New Project: Tetris Cabaret

So I went to a video game show in the Twin Cities probably five years ago. While there, I played the shit out of a Tetris in a Ms. Pac cabaret. I had so damn much fun playing that machine, that I decided I needed to build one. My first goal was to secure an Atari Tetris PCB, which I finally did probably about 3-4 years ago. My next task was to find a cabinet to put it in. I made the mistake of sticking it in my multi JAMMA cabinet and then put the cabaret project idea out of my mind. Recently going back to my storage shed, I remembered I still had an old painted over Space Zap cabaret that I've been sitting on for about 12 years. It had been converted at least once to Arkanoid, and as noted by the sharpie message on the inside of the cabinet, this was done in 1987.

Early on, I had attempted to reveal the original screened side art, and to try to find Space Zap mini parts. I was only ever able to locate a control panel, but the member who located it for me seemingly disappeared from the face of the Earth when I tried to buy it. Ever since then, the cabinet has been sitting in my storage shed, doing nothing. Last year, I decided to have a blank metal control panel bent for this game. At the time, I was thinking about doing a Capcom bowling or other track ball type game. But as time went on, I realized that the 6 inch wall above the control panel on this cabinet would make a trackball game kind of tough.

That's when I decided that rather than wait for a Ms. Pacman cabaret, I'd just make this a Tetris. I'm currently talking to two different vendors about custom artwork. I went to storage and picked up the cabinet and the control panel blank last night. I also grabbed a 13 inch monitor from an old Draw Poker machine. The tube has some card burn, but has been capped and works great. Here's where the project is starting:

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OK, I found the only two pictures I ever took of the game that inspired this conversion/build and I guess I was wrong, this was at MGC not the 2-D Con in the Twin Cities, and it was on November 6, 2021 that I played it. I did end up putting a bid in the auction, but I didn't win. Crazy that I didn't take a picture of the whole machine.

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So I found another 13 inch monitor that I forgot I had. I pulled this Tatung out of a $50 Merit Trivia Whiz countertop game. It originally came with a weird compact frame built for the small countertop cabinets. It was a shelf mount frame and there was really no way to mount the monitor to a full size or a cabaret cabinet properly as it had no mounting ears. So I transferred the entire monitor to a 13" K7000 frame I had pieced together. This one has a tube with no burn or 'all burn' I can't decide which. I'll try both out with the game and the one with the best picture gets the contract.

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Aren't you interested to see which fucking off-brand monitor is gonna win the challenge? Will it be the incumbent Kortek, or will it be the feisty upstart Tatung?
 
Better pic of the roof laminate:

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I just wrapped up a restore on a Dynamo cab (Forgotten Worlds). I was getting so pissed off at fixing the top of the cab. I could not get the paint to come out right. I painted the thing 5 different times. I finally just caved and bought an HVLP. Came out fantastic.

But before I did that I was honestly toying with the idea of just slapping a sheet of laminate on it. I wasn't sure if it was something restorers did or not. Looks like you do that, so that's good.
 
Yeah, me too. It was nice to use up those scraps and not have to order a new sheet. I also sent a small piece of it to the printer so they can match the reds of the artwork to the laminate.
That's a great idea. Never thought of sending a sample to my artwork printer. Genius.

Del
 
I just wrapped up a restore on a Dynamo cab (Forgotten Worlds). I was getting so pissed off at fixing the top of the cab. I could not get the paint to come out right. I painted the thing 5 different times. I finally just caved and bought an HVLP. Came out fantastic.

But before I did that I was honestly toying with the idea of just slapping a sheet of laminate on it. I wasn't sure if it was something restorers did or not. Looks like you do that, so that's good.
It's been done many times. Might not be fitting if you're trying to duplicate the original finishes, but it's hard to beat for ease of install, good looks, and durability.
 
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