DIY ROM Arcade - Small Profile Arcade Machine (First System)

[DIYROMArcade]

Hey guys, I figured I should post in here because I originally posted in main and then realized this would be more on topic for when I do project related updates.

That being said I am working on my first DIY Arcade Machine. I have been addicted to gaming ever since I was a little kid, and Emulators first blew my mind when I came across them almost 12 years ago. :O (Holy cow, didn’t realize it had been that long until just now)

My first system is going to be a small profile arcade machine to acclimatize my fiancee before I spring several full size cabinets on her. Hehe.

I have been documenting my work on my blog so that hopefully when I am done it can act as a guide for anyone who is interested in how I designed, and constructed my system.

Here is a rough sketch of my initial idea.



I'm going to put forth a good amount of effort with my first system to create something I will truly enjoy and be happy with. I have a friend that is a carpenter who will be helping me build the first system, and I hope to get better with wood working as time goes on for future projects I have in mind.

We will hopefully be starting the construction on the system this weekend. I need to pickup the wood and other build materials with him tomorrow night. I already have all the computer hardware I will be using with the exception of 3 parts I still need to order from Amazon.

I will be posting back with updates as they occur. It’s awesome to see all the cool project people are working on in the forums. It offers a lot of inspiration to current and future projects I am planning! 

[Ond]

I'll be interested in your progress, is there a blog link to it you can share, is that the one at bottom of your post?

Cheers

Ond

[DIYROMArcade]

I'll be interested in your progress, is there a blog link to it you can share, is that the one at bottom of your post?

Cheers

Ond

Yeah man, sry bout that. It's http://www.diy-rom-arcade.com/. So far just some journals of my initial progress and planning, but after this weekend I should hope to have up some pictures of the initial construction. I have a feeling this will be a very busy weekend cause my pup arrives on Saturday, so I have feeling I will get a little side tracked but I am planning on Sunday as a good day to get some work done. Also took Monday off just in case, with the pup coming and all. 

Good to meet ya man!

[TelcoLou]

"What, no spinner?"™

J/K, welcome aboard

[brock.sampson]

If you are planning on playing any golden tee, bowling, shuuz, etc you might not want the trackball right next to the screen.  If you have a whole game room why not build a standard sized 2 player cab?

[CheffoJeffo]

Poor, poor Crystal Castles and Kanagaroo.   

And that Pole Position -- that's just not right -- it's working. 

[DIYROMArcade]

TelcoLou –

Thanks man, great to be here. This is one of my favorite forums now. I tend to lurk a lot more than I post cause of all the good info people share here.

brock.sampson –

Good call man, I didn’t even really think about that. We actually started constructing the cabinet this weekend and I told my friend I was redesigning to the controls based on different suggestions people had given me on the forum. Right now my upstairs game room is fairly small so the small profile system is two fold. It will allow me to have at least one arcade machine in my game room, and I had been planning a smaller one ever since I lived in an apartment and was short on space. Thought there might be other people out there who are in that same boat so I wanted to go ahead and build the system I would have done in my apartment. I already have some ideas for two future projects and one of those will include a full sized cabinet, but I figure for now the scaled down project is a good place for me to start.

CheffoJeffo –

Good eye, I missed that when I setup the header. There was so much to do when I first set the site up that my mind was in twenty different places. I nabbed the arcade systems image from a Google image search, can’t remember where I got it for sure. Right now it’s a place holder for when I get my first system done and can switch it out. Thanks for checking out my site man!

PROJECT UPDATE

With my friends help I started building the system on Friday. We completed the majority of the outside of the cabinet. I still need to redesign the controls because I had an idea for them after the fact.

We will be continuing the build by adding the mounts for the internal components. Installing the computer hardware. And possibly finishing up the controller. I have a detailed post on the first part of the construction here:

http://www.diy-rom-arcade.com/uncategorized/mame-arcade-machine-building/













Thanks for the feedback guys, I will update this as things progress! ^_^

[DIYROMArcade]

Hey guys! I have been on a long hiatus. So much has happened in the past few months. I got a pup, was sick throughout the month of March, got my Wisdom Teeth removed and through complications with the general anesthetic got “persistent hiccups” that lasted about 156 hours, until they doped me up with Thorazine and knocked me out for about 18 hours.

Anyway, all that being said I wanted to post an update of the Arcade Machine. Working on it has become the Friday night routine for me and my friend so we have been taking our time, drinking some beers and just having fun with it.

I have a ton of pictures up on my Flickr account in addition to the ones I have posted here. If you want to see them here’s the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/diyromarcade/

Anyway I am glad things are finally settling down so I can get back into the swing of things!































We are getting close to being done with the construction. Then it will just be a lot of work setting up the software, configuring emulators and controls, etc. I can’t wait!

[IG-88]

Looks pretty good so far 

You were probably getting sick from drinking that nasty Blue Ribbon    Thats was my old man's poison back in the day. I think that was the first beer I ever thru up too...ah the memories 

[z]

Building on Friday nights with a drinking buddy, sounds like your project is a success already     Looks great, keep the photo updates coming (love seeing how roomy your interior looks even loaded with gear).

Are you building yours first and one for your buddy next?