My Mame arcade cabinet conversion

[Chris]

Hi All,

Not really sure where to put this since it isn't really Home theatre related, but I thought I would start a thread to post some pictures of my project to convert an arcade machine to a MAME machine. For those that might not know, MAME stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. So basically, what this involves is hooking it up to a PC which is running an emulator on it that can run basically all arcade games. Here is part of a post from my other thread:

Suave As for the MAME. I've cheated a bit. I ended up buying and old arcade machine (it was originally Mortal kombat 2, but it was converted to Tekken Tag tournament) and that has saved me a lot of hassle. Not only do I have an authentic arcade monitor (the low res CRT is the way to go for arcade games) but I also don;t have to build the cabinet and the coin slots are all working. This made it super easy to convert to MAME. Because it is a JAMMA game (arcade standard) I just needed to buy this:

http://www.ultimarc.com/jpac.html

Basically you just plug the slot into the Harness on the arcade machine, then plug one cable into the USB slot and one into the vga out on your PC. And that is all you need to do to get it up and running. So I have been enjoying it for a while now as it is, but now what I am doing is building a new control panel to support 4 player, and trackball and a spinner, plus more buttons and also cleaning it all up and making it looks good again.

Check out this video of the frontend I am using it is fantastic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEgaqXsavYA

I'll post some pictures and instructions as I get it going.

[Chris]

To start, here is the machine as I bought it. it is a regular machine that plays Tekken Tag Tournament only.



Here is the control panel. As you can see, it's pretty dirty and there are only two players with five buttons each. The plan is to build a whole new control panel with 4 players. Player 1 and 2 will have 6 buttons each, 3 adn 4 will have 4 buttons each. I will also be adding a trackball, spinner and a dedicated 4 way joystick.

[Chris]

First, I opened it all up to start cleaning it:


I removed the built in speakers that were on top and added in some PC speakers that I've had kicking around for years.


Right now I am working on the new control panel. I've got a few pics already, but they are still on the camera. I'll post them soon.

Chris

[Suave]

I'm not sure which of your projects makes me more jealous Chris (and I'm not the jealous type at all) - your awesome home theatre build or the MAME machine. I've always dreamed of building my own MAME machine too!!

Again, thank you very much for sharing this with us Chris! I'll be keeping a close eye on this thread and perhaps this is what it'll take for me to finally build one myself

I wouldn't consider buying an old arcade machine as cheating, I would do exactly the same thing if I was to build a MAME machine.

I read up on some plans of building a MAME machine in the past but it sounds like things have gotten a little simpler now thanks to the J-PAC interface.

Could you tell us what the initial cost of this build was (for the used arcade machine and the interface)? Also, could you tell me where you bought the used arcade?

[Chris]

Here are some pictures of the control panel:

[Chris]

The wood is 5/8" MDF which was hard to work with and kept burning a lot. Here are some of the chunks that came out of the holes and you can see how burned it was. I used a 1-1/8" hole saw and I had to cut it half way on one side, then flip it over to finish it. The big hole was cut using a jigsaw.



Then I did the same thing with 1/8" plexiglass to cover it. I was very nervous about working with the plexiglass as I didn;t want to break it because it was pretty expensive (like $50 or so). It turns out it wasn't as hard as I thought. I could work pretty easily with it as long as I clamped it down to some scrap wood.

[Chris]

I've decided to switch the red t-molding to purple (reminds me of my old arcade I used to go to as a kid). In order to install it, you are supposed to use a 1/16" slot cutter in a router. I had a hard time finding that size, so instead I rigged up a guide to my table saw and used a thin blade that I had. Then I just ran the wood through on all sides to create the groove. It is a bit off centre to leave room for the plexiglass. You can see in my little test piece.

[Chris]

And here is what the buttons look like all laid out:

[Cath]

It is always nice to watch a craftsman at work!

[Chris]

It is always nice to watch a craftsman at work!

Wow thanks Cath. I've never been called, or even considered myself a craftsman.

Well my in laws are visiting for the next two weeks, so it looks like I won't get any work done on this. I'll post some more pictures when I get going again.