Best Mame Cabinet

Zud

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Ok we all have seen the horror stories and pics of bad MAME set-ups, but where are the good examples? We have seen the aircraft carrier CPs, the trackball ones that are 2" from the monitor, etc. I'd like to see if anyone has made a decent one that you as an arcade collector would be proud to own.
 
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The only way to go :) The white trash cabinet style. Kidding aside I always thought a MK2 Midway style cab would look good if done right. 2 Player with 6 buttons each and nice trackball in the middle.
 
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I don't know about BEST, but believe it or not, my first one was my favorite.

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Obviously I would probably go with different artwork and a flush-mount trackball plate now, but honestly, it was my favorite.
 
Here is one I did for a friend of mine. Money wasn't an issue with him so it allowed me to build it as I wanted. Well, as he wanted with my added suggestions of course. He wanted a Dragons Lair Theme, I said no problem but lets keep the Control Panel simple. I programed some hidden button functions in order to keep it that way. He was super pleased by that cause he didn't want button clutter either. It uses the Hyperspin front end and has a handful of emulators for both arcade, laserdisk and some consoles. Has all the preview vids and available themes as well. I think Hyperspin is a very nice looking front end. Too bad I didn't get to keep it. It turned out really nice.. I made an instruction book for him and everything.. It was a gift from his wife of all things.. Lucky bastard..
 

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Here is one I did for a friend of mine. Money wasn't an issue with him so it allowed me to build it as I wanted. Well, as he wanted with my added suggestions of course. He wanted a Dragons Lair Theme, I said no problem but lets keep the Control Panel simple. I programed some hidden button functions in order to keep it that way. He was super pleased by that cause he didn't want button clutter either. It uses the Hyperspin front end and has a handful of emulators for both arcade, laserdisk and some consoles. Has all the preview vids and available themes as well. I think Hyperspin is a very nice looking front end. Too bad I didn't get to keep it. It turned out really nice.. I made an instruction book for him and everything.. It was a gift from his wife of all things.. Lucky bastard..

Love it! Seems a bit large in places, but well balanced.
 
I don't know about BEST, but believe it or not, my first one was my favorite.

100_0670.jpg



Obviously I would probably go with different artwork and a flush-mount trackball plate now, but honestly, it was my favorite.

love this, who's is this? Is that an MK cab?
 
That WAS mine, but I sold it. It is a MK-Style cab (actually Total Carnage). It had a de-cased 25" TV in it, along with a hidden shelf underneath for keyboard and mouse....(which is why the coin door was so low)
 
Mine is simple.... very simple... but effective...

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Plays horizontal MAME games and Daphne only. I also have a dedicated vertical MAME cabinet...

(3rd one down)

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Both are simply but effective. 2 sticks and 6 buttons each and a trackball + spinner for the horizontal MAME (plus P1 Start, P2 Start, Pause and Credit buttons)... 2 sticks and 3 buttons each plus a spinner for the vertical MAME (plus P1 Start, P2 Start, Pause and Credit buttons)...
 
You've seen mine but for everyone else here is my build thread
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=72395.40

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It has a d9800
The only thing I regret is putting the spinner directly in front of the TB.

300w car amp
two four inch speakers on top and two 4x10 next to the coin door, crank up the itunes and the upstairs rattles, it rocks!


Oh and if you look closely I modified the mame cause my name is Mike so It's........ mike's arcade machine emulator
 
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I'm really happy with mine. There's better designs out there, but with U360s, Happ Rotary's, the flightstick, trackball and spinner, it can play just about any game out there and it plays them well. I'd put it in line as one of the best playing MAME cabs out there. Only thing its missing are guns and a steering wheel.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=89590.0

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It looks like nearly everyone installs extra buttons near the start button. Are those credit buttons? I just go into the Mame setup and assign the credit function to player 1 and player 2 start buttons as well. Press it once and it adds a credit. Press it again and it starts the game for the assigned player. It's intuitive,works great and doesn't require any drilling or new wiring.
 
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It looks like nearly everyone installs extra buttons near the start button. Are those credit buttons? I just go into the Mame setup and assign the credit function to player 1 and player 2 start buttons as well. Press it once and it ads a credit. Press it again and it starts the game for the assigned player. It's intuitive,works great and doesn't require any drilling or new wiring.

Same here, I combo buttons to do admin functions etc (p1 b1+b3 for credit for example, some button combo that won't actually get used IN-GAME). I hate seeing 50 buttons on a panel, and worse is panels with a row of 7+ buttons beside the sticks, as I don't know of any 7 or 8 button games...
 
Same here, I combo buttons to do admin functions etc (p1 b1+b3 for credit for example, some button combo that won't actually get used IN-GAME). I hate seeing 50 buttons on a panel, and worse is panels with a row of 7+ buttons beside the sticks, as I don't know of any 7 or 8 button games...

Oh I don't do a combo for credits but I do for exiting out of Mame. But for credits, it doesn't hurt if someone adds a credit mid-game. Like on my 4-player cab I assign each of the start buttons to either start or add a credit when you press it. So say you are playing the Simpsons and you wanted to be Marge. You would just go to whichever joystick is Marge and press the start button there which adds a credit. Press it again and it selects Marge and you are off and running.
 
You've seen mine but for everyone else here is my build thread
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=72395.40

I'm really happy with mine. There's better designs out there, but with U360s, Happ Rotary's, the flightstick, trackball and spinner, it can play just about any game out there and it plays them well. I'd put it in line as one of the best playing MAME cabs out there. Only thing its missing are guns and a steering wheel.

Both are amazing examples!!

Mine is just OK- by no means the best or a FrankenMAME. It was my gateway drug to dedicated games, and I'll always love it for that! The only pic I could find on my system here at work:

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on the need for a 7 button layout...

obviously, if you want to play street fighter (and who doesn't) you need 6

its a small job to tack one more button on there and get the native Neo-Geo layout going.

also the offset you get on that 7th button is very comfortable when playing normal 2 or 3 button games

edit: good call on the credit combo thing. if I had thought of this I probably would have done it
 
Here is mine.

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The monitor sitting in there was only temporary until my d9800 arrived. (can't find a photo right now of it with the new monitor)

Here is the control panel
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