Irish arcade machine builders

purplec

EnterNow wrote: »

Aw man, where the hell is the graveyard, I have some mourning to do :(

I've seen it, its in chapelizod. im still tempted to try and rescue a sit down racer but they where in a fairly bad way.

ENTERNOW If you went you would just get upset thankfully I rescued a Sega Naomi Universal

Some ops believe that once its made its money what the hell get shot of it but if you offered to take it off them for free saving them on scrappage all of a sudden its worth money.

Its all about luck and knowing what is salvageable and whether you have the time or skillz.

I have 3 or 4 projects on the go, does not enough hours in the day and you just end up pumping money in:D

Jack burton

Yes but where can we find these salvagable items purplec?

o1s1n

EnterNow wrote: »

o1s1n - tried that place in Bray, fair play to them they got back to me too so kudos to them. Unfortunately his exact words were "It went to the arcade graveyard about 6/7 years ago" - Aw man, where the hell is the graveyard, I have some mourning to do :(

6/7 years ago? How time flies. Seems like I haven't been in there for longer than I thought. It was tucked away in that corner for years. Loooooooong after it would be considered passed it's sell by date. I always wondered why they hung onto it.

Anyway, That suck ass I'm sure it's now in a landfill somewhere.

Ah well, fair play for trying. If they're that forth coming and nice it might be a good source of other cabs.

Myrddin

purplec wrote: »

I've seen it, its in chapelizod. im still tempted to try and rescue a sit down racer but they where in a fairly bad way.

ENTERNOW If you went you would just get upset thankfully I rescued a Sega Naomi Universal

Some ops believe that once its made its money what the hell get shot of it but if you offered to take it off them for free saving them on scrappage all of a sudden its worth money.

Its all about luck and knowing what is salvageable and whether you have the time or skillz.

I have 3 or 4 projects on the go, does not enough hours in the day and you just end up pumping money in:D

Is that the chap that posted here a while back? Have you still got his number> I'll give him a ring & find out what the cab is if so. I wouldn't mind restoring a cab at all, once the controls worked that would be the main thing. PM me his number if you have it, cheers.

o1s1n wrote: »

6/7 years ago? How time flies. Seems like I haven't been in there for longer than I thought. It was tucked away in that corner for years. Loooooooong after it would be considered passed it's sell by date. I always wondered why they hung onto it.

Anyway, That suck ass I'm sure it's now in a landfill somewhere.

Ah well, fair play for trying. If they're that forth coming and nice it might be a good source of other cabs.

Yeah fair play to them for replying, most arcade op's just think "another fanboy/geek/pleb" and talk with utter distain to enquiries :P Good point about getting future cabs from him, he never said they don't sell off their older ones or anything, he seemed quite sound.

LoGiE

Nvidia nvs card didn't work so I have an arcade VGA arriving tomorrow at some stage! Jpac is all in the cab and wired

Myrddin

LoGiE wrote: »

Nvidia nvs card didn't work so I have an arcade VGA arriving tomorrow at some stage! Jpac is all in the cab and wired

You do realise that you only need an IPAC if using an ArcadeVGA? I found the specs on the ArcadeVGA severely limiting, you could pro get an older generation ATI with much higher specs for next to nothing...don't do it LoGiE...don't cross to the dark side I guess if it's just for Mame then it wont make a difference, but HS can be configured to use quite a few arcade emu's (M2 etc ec)

Did you get confirmation from SailorSat that the NVS don't work? Some modern Nvidia's need an EDID dongle to work. I'm an Nvidia man through & through, but ATI are the vendor of choice with Soft15khz...

LoGiE

With an Ipac I'd be snipping all of the control Panel cables meaning I can't use pcb's. The Jpac just plugs straight in to the harness.
Unfortunitly the card was a funny custom HP NVS card with a DVI connection that split into two VGA connections so it refused to work with Soft15 or powerstrip. This way there's no messing around and I can move the inards to another cab very easily.

Myrddin

LoGiE wrote: »

With an Ipac I'd be snipping all of the control Panel cables meaning I can't use pcb's. The Jpac just plugs straight in to the harness.
Unfortunitly the card was a funny custom HP NVS card with a DVI connection that split into two VGA connections so it refused to work with Soft15 or powerstrip. This way there's no messing around and I can move the inards to another cab very easily.

Ah yeah true, I forgot the interface was different. Are you sticking with just Mame?

LoGiE

Yeah very easy to set up. Just need to sort out how I'm going to hook up the sound and sort out one plug powering the whole lot
Going to stick with MAME first then probably add a few more emulators. Daphne and the like will go on along with some c64 stuff.

Myrddin

LoGiE wrote: »

Yeah very easy to set up. Just need to sort out how I'm going to hook up the sound and sort out one plug powering the whole lot
Going to stick with MAME first then probably add a few more emulators. Daphne and the like will go on along with some c64 stuff.

Scratch what I've said, I went on to look at the ArvageVGA specs and it seems they have released a new version - ArcadeVGA 3000, with 512Mb memory. Beautiful solution I must say, as the old one had 64Mb.

LoGiE

EnterNow wrote: »

Scratch what I've said, I went on to look at the ArvageVGA specs and it seems they have released a new version - ArcadeVGA 3000, with 512Mb memory. Beautiful solution I must say, as the old one had 64Mb.

Yes it's PCIe instead of AGP. It says it will run SF4 so happy days

LoGiE

Quick update,

Have everything working and have used ArcadeRes to run everything in there native resolutions. Games look amazing. Once I've tied up the wiring etc I'll post pics.

Myrddin

LoGiE wrote: »

Quick update,

Have everything working and have used ArcadeRes to run everything in there native resolutions. Games look amazing. Once I've tied up the wiring etc I'll post pics.

Should that be QuickRes? Or is there some new tool out? Looking forward to seeing the finished article!

LoGiE

Oops thats ArcadeVGARes! It looks at your mame folder and creates ini files for all your games with the correct resolutions set. This is best when you use an arcade monitor as it's as close to the real thing as you can get.

CathalDublin

LoGiE wrote: »

Oops thats ArcadeVGARes! It looks at your mame folder and creates ini files for all your games with the correct resolutions set. This is best when you use an arcade monitor as it's as close to the real thing as you can get.

Is this a new version?
I could never get the old one to do the settings right for games like RType, MK, infact most games.
I ended up doing most them myself.
Vertical games look best using hardware stretch, is there an option to do this now?

alandel2001

Hey,

Longtime lurker, first time poster. You lads have piqued my interest. I've been looking at getting an old arcade machine or an emulator cab for a few years on and off. A recent trip to the USA and lots of arcades has reignited my love of retro games, in particular:

Ms. Pac man (regular pac man is very slow)
Arkanoid
Burgertime
Sunset Riders
The Simpsons
Donkey Kong

Those are just a few of the ones we found, sure I could name more (splatterhouse, track and field, bubble bobble [stopping now... Oh, paperboy]). Anyway, I have two questions:

1) How much would I be looking if at if one of you were to build a working cabinet for me?

2) Where do you/would I source old arcade machines? I like the idea of having a cabinet with the cool artwork in my house.

Thanks,

Alan.

CathalDublin

alandel2001 wrote: »

Hey,

Longtime lurker, first time poster. You lads have piqued my interest. I've been looking at getting an old arcade machine or an emulator cab for a few years on and off. A recent trip to the USA and lots of arcades has reignited my love of retro games, in particular:

Ms. Pac man (regular pac man is very slow)
Arkanoid
Burgertime
Sunset Riders
The Simpsons
Donkey Kong

Those are just a few of the ones we found, sure I could name more (splatterhouse, track and field, bubble bobble [stopping now... Oh, paperboy]). Anyway, I have two questions:

1) How much would I be looking if at if one of you were to build a working cabinet for me?

2) Where do you/would I source old arcade machines? I like the idea of having a cabinet with the cool artwork in my house.

Thanks,

Alan.

There is plenty of cabs for sale regularly ranging from about €200 for a good condition wooden cabinet with working monitor etc to €600 - €1000 for a candy cab.
Check out buyandsell/adverts.ie/contacting mithomagic
Building a mame rig that can be plugged into a jamma cabinet is your best option so you can play original boards and also play your mame pc.
so you could buy a cab with a board or 2 for about €200
you'll probably end up upgrading the control panel and you'll need an ipac or a jpac too
check out www.gremlinsolutions.co.uk and www.ultimarc.com
then building a good pc could cost you anything from €300+

Mitchomagic

Hi Alandel2001,

I can sort you out with a cab,anything from Cocktail,woddie upright,or a candy cab.Just let me know what you are after,and I can build it to you needs.

Cheers Mitch

L1m1tless

Im looking for one for about €200 is this possible. I have a pc I can stick in it already. What do you guysdo, Just use the pc to emulate all the games, is this the cheapest and/or best solution.

Undy

Mitchomagic wrote: »

Hi Alandel2001,

I can sort you out with a cab,anything from Cocktail,woddie upright,or a candy cab.Just let me know what you are after,and I can build it to you needs.

Cheers Mitch

hi,

If I was looking to buy a Candy cab for 2 player use to run MAME, how much would I be spending?
Also would it be able to contain all of the inner workings?

/Undy

Mitchomagic

Hi Undy,

Budget about 900-1000ish for a good 2 player set up,and yes it can be intergrated in to the orginal wiring.

Pm me your number and I can answer any more questions you have

Cheers Mitch

Mitchomagic

Hi Cowboydreams,

Pc is a good way to go you will need a j-pac to interface with the controls.other option is a multi-game board no need for a j-pac its nearly plug and play some set up is required but not much it will all depend on the cab you have and how its is wired.

Cheers Mitch

alandel2001

Mitchomagic wrote: »

Hi Alandel2001,

I can sort you out with a cab,anything from Cocktail,woddie upright,or a candy cab.Just let me know what you are after,and I can build it to you needs.

Cheers Mitch

Mitch,

Thanks for your reply. I'm REALLY new to this, so would like to get an idea of what I would need, and what price you're doing different cabs/accessories at. Maybe you could pm me and we could go from there?

Thanks,

Alan.

ballyball

Hi, i'm looking to build an arcade machine. I want to build a MAME setup but I also have two original Virtua srtiker discs. I'd love to be be able to play these on my arcade machine. Just looking for some advice on where to start really ie: maybe buying an old cab or if anyone is selling a similar machine already set up with mame and virtua striker id be intereseted?

Cheers B

LoGiE

ballyball wrote: »

Hi, i'm looking to build an arcade machine. I want to build a MAME setup but I also have two original Virtua srtiker discs. I'd love to be be able to play these on my arcade machine. Just looking for some advice on where to start really ie: maybe buying an old cab or if anyone is selling a similar machine already set up with mame and virtua striker id be intereseted?

Cheers B

Hi ballyball, there is no need to double post so I've deleted the thread you created.

Well if you want to build a MAME cab you will need the following

• A arcade cabinet with working monitor
• A working PC with mame installed
• A J-PAC and gfx card capable of displaying on an arcade montor
  OR
• A arcade cabinet with working monitor
• An xxxx in 1 board

When you say virtua striker disks are you talking about dreamcast?

ballyball

LoGiE wrote: »

Hi ballyball, there is no need to double post so I've deleted the thread you created.


Well if you want to build a MAME cab you will need the following

• A arcade cabinet with working monitor
• A working PC with mame installed
• A J-PAC and gfx card capable of displaying on an arcade montor
  OR
• A arcade cabinet with working monitor
• An xxxx in 1 board

When you say virtua striker disks are you talking about dreamcast?

Hi,

Cheers for that Virtua Striker games I have are the arcade cd's that are made for Segatriforce.

LoGiE

Ah! Without the original hardware the GDs will be of little use I'm afraid. I know MAME now emulates the Triforce hardware along with Naomi boards but as to how fast I'm unsure.

If your looking for Cabinets Mitchmagic just updated his thread on what he has for sale.

To the OP. I built a 3/4 size "apartment friendly" cab a few years back out of an old poker machine and fully intend to do another one once i've got space for it. I replaced the front panel of the original cab with my own custom built panel, 2 sticks, and 2 Straight six 3 over 3 sets of buttons (for street fighter), as well as coin and 1p+2p buttons. I used various suppliers for it and for other projects, but i always found gremiln solutions in the UK very good for almost everything i needed. (http://www.gremlinsolutions.co.uk/).

They carry a big range, do all the sanwa and semitsu parts, jamma stuff, ultimark adaptors etc, and have good customer service and quick delivery. Andy is the guy i've always dealt with there, and he knows his stuff, i think he's the owner.

I had trouble getting t-moulding for it anywhere in europe, but eventually got it from the USA from here: http://t-molding.com/store/home.php. If you're into custom artwork there are a load of places online in the states that do that too. I heard that www.arcadeshop.de was good too, but i've never used them.

I've no idea about building a cab from scratch woodwork wise. Mine was bought for 50 quid from an arcade in greystones, but that gremlin solutions site has details on cab kits they stock which might be an option.

Optimus Prime

Hey guys,

I just read through this entire thread, Ive been thinking about getting an arcade machine of some sort for a while, but wasnt sure if i just wanted to buy one or try build one myself. But after reading through here i decided I will appreciate more if I put it together. Im a complete noob to this though and have no idea where to begin are there any guides or anything out there?

Im thinking of just trying to get mame up and running as it seems easier from reading through?

A working PC with mame is not an issue.

The rest, i havent a clue about lol.

I guess i need a cabinet first? I checked out all the links in the thread to other pages where you get graphics etc so thats cool.

My questions would be related to hooking up joystiqs, monitors etc to the pc? Id love to check out a guide on doing all this if there are any available it would be great if you could point me in the right direction?

Thanks

keithgeo

keithgeo wrote: »

Id love to check out a guide on doing all this if there are any available it would be great if you could point me in the right direction?

This book will be worth it's weight in gold for you. It will give you step by step details and resources on everything you need, start to finish. I have it and it's excellent.

http://www.amazon.com/Project-Arcade-Build-Your-Machine/dp/0764556169

There's also a website for it with a lot of the same info:

http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade.htm

Check out the newbie section first, there are useful guides on it. All the suppliers you need for all the stuff are further down in this thread.

Optimus Prime

Ill check em out thanks! That book is expensive, reviews look like its worth it though.

I was thinking of documenting everything and running it as an ongoing project on my website. I might even try contacting the sites that sell parts and see if i can get them for free for advertising and link backs from gamersireland.

I might buy a cabinet though, i dont think i would have the neccessary skills to make my own one!

o1s1n

Buying a cabinet is the way to go. Unless you really enjoy woodwork that is. It just seems like a lot of hassle when you can get that all done already for cheap enough. And it would be 100% authentic rather than a recreation.

Optimus Prime

Wheres the best place to get a cabinet, ive been looking all over the net, is there anywhere in Ireland you can get them from?

o1s1n

Adverts.ie.

There's a guy here called Mitchomagic who usually has some for sale. He has a few up now. One absolutely massive cab for 250. I'd buy it if I had the room!

I got my own on on ebay.ie. Worth keeping an eye out there too.

Optimus Prime

Ill check em out thanks for all the help, i wouldnt be looking for a big massive one this time out at least! A standard upright one would do me to begin with.

You can get readymade cabinet kits too, like a flatpack arcade cab. It's a nice option if you can't find a used cab but don't have any real woodworking skills. They're as easy to put together as an ikea wardrobe.:D

Optimus Prime

where can i get these from?

keithgeo

keithgeo wrote: »

where can i get these from?

There are lots of suppliers on the net, i've always used these, they're good and they're closest to ireland that i know of. They're based in the UK.

http://www.gremlinsolutions.co.uk/arcademachines.php

Their cheapest kit is 250 sterling but i think thats a cocktail table kit. Their stock changes all the time, so drop them a line and they'll help you out.You can get anything you want from the states, but delivery will probably be steep.

If i was you i'd just buy a second hand cab from somewhere and sand and re-finish it, and then re-fit it with your own PC, there are loads of sites that will sell you readymade electronics kits to do that, including the one above. It would be the least hassle and most cost effective way of doing it.

Optimus Prime

it would seem getting a cabinet is the hardest part of the process! i cant find any on the web in Ireland, and that site only seems to have cocktail kits at the minute. Ill keep an eye on it and maybe give them a ring during the week. its kind of annoying there isnt a shop in Ireland selling them, you would think they would make a bit of money being the only shop in Ireland stocking the kits.

alandel2001

keithgeo wrote: »

it would seem getting a cabinet is the hardest part of the process! i cant find any on the web in Ireland, and that site only seems to have cocktail kits at the minute. Ill keep an eye on it and maybe give them a ring during the week. its kind of annoying there isnt a shop in Ireland selling them, you would think they would make a bit of money being the only shop in Ireland stocking the kits.

I think you're right in that it is a shame that you can't just go into somewhere like Ikea and buy a flat pack arcade cab in the same way you would buy a table, but I don't think there is such a mass market out there for it. Yet. Once you get the cab, you still need to have a bit of know how to put in the controls etc, which I would say is too much work for most people.

I found the following, which looks pretty cool, but it is in the States.

http://www.mameroom.com/Products_UAII_Kit.asp

It seems like they have all of accessories for sale too. I wonder how much shipping would be?

alandel2001

Found this rather excellent guide. It made my mouth water.


http://www.tmsoft.com/article-arcade.htm

nacimroc

The actual woodworking in building a cab is only a small part of the work! I have spent about 3 hours a night for last week or two trying to finish just the control panel. Photoshoping the artwork alone could take a very long time depending on your skill.

So I wouldn't be afraid to try and make the cab yourself. It is very easy compared to the other parts you will have to do and you will have the enormous satisfaction of knowing you made it ALL yourself.

If you are dead set on not doing the woodwork, just throw some of your own designs together and give it to a carpenter who could knock the bits out very quickly. It would just be a case of battening it and fixing it together yourself.

nacimroc

I have all the timberwork done for the a cab that you can see on my original post (I think) that I would sell if you were interested. It was a template I made in case I ever wanted to make more. It has the base with wheels assembled aswell.

It is just MDF so you would need to seal and paint or laminate yourself, but its there if your interested.

My emails: nacimroc@gmail.com

CiDeRmAn

I'm going to try building the IKEA cocktail cab using a netbook as the engine, then just use a 17" lcd for display.
What you reckon if that idea?
What sort of spec would be best?

o1s1n

You'd probably be better off using a laptop. I have an NC10 and while it runs MAME great, it's an expensive enough computer for what you're doing. A cheaper netbook wont run MAME as well.

Seeing as you're connecting a monitor to the VGA out, you have a major advantage of being able to use a laptop with a broken screen. Should be able to pick one up on adverts.ie for next to nothing.

the_syco

o1s1n wrote: »

you have a major advantage of being able to use a laptop with a broken screen. Should be able to pick one up on adverts.ie for next to nothing.

A quick search would give you:

http://adverts.ie/289723 €120
http://adverts.ie/225566 €80

Just search for "broken" or "cracked" in the "Laptop" section.

Mitchomagic

I will have more cabinets coming in the next week.Single drivers,KI2 I know another 1:)RR5,and 2 more cocktails.

Myrddin

Mitchomagic wrote: »

I will have more cabinets coming in the next week.Single drivers,KI2 I know another 1:)RR5,and 2 more cocktails.

What single drivers have you got coming in Mitch? Any Ridge Racers?

Optimus Prime

whats an RR5? Ridge Racer 5 is it?

Optimus Prime

Ive been doing a lot of reading and research on the net the last few days and i still cant find a cabinet worth buying, the only one i can see on the net is 550 euro from arcademachines.ie but to be honest id rather get the wood and build it myself. Ive found plans on the web and they seem fairly accurate so i think im going to bite the bullet and give it a lash myself!

Can anyone give me some advice on Joystiq/buttons etc. im going to be using a pc in it and just want two joystiqs, one/two player buttons and 6 buttons per player. where is the best place to buy this? can you buy it in a kit so its in a box, or do i have to buy everything seperate and make the box panel myself?

Thanks

Edit: I just discovered the X-Arcade after posting this, anyone have any experience with it?