keep the updates comin op, that thing is sick. i just might have to build myself one of these, ive always wanted an arcade machine.

Suggestions for art from Mallrats:

"Some of them big-titted mermaids doin' some of that lesbian ****"

ROFL

I'm down.

Girlfriend is not.

Not but seriously as to the design we're thinking Mostly black with light blue-almost teal highlights. The main design on the sides will be some sort of large intricate spade. We've run a World of Warcraft guild for the last couple years and a spade is our emblem. I'll ask her to draw up some sketches.

does your gf have any sisters? =)

cool project, keep updating

Just wanted to share this link:
Sick Mini-arcade

Yes. Unfortunately they are half-sisters and not nearly as cool. I got the good genes imo.

Rollin, that minithing is cool!
Edit: It has a trackball too?!

Comparison pics: http://web.archive.org/web/200604091...monitors.shtml

TV pics are #4 and #8, arcade monitor is #1. The improvement from #8 to #1 is quite dramatic.

I'm glad I'm not using a 7 year old videocard like in photos #4 and #8. yuck.

The trident and G4 video cards are from roughly the same era. MAME doesn't need much of anything from a video card. What those pics show is the reality of the impact that a proper monitor will have.

No doubt MAME would look somewhat better with an authentic monitor, but it's not enough to justify the cost to me.

Also of note, all the other games on the system (NES, SNES, Genesis, Game Boy, Atari 2600, Turbografx, did I miss anything?) were TV played games, so they're getting their certified authenticity stamps.

The viewsonic was pretty close to #1

Today I constructed the shelf the TV will sit on inside the cabinet.

I have been going back and forth on either bolting the shelf on straight and tilting up the TV with a piece of wood or something, or just bolting on the shelf at the proper tilt angle and using a brace in the rear of the TV to keep it in place. I'm going to go with the 2nd option.

Quadweekend is coming to an end, so targeted for next Monday will be finally installing the TV shelf in the proper location. Included in that is going to be taking off part of the back piece of the cabinet, measuring the proper location for the shelf and then bolting it in. Installing the back bracing for the TV. I also want to put some more slats on the back of the cabinet for structural integrity reasons. It's going to be a lot of work, and this is the part I'm most afraid of F-ing up.

How did Ms. Quadstriker feel about the mermaid design idea?

"I am not painting ****ing boobs."

Haha, lame!

IF you are going to play Golden Tee, you might want to build up something underneath the X-Arcade box to level it with the backward slope of the cabinet rather than leaving it sitting so low on the game. I guarantee that someone will break their fingers on that part of the cabinet if you just put some plastic there. The screen on my game slopes away, and people still hit their fingers on it.

You may be right. However, I have zero interest in playing virtual golf. Maybe I'll write a disclaimer on the plastic piece. "If you play Golden Tee and break your fingers, I will laugh at you."

Bwahahaha construction!!!

This was a lot of work. The hardest part was getting the TV shelf at the right height and angle. I cut out part of the back panel to allow for space and easier access. Swiveling casters were added to the bottom to allow the whole unit to roll somewhat easily.

I started removing some of the side artwork. Girlfriend promises she’ll have some mockups of design choices soon. She showed me a rough sketch, and I like it.

Major construction is complete! The hard part is over! <--probably a jinx.

nice job with the TV shelf, looks good

yes, nice job. I was a bit skeptical about how it would turn out, but I think it looks great.

Today I stripped off the atrociously ugly Radikal Bikers side graphics. It looks so much better already. I need to get some of that wood putty stuff to make a couple very minor repairs to gouges and fill old bolt holes, then a light hand sanding in preparation of the major painting operation next week.

I put the Logitech speakers in place with the intention of seeing what I needed to do to mount them, but they fit so nicely already, I think they'll be fine resting in place.

I also need to get a lighting unit to backlight the marquee. Oh, and... get a marquee.

In the mail yesterday I received my Smart Strip surge protector. Man is it neat. The way I have it set up, when I press the power button on the TV remote, all the components of the arcade will turn on - TV, Computer, Speakers, and Lights. I dabbled with the idea of pressing the coin slot and having it turn on the system, but I like the TV remote just fine.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I like the light.

The Smart Strip is great.

Check out mamemarquees.com for a marquee. They will do whatever design you want, or you can use a premade one. They send the plexiglass too, just tell them what size you need. They also do side art graphics and control panel overlays if you ever get tired of looking at those X-Arcade graphics.

For my backlight, I just bought something like this: linky. You can also check out groovygamegear.com. They have an LED backlight that is supposed to be good to.

Looks good, especially the bezel. When you are done, I bet the only thing you will be disappointed with is the control panel not fitting right.

been lurking this thread since the start. great job man. looks awesome. im jealous imo

Exactly what we were planning to do. Girlfriend does some pretty cool graphics work on photoshop, so she wants to design it and have them make it. I'll take a look and see if I can find a control panel overlay I like.

Yeah I was thinking a standard light like the one you linked, but I'll check out the LED one as well.

Here's a couple pictures showing how the speakers are going to sit in the cabinet.







It's funny how much better it looks stripped. You can also see the new lighting unit installed in the top compartment. It's nothing fancy, but is nice and bright.





And now it's PRIME TIME!





It's just about time to add the actual base coat of color (black). I've also got a bit of spray painting to do to some metal bits like the coin door.