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I'm a product designer, videogame geek, and apartment hobbyist. I got bitten by the MAME arcade bug, and needed to get a wedding present for my friends Dorothy and Arvon, so I decided to design and construct an arcade cabinet that would be unobtrusive and could hopefully become a family heirloom.
Using the cocktail arcade form factor, I focused on simple, classic games like Pac-Man and Galaga which are displayed in portrait mode on screen. Sticking to these classic games also limited the complexity of the interface, meaning I could go with a simple 4 way joystick, a trackball, a couple of play buttons, and some menu buttons. While I wanted to go simple and elegant, I also wanted it to be versatile and upgradeable. My version only has 2 play buttons, but are arranged so that 4 more could easily be added, and the trackball makes running a jukebox or GUI pretty simple.
The styling I chose for the cabinet is meant to evoke the WHOPR computer from "War Games" and still feel like a piece of furniture. The wooden sides are slatted to allow for air circulation and as a place to mount the speakers. The shelf surrounding the monitor cabinet is there to add space under the glass for the controls and act as a shelf for little Japanese toys and trinkets. The sides and back of the unit are fairly plain since it's probably going to end up living out it's days as an end table.
This instructable is meant to be a record of how I made the cabinet, it is NOT meant to be about making a MAME computer ( although I do include the parts I used ) The resource I used for setting up the electronics was "Project Arcade: Build your own Arcade Machine Machine" by John St. Clair available from amazon.
This entire project was built in a messy corner of my tiny studio apartment, and cost around $600, but I did use my office's drill press, band-saw, spindle sander, and belt/disc sander mainly for working on the aluminum components. I also "farmed out" the production of the sticks to my dad who has a table saw. It should be noted that all my dimensions are in inches and the dimensions I give for the pine wood pieces in the materials section are 1/4 to 1/2 inch over in terms of width and 1/4 in thickness. This is just how their lumber is marked. The original design was created in SolidWorks.
Using the cocktail arcade form factor, I focused on simple, classic games like Pac-Man and Galaga which are displayed in portrait mode on screen. Sticking to these classic games also limited the complexity of the interface, meaning I could go with a simple 4 way joystick, a trackball, a couple of play buttons, and some menu buttons. While I wanted to go simple and elegant, I also wanted it to be versatile and upgradeable. My version only has 2 play buttons, but are arranged so that 4 more could easily be added, and the trackball makes running a jukebox or GUI pretty simple.
The styling I chose for the cabinet is meant to evoke the WHOPR computer from "War Games" and still feel like a piece of furniture. The wooden sides are slatted to allow for air circulation and as a place to mount the speakers. The shelf surrounding the monitor cabinet is there to add space under the glass for the controls and act as a shelf for little Japanese toys and trinkets. The sides and back of the unit are fairly plain since it's probably going to end up living out it's days as an end table.
This instructable is meant to be a record of how I made the cabinet, it is NOT meant to be about making a MAME computer ( although I do include the parts I used ) The resource I used for setting up the electronics was "Project Arcade: Build your own Arcade Machine Machine" by John St. Clair available from amazon.
This entire project was built in a messy corner of my tiny studio apartment, and cost around $600, but I did use my office's drill press, band-saw, spindle sander, and belt/disc sander mainly for working on the aluminum components. I also "farmed out" the production of the sticks to my dad who has a table saw. It should be noted that all my dimensions are in inches and the dimensions I give for the pine wood pieces in the materials section are 1/4 to 1/2 inch over in terms of width and 1/4 in thickness. This is just how their lumber is marked. The original design was created in SolidWorks.
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Signing UpStep 1Parts
Scrounged Components:
power supply
motherboard (I recommend epia mini-itx, which have built in sound + video)
video card
sound card
monitor (I used a 17 inch CRT)
memory
hard drive
keyboard
amplifier
power strip
slot loading combo drive ( not scrounged )
Happ Controls.com:
joystick ------------------------50-6084-1125R----23.55
trackball ----------------------56-0300-10----------161.40
microswitch button (x2)---49-0577-00----------0.91
momentary button (x3)----58-9100-L------------2.25
shielded speakers (x2)---50-9005-00----------11.25
McMaster Carr:
36 x 40 x 1/16 perforated aluminum----9232T171-----57.12
24 x 12 x 1/8 aluminum sheet------------88685K16-----31.36
36 x 2 x 1/8 aluminum strip---------------9134K132-----27.62
brass screws---------------------------------92114A110----3.40
adhesive backed felt------------------------8764K3--------21.08
1 1/2 dia aluminum rod--------------------9038K2---------6.40
stainless steel push button--------------???
casters-----------------------------------------???
3/8 inch dia aluminum tube--------------???
One Day Glass:
1/4" solar gray, 24"x24" pencil grind edge,
custom cut 2" radius on corners, no temper clamp marks----26.00
Home Depot:
24 x 48 x 3/4 inch thick plywood sheet
12 x 72 x 1 inch clear pine
10 x 72 x 1 inch clear pine
4 x 72 x 1 inch clear pine (x3)
3/4 inch square clear pine for 50 sticks
black paint
black primer spray paint
spray lacquer (clear)
mahogany stain
1 1/4" Sheetrock screws
sandpaper
solder
wood glue
epoxy
wood putty
Clear glass table top bumpers
power supply
motherboard (I recommend epia mini-itx, which have built in sound + video)
video card
sound card
monitor (I used a 17 inch CRT)
memory
hard drive
keyboard
amplifier
power strip
slot loading combo drive ( not scrounged )
Happ Controls.com:
joystick ------------------------50-6084-1125R----23.55
trackball ----------------------56-0300-10----------161.40
microswitch button (x2)---49-0577-00----------0.91
momentary button (x3)----58-9100-L------------2.25
shielded speakers (x2)---50-9005-00----------11.25
McMaster Carr:
36 x 40 x 1/16 perforated aluminum----9232T171-----57.12
24 x 12 x 1/8 aluminum sheet------------88685K16-----31.36
36 x 2 x 1/8 aluminum strip---------------9134K132-----27.62
brass screws---------------------------------92114A110----3.40
adhesive backed felt------------------------8764K3--------21.08
1 1/2 dia aluminum rod--------------------9038K2---------6.40
stainless steel push button--------------???
casters-----------------------------------------???
3/8 inch dia aluminum tube--------------???
One Day Glass:
1/4" solar gray, 24"x24" pencil grind edge,
custom cut 2" radius on corners, no temper clamp marks----26.00
Home Depot:
24 x 48 x 3/4 inch thick plywood sheet
12 x 72 x 1 inch clear pine
10 x 72 x 1 inch clear pine
4 x 72 x 1 inch clear pine (x3)
3/4 inch square clear pine for 50 sticks
black paint
black primer spray paint
spray lacquer (clear)
mahogany stain
1 1/4" Sheetrock screws
sandpaper
solder
wood glue
epoxy
wood putty
Clear glass table top bumpers
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And no, you can't make a MAME arcade for zero bucks. Unless you have really incredible dumpsters by you, you can not scrounge up a couple hundred bucks in Happ controls. The buttons may be cheap, but the joystick and trackball are $15 and $160 respectively. If it doesn't have arcade style controls, you may as well be playing on your cell phone.
It's still a very cool build regardless.
L