Build Own Arcade

**PapaGeorgio** · 08-06-2009, 11:47 PM

Wondering if any of you nerds have built your own MAME Arcade. Been researching it lately and seems badass. Basically its just running a PC in an arcade cabinet. Can emulate Arcade games, SNES, SEGA, NES etc and play it like an actual arcade game. Looks like it can easily become costly (1k-2k). But that would be for a really well done awesome looking machine. And it seems there are 4 major costs, Cabinet w/ Graphics, Joystick pad, Monitor, PC. And most of us could find a PC and Monitor lying around somewhere.

Curious if anyone else looked into this. I'm semi interested, but wouldn't be able to afford/pull it off right now as looking to buy a house soon. But maybe in anywhere from 6 months to a year I could start on it. Seems like it would be fun to create.

**Boomer** · 08-08-2009, 12:00 PM

I've done it, though I have no cabinet and am not entirely happy with my components. I am happy with the Hotrod SE joystick I bought for 100 bucks. It has done really well for everything I needed and is immediately compatible with MAME. Its just annoying that you can't change what keyboard buttons the buttons respond as, because some games don't let you bind keys to Left Ctrl and Space Bar. There are ways around that though.

The only other thing that is an occasional annoyance is that the joysticks are either set as 4-way or 8-way, and 4-way games are hard to play with 8-way joysticks and vice versa. Playing Donkey Kong and Pac-Man on an 8-way is brutal, but most of the time it works how you want it to.

I can probably answer any questions you have about all of it. Its still a work-in-progress for me and I've had a lot on my plate lately.

08-06-2009, 11:47 PM	#1
PapaGeorgio 2015 TPWW FANTASY CHAMP Posts: 4,861	Build Own Arcade Wondering if any of you nerds have built your own MAME Arcade. Been researching it lately and seems badass. Basically its just running a PC in an arcade cabinet. Can emulate Arcade games, SNES, SEGA, NES etc and play it like an actual arcade game. Looks like it can easily become costly (1k-2k). But that would be for a really well done awesome looking machine. And it seems there are 4 major costs, Cabinet w/ Graphics, Joystick pad, Monitor, PC. And most of us could find a PC and Monitor lying around somewhere. Curious if anyone else looked into this. I'm semi interested, but wouldn't be able to afford/pull it off right now as looking to buy a house soon. But maybe in anywhere from 6 months to a year I could start on it. Seems like it would be fun to create.

08-08-2009, 12:00 PM	#2
Boomer The Wretched Posts: 4,690	I've done it, though I have no cabinet and am not entirely happy with my components. I am happy with the Hotrod SE joystick I bought for 100 bucks. It has done really well for everything I needed and is immediately compatible with MAME. Its just annoying that you can't change what keyboard buttons the buttons respond as, because some games don't let you bind keys to Left Ctrl and Space Bar. There are ways around that though. The only other thing that is an occasional annoyance is that the joysticks are either set as 4-way or 8-way, and 4-way games are hard to play with 8-way joysticks and vice versa. Playing Donkey Kong and Pac-Man on an 8-way is brutal, but most of the time it works how you want it to. I can probably answer any questions you have about all of it. Its still a work-in-progress for me and I've had a lot on my plate lately.