Project: WAF(?) mame cabinet

[crusade]

We live in a apartment North in Norway, its cold 9 months of the year and completely dark 2 months. A MAME cabinet would be the perfect companion for me, next after my wife and now 4 weeks old daughter, so I gave it a try.. here are the preliminary results:

My cabinet is based on LuSid's drawings, and to up the odds for it to be wife approved, I tried to make it more blend in with the combined livingroom/kitchen; Off white and smooth corners, no t-molding. On the other hand, I went for a 27" GW arcade monitor. The monitor was just for me, I wanted the best, even though size might not be a good thing this time in the wifes opinion..lol.

She is also a great Puzzle Bubble fan, so I chose a Marquees with Bubble Bobble. I missed on the title, but at least I got the main caracters correct.;-)

[crusade]

Here are some more;

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And more. I went for 19mm MDF, could not get any 16mm which I originally planned for. 19mm are HEAVY, I added wheels which really are needed!

I was a bit quick drilling holes in the original CP, they came much to far out on the edges so I had to throw it away. Found a scrap mdf piece which fit perfet over the CP box. IMO this looked much better, and made the case seem slightly slimmer and more "clean".

[crusade]

The CP is also almost finished, it has been painted and I need to mount the trackball and some hinges.

For now, I have a capcom 14-in-1 jamma pcb and a 6-in-1 multi switch.

I plan to add some original pcbs, and also a pc running hyperspin mainly for mame, but I'll add some others emulators for the nostalgia.;-) J-pac and Opti-pac are also on their way for the trackball and pc-connection.

I have 2 arcade light guns on their way in the mail, and most likely soon a Opti-gun adapter so that I can use this with mame. http://www.nanotechent.com/opti-gun.php

The guns are of the old type, real looking ones in metal. I won an auction on ebay, actually.. I have won two actuions. The first pair seem to take forever in the mail. We dont know what has happened there, and when another pair showed up on ebay, I did not dare not buy these also. In worst case, I get 2 spare ones, or the first ones are lost and hopefully the insurance will cover those.

[leapinlew]

Wife Acceptance and 27" Monitor do not compute

 

[crusade]

Wife Acceptance and 27" Monitor do not compute

 

I know.. she kinda changed her mind when she saw the size of the almost finished cabinet in the basement.. a bit bigger than she imagined.

Hopefully, I will be able to talk her into at least testing it for a few days. Maybe it wont be that intimidating placed in corner, and after a few rounds with puzzle bobble, who knows?.. lol.. or not. I might have to beg or 

[Epyx]

WAF counter-insurgency...

There are a few tried and true tactics of counter insurgency you can use to get the WAF swinging in your direction. These were developed over the course of 17 years of marriage. Some are situational while others rely on the current temperament of the wife...

• Manipulate the tv so that it becomes a part of the surroundings. For my cab the tv doubles as my wifes cardio workout tv in the basement. While she is on the elliptical the tv can be used to play music videos/movies or just tv channels.  This would not work in the living room but in a spare bedroom assigned to working out it aligns with WAF...
• Shopping.  Its amazing what a "spontaneous" shopping gift/trip does for the WAF.
• More space for a dedicated guy/gal room. This is difficult if you live in an apartment but if you have a spare bedroom and nook somewhere...turn the nook into a functional area for her and then claim the bedroom as a "games room". BUT design it in such a way that it can easily switch function back to a "guest bedroom" or something sensible that is in alignment with WAF.
  

I am lucky in that my wife pretty much tolerates whatever I do as long as I balance hobby with around the house functional improvements.  A new hdtv is sold as a means to better experience the "chick flick" with my wife when really it is a vehicle to watch Aliens in all its SF goodness....