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[JCK75]

I've been searching a lot lately for precut not horrible to assemble cabs but everything seems like complete systems and I'd pretty much rather provide my own hardware at least in the brains of the unit.

I was looking at the legends ultimate arcade which is a very reasonable $699 but it has some subscription model and I'm not sure if you can replace the computer backing it up..

Anyone know of something solid.. all I really need is the actual cabinet preferable precut to take sticks/buttons.
Prices are all over the place and I'm just lost.

 

[GHG]

How good are you with DIY? Because that's going to determine how you start. There are quite a few guides for this sort of thing on youtube:



It's something I'll probably look into doing next year after I move.

 

[CuteFaceJay]

I wanted to build a virtual pinball machine but life happened. Still not had the time or money to commit.

 

[JCK75]

How good are you with DIY? Because that's going to determine how you start. There are quite a few guides for this sort of thing on youtube:



It's something I'll probably look into doing next year after I move.

I've never done much, but I'm thinking my best route may be to get the tools and do it myself.
right now I live in an apartment.. but eventually I'll have the space to do this.

 

[6502]

I built one from scratch 20 years ago, bought 4 joysticks and 6 buttons for each player (plus start, credit etc), which I soldered onto the strip of a keyboard pcb (tapping that out was a bitch). The cab was a huge square monstrosity made of plywood big enough to accomodate a 21" crt and the four players. It was fun to play for a few weeks, took it apart when I moved.

I have been thinking of building another, but there are many cheap prebuilt controller units and some that are plug and play with a tv... plus those reproduction machines... I don't think it is worth taking on a build unless you want something bespoke or are a good craftsman and want a very high quality cab.

 

[hollams]

I did the same as 6502. When I turned 30, 20 years ago, I built a huge 4 player cab from MFD and it weighed a ton. I bought an Ipac unit for the controls so I didn't have to solder. It was a cool thing to do and I was proud that I could make something like that it was just too hard to move so eventually I took it apart.

I did buy a kit which was just a shell and used my own monitor and computer which is kind of what you are looking for. I linked one below which is like what I got and it's about 899 so a bit more than what you listed and what I paid about 6 years ago for. It's a solid unit and I haven't had any issues with it.

Best 2 Player DIY Arcade Cabinet | Rec Room Masters

Our 2 Player DIY Arcade Cabinet is the same as our non-DIY machine except that the controller doesn't include buttons, joysticks or any electronics.

recroommasters.com

 

[Spukc]

Converted an okay baby candy cab. Used a jamma harness to connect a pc to it filled with 5000+ mame games.
Working coin door 32 inch square tube crt. It’s a keeper

 

[Mephisto40]

You are much better off buying an old cab and retro fitting a PC to work with the screen and built in controls than trying to build your own cab from scratch

 

[f~N_CH_1:3:3:3_SushiBoat]

Find a cab. Something like an astro city or a side-by japanese cab.

 

[Come On Tars]

Converted an okay baby candy cab. Used a jamma harness to connect a pc to it filled with 5000+ mame games.
Working coin door 32 inch square tube crt. It’s a keeper

pics

 

[Codiox]

so far i built a bartop arcade, a virtual pinball, a racing cab for my fzero AX addiction and am in the process of building a vertical bartop for shmups. this one is special because i made a design that will replicate a sega astro city. this is also the first time im using LED buttons so as the game changes, it will only light up the used buttons. also every machine runs on windows with bigbox and i make the themes all by myself now.

great hobby!

if you have questions just give me a message.

edit: found a recent pic. you can see the prototype of the vertical here.

 

[buenoblue]

Here's my baby

 

[buenoblue]

Built from scratch using mdf. Old core 2 quad 6600 and gt730. Rotating screen, wiimote light gun. Pinball buttons. Already had the pc so only cost me bout £130 in materials and a week to make it. Made it about 6 years ago now still going strong. Super happy with it.

 

[AJUMP23]

I want to do this too, but time is an issue.

 

[Dural]

I've been searching a lot lately for precut not horrible to assemble cabs but everything seems like complete systems and I'd pretty much rather provide my own hardware at least in the brains of the unit.

I was looking at the legends ultimate arcade which is a very reasonable $699 but it has some subscription model and I'm not sure if you can replace the computer backing it up..

Anyone know of something solid.. all I really need is the actual cabinet preferable precut to take sticks/buttons.
Prices are all over the place and I'm just lost.

https://gameroomsolutions.com/

I built the 24" viewlix vertical last year and it turned out great, highly recommended. I know some people have had issues with damage from shipping, and mine had some minor scuffs, but it was on areas that weren't visible.

 

[JCK75]

https://gameroomsolutions.com/

I built the 24" viewlix vertical last year and it turned out great, highly recommended. I know some people have had issues with damage from shipping, and mine had some minor scuffs, but it was on areas that weren't visible.

I just came across their site just a bit ago and the prices are right in line with what I'm looking for.. now just have to determine which model best fits my needs.

 

[Fredrik]

I built a Raspberry Pi arcade cabinet many years ago, based on a Retropie RPi2 build with emulation station. One of the most fun DIY things I’ve done.

 

[TexMex]

I can’t even change a tire.

 

[Ogbert]

Yes, I have one.

Two actually. A dodgy SF2 cabinet from a cab company in Watford that I bought about 25 years ago, and a MAME cabinet that I assembled myself.

The main thing I would say I’d get one if you actually think you’re going to play it *and* you have the space. Otherwise they’re a bit of a ball ache.

 

[Dural]

I just came across their site just a bit ago and the prices are right in line with what I'm looking for.. now just have to determine which model best fits my needs.

The graphics are also top notch and fairly reasonable.

I've also wanted to do a virtual pinball cabinet but don't want to go full size yet (I'm not ready to spend that kind of money), they have a nice tabletop and midsize pinball that I've been eyeing.

 

[lukilladog]

I bought an used mame cab that only needed a new hdd for $15, some guy was leasing them and had few on his backyard and the wife was ready to kill him... but I don't even use it, an rgb modded crt tv is more practical.

 

[demigod]

I've been searching a lot lately for precut not horrible to assemble cabs but everything seems like complete systems and I'd pretty much rather provide my own hardware at least in the brains of the unit.

I was looking at the legends ultimate arcade which is a very reasonable $699 but it has some subscription model and I'm not sure if you can replace the computer backing it up..

Anyone know of something solid.. all I really need is the actual cabinet preferable precut to take sticks/buttons.
Prices are all over the place and I'm just lost.

Op i bought the atgames legends for $300, love it.

https://slickdeals.net/f/16622171-a...earch:result_id:16622171&src=SiteSearchV2Algo

 

[StreetsofBeige]

One of these years I'm going to buy a bartop style cab with 1000 games loaded. They go for about $1500 CDN.

I dont want the bulkiness of a full heavy cabinet needing two people. Bartop ones can be moved around by one person.

Something along the lines like this. Just put it on a sturdy table.

 

[marquimvfs]

I've been searching a lot lately for precut not horrible to assemble cabs but everything seems like complete systems and I'd pretty much rather provide my own hardware at least in the brains of the unit.

I was looking at the legends ultimate arcade which is a very reasonable $699 but it has some subscription model and I'm not sure if you can replace the computer backing it up..

Anyone know of something solid.. all I really need is the actual cabinet preferable precut to take sticks/buttons.
Prices are all over the place and I'm just lost.

I used to reform old cabinets from arcade operators here in Brazil. For me, as I've never had the correct tools to work with wood, it was always best to send the designs to a professional carpentry shop. Aside from that, I've always used original boards and CRT tubes back in the day, so I don't have much experience with newer devices and emulation. Have done it with emulators myself a couple times, but that's it. Is there something specific that you need help with?

 

[El Muerto]

I found an old Taito cab with nothing in it on Craigslist. Mounted a monitor, built the joystick, and threw an old optiplex in there with Mame 2003.

 

[ReBurn]

I started on one before I moved but I haven't picked it up since. I have a box full of buttons, switches and electronics. I have the wood in the shed. One day I'll finish it.

 

[LostDonkey]

I've not heard, no.

 

[Shtef]

I am looking into buying aracde cabinet for myself and i cannot decide should i go with crt or lcd. The biggest pro of crt is accurate image but there are more cons than pros.
I can get one with pandora box already assembled and the guy can install crt or lcd.
I just want to play neo geo games (metal slug) and older arcade games such as Cadillac and dinosaurs. I am not interested in consoles emulation or 3d games.
What would you recommend?

 

[StereoVsn]

I am looking into buying aracde cabinet for myself and i cannot decide should i go with crt or lcd. The biggest pro of crt is accurate image but there are more cons than pros.
I can get one with pandora box already assembled and the guy can install crt or lcd.
I just want to play neo geo games (metal slug) and older arcade games such as Cadillac and dinosaurs. I am not interested in consoles emulation or 3d games.
What would you recommend?

I would recommend going with a decent sized 4x3 LCD if you can find it. CRTs would be objectively better but would have a higher chance of failure every year.

 

[CamHostage]

I would personally recommend considering a Cocktail Table design, maybe even as a starter cab (unless you have specific games you want to play.)

It's not going to be the best way to play everything (it's not going to be the best way to play most things, although it ends up being able to play a lot of things decently, even pinball thanks to 16:9 tate orientation,) but it's a cool and rarely-seen type of game table that strikes up conversation from company easily, the games you can play on it that have 2P can be great for parties, (both games made for Cocktail Mode, but also games like Street Fighter can double-display on the screen and then you can just put a divider block to avoid distraction,) it's potentially more affordable to build since it's more compact, and if it's built sturdy (or is just built as a tabletop machine,) you can also use it as an actual table and so it's less likely to get shoved into a corner and forgotten as the years go by.

Check out for example the GRS Cocktail model, which is less than $200 for the shell that is 31"x14.5"x5.5" in size.

24" Table Top Cocktail

The highest quality and best table top cocktail arcade cabinet kit on the web. Complete kit with all the assembly hardware, and plex. Supports 24" Play field monitor.

gameroomsolutions.com