All-In-One Arcade Console

ArcadEd wrote in to plug his Arcade in a Box which is essentially a PC ready to play MAME, but built into a console with true arcade parts for the buttons and joystick for a more authentic arcade video game experience. It's not quite as realistic as, say building your own cabinet, but it definitely is a lot less time consuming ;)

Comments

Authentic?

[Naikrovek]

Want authentic? Do what I do, buy arcade cabinets (real ones) and put games in them (real games). OR do Mame the "Right way". Read on...

Mame is great, and mame is an arcade emulator, however, most people who run mame in an arcade cabinet run it on a PC monitor which is the absolute laziest way of doing it, not to mention the ugliest. If you're not afraid of DOS you can make your DOS mame display on an arcade monitor, which is both authentic and prettier. I mean who has a 38" computer monitor?

Home made cabinets are ASS unless they're designed (DESIGNED, not "based") on real cabinets. Control panels are often too big, monitors are too small. A lot of money went in to the design of the real arcade cabinets, finding out exactly which height was most comfortable (and therefore profitable), which you just can't duplicate with a homemade cabinet unless you use antoher cabinet as a guide. and if you have another cabinet, why build your own.

Buying cabinets is also much cheaper than building them, and much less of a pain in the ass. Arcade Infinity has lots of cabinets that are less than $600. (look for Jamma cabinets in the gallery)

If you're going to do it, do it right. get a J-Pac (www.ultimarc.com), use a computer for the sole purpose of sitting in your mame cabinet, and for God's Sake, please don't build your own cabinet unless you want to watch your friends wince at your effort when you have finished it.

Preserve the classics

[AtariKee]

If anyone decides to put together your own MAME cabinet, please, for the love of all things holy, do NOT use a rare classic cabinet to do it in!!! There are a ton of cabinets built for conversion kits, and crappy JAMMA games can be had for $50-$200 in these cabs.

If you come across a classic cabinet in your hunt for a machine to "MAME," please consider restoring it. There are many resources available on the net and usenet for parts and assistance in doing so. I've put many a converted classic back together and it's a real thrill to see a long-dead machine come back from the dead.