Building your own Arcade Cabinet for Geeks - Part 7 - Success and Conclusion
This is the seventh part of a multi-part series I'm going to do about assembling an Arcade Cabinet for my house. This series has two disclaimers:
Software Disclaimer 1: There's all sorts of legal issues around emulating arcade games. This series of posts has nothing to do with that. I do own some original arcade boards, but if you want to emulate arcade games with MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator), you can search the 'tubes. What I'm doing here is putting a computer in a pretty box.
Hardware Disclaimer 2: Many folks that build arcade cabinets have a purist view of how these things should be done. They will prefer original Arcade CRT monitors and more expensive, higher quality parts. I am more of a pragmatist. I also have no idea what I'm doing, so I've also got ignorance on my side.
Video Tour
Here's a short HiDef Video shot with my Creative Vado HD showing the Arcade Cabinet:
Tour of the Complete System - Building your own Arcade Cabinet from Scott Hanselman on Vimeo.
What I Learned
I learned:
- You can cut corners, save money and still end up with a nice system, as long as you set your goals up front.
- Steel is hard to cut. Know what you're doing, or get a pro.
- Acrylic is hard to cut. Know what you're doing, or get a pro.
- Painting and sanding something is the easiest way to make it look nice.
- Making stuff with your hands is very satisfying and easier than you think (if you're a coder and you think this stuff is hard).
- I could do it way better next time. ;)
- I, myself, prefer to refurb old stuff rather than make new stuff.
All in all, the wife is amazed it looks so good, and she's said I can bring it into my den/office. She's nixed the living room...for now!
Total Cost: US$441
The Complete Series
- Cabinet and Power
- Monitor and Mounting
- Control Panel
- Sound and Lights
- Paint and Art
- Computer Hardware and Software
- Success and Conclusion
About Scott
Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.
About Newsletter
How long do you estimate it took you to build the whole thing?
I just stopped with arcade controls (joystick/buttons, trackball, driving wheel/pedals).
Great job!!!
For anyone else interested in this type of project, the BYOAC forum is a goldmine for info : http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php
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I really need to do something like this now. I'm inspired :)
Pete