Help with modding/purchasing an arcade cabinet

Tech Talk
#1

I want to house either a MAME emulator or my xbox 360 in an existing cabinet that I have yet to buy. I do not want to mod my computer or the 360, I just want them to be housed within the undercarriage of the cabinet.

A Local arcade is selling a bunch of cabinets that they have. They are all in working condition. They are running on an average of $500 each.

Particular games of mention are: Marvel vs Capcom (HS9A), Tekken 3 (Sega Cab), SNK vs Capcom (HS9A), SNK vs Capcom KAOS (HS9A), Supeter STreet Figther 2 turbo, Tekken 2 and Mortal Kombat 3.

I am assuming that I may be able to sell the actual game board on ebay or here and make some of my expenses back from purchasing the cabinet. That said, if my main goal is to play 6 input fighting games (streetfighter, mvc) on the cabinet, which of the aforementioned games should i get? also, which of those game boards has the greatest likelihood of selling well?

I’m sure there is much more to actually gutting this cabinet and putting in my own setup. I have zero experience with these things. I’ve searched a bunch of threads of people’s DIY projects but there aren’t too many that focus directly on the interior workings of these projects.

Have i missed any glaring technical issues that I should focus on before buying one of these cabinets? I"m going to try to take a look at these machines today, so maybe I can put some video up later.

#2

Pics of the cabs?

#3

You’ll need PCBs for controllers, either a padhacked 360 controller, or just a Cthulhu for PC, maybe pushbuttons and/or new sticks (I’ve played MvC2 cabs with broken Happ sticks. Not fun). I’d say the most sellable are the ones with Capcom’s name on it, Either SSFII:T (Probably the most likely to see demand) or MvC. That’s just my opinion, though. Of course, keep or obtain the PCB of anything you wish to use on MAME (Keep it legal!).

I’d recommend MAME over 360 because of monitor issues. Those cabs work with a very vertical monitor, while you’re going to want one that’s horizontal for 360, while MAME is emulating exact replicas of the old arcade versions made on these. And it’s a monitor, after all. Now, you COULD gut the monitor, sell it, and then fixate something more television-esque, but it’d probably look a little odd in the cab.

Basically, you’re going to want gut everything from the cab except the monitor, buttons, and joysticks, get two Cthulhu PCBs (You can connect everything without soldering, as it has screw terminals), two USB A/B connectors, and hook the Cthulhus to the USB ports of your PC, then attach monitor to the PC. The existing monitor is going to be your best fit in these cabs, and the best looking one. May need to adjust resolution to fit the interface properly on these cabs.

Xbox 360 would generally be the same, only put TV in place, hook up, and use some pre-padhacked (or padhack yourself two Madcatz 4716/Madcatz fightpads). Pre hacked available in trading outlet.

If everything’s all hooked up well and good, test out the sticks under Control panel> printers & other hardware> game controllers> properties. Test button responsiveness and joystick responsiveness. Should be good, but if you’ve cracked her open already, it’s worth replacing. These all sound like they’re going to be using Happ parts. Naturally, replace any defects with Happ parts.

Xbox 360 would be a little tougher to test for. But you can get 2 Happ joysticks for $16, and 12 Pushbuttons for $20.40. Get ~50 Quick solderless disconnects for .187" terminals (Need 8 per joystick, and 2 for each button, plus 10 or so for “oops” protection) for .10 each, so altogether, $41.40 to completely replace the parts, if you choose. The ones in there are probably good, but if you want to do some special colors, that’s up to you. Plus, you’ll have that fresh pushbutton smell.

Need wire to hook everything up, of course. 22 gauge AWG stranded is the choice, because it’s the smallest gauge that can go into quick disconnects, and stranded is much easier to work with over solid core.

In either case, basically, you’re going to be building 2 joysticks that go to USB ports of whatever device you choose. The only problem I may see is hooking up the display.

#4

There’s a ton of info over at the build your own arcade controls forums regarding arcade cabs. I suggest you look there.

Off-topic; Nerrage, what does your sig mean? That the resistor listed can be used in any application needing resistors?

#5

I do not know if it is supposed to be a joke or not.
Because I don’t know any Resistors with First Band being black.
Though a Resistor for 0 Ohms has one Band, and that Band is black.

#6

thank you for the information so far. Attached are two short videos i’ve taken of the cabs in question. one is in a really dark arcade so it is difficult to see. this would be the SF2 or Tekken cabs.

The ok baby cabs are what i’d prefer as they are sit down cabs and they look as if the joystick layout is similar to what i’m looking for. Either way, looks like its going to take a great deal of work. I’m beginning to wonder if it isn’t cheaper to just build one from scratch.

cabinet | United States | By Ken San Nicolas (kensanity) HAPP Cabinet

okaa baby cab | Guam | By Ken San Nicolas (kensanity) Sitdown Cabinet.

#7

Go for the sit down candy cab.

#8

It’s a joke. Resistors are read as "Number, number, (times 10 to the color power), tolerance"
Black is zero. So I’m saying zero zero times 10 to the 9th (1,000,000,000) ± 5%, which is still zero.
0? resistor could be used in any circuit. Because it’s basically jumper wire. But as jdm says, it would, in reality, just be a black band. So it’s just a little joke for anyone who gets it.

#9

Oh ok. Never used a resistor in my life. :shake::looney:

Back on topic: Sit down cabs are nice, since you can use any chairs, but even a stand up cab can be a sit down with some nice barstools. If you go that way I’d get stools with padding of some sort. Wood stools are nice but will put your butt cheeks to sleep after a while. Not fun. :wtf:

#10

I’ve linked the cabs in question.

Any suggestions or advice as to why or why not i should go with one or the other?

I’m assuming the stand up one is made of some sort of plywood so i have to worry about termites i would think, but which of these would be easier to gut and mod?

I’m under the impression that I can remove the buttons and joysticks and just swap them out with sanwha or seimitsu parts like i would a TE stick. am i underestimating the difficulty of this project?

#11

I second the sit-down candy cab. Didn’t know you had that option available.

You’re going to have to do a bit more than that if you want to set up a 360 or MAME. You’re going to have to get the right PCBs, and such. Read my post above, it details what this project will cover. Except I said Happ parts. If you get the candy cabs, it’ll be sanwa and Seimitsu, but if the parts included work, go ahead and use them, no reason not to, unless if you want a palate swap.

#12

I would honestly go with the candy, there is no real way to replicate a candy cab from scratch as those things are made of like a fiberglass/plastic material.

They have lots of places online where you can get replicated art and stickers to restore it like new. Also the fact that you can sit down at the cab is a plus. Hours of gaming while standing up can get annoying after a while and it will deter you from wanting to play it.

As somebody who has went the route of a candy cab as well, I would highly recommend it. Theres just something about having a nice restored candy cab.

just my 2 cents on the matter.

#13

If you’re on budget, then just go the easy way route…Why buy a working cab if you’re going to pretty much gut it, plus the hassle of trying resell the pcb & monitor…

What you need to do is look for arcades on craigslist…You can get a lot of good deals there…
Then just buy or pick up a tv & plug your modded xbox to it…

#14

Get the ST cab ST alone sells for close to 200

#15

OMG, a japanese ST candy cab for $500!!!

grab it before someone stole it!

#16

By this, he mans “Super Turbo,” which is Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo. Just in case you didn’t know.

#17

Take the candy cab for sure. Way better builds and easy to customize.

#18

Would you guys recommend i take out the monitor as well? I’m not someone interested in restoring an arcade machine. I just want the feel of a machine with the modernization and customization of either my xbox or mame.

#19

if the monitor has vga inputs, I would keep it.

#20

For MAME I’d definitely keep the monitor.