Cabinet

Getting Started I first discovered M.A.M.E. in 1997 and was immediately impressed with the emulator. Although the games did help bring me back to my youth, they weren't the same as playing them in the arcades without the controls. I eventually forgot about M.A.M.E until May 2001. That is when I came across a web site about someone creating a home entertainment centre complete with dvd player and arcade control box. This gave me an idea. Wouldn't it be cool to buy or build and arcade cabinet, put my pc inside and hook it all up to arcade controls? I also wanted to go one step further and have the machine double as a jukebox with a dvd player that could output movies to my television. After researching on the net, I came across a great website called Build your own Arcade Controls. I wasn't the only person who had this idea and this web page provided great information on how to get started.

Buy or Build My first step was to decide what type of cabinet that I wanted to use. There are two types of cabinets: standard upright and cocktail cabinets. I wanted my machine to be retro and recognizable and by far the most popular type of machine in Canada is the upright type. I also wanted my cabinet to be fairly small. Some people want cabinets with 27 inch screens and 4 player control panels. These are nice but I don't want my arcade machine to dominate the room. I just want it to sit in the corner and I especially want to make sure it can fit through a standard doorway.

I didn't have the woodworking skills to pull off building a machine. Buying a premade cabinet would also guarantee authenticity since it used to be the real thing. The problem now was "How do you find an arcade cabinet?" After phoning all the amusement vendors in the phone book, one fella allowed me to come up and check his warehouse. I think I was extremely lucky because most of the operators couldn't care less about dealing with the public. I was able to pick up a beautiful Star Wars Cabinet for free. He was about to throw it in the dump when I rescued it. The cabinet was extremely well kept albeit dirty.

This is how the cabinet looked when it was originally made in 1983.

I know some arcade purists are right now yelling. Araghhhh!! What are you doing mameing an arcade classic cabinet!! In my defence, the cabinet was already poorly modified into an R-Type machine. Holes were cut in the cabinet to accomodate the new control panel and the original monitor was missing. When I got the cabinet, the arcade monitor was non working and everything else was stripped out of the cabinet except for the coin doors. I was lucky because everything else was in great shape except for the above mention damage to the cabinet and some minor cuts in the monitor mounting.

I was also very inexperienced when I first started my project. I just picked the cabinet because it was the right size that I was looking for and because I am a big Star Wars fan. I didn't realize the cabinet was quite valuable and rare. I strongly suggest that if you do decide to pick up a cabinet, think about using a generic cabinet for your mame project. If you do acquire a classic cabinet, sell it to someone who would like to restore it and use the money to defer the costs of your mame project. That said, I am happy with how my project turned out and I don't believe I have injured the original cabinet that much.

Here is a nice side shot of the great artwork on the cabinet

The empty cabinet waiting to be filled.

Adding wheels to the monster is a must!.

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