The Tabletop Arcade Machine

Started 2/21/2008

I decided I wanted to finally build my own arcade machine to run MAME on but none of the available designs (here, here, here) did what I wanted so I decided to create my own. I wanted something that could be used for both horizontal and vertically oriented games so something like a three sided cocktail cabinet was what I was looking for. But I also wanted share the spinner and trackballs between the horizontal and vertical players and allow for some four player action. I decided to ditch the idea of hiding the controls under the table like most cocktail designs. Why bother trying to be a table when it's suppose to be an arcade machine anyways. I also wanted it to rest on an existing table so the entire machine could be transported to other peoples homes for parties and stored away when not in use and so it needed to be a thin as possible.



Here is my initial design, created by laying out the controls and buttons so they could be accessed from either side. I originally drew the design on paper and then ordered up a 4:3 19" LCD monitor, controls and buttons. I bought the monitor from New Egg and most of the controls from Ultramarc and the rest from Happ. I liked the control designs and prices from Ultramarc better than Happ but they didn't have as wide a selection. Ultramarc also has the interface hardware required to hook things up to the PC. I used a I-PAC4 and a OpticPac controller to be able to hook everything up. I really like that you can switch the joystick from 4 to 8 way from the top panel by just rotating it. I also got one of the analog joysticks for games that need it like food fight and just to get a variety of control types to experiment with.



After drilling all the holes I started wiring up the controls. It's a lot of work crimping and cutting and stripping wire.



Here most of the buttons and controls are now wired. Notice I have the LCD monitor mounted on the other side with the four bolts in the center.



This is so I can turn it over and let my son try it out with the PC on the workbench. Since I didn't really have a design for this done before I started I am building it kind of from the top down.



I had to cut a hole in the top for the monitor to rest in and then mounted a platform underneath to hold a salvaged keyboard drawer and then the PC motherboard, power supply, hard drive and video card. I used a 90 degree PCI adapter to reduce the clearance of the system. All these items I salvaged from the dumpster. I then built and centered an enclosure around everything with a little bit of a lip on the top side.



Here is the bottom with a hole so you can remove it and rubber feet to protect what it sits on.



Finally inside I added fans and a wall socket plug connected to a circuit breaker switch for safety. Also an external USB connector and wireless network, again all salvaged parts.



The finished machine with the keyboard drawer out but still needs painting.



Here is it with the keyboard drawer closed. I really think the little keyboard drawer makes the machine. I had to repair the built in mouse but otherwise it works great. The two joysticks next to each other are great for the tank game Assault or just use one joystick for Zaxxon. The only thing missing is a diagonal joystick for Q-bert.



A successful project.

Parts list
$12 1 2ft x 4ft MDO
$30 2 3/4" x 8" x 8ft aspen boards
$15 1 3/4" x 2ft x 4ft aspen glued board
$10 1 1" x 2" x 8ft pine board
$0 1 box of machine screws on bench
$0 1 box of wood screws on bench
$0 1 8"x16"x1/8" aluminum scrap metal salvaged

	2 SpinTrak Rotary Control spinners without mini-pac cable from ultimarc
	2 spinner knobs from ultimarc
	2 Flyweight medium spinner wiegths from ultimarc
	2 2 1/4" track balls with optic pac cable from ultimarc
	2 track ball mounting plates from ultimarc
	2 Mag-Stik Plus 4/8 way easy top switchable joystick from ultimarc
	1 red ball top handle for one of the above joysticks
	1 ipac4 with USB cable from ultimarc
	1 opti-pac with USB cable from ultimarc
	1 UltraStik 360 Oval Top analog joystick with USB cable from ultimarc
	1 UltraStik Restrictor Plate Kit
	37 arcade buttons of various colors including player 1-4 stencils from ultimarc
subtotal $650 from Ultimarc

$75 2 mini 8 way top button joysticks from Happ
$10 2 adapter plates for above joysticks
$0 1 mini rack mount keyboard salvaged
$0 1 mini PC power supply salvaged
$0 2 fans salvaged
$0 2 plastic fan faceplates salvaged
$0 1 circuit breaker salvaged
$0 1 power distribution block salvaged
$0 1 power supply socket salvaged
$0 1 8 GB IDE harddrive salvaged
$0 1 motherboard with CPU & RAM salvaged
$0 1 90 degree PCI adapter salvaged
$40 video card PCI from newegg
$190 1 19" LCD monitor from newegg
$10 1 wireless USB access point from woot
$0 1 USB hub from junk box
$0 1 surface mount USB extender salvaged
$0 1 USB motherboard connector salvaged
$0 1 spools of colored wire on bench on bench
$0 1 box of crimps on bench
Total $1042
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