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The Ultimate MAME Box

Posted by michael on Sun Oct 19, 2003 08:58 PM
from the one-credit-to-continue dept.
Entertainment Games Hardware
Strudelkugel writes "Aaron Mahler, director of network services at Sweetbriar College, has built the ultimate MAME box. His site describes his efforts in detail. Lot of cool pics, too."
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  • Here's the background page... (Score:5, Informative)

    by OrangeHairMan (560161) on Sunday October 19 2003, @08:59PM (#7257428)
    ...in case it gets slashdotted...

    ----cut here----

    A few years ago I had this sudden desire to start collecting the arcade games I remember from my childhood in the 80's. I'm not completely certain why this notion suddenly took hold of me seemingly out of the blue. Maybe it was the nearly mint Pac-Man machine I kept walking by at the Bistro at Sweet Briar College where I work. It wasn't getting a lot of play there in the late nineties where it had lived a fairly sheltered existance for nearly 20 years.

    To some extent I'm certain I had the sudden realization that it might be possible to actually own an arcade game now. I was older and had an income higher than I did when I was ten years old and had to think twice about spending a whole quarter in such a fleeting manner. As a child in the 80's the thought of owning an actual arcade game was somewhat akin to the likelihood that I could take a ride on the space shuttle just by asking nicely. This was a time when the height of excitement was a gradeschool friend having a birthday party that included a set number of FREE tokens for the gameroom at the local Chuck E. Cheese knockoff. The choices and spending power in that couple of hours was overwhelming.

    Maybe it was the fact that I grew up immersed in computers and did play a lot games on the Atari 2600, my Commodore 64 or a friend's ColecoVision. This was the era when finding a console version that came close to the real game was a challenge that made the genuine arcades a luxury for their graphical prowess if not the big screen and the neat lighted marquees. There was a certain ambience to an 80's gameroom filled with noisy arcades that added a lot to the experience.

    Right about the time I started eyeing the Pac-Man machine I had discovered MAME and was having a nostalgic blast not only with the games I remembered (or knew about and never got to play) but with the very concept of emulation. Those involved in the "emulation scene" will know what I'm talking about here. It becomes addictive in a very strange way. At the time, though, this fascination with emulation simply fueled my desire to own the real thing and fulfill a childhood dream.

    In very short order I was absorbing everything I could find online about arcade collecting and was avidly pursuing my first classic machine. I expressed my desire to purchase the lonely Pac-Man machine in the Bistro which likely led to it being added to the next silent auction the college periodically uses to divest itself of various items. In the few months it took before I was able to get the Pac-Man I managed to score a Q*Bert machine from a guy outside of Raleigh, North Carolina. A little while later I located a BurgerTime machine in Richmond, Virginia, then a Gauntlet and a Space Duel cocktail somewhere out in the sticks southwest of here. I was calling various arcade operators all over the place and seeing what they had sitting around from the arcade heyday. Some were being thrown out and others I bought for a song. Unfortunately, I lost count of the number of operators I spoke with that had literally taken dumptruck loads of machines to the landfill in the days or weeks before I got a bug in my butt to obtain them. Afterall, one man's garbage is another geek's nostalgic obsession. It didn't please either of us that they had to pay to dispose of them and I would have paid to obtain them had my wild goose chase begun sooner.

    To make a very long story shorter, I owned just over 30 machines by the time that Pac-Man that started it all came into my posession. In the meantime I had bought, repaired, sold and brokered tons of machines.

    Now where does one put 30 arcade games? Well, a few of your prized ones you put in your house and try to find a tasteful way to fit them into the decor. They are most definitely not furniture and are hardly compact. Your project machines you stash in your parents' large cinderblock shed/workshop rendering it virtually unusable since the average woodworking endeavor requires more than five square
  • ...but I can play mine from the sofa!

  • http://rabien.com/mame/journal.html
    • I hesitated to do this to my server bandwidth, but...

      I wanted my own Gauntlet cabinet. Couldn't find one that I liked so I reverse engineered it from pictures on the 'net.

      My Gauntlet-based Mame Cabinet [progeeks.com]

      I put those pics together for friends, so it isn't the greatest looking site... mistakes documented and everything.

  • I know how he feels (Score:4, Interesting)

    by downix (84795) on Sunday October 19 2003, @09:02PM (#7257450) Homepage
    I've seen many folk doing similar projects... and to run into one I just have to look into the mirror in the morning. I purchased a beat-up old Double Dragon box and began turning it into my own personal MAME box. I also began buying up boards in order to run the games I wanted legally, many times boards that were too damaged to actually run. I just sank $500 into a brand-new 19" monitor for my box, so I am thrilled seeing a similar project get the recognition. My hat goes off to you.
    • $500 for a 19" monitor? Please tell me it was an LCD. You could get three 19" CRTs for that price.
      • $500 for a good arcade monitor.

        VGA monitors do not have the same color-quality of a true arcade monitor, nor do they take the abuse. (heck, the old monitor was still running even tho it had a mega-crack in the front)

        I was making a true arcade that just happened to have a PC, not a PC in a funny case.
    • Yeah, MAME boxes are a proud tradition, and there's a lot of interesting ones out there.

      Too bad, really. Since this is apparently the "ultimate" MAME cabinet, there won't be any more.
    • I just sank $500 into a brand-new 19" monitor for my box, so I am thrilled seeing a similar project get the recognition.

      Jesus dude. Get a new one from Victor Geneao [8liners.com] for $100.
      I got a 25" from him [havokmon.com] for $230 shipped. And WHY did he use a Millipede cab?

      • $500 for a 19" monitor? PLEASE tell me that you therefore built this machine in like 1999 or something!

        a) For my machine, I put a "wanted" ad in craigslist and got a fine 19" CRT for $50.

        b) If it's a flat-panel monitor, why do that? MAME/Arcade games are SUPPOSED to have poor-quality screens. In fact, that's why many people prefer to use actual arcade monitors instead of PC monitors - monitors look TOO good!

        In fact, there are even emulators to "simulate" the lines that go across old games for you

  • Cocktail Table MAME box (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 19 2003, @09:05PM (#7257459)
    At the risk of slashdotting a friend, check this out [loungespot.com]. A hand-built MAME box crafted to look like a pac-man cocktail table. Has some real class, and a place to set your drinks. Made by the same guy who created the gameman [loungespot.com] of previous slashdot fame.
  • Here [sciam.com] is an article from about a month ago on it.
  • ...I am too (Aaron's been a big help, thanks buddy!), and so is Cmdr Taco (what do you call it when Slashdot gets Slashdotted?), and so are a bunch of other folks. Plenty of examples found here:

    http://www.arcadecontrols.com [arcadecontrols.com]

  • Jubei (Score:2, Informative)

    by rmohr02 (208447)
    Not as cool as this one [cmdrtaco.net].
  • You can buy an entire cabinet with control dashboard if you've got deep enough pockets.

    Slikstik [slikstik.com] sells both cabinets [slikstik.com] and controls [slikstik.com] making the creation of a top-quality custom cabinet a fairly simple chore.

    Just add your own monitor and system of choice and you've got a professional looking cab with true arcade controls. You can even get a working coin-door.

    The resources are now so easily available, there's no excuse for someone to make a Mame cabinet that doesn't look professionally built unless they just

  • Nothing New (Score:5, Informative)

    by Techiegeeks (643964) <geekboy@techiegeeks.com> on Sunday October 19 2003, @10:24PM (#7257804) Homepage Journal
    This is nothing new. Check out Arcadecontrols.com [arcadecontrols.com] . Folks have been building there own arcades for awhile now.

    If you want to check out an utlimate Mame box, take a look here:
    1UP's Arcade [1uparcade.com]
    This dude has a spinning control panel.
    • to maintain the original cabinet while converting it for MAME. In particular, he's done something really awesome with the control panel. If he wanted to, he could take the MAME out and put the original control panel back on and I doubt a collector would be able to tell it had been MAMEd at one time.

      I really wish he had gone into more detail about the control panel. I'd have appreciated more pictures showing what hardware was original and what hardware was added. This is exactly how I want to do my MAME cab
    • This is nothing new. Check out Arcadecontrols.com . Folks have been building there own arcades for awhile now.

      While we're at it, our very own CmdrTaco has one of the nicest styled MAME cabinets out there... cmdrtaco.net/jubei

  • MIRRORED till 10/21/03 (Score:3, Informative)

    by emptybody (12341) on Sunday October 19 2003, @10:25PM (#7257810) Homepage Journal
    I have mirrored it - Here [blasterpiece.com]

    This won't be around for long - maybe a day or two tops. someone else wnat to mirror from me?
  • this [gbax.com] and oh my God do I want one! Next pay cheque please!
  • This guy has not only a MAME in a classic millipede arcade box, he's got a TiBook too!

    Some people got it all...=P
  • Future Cab [attcanada.ca] and it's possible today. If only I had the money for that size of flat screen. Still I'm building a bartop out of an old laptop :-) The screen has got to be vertical god damn it.
  • Am I the only person that noticed that the second player joystick has the buttons on the wrong side? So if you want to play with another player, the second player must be left-handed.

    Is that why this is the "Ultimate" MAME Box?

  • This has been done before (Score:3, Informative)

    by subreality (157447) on Monday October 20 2003, @02:01AM (#7258564)
    So many times it'll make your head spin. [arcadecontrols.com]
  • Built in winter 1999-2000 and since parted out:

    Video Invasion caberet [vg-network.com]

    Yeah, it's pretty ugly, but I got to test the incredible I-Pac control panel interface [ultimarc.com]. The I-Pac in my cab is the prototype for the 6-input model.

    Since (sort of) getting out of the coin-op amusements business, I've been giving away free cabinets for MAME projects as I get them in, in the hopes that old, dead, "undesirable" machines get a second life as a living, breathing MAME machine.
  • Do you know what is the difference between a computer and a coin-op ? the coin-op literally invites you to play...with its playful appearance, it's like going to the kindergarden all over again. Whereas a computer is non-inspiring cold beige machine.

    Today I read an old copy of EDGE Retro, featuring Archer Maclean (Dropzone, IK+) having his basement converted to an arcade room.

    I really envy these guys. I live in a country that coin-ops are prohibited (guess what coutry - it has the next Olympic Games) beca
  • Ultimate MAME box? That's a bold statement. Granted, it's nice.. but nothing really revolutionary. There are some much better examples of cabinets with original artwork or insane designs such as: 1-up's Pac-Mamea [1uparcade.com], Mamestation II [leafstation.com].. It's a very nice box tho. I'd prefer swappable control panels to a one panel jammed with controls, but eh.. to each his own. For tons of examples, go to Build Your Own Arcade Controls [arcadecontrols.com].
  • UberCade [randomdrivel.com]

    It doesn't run Linux, but I do have a removable star wars yoke, so that should count for something, right?

    E.
  • Frostillicus Rotating Control Panel Mame Cabinet [tomvanhorn.com]

    1up's original rotating cabinet PacMamea [1uparcade.com]

    None of these projects would be possible without ArcadeControls.com [arcadecontrols.com] and it's excellent Message Board/Community [arcadecontrols.org]

    Discussion of Top 20 most inspirational mame cabinets [arcadecontrols.org]

    *shrug*

    E.

    • For fun? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by sbszine (633428)
      Why would someone do this.

      There are lots of great reasons to do this. For fun, for nostalgia, or to learn new skills. Who knows -- perhaps this will lead to some fabulous job refurbishing cocktail tables for the guy : )
      • There is the economical aspect as well. For one to actually own every arcade game emulated by MAME, one would need the equivilent space of an aircraft hangar to contain all of the machines. Add to that the cost of purchasing every single machine, cabinet and all, and you're talking up to a million dollars (depending on the condition of the machines) spent.

        Combine the two, and you can afford both IF maybe you made about a million a year and paced yourself between mansion and luxury car payments.

    • Re:why? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by pjwhite (18503)
      It's a hobby. You don't need a reason to have a hobby.

    • Re:Is a REAL update too much to ask? (Score:5, Informative)

      by kasparov (105041) * on Sunday October 19 2003, @10:12PM (#7257756)
      1) For portability it is best to leave any GUI out of the base MAME project. MAME32 isn't really a separate GUI as it is all part of the MAME32 executable.
      2) In MAME32, at least, go to Options -> Interface Options and check Skip disclaimer and Skip game info. This should take care of the "OK" problem.

      Hope this helps.

      • I appreciate the info point #2 provided. Cripes, I'm sick of "OK".

        Be that as it may, portability is a sorry excuse these days not to include a GUI, especially when the average ROM library is far from portable, when the media of choice is CD and when harddrives regularly come in multi-gigabyte flavors. We're not exactly dealing with 1.44mb floppies here anymore. My Rom Library takes up at least 5 CDs. I don't think another meg or two on MAME for a spiffy user interface and enhanced ROM management is going m
      • The only exception I can currently think of to the storage rule is for the GP32 (noted by somebody else a few posts down) where space can be a premium. Otherwise it's a non-issue.
    • "the stoneage look, feel and functionality of it has no place in gaming these days"

      You do know that this is "retro" gaming, right?

      Oh, and move the joystick left, then right... MAME accepts that as an "OK"

      • I'm sure SOMEONE owns the rights to some of those games, but do you really think some company is going to try and track down people who has an illegal copy of 'Pac-Man'? Most companies don't even know where most of the arcade machines are anymore in the world, let alone know where the arcade machines that were sold off/given away are. The legal battles of tracking a 20 year old paper trail and under the table sales would cost millions in time and costs.
    • The cab in the article is mundane, this is the cab to beat all cabs:

      http://www.1uparcade.com/arcade-const-plans.html

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