Adventures in emulation

[Gwendalin]

Ok so my arcade table that I posted earlier finally broke. I ended up taking too much support out of the table and since it was cheap Ikea furniture it collapsed on itself.

 

So now I'm starting on a new project. I am building a pedestal arcade cabinet. Im going to have a tv mounted on my wall and you stand at the pedestal to play the games. It is not finished yet, but i'll get pics of it when I'm fully done. For now here is the build process.

 

I cut all of the wood with a jig saw. I'm pretty impressed with how well it came out considering a jig saw is a squirrely saw. 

It will kind of look like a tank, and it's built like one too.

 

Sorry for the large pics... i usually use spoilers, but i was too lazy this time.

 

Here is the inside of one of the "tank" tread feet things.

 

Here is the back (which i scrapped) and bottom of the center column.. plus more wood

 

Here is the side panel of the center column

 

Here is the side of the foot thing

 

Attaching the foot to the center column

 

Another view

 

Here is the foot thing with it's top on.

 

Inside of the foot thing

 

Inside of the center console. This is where the computer equipment will reside.

 

 

I did finally get the feet finished. I just need to put the back on the center part, and build the control panel part.

When it is done it will look similar to this.

 

 

 

 

[or3o]

What kinda hardware you running for emulation? A pi or something similar? 

[Gwendalin]

Nah, i'm not that fancy.

 

I had an old Pentium i7 laying around so I'm using that. I need more hard drives well really larger hard drives... i'm out of space.

 

This was from my old coffee table unit i built.

[Diefool]

This is super-sexy!

[Gwendalin]

if anyone is interested here is a small update to my cabinet. i have the base finished. I just need to mount the innards. Next i'll be working on the actual control panel part itself.

 

I installed inside walls, and a floor to make it look nicer. Also it worked out perfectly so i can install a slide rail to slide my computer in and out of the cabinet easily.

Top down look

 

from the front

 

I filled in all the cracks made from my wobbly hand cutting with the jigsaw. I also filled in my screw holes so it looks flush.

 

Side with foot attached

 

Back

 

 

Here is the base painted black. It is the same paint i used to paing my Street Fighter cabinet.

 

I cut two holes out in the back to attach fans. I'll have intake at the bottom, and exhaust at the top.

 

Here is the front. The slot at the top is for a usb hub so i can attach a keyboard and mouse if needed, and to attach light guns for shooting arcade games.

 

Here is the side of the base. there is still some white showing in this pic, but I did get all of it painted.

 

 

Now to build the control panel!!!!

 

[Phenomenal]

@Gwen Nice new icon and ever thought of making a MAME cabinet? They are exactly like this but you can plug in your pc/laptop for extra power.

[Gwendalin]

 

@PhenomenalDev That's what this is... It is a dedicated MAME cabinet. I would have made a full upright, but I already have a real Street Fighter II cabinet that takes up too much room, so I couldn't build another one. I am making this pedestal cabinet to save some room, and still have a functional TV. I can move this out of the room if I ever need to easier than a full cabinet.

 

This was my prototype coffee table/arcade table running mame.

 

This is my entire emulation collection. Really I have more than what this shows. It's just my naming is different than what this list looks for.

I will never play 1/4 of these games, but emulation is like Pokemon for me. I have a completionist mentality. If I know its out there, i have to find it.

 

 

 

[Phenomenal]

@Gwen Well that's really cool don't know how you did what you did xD Also I love how you've made it one of your life goals to finish all those arcade games (:

[Gwendalin]

Not sure if anyone is interested, but I'm going to post anyways.

 

I'm closer to finishing my arcade pedestal. I just need to paint it, and add wood to the holes in the angle part, and bolt it all together. I also have to officially wire it all up and clean up the inside part where the computer is located. I just got my new joysticks, and buttons today, so now i will have 4 player setup. I have to drill a hole for my trackball as well. Then all i need are some spinners, and the circuit boards to control the light up buttons.

 

so here is the front with the computer inside. The big black thing on top is a sound bar that I am going to mount to the wall. My niece and nephew made me pac-man and ghosts out of bead things.

 

Here is the TV I'm using for the monitor. It's a 42" tv. The wall mount spins so i can have it be vertical for shmups as well. You can see my lights i have strung along the ceiling as well.

 

I'll post the completed setup soon.

 

[Gwendalin]

Ok, so I have my arcade cabinet almost done. I just need to put the door on the front panel, order my controller for the lights, do a little touch up painting, and get my light guns. I do want to put some artwork on it, but I'm not that artsy, so I'm not sure how i'll get that done. I'm also getting light guns.

 

 

Here it is with the old Star Wars game running.

.

The screen can rotate, and the games are set to auto rotate between landscape and portrait. Here is Pac-Man in portrait mode.

 

Kind of a dark pic, but you can see the layout of the buttons. All of the buttons light up except for the green and yellow ones. They will be changed later. I have 4 player capability.

 

Here is the inside. I do have the motherboard, and hard drive cage on a sliding drawer that i can pull out for easy maintenance.

 

closeup of Launchbox running.

 

All my storage space. I do have a little bit of cleaning left to do. I have 5 drives in the cage, and 4 external drives.

One day i'll have everything sorted and can then actually play games!

 

As a bonus... my Street Fighter II cab, and cat!

 

Here it is turned on.

 

Ohh i have to get a pic of the wiring and inside of the top. I'll get that soon.

 

Let me know what you guys think!

 

[Kibbelz]

Looks really good honestly. Im glad to see you're going for a multi purpose traditional gaming console as oposed to running a single game. Looking good.

[Xeno]

Fantastic work.. It looks really sleek. I really like the chairs too. And wow, that's a lot of games!

[Gwendalin]

Thanks guys! It's a fun project...I don't think i'll ever actually "complete" it, but i do like collecting.

 

Kibbelz yeah, I have all of the home consoles as well as arcade. I do have ps3 controllers hooked up so i can play consoles with a traditional controller.
 

@Murdoc hehe hey love! the chairs are good ol' Ikea chairs!

[Giligis]

Wow those are awesome! I love all of it!! Street Fighter FTW