How to build a Nintendo arcade

Step 4 Conceal everything inside the cabinet

This step will vary depending on the size of your cabinet, size of your PC and monitor etc...

Basically, you shove all the components into the box.

I had to take my PC out of it's case and mount the components into the cabinet. There is a surge protector inside that the PC, monitor, speakers, and marquee light all plug into. I connected this surge protector to the male power plug that sits flush with the outside of the cabinet. I also put a rocker switch that turns the surge protector on and off. This way, one switch controls everything.

Add USB ports at this point. You can use a USB extension cable, just plug one end into the PC and leave the other end exposed for access outside the cabinet. The PC I used had an external USB control board, so I used that instead.

I made a Nes controller port that works with the PCs parallel port. There are plenty of instructions available for this online. It would require another instructable unto itself, so please look it up. Once the ports are wired up to the PC, leave the ends exposed at the back of the cabinet.

For speakers, I just took apart a set of desktop speakers. I installed them next to the marquee light, facing downward toward the screen. Be sure to drill several small holes in the wood that the speakers will be facing.

Connect a small fluorescent light kit and mount behind the marquee.

For the marquee design, I just printed out the logo I wanted and sandwiched it between two thin pieces of plexiglass.

Get the monitor in the exact spot you need and bolt it down.

Once all of this is done, test it out and if you are happy with the results, install the control panel and the plexiglass over the monitor.

For the bezel around the monitor, I used a sheet of plexiglass and spray painted the edges to hide everything except the viewable LCD area.

Comments

[dannymosquito]

Mate thats awesome!! thanks heaps for the great instructions. One thing though, with the rocker switch that turns on and off the power to the surge protector, did you dismantle the surge protector and just extend off from the existing switch. I feel competent with electronics and electricity however if I can get away with it I would prefer not to delve into changing or hacking into any of the mains power stuff. For that reason I used an existing pre mounted fluro and I actually found a powerboard with the male pc style adaptor already on it (they are used for server style UPSs). I guess I can always just switch it on and off from the wall as I can't think of any other way to do it without hacking the surge protector itself. In any case this is an excellent project thankyou heaps!!

[The Masked Potatoe]

Where can you get the software to run the games?

[kevinmcc100]

LOL just get an emulator, search off google i like the web site emulator zone i have a nes sega gennesis and others i just use it sometimes

[turtleshane]

where did the mother board come from? and how do you program the machine?

[russm313]

The motherboard is the motherboard for the computer that is running the emulator.  Not sure what you mean by "program the machine"

[turtleshane]

what i mean by how do you program the machine is how do you get the emulator and games onto the motherboard?
im sorry if im asking to many questions haha

[Onkei]

He has a full computer in there. Hard drive and all.

[Jonnylicious]

theres an old pc inside the machine that runs the emulators if im not mistaken

[tabby822]

Where did you get the marquee?

[russm313]

It's just a sheet of plexiglass.  The nintendo logo is printed on 8.5x11 paper and then cut out and glued to a poster board.  the poster board was cut to size and the plexiglass was put over it.

[mnbouchet]

 Possibly the coolest thing I have seen in a while. Great job, keep it up :)

[gamewarrior161]

what would you say the price range for this project was?

[russelljwr]

Great project!!!! You inspired me to do my own. Could you tell me what size screen you used?? Thanks Jesse

[russm313]

It was a 17" LCD

[icedturtle]

How old was the desktop that your ripped the motherboard out of?

[russm313]

It was about 3 or 4 years old. It's an old P4, with 512 mb of RAM.

[theghoul100]

Compaq Evo P4 motherboard i guess 2004 ish?????

[russm313]

It was a small form factor Dell GX270

[theghoul100]

Hi - this is a quality project - i need to see more - can you tell me wheree you housed the psu and hdd for the pc? Also - i can't find a lot about wiring my nes ports in to the serial ports on my pc - any ideas? - appreciate any further help or pics especially if you have any. cheers

[russm313]

the psu is on the floor of the cabinet, directly behind the monitor and in front of the motherboard. The hard drive is mounted to the side wall just like the motherboard is mounted to the back wall. In one of my pics, the yellow notes square denotes where it is going to be installed. The nes ports get wired to your parallel port, not serial port. a google search will bring up a lot of snes conversions. The nes is exactly the same way, just check the pinouts of each and match the wires. I don't have any other pics, but I will be happy to answer any other questions you may have.

[ronmaggi]

Wouldn't it have been easier to mount the monitor with the vesa 100 holes on the back? That way you wouldn't have to worry about the monitor shifting when you move it around.

[russm313]

better? yes. easier? no. The monitor is bolted to the bottom of the arcade. I have moved it several times trying to find a permanent home for it. And it has not shifted once.