iCade for Christmas!

Yay! My girlfriend bought me an iCade for Christmas! It´s a jolly little gadged, or should I say a mini bar top with a Bluetooth based control panel system. It runs via an Ipad which resides in a small passive dock and communicates as mentioned via Bluetooth. This is more or less hassle free, but I have to admit that a regular Ipad-dock as we know it would be a tad better.

Right now the games available is via the AppStore and is right now only represented by Atari´s Greatest Hits. You get one game free (Missile Command) and have to buy the rest for about 9€ pr. arcade game. Atari also offers most of their home console (Atari 2600) games if that is your cup of tea.

One thing though... It´s kinda strange that Atari offers "Missile command" as a freebie. My problem with that is that "Missile Command´s " cabinet sported a trackball that you spun around as you shot down the enemy missiles. This was a much more accurate way of playing this game. Therefore I have to say that it is a bit odd to use joysticks as they are as accurate as hitting a nail with a birthday cake. But I guess I´ll manage.

The iCade version I have is built by a manufacturer called Ion, and the build quality is pretty darn good. It was easy to put together and does a great overall job for me while I wait for my chance to leave my GF, child and work behind to fokus on my Project Peach.

As an end note. I think that it is very strange that Atari is the only company that supports the iCade. What about the rest: Taito, Capcom, Williams, SEGA, Namco and so on... Pray, pray pray!!!

Time......

Friends! I´m so sorry that its taken so long since my last confession. I do have to admit that I have sinned...Well, maybe not sinned, but at least I have outsourced some of my electronics work. It´s not as easy as to quote the Beastie Boys "Ch-Check it out": "Said, "doc what's the condition, I'm a man that's on a mission" Said, "son, you'd better listen. Stuck in your ass, Is an electrician"

So I got my friend Hansi to solder and fix my LL Power Entry Module 3A switch-thingy so that I don´t have to run a powercable into the cabinet. Now I can sport a sexy little power connector on the cabinet body itself! Nice job Hansi, but the button don´t glow red when I turn it on so I will come by and throw rocks at your house ;)


Here is a better view of Hansi´s work. This is way outta my league. We got 220V over here and I might suffer a Godzilla vs. Tokyo-syndrome if I stick my oh so delicate graphic designer-fingers into something live here..


Hansi also fixed a 12v to Molex transfer. I´m really hoping this will work, but I know that Mr. Koenig had some issues with noise when he pulled power from the PSU. But I´ll solve that when I get there.

Closing in on the price!

Here I have drilled holes for the feedthroughs, and it is looking nice and dandy. The buttons are resting snugly in the different holes, and I do believe they will rest even better when the piece of MDF is primed and painted. The gap on the right part of the MDF-panel is for easy access to the amplifier board if something went south.

From the left: Plastic starfish for power cable, power-up button, light switch for the marquee light, light switch for the back logo-panel, USB-feeds 1-2 and 3 and finally an thermometer with an LCD screen (So that I know when the darn thing catches fire)

Feed the beast!

I´ve always strived to make my Weecade-cabinet as clean as possible. When it came to how I was going to communicate with the computer I went for the Neutrik USB and Network feedthroughs from Lizard Lick Amusements. These things are all metall and look great. The colored rubber "heads" where of course chosen so that they match the Mario Land color scheme ;) Check out Lizard Lick Amusements for more info: http://www.lizardlick.com/

I also got a LL Power Entry Module 3A-plug for a better look when it came to powering up the cade. My problem is that I have no soldering skills and will probably set myself on fire if I tried. Maybe I have to wait for my next project with this one..

You could probably get at better price on the feed on Ebay or something, but I was really happy with the service and shipping speed. Great product. A closer view on the feeds http://www.lizardlick.com/Neutrik-NAUSB-W-AB-USB-Feed-Through-Silver_p_221.html

Candy for my baby!

Got my hands on some circular perforated eloxated steel from a local supplier. Set me back about 9€ for a 500mm x 500mm, 2.5mm sheet. I´ve routed the MDF so that the steel will fit snuggly :)

So pink it is?!? I went all out here, and got a really nice pink spray paint. I´m really happy with the result. The MDF- will be primed and painted super glossy white, so I expect the pink metall to really pop! The nice thing about eloxated steel is that you don´t have to use primer to make the paint stick. That saved me a bit of work.

So nice I had to check ut out twice! Love the pink colour. I had to go to a car tuning store to get the right tone and it was worth my while. Perfect.

All My Circuits

Did some thinkering and built this cradle for my amplifier card. Glued some MDF-parts together and cut out a groove for the card. The reason for this cradle is that the volume button (on the lower right side) has to stick out of the back panel so that I can attach a volume button. I also wanted to place the card a bit out of the way from the other components.

Here I´ve done a test regarding the placement of the card. It is placed so that it is flush with the slat that supports the back cabinet plate so that I can drill a hole and attach a volume button to the amplifier card. The cradle will be primed, and painted like the rest of the cabinet.

Here you see the amplifier card partially in place. I really hope that I won´t run into problems with the PSU. Worst case scenario is having to run two power cables out of the cabinet...

Paint it black (White)

Two layers of water based white paint with a grade 10 gloss and matt sanding between each stroke. I used a foam roller for the smoothest surface possible. It ended up looking really good, but I´m thinking spraying paint next time.

Did a sound test and we´re talking A LOT of sound ;) Also, pay notice to the hole in the bottom of the cabinet. This will house a 95mm Noctua fan, and will force air up through the cabinet and out the port holes on the back. I´m not too worried when it comes to heat as the mother board houses an Atom based processor with passive heating. But I´m a tad paranoid so this suits me just fine.

My main problem now is that the cabinet is extremely vulnerable when it comes to cuts & bruises. It really gets to me when I drop something by accident and make a mark or something to the cabinet. I´m at that upper level of insanity now... I have spent way too much time tinkering with this baby. There will be some final re touching before the final graphics are applied.

Primed & ready

Non-treated MDF drinks alot of paint, so it is extremely important to use two layers of primer before painting the cabinet. First you sand down the cabinet with some fine grained sand paper and wipe off the dust with a microfiber cloth. I also angle the sharp edges of the cabinet so that it is easier to paint.

After the first primer layer I let it dry. Then I sand it carefully, wipe off the dust and carry on with layer number two. When this has finally dried I have the optimal surface for painting. I was using the "Heftegrunn"-primer from the Norwegian supplier "Jotun". It does smell less then its competitors, but it is still important to do this close to fresh air or by using a mask to protect your lungs.

Flippin´out!

More or less at the same time that the home consoles killed the arcades, many pinball manufacturers like Bally Midway, Williams and Gotlieb had to end production. Today I only know of Stern Pinball who is still making games. The problem is that a pinball machine from Stern costs about 51600€, and that is BEFORE you get the Norwegian VAT, which is currently on 25%... In other words, not possible on my paycheck.

Still there are ways to almost relive the good ol´days by using pinball emulators. I have fond memories playing "Pinball Fantasies" on Amiga 500, but it just didn´t come close to a perfect game on a real pinball machine. Still I have put two buttons on my cabinet so that I am ready for some Pinball action either way.

My fondest pinball memory has to be Williams "Addams Family" at my local video rental. This machine is the no.1 sold pinball machine ever, sporting a whopping 20.270 units sold. Just last summer I saw a worn down "Addams" at the "Bakken" funpark in Denmark. To this day I regret not asking someone if it was for sale, and try get it shipped back to Norway for refurbishment (putting it all on my Master Card of course ;) Here you have a little something from the "Addams"-pinball machine :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmnPmXlo9uY&feature=related

The backpanel of extacy

Here you see the newly routed back panel of my cabinet. I´m going to cut and rout a similar hole under the one you see here for USB-feedthroughs, holes for powercable, light switches and a thermometer. I hope I don´t mess up here cause I´ve spent way too much time on this back panel. The panel has been cut with an angle at the top so that it locks itself in place when I attach the two umbraco screws at the bottom. Nice!

Routing on my mind

This is me repeating my self: Routing is darn fun! Here you see my Bosch router doing what it does best...rout... The hole that I am routing curved edges on will house an acrylic window with the "Project Peach" logo in frosted foil. Beneath it I will put a pink cold cathode light, and hopefully achieve a glow effect on the foil. This will become slightly clearer when I get it assembled.

Not exactly spacious...

The cab is now more or less complete. The monitor bracket has been attached and the LCD monitor has been tested. One issue though, it builds too much so I had to remove the plastic casing so the LCD- panel is now completely naked. That saved me about 6mm. I am not 100% happy with the angle of the monitor, but this project is "learning by doing (and reflecting)" so next time I´ll make a version that has a rotatable bracket.

I also drilled holes in the sides of the cabinet for my pinball emulators. The cab has also been equipped with 50mm rubber feet from the Norwegian supplier Clas Ohlsson. These are meant for washing machines but also work great for my project! They make the cab stabile, and also lift it about 30mm from the surface. This is perfect for the Noctua 90mm fan I plan to install later on. I´ll need all the room I can get!

It is pretty tight inside the cab. I´m a bit worried cause I´m going to run a 170mm x 170mm mini-ITX motherboard. The PSU is an older version (ATX) from Clas Ohlsson. This one serves both the motherboard and the monitor. This solves the "two power cables" issue as I wish to only have one power cable running into the cab. I´m a bit worried when it comes to heat disposal, but the motherboard runs an Atom processor and passive cooling, so I guess I´ll be fine.

We have the skills, we have the technology!

Here you see a collage of images of the cab. It has four 85mm air holes which I drilled with my new AEG Power drill. Next step is to cover the holes with some eloxated steel.

A nice tip if you want to avoid burning. First make a 2mm deep cut, then use a 8mm drill to drill a hole flush to the cut you just made. Now you have an exit for the MDF when you drill. Voila! No burning.

A well known issue is that you should avoid using a battery powered drill for hole drilling. The momentum ends up killing the internal brushes of the tool, and worst case scenario is a ruined drill. Go for a corded power drill for this kinda work.

I rounded the edges of the air holes with a 3mm router bit on my Bosch 1400w router. Then i sanded with fine grained paper. In danger of repeating myself, routers are wonderful tools tools and I find it strange that not more people have this in their tool collection! Might not be a tool you use every day, but when that special project comes around it´s a gem! PS: Remember to buy quality router bits, and remember to rout in the correct direction to the rotation of the bit.

Speakerboxxx

In this cab I´m going for a pair of 4" speakers from Biltema. They only set me back 29€, which is a bargain here in Norway. They produce more than enough sound, and are being run by the amplifier card in the picture below.

The speakers are run by a Tripath TA2020 PCB 25watt Class-T amplifier card. It runs on 12v power which I intend to run from the PSU via Molex. My only worry is that I might suffer some noise issues when running the power from the PSU. I talked to some savvy electrical people and they were a bit worried. I´ll deal with that when the issue arrives... An option would be to include a 12v adapter and then solder that to the PSU, but that is waaaay out of my areas of skill.

Fathers day!

You can´t have too many drill bits! My girlfriend gave me a nice Bosch bit set consisting of 30 parts. Bi-metal, concrete and wood plus a counter sink bit. Nice little gift indeed. No more chaos in my toolbox.

It all comes together...

The cab is screwn together with 1" slaths. This cabinet is called a bartop, and it is a bit different from the cabinets you know from your local arcade. It´s sporting a much more compact body. The challenge is to fit all the components inside. This is going to be quite a ride...

The edges of the cab has been routed using a Bosch POF 1400w ACE router. Mine was brand new for the job and I´m blown away by its performance. Where has this tool been all my life?!?! It sports a konstant power feed even when it hits hard wood. It´s also supplied with LED lights that helps you to keep a better eye on the router bits performance. After routing the edges were smooth and nice. I treat the edges with fine sand paper to finish them off, and the result was just stunning!

Parts n´ stuff!

Of all the suppliers I´ve used I have to recommend Ultimarc. Great prices and superb products. Andy at Ultimarc also gives great service even when I send n00b questions ;) I´ve also got an eye on the Ultrastick 360. Check it out! Ultimarc has it all! www.ultimarc.com

"A working machine is only the sum of its parts".

"...I try to picture clusters of information as they move through the computer...What do they look like?"

The cabinet is made out of 12mm MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard). MDF is a really hard type of wood, and it is made under immense pressure. I believe that MDF is the perfect material for MAME-projects as it is easy to cut, rout and sand. The backside with it is that it is an expensive material and also quite heavy. It also does not do well with humidity if untreated, and you have to prime and give the material a minimum of two layers with paint as the material "drinks" paint.

Do remember that the dust from sanding, cutting or routing MDF is highly poisonous so remember to wear a mask. 3M masks are a good choice and also attach a vakuum cleaner to your tools.

The cab I´m making is based on Rasmus Koenig Sørensen´s Weecade. It´s a so called bartop and it´s small and compact. The good part: Less use of MDF. The bad part: You have to be really accurate in the way you work. The drawings have been modified by me, but the general outline has to credited to Rasmus. I am thankful for him sharing all his drawings and work with us. He really influenced me and got me into MAME and cabinet building. Please do visit his site and check out his other great cabinets: http://www.koenigs.dk/mame/eng/

Also remember to donate at his site if you´re deciding to use his drawings. It´s the right thing to do :)

Super Project Peach Artwork

Probably the most exiting thing with my MAME-project has to designing the artwork for the cabinet. I am making this for my daughter so I figured that Super Mario´s crush. Princess Peach would be a good representative. It is all an overdose of pink and cute stuff. The color scheme of the design is based on colors from both the Princess Peach titles and Super Mario series. But before all of this there is indeed a large amount of manual labour to be done.

In the picture above you see the side art (designs for the sides of the cab), Marquee design (the lit top of the cab) and finally the control panel-design (The design behind the buttons and joysticks).

NOM!-NOM!-NOM!

Project Peach

I´m brand new when it comes to MAME, bit I have long experience with arcades. Since way back when I was dropping ten kroners (Norwegian currency) in the local video store arcade (Arna Video) and to this day I´ve learned to love these little cabinets of joy. It was indeed something special to enter the arcade and sensing the smell of dank air and electronics. The excitement, the swamp ass when the last credit was up... I have to say that I think that it is such a shame that the arcades are gone. They were indeed extremely important for the development of the gaming industry and as a post modern icon. Take for example "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" which is filled with arcade gaming references. Check out the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57saocQSQDo

As a graphic designer I have a deep respect for the artists that supplied the artwork for the cabinets. They totally sold the product even before the cab ate its first coin. So I have to admit that it is something greater than just a wish to play the oldies again. I feel that I have a responsibility for carrying on this legacy so that my daughter, and others can enjoy the arcade games that had such an epic place in my life. Also the wood work and working off screen really appeal to me. I come from a family of craftsmen, and it feels so right to challenge my own skills.

I hope that I can inspire others to build cabs as I´m doing. It is so much fun and you learn things that will be valuable far outside of this project! So I beg of you, Please Insert Coin :)

I GOT IN!

Hello World!

Here you can follow my Weecade MAME-Arcade Project.

MAME stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator and it is also all about making replicas of arcade cabinets from its glory days during the 70-80-90s. The cabinets may resemble the ones you´d find in the old arcades, but instead of game boards we´re using PC components or whole PCs installed into the cabinet. Please do read on to see my project so far. Please comment or mail me questions related to the project. I´ll be glad to help you out! Game on :)

You know what's really exciting about video games is you don't just interact with the game physically -- you're not just moving your hand on a joystick, but you're asked to interact with the game psychologically and emotionally as well. You're not just watching the characters on screen; you're becoming those characters.

NINA HUNTEMANN, Game Over