Livingroom compatible Arcade-Box

[Duglim]

Hi guys,

during the last weeks, I built another arcade cab project. This time, it should be something portable with easy connection to any HD-TV.
It will be a gift to my sister, who also loved retro gaming, but has not so much space in her flat to place a bartop or fullsize cab.
Inspiration came from the i64x.com build here:

 

 

 

This is the setup:
- dimensions 80 x 34 cm
- body of 16mm MDF plates
- Top plate is a lid and can be opened. Its fixed with strong magnets
- connects to any HD-TV via HDMI
- Computer is a DELL laptop with Core2Duo
- Laptop is fix mounted in the cab and sits on feets to optimize heatflow
- Two cassis fans keep the laptop cool and quiet, while super silent running on 5V USB power
- Buttons and joysticks are connected via IPAC2 board
- Two handles help to carry the box
- 10 meter HDMI cable and 5 meter power cable can be kept inside the box when not needed.
- Laptop can be powered on with the yellow side button, no need to access the laptop anytime
- The cab runs Hyperspin with MAME + 8-16 bit Nintendo & Sega systems
- The green and red rectangle buttons are for hyperspin OK/Back and Exit Game

I choose Sailor Moon as decal artworks, because my sister is/was a huge SailorMoon fan in her youth.
Fun fact: The main artwork was not this wide, so I had to photoshop additional 5cm on the left and right sides.
This was the original aspect ratio:


The button layout is optimized for 4 and 6 button games:
1 2 3 4
4 5 6
You see, the button 4 exists twice, this way you can play 4-button games on a native like setup, as well as 6-button games with the usual two rows.
The additonal button 4 in first row has a slightly lighter color sourrounding, to indicate it's optional.



The only tradeoff to make when using HDMI 1080p output was the loss of the SLG3000 scanline generator, due to the digital video signal.

Hope you like this! I must confess, I used this cab more often, then my bartop. Sitting on the couch and playing on a 52'' TV is somewhat more releaxing.

Here are the pics:

[gigapig]

Nice job Duglim and totally portable, great for parties, at the beach and in the car

[HazzardActual]

damn dude, everything is so perfect it almost looks you bought it from a retail shop. The graphics are badass, the inside is clean, great job man.

[Trnzaddict]

Very cool!

[Agrajag]

Great work, Duglim. I hope your sister enjoys it and knows how lucky she is!

I've been an anime fan for years but only recently watched the first series of Sailor Moon and it was very entertaining.

[albert_c]

Nice!

[frostmute]

This is a fantastic idea... How do you power the system on/off? Open the lid and fiddle with the laptop?

When this is hooked up, are there just two wires; power and hdmi?

[Duglim]

Frostmute, there is no need to fiddle with the laptop. The DELL I used has his on/off button on the right side of the laptop. Thatswhy I used a leafswitch pushbutton without the leafswitch, and attached a little wodden stick inside the cab. When you push the button, the stick presses the laptop power button. It's working perfect, a little bit MacGuyver style. See the pic.

If you have a laptop with on/off button under the lid, you could open the laptop and try to solder a normal pushbutton the the power contacts, should also be possible. Didn't try this, because the physical solution worked fine.

When hooked up, there are only power and HDMI wired. an due to having a laptop with battery, it can also run without power cable for about 1-2 hours, but usually, you have a power outlet near you, because the TV screen needs one.

[Luvarim]

Very nice idea! Its a good compromise between a full cab and a console. Like to try something like this by myself. What size are the chest and the top of the chest?

[Luvarim]

Ah forget, i see you mentioned the size in your first post.