Reddit reviews Project Arcade: Build Your Own Arcade Machine (ExtremeTech)
We found 5 Reddit comments about Project Arcade: Build Your Own Arcade Machine (ExtremeTech). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Used Book in Good Condition
It's not a really cheap project, that's for sure. I'm probably over $1000 invested at this point.
Skills-wise though, it's not that bad. Take it slow and learn as you go. MDF is very forgiving. Also, this book is excellent: Project Arcade.
I can recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0764556169
"Project Arcade" has a ton of valuable information for planning and executing your plan. It was my MAME bible.
Good luck!
I've used 2 I-Pacs. The guy who originally bought the machine before I fixed it had bought one, but had mangled the wiring inside the cabinet so much that it always had problems... minor problems - the front end software has the ability to map the buttons differently depending on what game system emulator is running, so for example, in MAME, the six buttons work just like they would in an arcade machine. When Stella (Atari 2600 emulator) loads, the buttons were supposed to automatically change so that only the one button would work (like in an actual Atari) and the other 5 buttons worked as the reset and A/B selectors. Anyway, on the original I-PAC that came with the cabinet, this wouldn't happen automatically no matter what I tried. I could load the button profiles manually and they worked great, but we really wanted it to work automatically.
When I re-did the button layout, we bought all new buttons and a new I-PAC. Same model - basic one that handles 2 joysticks, USB port version - and this one has worked perfectly for 4 years or so. Each emulator loads the right button profile automatically. It's pretty easy to wire as well; the most difficult bit is simply keeping track of all of the wires.
I had originally planned on hacking an old keyboard controller. I used to work at a tech shop and was knee deep in spare parts and had taken apart a few keyboards and found a few that would have worked, but it was a serious pain in the neck. Easier to spend the $50 or whatever it cost at the time for the I-PAC.
...just looked - there is an excellent book, but wow did it get expensive. Project Arcade is an amazing reference, and I must have bought it when it first hit the market and was like $15. Damn. Anyway, while the info in it is not 100% up to date (websites have changed etc...) it's a terrific reference.
Joysticks were 4 / 8 way switchable. Changed them about every 2 years or so - they get a lot of abuse. We were thinking about adding a trackball, but that would involve more metal work and I don't get to use the arcade much these days anymore. :)
This book right here, I can't recommend it enough. I found myself referencing it when I made a digital pinball machine.
Project Arcade by John St. Clair
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0764556169
its not much difficult as to building your own PC. If you know how to do that then your arcade is 80% complete...you'll just need some cabling, buttons, joystick and an old windows XP disk. You can ask for help on byoac.com or buy the old book like I did and just read the portions you just don't know how to do...
http://www.amazon.com/Project-Arcade-Build-Machine-ExtremeTech/dp/0764556169/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1451915536&sr=8-4&keywords=build+your+arcade