Gaming DIY Arcade Cabinet

[LoSpritz]

This is something I've been wanting to do since I was a kid in the 80's.
My Mrs has just gven me the green light to start the project, so I'm asking fellow Caftards for any expertise they might wish to share.

These days there are so many options available I don't know where to start, but I'm considering some kind of kit using MAME as I'm useless at woodwork, but I'm quite handy with electronics. However, I want to feel at least a little of the satisfaction in knowing I put it all together myself.

Any advice? Anyone ever tried this?

 

[Grinner]

This is something I've been wanting to do since I was a kid in the 80's.
My Mrs has just gven me the green light to start the project, so I'm asking fellow Caftards for any expertise they might wish to share.

These days there are so many options available I don't know where to start, but I'm considering some kind of kit using MAME as I'm useless at woodwork, but I'm quite handy with electronics. However, I want to feel at least a little of the satisfaction in knowing I put it all together myself.

Any advice? Anyone ever tried this?

I've looked into it. I had a MAME setup with an X-Arcade joystick console and an old PC. I can't remember how to get it going though so it's sitting idle. I'd like to figure it out when I get back to CA.

Every year I go to http://www.caextreme.org/

 

[balaks]

What a cool idea - keep us updated on your progress.

 

[LoSpritz]

Well, after 2 months of planning and designing I've picked up a second hand B&O MX7000 CRT, a Raspberry Pi, some Japanese joysticks from arcadeworlduk, and a load of plywood.
I've also had to teach myself a bit of sketchup, and brush up on my adobe suite skills for the design.
Now the difficult part..

 

[The Cat]

I can't help with building things I am worse than useless but MAME is fantastic I've used it for many years.

 

[Snow]

Had one of those in college common area which one of the students built. A bit of carpentry, minimal programming for the emulator and you buy the joystick parts from some Asia country.

 

[André Dominguez]

Use this in your Raspberry https://retropie.org.uk/

Didn't built one, but helped a mate of mine to build it. Hint: be patient in taking your time to carve the wood in case you don't have the skill yet. If you try to shortcut you will make a sloppy job (no pun intended) and ruin a lot of material.
Make sure to add some ventilation and build a "trapdoor" easy to open so you can access the hardware for dust cleaning. You may even create a coin-op functionality and use it as a piggy-bank.