Tonym

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like the rest of you id prefer to have original games rather then a mame system, but im wondering if you guys have ever seen a decent multicade and said to your self "ehh, that one gets a pass" ?

ive been browsing a few pics on the web and it seems like a very rare animal. people just go so over board it doesnt even look like an arcade game, just a huge cab covered in buttons, joysticks and horrible art...
 
I would have to say this one is one of the sharpest mame cabs i have seen.




I kind of like replica cabs or hybrid replicas too, like the robocop one i made. I didn't want to make a franken panel or ugly multicade art so I thought it would be cool to do sort of a replica of a real game, although I did change the cabinet design a bit.. I think the best ones are more minimalist for the most part.


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If you are talking strictly Multicade cabinets (48in1 or 60in1) I have never seen one I really liked unless it was an original cabinet, and it was restored to look like the original game, like in the attachment.

If you are talking MAME cabinets, there are plenty of good looking MAME cabinets around as well as crappy looking ones...

For crappy-looking MAME cabinets, go here:
http://wickedretarded.com/~crapmame/

While I am a huge fan of MAME, a lot of the cabinets I have seen are a bit too busy for my taste, especially with the MAME marquees and the collage of video game characters.

Now some MAMErs go out and do something so extraordinary that it transcends the everyday MAME cabinet.

This is one of the coolest MAME cabinets I have ever seen:
http://bellsouthpwp2.net/g/c/gcnewsome/finished.html

Here is another one:
http://steampunkworkshop.com/steampunk-mame
 

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For crappy-looking MAME cabinets, go here:
http://wickedretarded.com/~crapmame/

Always brings the lol's.

My first cab was a MAME cab I built back in 2004.

I built it from scratch. Even back in the beginning I appreciated the artwork of the original cabs so I designed it to look like the Missile Command/Millipede/Missile Command retrocade. (To Maximize more than one games artwork without making a franken-mame.)

As far as MAME cabs go I think it came out pretty good. Eventually building this and playing MAME got me interested in dedicated cabinets.

The TV is disguised behind a piece of tinted glass. Looks really nice when the game is on.

Note: the trackball glows the same red as the coin returns when it's on. It looks orange and strange in the photos since it wasn't powered up when I snapped the pics.

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I built a few back in '03 or '04 from converted Pacs and Ms. Pacs. They had been repainted and there was nothing original left to salvage. They got sanded down completely and painted black. We had bought some Multicade art packages and they ended up looking pretty good. This was before the Multicade side art, so we put DK on one side and DK Jr. on the other. They had 9-in-1 boards (the most games available at the time). They ended up looking pretty decent, especially the Ms. Pac cabinet.
 
IMO, Multicades generally turn out much better looking than MAME cabs. Why? Most mutlicade cabs are trying to capture a certain genre of games (classics or jamma assortment), while most MAME cabs I see try to play every damn game that's ever been in existence. The latter results in oversized, poorly layed out control panels and strange (if any) arts at all.
Multi cabs seem to fair better because they are typically placed into older cabs and use repro arts and much simpler controls.

I've made a couple multis for sale. One was a Dynamo cab with a Blue Elf setup, the other was a Gremlin cab which housed a 60-in-1. I feel both turned out pretty clean and neat. I've seen other guys build 60in1 cabs in Pac cabs which have turned out really well, simply from using existing arts.

I think MAME cabs are the gateway which brings most gamers over to the true arcade side. As such, alot of guys probably built there first MAME cab before getting a good feel for what looks good in the arcade hobby.
 
ya im working on a MAME myself but im at the part now where most all the hardware is done and i need to start looking at the cosmetics. i was hoping to get some inspriation here. im going for that "period correct" look. not some futuristic looking thing with a million buttons, 2 track balls, and a controll panel thats 5ft long. i did a 2 player build with one joy stick and 6 buttons per player, plus the start buttons and the credit button

i need to still fab a bezzle to fill in between the top glass and the crt monitor( i wanted the correct "look"), put some art on it and then make a marquee. i was thinking of doing the sides in that fake looking 1970's wood grain?

theres just so many classic games i want to be able to enjoy that id never be able to afford all the real ones but i also want something that looks of the era.

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This is one I did about a year ago. The bezel could stand to be redone with something thicker, but I've since not gotten around to it, and it isn't a huge deal.

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Here's my stab at the Blue Elf multi-jamma thing. I tried to keep it all a red, fighting theme.
 

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...And then this was my stab at the 60-in-1 classic thing. Used a space-themed AstroBlaster bezel as a design que to keep everything a matching, simple color.
 

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Multipede - Running Arcadeshop Multigame board running 8-way, 2-way, and trackball games enabled only.

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Double Donkey Kong + - Running an Arcadeshop Multigame board with 4-way and 2-way games enabled only (including Donkey Kong II) (note - had a 48-in-1 in her at one time...has since been replaced)

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Capcom Anthology - Running a Capcom CPS2 17-in-1 board.

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Taito Multigame - Running an Arcade Classics Taito multigame board (work in progress)

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I'm still a fan of my Pole Position II I mamed...

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PP's never ran for very long in stock form, anyway... Boards always popping caps and whatnot. I bought it stripped for $50 and like how it ended up.

And the Defender to the right of it is a mame cab my ex-roommate made from scratch, before you start hating. :D He used 7/16" wood, it was horribly flimsy...
 
I think my buddy tomdotcom has the nicest looking MAME machine i have ever seen.
 

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I built this mame cab from scratch and love the way it turned out. I always liked sf2 so i went with a street fighter theme. It has a working coin door and an instructional card, it looks like the real thing.
 

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how do you guys get it so your PC opens right into MAME when you turn it on? when i turn my cab on i have to click mam32 on the desk top and then another menue pops up. how do i get that cool full screen display going?
 
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