Grateful Dead Arcade Game

Short Video

2008-08-07T23:34:00.005-05:00

here's the arcade in action. the video sucks, so hopefully I will make a better one later

Pics as promised

2008-05-29T18:27:00.005-05:00

The arcade cabinet is completed. Here are the pics I promised. Click on any of them to see them larger. Here are two shots of the whole thing:

Here's a look at it from the other side and in different light:

A close up of the marquee I put together:

A close up of the control panel artwork. The arrow across the top are for golden tee:

The trackball glows!

arcade is done

2008-05-27T21:51:00.002-05:00

The machine for all intents and purposes is completed. When I applied the control panel artwork, it looked like garbage (long air bubbles around trackball), but I let it ride for a couple of days. Tonight I peeled it off and reapplied it, and it looks good so far. If there are no air bubbles in it when I go to bed, then I will put all the buttons back on and take some final pictures. Stay tuned.

2008-04-15T17:46:00.001-05:00

Got a computer on craigslist for 200 bucks. It's pretty nice for only 200.

Intel Pentium 4 2.6 GHz processor.

1 GIG RAM.

80 GIG HDD.

NVIDIA GeForce MX440 video card with S-video out.

lots to report

2008-04-13T21:40:00.004-05:00

Today I completed the following:

speakers installed
monitor bezel installed
control panel drilled and routed

Here are some pics:

this is the control panel after I drilled all the button and joystick holes. the metal plate surrounding the trackball is flush with the surrounding wood and is the anchor for the trackball underneath (it's a huge piece of equipment). The joysticks are mounted below the control panel with bolts coming from above. You can see where I countersunk the screw holes for the joysticks. That way they will be invisible underneath the artwork after I apply it.

This is the underside of the control panel. This gives you a better idea of how big an area has to be cut out for the trackball. You can also see where I routed out some wood for the joysticks. They are pretty big as well, and in order for the sticks to reach up high enough, I needed to get them closer to the top surface (hence the routing).

When I tested the speakers, I couldn't keep the plug to stay in the socket. As you can see, the plug doesn't have one side that's larger than the other. So.. it slides out of a socket VERY easily.

That pissed me off enough to go buy a 1.89 extension cord from lowes so I could cut off the plug and put it on the speaker cord.

Simple fix for a very annoying problem. A couple minutes with the stripper/crimper and a roll of electrical tape and we're in business.

The speaker system has two 3" round speakers mounted inside the marquee area and pointing down toward the player (like most classic arcade games). The speakers didn't have grilles (and neither did radio shack, car toys, or fry's), so I ripped the plastic facing off of them and applied window screening to the inside of it before mounting them to the outside of the cabinet. When you look at it upclose, it looks great. Looks like they were manufactured that way. You can also see the top 2 screws that I used to mount the monitor bezel (which I made by spray painting a piece of plexiglass, it looks really clean). It's a good fit.

I installed the t-molding and it really makes the arcade look classy. I took the laptop out into the garage to see how mortal kombat II would look. (joysticks aren't installed, just laying there. they will be installed after the artwork goes down)

Now here's pit fighter.

And the freaky guy from pit fighter.. thought I'd throw him in for laughs.

All that's left now is to apply the control panel artwork, and wire up everything. I really need a computer to run the whole thing, but my laptop will do if I can't find a good deal soon. I'm not going to jinx myself by putting a timeline on it, but this baby will be done very soon.

MK2

2008-04-13T13:01:00.003-05:00

Just a teaser for this weekends progress. I will be spending the rest of today completing the control panel and installing the speakers. After I'm done, all I'm going to need is the computer and the wiring. We're getting close

mkII working on the computer. it's so sick.

the control just before drilling (i'm actually much further along than this pic). I clamped down a full size black and white copy of the control panel overlay as a template for drilling.

i'm off to the garage

new parts ordered, t-molding is in

2008-04-10T00:30:00.002-05:00

T-molding is a long piece of plastic molding that protects the outside of the arcade. I bought two 20' rolls of the stuff and it was delivered today. I also put in an order for a 4 way joystick, an IPAC2 (device that interfaces the controls to the computer), some wiring connectors, and some clamps for the control panel to hold it to the arcade cabinet. This weekend I'll be putting the control panel together. Probably going to head to kinko's tomorrow and have them print off the control panel artwork. I was able to fix the artwork without having to start from scratch.

Major purchases left:
computer
speakers

Major tasks left:
build control panel
wiring of control panel
install control panel and cabinet side artwork
install speakers
configure computer

Of course there are always other things that come up, but I see the arcade being finished in May. After the semester is over in a couple of weeks, I should really be able to get after it.

setback =/

2008-04-06T21:03:00.001-05:00

Well.. I realized today that my control panel artwork was drawn at 34x17, and it needs to be 34x18... which is an inch taller. If I stretch the artwork, it looks like garbage, so I'm going to have to start all over, which will take a long time. I will continue to work on the cabinet, and the control panel artwork will just have to be applied toward the very end.

Lots to update

2008-03-30T23:31:00.007-05:00

I went out to the garage this morning and was trying to figure out the best way to mount the television. I ended up accidentally knocking out the flourescent bulb. I totally destroyed it. So I went to Lowes and bought a new one. While I was there, I picked up a couple of 5/8" cam locks for the coin door.

I started out by taking apart and cleaning up the coin door with some windex, gave it a new coat of hammer finish spray paint, and it looks brand new. I installed the locks with no trouble, and they work great too. Looks like this coin door used to belong to house of the dead 2. I think that's a shoot 'em up game, ask Ken, he's a freak at those games. I saw him beat area51 on one quarter.

I forgot to mention that before I got done with the coin door, I stared at the cabinet for about an hour, but couldn't figure out a good way to mount the tv at an angle. Eventually I decided to remove the monitor shelf and re-mount it at an angle. While taking out the screws, I did an excellent job of completely stripping 2 of them, so while I was at Lowe's, I found a specialty bit that removes destroyed screws. It worked like a charm. You can see in this picture where my old screw holes were, and the new ones are. I'll have to fill them with putty, sand, then paint.

Once I got the monitor shelf at an angle perpendicular to the angled edge of the cabinet front, I went ahead and put the tv on it. I marked my positions and screwed it to the cabinet sides and monitor shelf with some 3/4" self tapping screws.

Then I installed the coin door and put a latch on the cabinet front door. You can't tell that the cabinet front is on hinges because they are hidden on the inside (remember?). To unlatch the door, you open the coin door, reach in, and undo the latch. This way I can keep the arcade cabinet looking as authentic as possible.

This is looking at the door cracked open from above.

Here's a couple of shots of the whole thing:

Here she is in all her glory. Bummer you can't see the coin door very well, I'm awful with cameras. I am really happy with the new monitor shelf. Next up is monitor glass, then it's on to the control panel (which will be a major step, probably a few posts).

marquee installed

2008-03-26T21:50:00.003-05:00

Here's a couple of shots. It looks great, but the pictures don't do it justice.

Here's a couple of shots. It looks great.

marquee light installed / glass is cut

2008-03-24T21:56:00.004-05:00

Went to Kinko's today and ordered a print of the marquee at 8" x 26" on special back-lit paper. It will be ready for pickup in a day or two. This is what the marquee looks like:

I'm going to crop an inch off the top and bottom and sandwich it between two sheets of 6 1/4" x 26" lucite (plexiglass) and mount it in front of the 18" flourescent bulb that I just installed:

I also got a 26" x 25 5/8" piece of lucite to go in front of the tv. It will be blacked out around the edges to hide the television. The only reason it's in there is so I could take a measurement. Should have pictures of the completed marquee by the end of the week.

Painting complete.... well almost

2008-03-20T21:25:00.004-05:00

I missed the spot underneath the front of the cabinet, but you get the idea. I put on two very thick coats of latex primer. After that, I sanded the whole thing and put on two coats of semi-gloss black. I didn't paint the parts you won't be able to see because I'm lazy. I left the control panel with primer on it only. Eventually it will be black, but I wanted to hold off on painting it until construction is complete. Here are two pictures of the painted cabinet. I also won a over/under coin door on ebay, it's fully functional, but needs two new locks and a paint job. There's a picture of that too:

You can see the huge white stripe across the bottom that I missed

The paint is surprisingly smooth and looks real good. It almost looks like laminate has been applied to the sides of the cabinet. I used foam rollers and 220 grit on my orbital sander.

New coin doors are over 100 bucks. I'm not about to pay that much. I got this baby shipped for 48 bucks. A couple of 3 dollar locks and a can of spray paint will have this baby lookin' brand new.

cabinet construction is complete

2008-03-18T17:06:00.003-05:00

Next up is painting. I put in the monitor shelf, a few other boards, and the front door. The front door has a cutout for a coin door. I am going to get a real coin door that will wire into the computer. When you add a quarter, it will give you a credit. Should be a pretty cool addition to have, adding that extra bit of authenticity. Here's some new pics:

FULL FRONTAL!!!

full view at an angle

Front coin door. It is on european latches so the fact that it's hinged is hidden. Cut out is awaiting the coin door. Haven't bought it yet.

A closer look at the hinges/door

A closer look at the control panel top and monitor area

cabinet top and speaker shelf installed

2008-03-03T21:58:00.001-06:00

I worked on the cabinet for a little bit tonight. Here is a picture of my progress:

beginning to take shape

2008-03-02T18:22:00.003-06:00

It's kind of crazy having something in the garage that resembles an arcade game. My next door neighbor came by and asked me what the hell I was building. So far, the bottom is completely constructed. It has four 3" casters below it so that it can be moved easily. I also have a back panel attached at the bottom, but you can't see it in this photo. Next up will the the top and angled back sections. More pics to come.

Construction Begins

2008-03-01T18:52:00.004-06:00

I went to Lowe's this morning, like every good American homeowner does on Saturday, and bought three 4'x8' sheets of 3/4" fiberboard. I am using plans from a book called project arcade. I drew out all the shapes, and made the cuts with a combination of a circular saw and a really nice scrolling saw that my in laws bought for me. Here's some pics:

Artwork redone

2008-01-14T18:56:00.001-06:00

Here are the latest versions I am looking at. Workbench construction begins this week, then it's cabinet construction!

UPDATE: here's the workbench:

rounding up tools

2008-01-06T16:41:00.000-06:00

Well.. things continue to progress... even if it is slowly.

I finally have every tool that I will need to build the cabinet. The next purchases I need to make will be the supplies (lumber, hardware, paint, etc).

I also will be constructing a workbench very soon. I will post a few pics whenever it is done.

yes this is still happening

2007-12-27T15:20:00.000-06:00

There has been a very long hiatus in progress. ... but here is some of the newly completed artwork for the marquee and control panel

hello childrens

2007-09-15T08:51:00.000-05:00

It is now September the 15th and I have still yet to start on building the arcade.

I will build it someday, and someday soon. We just moved into a new house, and school started for me. I am getting my masters. So, needless to say, I'm a little busy.

KEEP HOPE ALIVE!

MAME update

2006-12-25T15:57:00.000-06:00

Well, there isn't much to report other than that there is nothing to report. I am holding off on beginning the MAME project until after me and my fiance Christine get married. We will be getting married in June of 2007, and I hope to start shortly afterward. I want to be able to work on this project at home, instead of driving to my brother's each time I want to work on it.

The reason I want to wait until after the wedding is because we will be moving into a place with a garage, and I have registered for all the tools I'm going to need in order to build the cabinet :D

MAME

2006-10-03T12:46:00.001-05:00

I intend to build a MAME cabinet.

MAME is a machine that can emulate the vast majority of arcade games ever made. I am hoping to create a 2 player machine with a trackball.

Overall I would like a 25" monitor, 2 - 4/8 way joysticks, 6 buttons per player, and a high quality trackball in the middle for some golden tee action.

I am looking forward to some MK, Street Fighter, Moon Patrol, Golden Tee, and Raiden Trad action.

Hopefully there will be more information on here as we move along.

Check out this guy's really awesome machine: Awesome MAME cab