What cabinet inspired you to get into this hobby?

[Todd H]

For me it would have to be The Ultimate Arcade Machine I first saw about 2001-2002.

http://web.archive.org/web/20080129140812/http://netbox.home.mindspring.com/arcade/

Since then I've been itching to build my own, which I'm finally doing. What about you?

[AtomSmasher]

I got an email from Barnes and Noble telling me about the ExtremeTech series of books which I ignored at first, but then noticed one of the books was titled Project Arcade.  I immediately ordered the book and the rest is history (or at least archived on this forum) 

So I guess it's the Project Arcade cabinet that got me inspired, although reading through the project announcement section once the book led me to this forum also helped.

[SavannahLion]

It was just a strange series of events. I always wanted a cab but I always perceived it out of my reach. Either due to lack of funds, repair knowhow or space. The specific course of events that gave me the itch to actually acquire one probably started with my getting kicked out of my favorite forum. Homeless I went in search and found BYOAC. Then I saw a Simpsons cab on Fleabay but got outbid and found an "empty" Hang-On cab on Craigs instead. Which all transpired right around the time I moved from my tiny cottage to a small house. Through all of this, I rediscovered MAME (yet again).

It all kind of happened at the same time. 

[Games001]

I had been a user of MAME for years, but never staggered my way over to BYOAC until a little over a year ago.  The cab that actually caught my eye and made me want to build a personal arcade cabinet was, as with many I bet.. The NEON MAME by everyone's favorite Kustom builder.  Once I saw it, I knew I could do something at least 10% as good. 

[Mauzy]

I somehow found the Arcade Restoration Website in '06 and I was AMAZED at the restoration work on the site. I read every restore story I could find, and found that I wanted in on this. A couple days later I discovered the JAMMA harness, and started making plans. By the end of the week, I had won a MKII board set on ebay. My dad kind of got interested in the technical side and we started building a cab (its now dismantled in the shed for a future project...) Halfway through it dawned on use that we couldn't spend $400 on a 25 inch monitor, so we went to the local op. They said they didn't sell "small" parts to the public, but to come by next month for their warehouse sale. We did and we went home with a very nice, perfectly working, Golden Tee 2K machine in a generic kit cabinet with a 25 inch monitor for $250! About a year later I won a converted Midway cab on ebay that was, at the time, a Ninja Clowns cab. That was restored to Galaga. About 10 months ago I accidentally won an empty Midway cocktail table that turned out to be a Super Pac Man cab, and that has since been restored. Now I just need a Nintendo cab and I will be good to go.

[TelcoLou]

Ok, don't laugh now ....

SlikStik. I saw their web site, and REEEally wanted to get a cab kit with a pre-made panel. Luckily, the cost was too much, and several months later, my Wife found a guy selling old, empty cabs for $50. Yay 

[mccoy178]

Searching for a Golden Tee on ebay, I saw a cabinet that could play over 10,000 games for only $5000.

[SirPeale]

It wasn't a particular cab in my case, it was a game.

I'd heard of Mame before, but I'd had no interest in arcade games, for whatever reason, since my childhood (and the occasional bout when I used to work at a hotel).

And that was what got me: the name of a game I used to play at the hotel I worked at.  It was killing me...what WAS the name of that game?  Then I found mame.dk, did some searching...and found the game.  Thunder Jaws!  Stupid game, but at least I knew what it was.  And hey...I could download the ROMset too?  Suddenly I was downloading all sorts games left and right, just to check them out.

The idea to have my own cabinet came from CmdrTaco's cabinet, Jubei.  I'd seen it before, thought it was a neat idea, but put it out of my head until I got "bitten by the bug".  I started amassing parts until I made my first working cab: a monstrosity made from an old Moon Patrol cab.

I've gotten a bit better since then.

[TOK]

None of them, really.

I found MAME way back at .36 while doing a search for info on Donkey Kong. I was originally going to build a sit-down cabinet for PC racing games and flight sims. MAME changed that idea to an upright arcade game.

The first cab I saw that totally blew me away was Roswell 88201.
I saw the stripped cab for sale years later and considered buying it but was already swamped with projects by then. It actually looks very dated now with the exposed trackball plate and all, but this machine was from way back in the day of keyboard hacks.

[gothroughthegate]

I always wanted to build one.  I finally decided to build one when my Die Hard Arcade monitor died.

[protokatie]

Back in c.1989 there was an NES cab in Nintendo Power, that hooked me, but I shelved the idea until more recently. BTW, is Nannuu still around here? He was the one who built that NES cab back in the day (a pic of it even appears briefly in the NP ep of the angry video game nerd).

[shmokes]

PacMAMEA

[danny_galaga]

wasn't a particular cab to start with. but i wanted to build a cocktail. this was the first link i found on the net:

http://members.iinet.net.au/~things/ihs/cocktail/index.html

very informative. from there, the dimensions! i couldnt believe my luck:

http://underworld.fortunecity.com/fifa/294/


THIS guy built an upright:

http://www.blacklight.com.au/spaceinvader/intro.htm

he first tried MAME november 28 2003, and finished building the cab on 31 december! That was very inspirational  a lesson for all of us to pull our fingers out!

[Loafmeister]

Not really a cabinet but the idea of one and it predates Mame, rather it was the awesome "Retrocade" emulator. The moment I saw that emulator, I said "man, wouldn't that be cool to house this thing in a cab".  The idea stayed in the back of my head, then one day I saw that a lot of people were putting that idea to work along with Mame, and that spark turned into a full on flame.  Now, I can't get enough of this hobby and there's no end in sight.

[RayB]

No cab.
I'm THAT cool.

[Malenko]

well technically an MKII but I wanted one of those not a MAME cab, now i have both.
I found MAME while hunting for a SNES emu, when MAME added MKII support THATS when I wanted a MAME cab

[rlemmon]

The two games i really loved as a kid were pacman and robocop. Since then i've alsways wanted to have one. Then I saw lusids cab and gave it a go and made a playstation two arcade,  then a robocop replica mame machine.


lucid's



Mine




For the next project im seriously comsidering a replica pacman cabaret with a crapload of vertical games.

[abzman2000]

my first true love was galaga (specifically ms. pac man/galaga but I only ever played galaga) and I always desired to have one, but when that proved too expensive I moved to emulation and then determined that a cab that emulated one machine was a waste of space (I didn't want to build a replica, but a genericly shaped cab) so I set out to design a control panel that was the most comfortable to use and allowed almost every emulated machine to be played closest to it's original layout.  That was two years ago, and I'm still cutting costs and lowering my expectations of the final layout. 

[web.geek]

My first inspiration was my brother-in-law's cab back in 2004. Before then, I never even heard of MAME. The shame of it all is that he completed his cab without letting the rest of us even know he was working on such a thing. I blame my sister...siblings are so disloyal.

After the unveiling, I immediately began my first cab (completed in February 2005), and now I am on to my second. Reading through these forums provides all of the inspiration I need to move on to a third, fourth, and so on. But after my second MAME, I'll probably move towards restos.

[daywane]

I was new to today's type of PCs.
My first was a 700mghtz HP PC
I had heard of Emus .
I got on the internet and looked for Atari 8 bit emu.
I did that and started looking more and bumped into Mame.
I used to manage a Alladina castle in my younger days.
fund killer clowns web and later found this sight

[spocktwin]

   Well kind of sad story, but yet not.  In the late 80's I moved to Minnesota from Ohio to try to work things out with my wife as we were separated.  I went to work for an electronics retailer in Minnesota known as Shaak Electronics.  The managers best friend worked for a firm that supplied arcade games to the local arcade joints.  He had to clear the warehouse so he offered us at the store first pick.  I bought a pac man, space invaders and asteroids deluxe for the total price of $100.00 (cash of course)  they all worked and were in great shape (other then they smelled like a bar).  A year later we split for good and I hoofed back to Ohio.  My only demand in the divorce was the games were donated to a local scout troop that one of my coworkers boy belonged to for them to sell as a fundraiser.  I longed ever since then and found Saint's book in Barnes & Noble and have built two since.  Sad story yes but to get away from that woman turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.  Married a sweet younger woman, I have two kids and the world is just fine thank you!!!!

[RTSDaddy2]

I had already found MAME, and somehow stumbled onto a website of homebuilt cabs a few months later.  There sat this GORGEOUS blue cabinet that looked like it had been carved out of marble.  This marble technique of painting was certainly the inspiration behind the look of our own cabinet.

[RayB]

I change my answer to: ALL cabs.
 

[daywane]

  Well kind of sad story, but yet not.  In the late 80's I moved to Minnesota from Ohio to try to work things out with my wife as we were separated. 

Damn. I have been there, close to same story.
only I left KY for MN 
we were not able to fix things eather.
I left for AZ found my wife

[DaOld Man]

Three (or four) years ago a friend of mine invited me over to his place after work one afternoon to check out a  arcade cab that his wife had bought him.
It was made out of plywood and had about 100 or so games on it. It had an older mother board in it.
My friend knew I liked messing with computers and said he bet i had enough stuff laying around to build one.
That got me started. I emailed the guy that made the machine and he told me about mame.
After much searching on the web, I came across this site.
I had never operated a router before, and never thought I could build a regular book case from scrap, much less a 6 foot tall arcade machine.
But now, after 4 upright arcades and two jukeboxes, I am here still learning tricks from the masters.

[gothroughthegate]

[/quote]


Where you get that area 51 poster from?

[IG-88]

Not really a cabinet but the idea of one and it predates Mame, rather it was the awesome "Retrocade" emulator. The moment I saw that emulator, I said "man, wouldn't that be cool to house this thing in a cab".  The idea stayed in the back of my head, then one day I saw that a lot of people were putting that idea to work along with Mame, and that spark turned into a full on flame.  Now, I can't get enough of this hobby and there's no end in sight.

It's funny you mentioned that old emulator. I just got it up and running this weekend. Sweet little app. I think I'll slap it in a bartop. Speaking of which, those are what got me started in this hobby. Worked at a bar about 12 years ago that had some old type of megatouch with a pac-man clone in it and I thought "wouldn't it be cool if that had all those old games I used to play back in the day" Can't get enough of it now. 

[lcddream]

This guys page helped me out quite a bit!
http://cocktail.loungespot.com/build.html