Project Arcade

Craig Maloney writes "Growing up, I found myself more than once in an arcade, be it in the mall, Meijer, or a free-standing building. The atmosphere was unmistakable: loud, with lots of activity, and people getting fully immersed and "in the zone" between them and their pixellated avatar. While playing an arcade game at home has been possible for many years now, the true arcade experience has been a little more elusive. There's something about having an upright video game cabinet, and playing on arcade hardware that gives the game that extra sense of being right in the arcades of my youth. There are many sites out there that have different plans for building a MAME arcade cabinet from scratch, but most read like a post-mortem for how the author pieced together their particular setup. What if you just want to convert an old (non-working, I hope) cabinet into a MAME arcade cabinet? Lots of information is out there, but where do you start? Project Arcade is an excellent introduction for building your own MAME arcade cabinet from scratch, and compiles lots of material into one comprehensive book." Read below for the rest of Craig's review. Project Arcade author John St. Clair pages 476 publisher Wiley rating 8/10 reviewer Craig Maloney ISBN 0-7645-5616-9 summary An excellent primer for anyone who is looking to create their own MAME arcade cabinet.

Project Arcade is split up in to five parts. The first part describes the planning process, and comprises complete plans for building an arcade cabinet from scratch. The second, third, and fourth parts are a list of parts and design decisions for the hardware for your MAME arcade cabinet, from the control panel and computer, to the speakers and monitor. The fifth part is a summary of various "off-the-shelf" solutions for purchasing a complete MAME-ready arcade cabinet, as well as links to other "inspirational" projects. Obviously, if you're building the MAME arcade cabinet from the wood up, and outfitting it with your own hardware, then most of the book will be applicable to you. I found all sections to be very valuable, and regardless of which direction I take (build or buy) I'll be more informed when I finally devise my plans and make my purchases.

One thing that stood out in Project Arcade was the thoroughness of the book. Unlike some "build your own arcade books", Project Arcade contains complete plans for an arcade cabinet, from start to finish, including lists of all of the materials. I unfortunately didn't build the cabinet, and am not an expert on woodworking, but the plans looked complete and well thought out. At the very least, it left me with the impression that this was something that I could likely handle with some help. The part I am a little more familiar with (the electronics) was quite fascinating. The book catalogs a great deal of hardware available to the arcade-cabinet builder, and there were parts that I didn't know were available, such as screw-terminal keyboard adapters (no more taking apart cheap keyboards for me). The author details many different joysticks, trackballs, and button choices available, with thoughtful discussion on the pros and cons of each choice. I felt through most of the book like I was being guided by someone who was passionate about building excellent MAME arcade cabinets, and had a lot of knowledge to share. Even the section on pre-made cabinets was carefully put together, with the benefits of each cabinet design explained thoroughly. There are also copious amounts of photos, so you'll know exactly what it is you're looking at. Also, where applicable, there are diagrams and charts to aid and assist.

Unfortunately, the strengths of Project Arcade are also part of its weaknesses. There are a LOT of parts described in the book. After a few pages of the same type of part, my mind started to wander. While the descriptions are comprehensive and insightful, I found myself after a while thinking "I get it already". Detailed descriptions of taking apart keyboards and soldering to them to me seemed obvious, but I can see why the author decided to take the time to explain the process more thoroughly for those who may not be as comfortable taking apart something electronic. Also, the book focused mostly on the hardware for building a MAME arcade cabinet. I would have appreciated the same depth of discussion on the software available to complete the project, mostly because I think the author could have brought some very insightful recommendations on what software to use with the MAME arcade cabinet.

When I build my MAME cabinet, be it a conversion of an old (non-working) cabinet, or from scratch, Project Arcade will definitely be the book I use on that project. While the descriptions can be a bit verbose, the book delivers a very thorough and insightful perspective on what I should be looking for when envisioning what my completed MAME cabinet should be. Much like a do-it-yourself book for remodeling your bathroom, the book can only provide you guidance; the finished project is up to your creativity and imagination. Project Arcade is that guide to building yourself the perfect MAME arcade cabinet.

You can purchase Project Arcade from amazon.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

Comments

I'm curious...

[Have Blue]

Does the book out anywhere that abandonware is a myth and that unless you already own an arcades' worth of authentic machines this project will involve copyright infringement? I'm not saying this is right or wrong, just that it would be irresponsible not to make readers aware of that issue.

Re:I'm curious...

[cayenne8]

"Does the book out anywhere that abandonware is a myth and that unless you already own an arcades' worth of authentic machines this project will involve copyright infringement?"

Well, I don't think it is that large a concern. Many places out there will sell you a blank machine....but, it is easy to get a free 'wink' 'wink' CD on the side of the ROMs to run it.

It has only really been recently that some companies have started putting these old games out there for anyone to play with them again....until the MAME movement, they were largely lost, and many game still aren't commercially available.

I don't personally see anything wrong with it...the idea behind MAME was to save and preserve some early computing. I like to see it when my friends' kids play these old games...hoping it might show them that game PLAY is more important often than graphics or sound. To this day, I think Robotron is one of the most fun and intensive games made. I usually finish a session worn out, sweaty, and have either nearly ripped out the dual joysticks, or have severe tennis elbow.

Re:I'm curious...

[Anonymous Coward]

Abandonware IS A FACT - a patent/copyright CANNOT EXIST in reality when all parties involved died and the holding corporation dissolved. When private people die without a will and no heirs, they die intestate and their assets are free to distribute. The same concept applies to corporations, regardless what any goddamn bastard lawyer tells us, we listen to morality and common sense.

And yet, here you are in the first comment bashing us over the head with the Public Service Announcement that it is a crime worse than rape to even think about humming the Mr. Do tune without a license in your sleep. Thank you, Intellectual Property Fascist corporation asstroturfer. You may climb back into your slimy hole now.

Re:missing

[Tackhead]

> What's missing from the home experience isn't the cabinet, its the people and the loud environment. North Americans are more interested in being frugal than social.

It won't replace the ego boost from the throngs of humans crowding over your shoulder in awe of your godlike playing skills, but the Arcade Ambience project is a pretty good replacement for the background sounds of dozens of arcade machines.

Am I missing something here?

[UserChrisCanter4]

The author of this review asks, "What if you just want to convert an old (non-working, I hope) cabinet into a MAME arcade cabinet? Lots of information is out there, but where do you start?" Based on the review, the book seems to focus a lot on making your own replica cabinet from scratch.

If you want to build a cabinet from scratch, it sounds like this would be a fine book. If you want to convert an old cabinet, there are much easier solutions. Ultimarc, for example, produces several products that convert standard JAMMA interfaces to PC keyboard and video connections. JAMMA is the standard that arose to allow for easily changing games out in arcade cabinets.

I ultimately ended up with a HotRodSE connected to a home theater computer because I didn't have the space for a dedicated cabinet. Ultimarc's products, though, appear to allow for the joystick and buttons on a JAMMA cabinet to connect to a PS/2 interface and for the video connector to hook to VGA (refresh and resolutions on arcade machines are different from standard computer modes). They even sell an AGP or PCIe video card that appears to have a special RAMDAC so that you don't have to screw around with getting the weird video modes working.

I've never used Ultimarc's stuff, so I have no idea how well it would work. Assuming it's decent, the formula would be pretty simple: find an older Street Fighter cabinet in decent shape (functioning buttons and non-burned screen). They have six-button configs, which seems to be the most buttons used for the majority of games, thus saving you from having to cut holes for new buttons. Street Fighter was also ridiculously common but is old enough that you should be able to get the cabinet for a few hundred dollars if you're in/near a big city. Pull the board, plop in a computer, wire a couple of adapters, spend some time on a nice front end, and it shouldn't be too much work to have a functional MAME cabinet.

Front-ends were my worst problem

[Magorak]

I took an old Street Fighter II box and re-did it as a MAME box a few years ago but for me, I wanted to do more than just the arcade games. I also included NES, and Atari stuff in it as well. I also liked the idea of running some of the well done remakes of classics (Activision's Space Invaders was done very well, as were some of the other remakes).

What I found was that pretty much every one of the launchers/front-ends I found sucked. I found nothing that allowed me to incorporate multiple emulators, and non-emulation apps, into one nice little launcher. Yes, there were some nice apps out there but nothing really worked overly well, and I was very disappointed. All I wanted was a long list of games, each with a screenshot, and a launch button. Nothing fancy.

I ended up writing my own little app which launches when the machine boots, and then kicks off whatever app/emu is required to launch the game.

For me, writing the app was part of my experience, but it would have been nice had I been able to just use something that already existed.

One thing still missing

[obarel]

Having to pay for each game, and taking pride in spending 15 minutes (or 45 minutes) on a single quarter (or any other coin).

I think it was the fact that I had to pay for each attempt that made me memorise most of Slapfight and R-Type. I've played both on MAME (R-Type on the Wii as well), and I don't have the same motivation. If I die, I die. Press 5 a few more times and have another go. It's also the amount invested so far that can make a difference (when you realise that you've already spent around $100 or $500 on this game, you're not going to leave it now, not without your name on the high score list.

This will never be replicated at home, even if you add the coin mechanism, because you know you still have the money there.

I'm not suggesting that money is the only incentive, and that you can't enjoy arcade games without it, but I do believe it's a big part of it.

Best home arcade goes to this guy:

[Weaselmancer]

Peter Hirschberg. Take a look at his basement arcade!

How's that for ambiance?

Re:calling cmdrtaco

[siredgar]

Actually, his cabinet is one of the ones I featured in the book :)

--- John St.Clair

117(a)(1) != 117(a)(2)

[tepples]

Atari v. JS&A concerned the sale of devices that make chip-to-chip copies for "backup" purposes, not chip-to-disk copies for emulation purposes. Backups fall under 117(a)(2), and the court in Atari found that 117(a)(2) does not cover chip-to-chip backups. The copies used in emulation, on the other hand, are not backups; they are an "adaptation ... created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine" per 117(a)(1). Compare Vault v. Quaid, 847 F.2d 255 (5th Cir. 1988), which the page on Patent Arcade mentions but does not analyze.

In addition, Atari happened in the Northern District of Illinois, which is within the 7th Circuit, and to my knowledge was not appealed; Vault happened in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. A split between federal circuits is prime material for a review by the Supreme Court.