazzMn]

I like the design. You did an excellent job, so congratulations on the neat cocktail! 

Thanks!

Cocktails have always had a special place in my heart.

Me too, and they've burned a hole in my pocket over the years too.

[MazzMn]

You'd be surprised how little tinted glass takes away from a screen. Because the screen/LCD is brightly lit its as if the tint doesn't exist, however when the monitor is off it hides things really nicely.

I'm going to have to think about this pretty hard. It would be nice to cover up the black felt I plan to use as a "bezel", but I think the oak top looks nice too.

Does tinted glass generally cost much more?

Thanks

[MazzMn]

Does tinted glass generally cost much more?

Looks like tinted glass is only about $5 more...but now another question...how dark can I go?
Some samples are shown here

https://secure.onedayglass.com/tints.php

Dark Grey seems to dark, but you guys are saying it's not?

[metahacker]

on my upright i used the darkest grey they had.. and got the glass 1/8" thicker than the OEM Midway glass was.

it made the picture look much better... and i was actually running the brightness lower on that tv than its default setting despite the tint.  i didnt find that it "took" anything away except .... reducing the perceived appearance of unwanted flicker/glare.  plus it just made the machine look 100x slicker (both when off and on).

get something nice and dark and thick... and tempered to cover that thing.  you won't regret it.

also, i tend to agree with dmworking247.  red -> black ==> will look a lot classier.
if you want to keep some red, use it as an accent/highlight.  its too overwhelming now.  once you start rocking all that oak and veneer edging in lieu of t-molding you have to be more careful about your design decisions.  something like red ball tops and black buttons / dust washers could work but really black is gonna be your best bet.

project is looking real nice btw.  cant wait to see it finished.  should be real nice with some glass on top.  esp if you go with the tint.

[MazzMn]

Hi, thanks to all who recommended dark glass...it's truly not too dark. I may have to tweak the brightness up a bit on Duke Nukem.
Was I too cheap going with the brass brackets? I think they go with my IceBox theme. I may look for some additional brass accents.

More details here:
http://ripplinriver.com/?p=67

[Sir Auros]

I think the brackets look neat, and with the light wood theme, I don't see how they're a bad thing.

I am a little confused with your joystick situation. What's the deal with the yellow one? Why does it have that plate on top and why didn't you have it match the buttons?

[MazzMn]

Thanks for the feedback

You caught me ...I screwed up and mounted joystick 2 on top instead of the bottom.
The reason I have a yellow joystick is I borrowed this one from a friend who had extra parts after he bought an Xarcade control panel. (and they were out of black sticks around Christmas 2007)

I kind of wanted to try out switchable joysticks (Magstick plus) instead of mounting 8 way and 4 way joysticks, but wasn't sure it was worth the price.
I'm happy with this stick, but usually 2 player games use 8 way sticks anyway...

Boils down to I really need to order another stick and redo the top board of the control panel...But I am having so much fun playing games !!! :-)

[Sir Auros]

Y'know what I think *might* be cool?

A brass overlay for your CP. Could make it easier to make aesthetically pleasing after you work on the CP. It would show fingerprints though, I guess. Maybe some dulled or brushed brass?

[MazzMn]

More Brass, icebox style....You know I had a similar thought. But where would I get a chunk of metal like that? You mean basically cover the entire CP with it, right?

I happened to be looking through the hardware store the other day and saw some kickplates for exterior doors and they seemed like they would work, but are not that big.

I was also thinking of ordering a brass tag for right under the light... Something like this

[Sir Auros]

I'm sure you could find it somewhere locally. Your CP is really wider than an entry door?

I can't really help on where to find something like that, but the idea appeals to me. Your project has given me some inspiration for how I might someday do a cocktail cabinet. I'd like to do one for our living room, but I'd like it to somewhat match our furniture. I'm thinking of a light maple type of color and brushed nickel highlights.

[MazzMn]

No I guess it isn't wider than a door 27x7

Spousal Approval Factor is high for most cocktail table designs...much easier to fit any cocktail in than a full bore upright (IMHO)
I think I saved money by using oak plywood and oak trim over MDF with vinyl and T molding
Anyway, I have to give credit to Zak for my inspiration on this design...he has two similar designs at mameworld. The House cabinet and the Cottage cabinet
Found here http://www.mameworld.net/massive/Cabinet/Cabin/Cabin.html

[danny_galaga]

very nice (",)

oh, and are your robot cats eyes set to 'kill' or 'stun'?