Top Skater Mini (Cabaret?)

DogP

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Heh, well... maybe not "mini". I got sick of how big the back of the cab and rear projection monitor were, and I came across a cheap 42" plasma monitor, so I grabbed it and tried it out w/ one of the EGA to VGA converters. I thought it looked really good, so I decided to make a new cabinet for it. I made it about the same width as the skateboard half, and only about 16" deep. I used white melamine, and this is my first real "cab build" from scratch, but I think it turned out pretty good.

I peeled the sideart off the monitor and applied it to the sides. I extended the sides a little bit near the flames on the sideart so it would look better (not cut off), and installed some orange T-molding. I was afraid that the game would look really strange with it stretched to 16:9, but it's really not a big deal. I haven't permanently mounted the marquee, and I'm not sure how I'll light it, but I'll figure it out.

I have all the Top Skater boards on one half of the cabinet, and hopefully some day I'll come across an Air Trix boardset and install that in the other half. If anyone has a set that they'd like to part with, let me know! I also have some original Top Skater stuff I'm giving away (monitor, base, marquee holder) - http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?p=1741516#post1741516 .

Anyway, just thought I'd share. I like it much better... and it has freed up a bunch more room in the arcade (after rearranging, I should be able to get 4 more games in). So... what do you think?

DogP
 

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Looks really good! I understand the need/want to make this game smaller! I would love to have one, but it's too BIG!! Really looks like you did a good job on it! Top Skater is one of my favorite games to play....but I don't think I've played a fully working one in years! It always seems that the board is not calibrated correctly, and the steering is off. Anyways great job on the "mini conversion "
 
Dog,
Looks good! I was actually wondering what mine would look like if I was to do an LCD convert, now i know! Doesn't look all that bad, as you stated.
@Tec, if you make it up to Connecticut ever, you could stop by our arcade and play a fully working TS. (After I get the part for the ONE thing I need to make it 100%). I know it's sad, really. Hard enough to FIND a machine in the wild anymore, and when you do, it NEVER works...Although, to be fair, it does take a hell of a lot of abuse, even by those who are not playing it. Trust me.
 
I definitely want one of these. Size is an issue right now. It would take up too much of my limited space even as a "pseudo mini". One day...
 
Stretching on widescreen TV's bother me something fierce. The image quality looks good... but the stretching isn't something I could deal with frankly.

I suppose you could run the game in letterbox mode?
 
Thanks for the compliments guys... it's definitely one of my favorite games, so the cost and effort that went into it was well worth it. I just really hated how much space that game ate up... now it's not much more than a regular sit-down driver.

@Frizz - I agree... I thought it was gonna be aweful... but while in CA I went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, and they had a lot of games that they converted to wide screen flat panels. One of them was Top Skater, and I really didn't think it looked bad at all. So I gave it a shot, and I really don't think there's a problem with it. It's 1/3 too wide, but with animated graphics, it's nothing like watching normal TV stretched widescreen (the skater just needs a little more exercise ;) ). For comparison, it's like:
attachment.php


I could pillarbox it, but then it'd look too small and waste a good chunk of the screen, or I could stretch the height and clip it, but I'd have to chunk off a lot from the bottom, since I need the top there for the time (the bottom would lose the speed and song title).

DogP
 

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That actually looks nice dude.
For the marquee, you could build a shallow light box and put leds inside.
 
it looks better widescreen, pulls you into the game more imho..

nice, good to know thats an option for all these effing sega games that get hellatious screen burn...
 
That actually looks nice dude.
For the marquee, you could build a shallow light box and put leds inside.
Yeah, I was thinking about something like that... though where I'm looking at putting the cab right now might not have room for a marquee on top of the cab at all :/ . I'm also not sure about how even the lighting would be from LEDs.

If I can, I'm thinking of having the marquee like I have it in the pics, but permanently mounted... then have one or more LEDs behind it shining like a flashlight flooding the marquee. Since they're so directional, there shouldn't be much light leakage around the edges.

it looks better widescreen, pulls you into the game more imho..

nice, good to know thats an option for all these effing sega games that get hellatious screen burn...
Yeah, between the aweful burn-in and just the fact that many are getting old and dim, blurry, etc. That VGA adapter board seems to work really well... I was hoping that there wouldn't be a noticable lag or anything, and it seems to do the job pretty well.

DogP
 
This looks great! I am very jealous/inspired to do this to my top skater at some point, that is once I come across a good price on an lcd...
 
This looks great! I am very jealous/inspired to do this to my top skater at some point, that is once I come across a good price on an lcd...
Yeah, I just watched Craigslist for a little bit, and came across that plasma for $100. It's only 480P, and is really meant to be a monitor, not a TV (no tuner or speakers built in)... so it's pretty worthless to most people.

It works great for this though, since 480P is higher resolution than Top Skater, and the speakers are already on the cab.

DogP
 
Pure sickness, I hope to be able to try it when i am in town next!
 
Yeah man... definitely hit me up when you're in town again!

DogP
 
Stretching on widescreen TV's bother me something fierce. The image quality looks good... but the stretching isn't something I could deal with frankly.

I suppose you could run the game in letterbox mode?

my tv has an option where it leaves the center of the screen unstretched and just stretches the side, another option to look into possibly.
 
It's now a Top Skater / Air Trix mini. :)

I picked up an Air Trix boardset a few months ago, and finally got around to wiring it up and making all the circuitry for switching. Air Trix is a really fun game, and quite a bit different than Top Skater, so it makes a great combination IMO.

DogP
 

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Hi, Im new here.

I have a Top Skater and love what you have done with yours.

I have so many questions for you as mine is fighting me to convert it to VGA.

What did you use to convert yours? What did you do with the Sync?

Can you show me some pics of your wiring set up please?

I would also like to add the Air Trix game to mine, I could use your help so I have sent you a friend request. Thanks
 
I like it very much. It would'nt be an alternative for me though. I love the especially the size of the DLX-machines.
My approach would be to mount a short throw beamer infront of the ride-cage.
This would make it more compact while having the same or even bigger image :)
 
My approach would be to mount a short throw beamer infront of the ride-cage.

Even with projectors that do some compensating, that short and heavily angled
throw would probably yield a lot of keystone effect. Otherwise, it's a neat idea.

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Top Skater Conversion

Sorry to Necro this post.

I finally picked up a Top Skater cab for my house. controller side needs some work but the internals were perfect. I dont think this has ever been greased or serviced.
I love seeing a cab that wires haven't been chopped to pieces.

Question I have is there anything in the internals that is NOT needed anymore with the marquee and monitor gone?
There are 2 transformers one is large (i added a pic of it i saw online). I added it now due to the power wires going through it.
I swapped the video board for an HDMI board. works perfect.
That 32" is temporary. I will have a 55" wall mounted once its moved inside.
 

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