
Build an arcade machine at home - emilsw
https://lokalise.com/blog/build-an-arcade-machine-at-home-step-by-step-guide/
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kanobo
I just want to share my Pi mini arcade machine because I'm very proud of how
it turned out: [https://imgur.com/a/ujelaO1](https://imgur.com/a/ujelaO1)

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markkanof
Really nice work. The detail cutting around the hearts at the top is
incredible. How did you do the imagery on the side of the cabinet?

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kanobo
Thank you! It's just acrylics:
[https://imgur.com/a/dByhxV9](https://imgur.com/a/dByhxV9) One of the reasons
I did this project was to try out my new axidraw pen plotter so I drew the
lines on an iPad and had my plotter draw it on the sides for me:
[https://imgur.com/a/FKcGV2g](https://imgur.com/a/FKcGV2g) . Definitely
unnecessary though and could have just been done by hand, but was fun.

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LeoPanthera
It's worth pointing out that if you want to run MAME, specifically, RetroPie
is a bad choice, as is using the Raspberry Pi in general.

MAME's architecture does not lend well to it being converted into a core.
Several features get weakened, disabled, or broken, and they generally don't
function the way they're supposed to, especially with respect to controller
input.

The version of MAME available for RetroPie is considerably older and outdated.
Many of the features have been altered or disabled in order to make MAME work
on less powerful hardware.

Even a low end PC running the latest version of MAME (222, at the time of
writing) is going to give you a much better experience.

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jhbadger
It all depends on the era of game you want to play though. At least for me, I
can't imagine a retro game I would want to play that a Pi couldn't easily
handle, given that my idea of a retro game is Pac-Man, Galaga, Donkey Kong,
and the like. Granted, if your idea of a retro game is a PS2 game from 2001,
your mileage might vary.

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LeoPanthera
It's not necessarily about the experience of the specific game. (Although many
of the games you name do in fact emulate badly on RetroPie. Galaga, for
example, has a glitchy starfield and incorrect sounds.)

It's also that the versions of MAMEs shipped are simply buggy, and have some
features disabled. If you go digging around in the MAME menus, lots of things
are not going to work properly.

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beervirus
What kind of stuff is disabled?

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snarfy
You can do quite a bit with a ~$150 9in band saw. Here's mine [1]

[1] - [https://i.imgur.com/pJOzxcp.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/pJOzxcp.jpg)

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egypturnash
pet cat to insert coin

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sgt
Looks like a biter

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egypturnash
That just means "I love you" in tooth.

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falcolas
I can't see that cardboard lasting more than a month of regular use. Arcade
buttons are hit _hard_ , and the substrate needs to be able to withstand those
forces.

Given that you can source basic hand tools (which can do almost everything
power tools can do) for a low price, this particular cost saving measure
doesn't have a great ROI.

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glxxyz
I thought it was a prototype until I got to the end of the article, I was
looking for the finished version in something more permanent.

Yes there's no requirement to own a circular saw etc.- as well as hand tools
the hardware store will accurately cut wood to sizes you specify for a small
fee.

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munificent
_> the hardware store will accurately cut wood to sizes you specify for a
small fee. _

Home Depot and, I think, Lowes will cut for free here in the US. But I
wouldn't rely on that for any kind of precision sizing. If you need tolerances
within, say, 1/4", you're rolling the dice if you rely on a near-minimum wage
employee who couldn't care less doing the cutting for you.

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oso2k
I just got some wood cut for another project last night. They're usually
pretty good about accuracy, in my experience. I think it all depends on the HD
or Lowes employee you get. But I was very happy with the 48" and 66" cuts the
gentleman I worked with last night made. Choosing between minimum wage or my
novice, unpracticed hands, I think I'll take their hands when I can. As fun as
it is to cut wood. :D

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glxxyz
Yeah it's worked out fine for me too, those awesome wall mounted panel saws
are more accurate than any table saw- but our experiences are both imagined
apparently ;)

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nlh
I'll join in on the show-and-tell portion of this discussion ;)

I built a MAME machine for a group summer house about 6 years ago and probably
went WAY overboard, but man was it fun. My favorite piece was the cabinet,
which I ordered from someone in North Carolina who builds these for a living.
IIRC it was about $500, but wow - was it high quality (and it had to be
delivered via freight - it was probably 200lbs):

[https://imgur.com/a/IHKnJeo](https://imgur.com/a/IHKnJeo)

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beagle3
There are a few old games like "Midnight Resistance" that are much more
enjoyable when the joystick can rotate.... but I've never seen a single home
built arcade machine that had any of those.

I'll likely buy a cabinet some day rather than make it, because I'm not so
good with my hands; I hope by then I could find one that does have a rotary
joystick.

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danbolt
Have you played the Ikari Warriors games in _SNK 40th Anniversary Collection_?
I liked how they updated the emulator inputs to accommodate for the original
rotary joystick setting. Frank Cifaldi went in-depth about addressing it at
GDC last year. [1]

It's certainly not a drop-in replacement, but you're right that those kinds of
games need a certain feeling.

[1] [https://youtu.be/dp-DRU24J18?t=1810](https://youtu.be/dp-DRU24J18?t=1810)

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JKCalhoun
If this gets people making and playing with Raspberry Pi's — awesome.

Over 15 years or so I've built perhaps 9 or 10 MAME (later Retropie) cabinets
because I enjoy iterating. Often I begin the cabinet in cardboard. Perfect way
to prototype.

If you get people to that stage, the cardboard-aided-design stage, the next
step (replacing with wood) is easy.

I think people who have never built anything of significance often find the
very thought of it daunting and so never begin.

In fact, skip the cardboard, I would try to get people just to install
RetroPie and play emulated games with just their USB keyboard.

Then you can move up to cardboard + arcade controls.

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nogabebop23
I agree with your progression, with a little more detail:

* emulators on your desktop * harware like a RPi and maybe add dedicated USB controllers * cardboard mock-ups (I use particle or panelboard for mounting the controls) * permanent version in wood, metal, plastic, etc.

FWIW, I find the screen bezels and access points (doors, etc) the trickest
parts. Mock-ups let you experiment with the dimensions and size easily.

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jjice
This is one of the coolest uses for a Raspberry Pi for those who just being
introduced to them. I made something similar with them way back in high school
and it really started to give me an appreciation for it.

As soon as the Raspberry Pi can run N64 (I believe they're a bit sluggish at
the moment) and GameCube/PS2/Xbox (might take a while, but Dolphin is
incredibly optimized at least) games well, that will be incredible. If you
wanted something like that now, I think a cheap ebay pc would be the route to
take, but I'm looking forward to the Pi's future.

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pantaloony
I have a crappy model-or-two-old Asus Chromebox that runs Retroarch well and
cost about as much as a Pi with trimmings back when I bought it new. Runs N64
just fine. 2GB RAM and a low-clocked dual-core Celeron. Actually with a RAM
upgrade (doable) it’d make an Ok dev workstation if you avoid “webapps” and
Electron and are comfortable with lighter editors rather than e.g. heavy Java
IDEs, and can run your VMs and Dockers somewhere else. Admittedly a lot of
caveats but would work for some people.

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jjice
Old laptops are great for things that the RPi gets attention for. With a bit
of hunting, you can get them dirt cheap, and the integrated monitor is a huge
bonus.

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pantaloony
The one thing I really miss using x86 boxes rather than Raspberries Pi is the
dd-to-sdcard-and-boot workflow. Makes recovery easy, trivial to back up the
exact software you’re running on one. If the whole thing goes up in a fire,
buy another identical Pi, write a new sdcard, and you’re back in business.

But yeah, otherwise if you’re not using the io features you get a lot more
bang-for-the-buck buying used low-end x86 gear.

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ry4nolson
Since this turned into a show and tell
[https://imgur.com/a/kNWxg](https://imgur.com/a/kNWxg)

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Splognosticus
You can also get the actual arcade boards and cartridges relatively easily.
LGR posted a video on his NeoGeo setup a little while back if anybody's
interested in going that route.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eqi30EJi3U&feature=emb_titl...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eqi30EJi3U&feature=emb_title)

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flatiron
i built a mame machine in college and we loved that thing. it was just an ikea
cabinet with an xarcade stick and a computer monitor hung on the wall with an
old computer inside but man did we play that thing. I even remember ordering
the MAME roms on a DVD set online and having them shipping.

i always dream of building a new one but its not like i live in a house with 5
other dudes have parties every night of the week like in college. would I play
it? would my three kids (6, 3, 1) play it in a few years? just a pipe dream i
guess. just for kicks i just loaded up golden tee fore 06 on my thinkpad and
the sound still stutters, guess you still need a lot of oomph for the newer
stuff

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pizza234
The design proposed by the article is very interesting - it's cheap and
compact (in an amusingly humorous way, I find).

Considering it's not demanding in terms of space, it can be built and used as
"filler activity" with children. While the geek's dream is certainly playing
arcade games on a real-world cabinet for hours, with a child, it can be an
activity to do more or less frequently on small sessions (e.g. half hour).

My very wild guess is that children should be able to enjoy arcade games when
they're around 7+ years old - arcade games are on one designed to be quickly
challenging, on the other, at home, they have virtually infinite lives; every
child is different, of course.

On the other hand, a real PC with a couple of arcade joysticks, and maybe Wii
remote controllers, is considerably more flexible, and can be a good test
drive to see if the activity works :-)

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flatiron
very true. my six year old is way more into her tablet and the games there in
than normal controller video games. she does enjoy a bit of sonic 2 but that's
because she can race me on the screen and it doesn't involve much more than
"go forward and jump over stuff."

as for the activity, i think much older than 6. my daughter would get very
frustrated wiring the controller and all of the computer stuff would be way
over her head. but i remember being 12-13 and installing Linux in the mid 90s
so somehwere between 6 and 12 i guess kids get the patience to sit down and
tinker!

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hedora
Fairly accurate USB clones of NES/SNES/Sega/etc controllers were about $20 on
Amazon last time I checked. I have some for my Raspberry Pi.

They’re great.

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pantaloony
The NES and SNES classics come with _excellent_ controllers (side-by-side then
with the originals and it’s hard to tell the difference) and aren’t hard to
“hack” to run an expanded library. Disk space is limited but you can fit about
as many games as a person’s realistically likely to ever play on them.

There are adapters for the controllers but I’ve owned a couple over the years
(to use the Wii Classic Controller over USB) and they barely work to begin
with, then break after a bit, it seems. Dunno why.

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throwanem
Switch Pro Controllers are a bit spendy, but once you tape mod them to reduce
D-pad mishits, they're as good as (first-party, non-counterfeit) Wii Classic
Controllers ever were - I always favored those for Super Metroid speedrunning,
and happily used their newer counterparts for the same purpose until my
arthritis got to the point where it's no longer comfortable to speedrun with
_any_ controller. In particular, I've found Switch Pro Controllers to work
well with the Raspberry Pi 4's onboard Bluetooth. So that might be a workable
option, if you don't mind spending a little more - that said, I've had the
older of mine for something like five years now, and it's stood up very nicely
so far.

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madengr
You can get unfinished cabinets of furniture grade plywood. I wanted mine to
look like a nice piece of furniture (wife approved for living room), and it
does, after much sanding, staining, and sealing. Extra modifications too,
replacing plastic with glass and aluminum.

[https://youtu.be/rl0-a76yN0M](https://youtu.be/rl0-a76yN0M)

I don’t see how a RPi is going to work that well. I’m running a 4k monitor at
over 60 Hz (freesync) with CRT emulation, and it looks gorgeous. The bezel
artwork looks like it was painted.

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CharlesW
> _You can get unfinished cabinets of furniture grade plywood._

Mind sharing sources you'd recommend?

