Thinking of building my own arcade cabinet: Need help with specs

[hudson]

I'm sure we've all dreamed of doing it, well this week I will buy a jigsaw tool which will cut out my cabinet from wood! This mean I'm going to at least start to build an arcade cabinet. My wife is getting in on it too. She wants to do some Decoupage to the cabinet, but she's also not bad at DIY.

i think I can access lots of cabinet plans on the net, along with probably everything else. I don't want to spend too much, but I don't want the end product to be just "okay". I imagine things that count are a good screen, sticks, speakers and then (but probably most interchangeable aspect) the choice of emulation unit (a PC, some kind of Android console, an old Xbox or something).

Have any of you guys tried such a project, gone through with it (or not) and do you have any advice for me? Links to websites etc would be great.

[speedlolita]

I'd suggest this website for advice and tips on a project like this. http://www.jammaplus.co.uk/forum/default.asp

[hudson]

Thanks, speedlolita.

[helicon2]

Never got round to building my own cabinet but looked at it for long enough, here's some of the websites I used to visit, this was a number of years ago now mind!:-

http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade.htm

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/

http://www.mame.net/

http://www.quarterarcade.com/Default.aspx

http://www.retrogames.com/

http://www.ultimarc.com/

http://www.videotronicsuk.com/

http://www.arcadeworlduk.com/

Would be interested in seeing your build as you go. Good luck!

[hudson]

Thanks, helicon2. I need all the resources I can get. I have some important decisions to in terms of guts.

I understand that a CRT TV would be best for arcade emulation, but if I was ever to get a newer HD arcade on it, I'd be better with a HD display, but then my older games will look not very authentic.

Anybody use HD displays for retro gaming in a cab?

[J0e Musashi]

Dude, you can't be putting a TV in a cabinet.

[hudson]

Haha, really? Even if I mask it? I haven't done any real research on screen options, so please forgive my noobness.

[speedlolita]

You can, but you'll find it posted in this thread when you're done.

http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19

[hudson]

You can, but you'll find it posted in this thread when you're done.

http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19

Haha. Noted.

I saw this...

[nonny]

Check out https://sites.google.com/site/degenatrons/

He was working on a universal controller adaptor if you go the emulation route. I still want to make one of his table top models out of my original Xbox.

[hudson]

Thanks. His table tops are cool. Great videos too.

[randombs]

I've dabbled with the idea but never actually dipped my toes in. I did build a few arcade sticks but that's it. Anyway, if I were to make my own I'd just go with an LCD - thinner, lighter and easier to replace. CRTs are ideal and I love using them on occasion but recently I find my eyes disagree and I can't use one for too long!

If you're still umming and ahhing about LCD vs CRT, check out this blog post:

http://filthypants.blogspot.jp/2011/05/more-emulator-pixel-shaders-crt-updated.html

and see if there are any effects you like the look of.