Home Arcade Project

[cyberfluxor]

Although I love computer and console games neither one can really take anothers breath away like a room with arcades. Thanks to a local fellow DPer I managed to get a lot of PCBs and parts a couple of months ago to push forth my idea of an arcade game room once I own my first house. It'll take me many months or even a few years to really get a good number of machines running but I'm ready to slowly take those steps.

I finally brought most of the arcade stuff to the attic so I can continue sorting and recording what I have.

I plan on over time posting my progression into the arcade project here.

Here's a replacement picture of the boards I have (11/16/08):

[Cinder6]

Cool project. How many machines are we looking at, here, once it's finished?

[cyberfluxor]

Cool project. How many machines are we looking at, here, once it's finished?

Well, it's a complicated problem right now and here's why:

I haven't recorded every game that's pictured and there are quite a few duplicates. Out of the PCBs I know several games require specialized controls or screens that won't be easily exchanged within a generic machine. One such game that'd be very difficult to get as exact as possible would be Alpine Racer 2, however I'll be looking into options for alternative gameplay.

Another aspect is that I have a friend that'll be researching and building along with me and will get a few of the duplicates for his own machine. This doesn't cut down my number of cabs unless we decide he'll have some of the games that lack extras. There's another friend of mine that wants a Zaxxon board for fun, but we have like 5-6 boards for that game alone.

Finally, 7 of those are JAMMA boards and more than likely I'll only make one JAMMA cab and won't place any PCBs in there, which'll increase my dedicated cab number.

All in all I expect at the end to have at least 5 cabs and maybe 1 or 2 cocktails in a room with a billiards table in the middle. The boards I have need to be classified by how they play so I don't create an excess amount of cabs that could actually share with others easily.

Now, I'm a complete newbie to arcades so it's a new huge experience for me and it'll be a great learning experience starting from the ground up.

[cyberfluxor]

Okay, here's the list of boards:
PCBs:
(4) Afterburner
(6) Hang-on
(3) Enduro Racer
(8) Bally Midway MCR System Games boards
(4) Super Pac-Man
(5) ZAXXON
(1) Kung-fu Master
(5) Birdy King 2
(1) Namco FX in a cage
(1) Rescue Raider
(1) Lock-on
(1) Le Mans
(1) Rampage
(2) Xenophobe
(1) Arch Rivals
(3) Frogger
(1) OP Wolf
(2) Tron
(3) Galaxian
(1) Hot Rod
(2) Track Pak
(2) Space Odyssey
(1) Alpine Racer 2

JAMMA:
(1) WWF Superstars
(1) WrestleFest
(2) POW
(1) The Speed Rambler
(1) Bowling
(1) Tekken 3

Misc/Add-ons:
(2) SNK A8002-3 Mechanized Attack
(1) Mrs. Pac-Man upgrade
(1) V-RAM Addresser 284
Bally Enhancement Kits drives: 15786 & 2950

[Cinder6]

That's...a lot of boards. What's the Mrs. Pacman upgrade do? Never heard of it.

[cyberfluxor]

It's one of the add-on boards to turn Pac-Man into Mrs. Pac-Man. Because I have 4 Super Pac-Man boards I might get the other add-on to convert it to Mrs. Pac-Man, but I don't know if that's possible with the Super board. Worst case, I trade it for some other arcade hardware stuff.

[cyberfluxor]

So it's been awhile since I've posted in my arcade project thread and that's because there hasn't been much progress since.

So today was a breakthrough. Graduation is around the corner and moving out is comming closer, so I managed to wing it by the parents to get a cocktail cab! This is my first cab and I bought it off a local bud on the NeoGeo forums and here it is.
The machine open:

The guts of the machine:

Fired up:


So it works but needs some TLC and a replacement on the monitor board for horizontal alignment. What's the plan? To have it setup so I can easily swap out several different Midway boards and mount some of the parts nicer on the inside. Some painting later but cleaning up on the inside and out are on the agenda for this comming week.

[Arcade Antics]

Used to be a Williams cocktail table.

[cyberfluxor]

Used to be a Williams cocktail table.

Well, I'll see what I can do but at least it isn't a loss.

Slipping this one in to show the Robotron 2084 addition.

===== 04-11-2009, 05:27 PM =====

So I picked up my Robotron 2084 cab last weekend and spent this week doing minor cleaning like getting rid of some spider webs, dust, grime, and scuffs; still have more to do. I also swapped out a newer pair of sticks as the other pair need cleaning and didn't match each other as well. It also came with all of the paperwork/operation manual from what I'm aware of.


Far view of the machine on.


Closer view and lighting can be seen clearer. Need to get the blue lights beneath the player 1 + 2 start buttons.


View inside the back of the cab.


My not-so-great job on the control sticks. The previous setup had the wires soldered to the micro-switches, something I wanted to avoid having again. I'll need to clean it up sometime if it begins to act up, but is quite stable for the moment.


Picture of some gameplay, though blury.

[cyberfluxor]

I did a bunch of re-linking since I organized my photobucket stuff awhile ago. It's interesting that I'm approaching 3 years of being involved with these arcade machines and the hardware behind them. I have met so many great people in this hobby of arcades for such a short time and it's a tight crew.

So anyhow, it appears there are some more machines coming my way in the next few days. [teaser removed... now the real deal ] They came in today... Good times.


The bunch.

X-Men

Police Trainer (v.1.5)

Fighting Vipers

Ameri-Darts.

Damn they need a cleaning and a bit of work, but overall happy as a clam with them. Spent my last few hours moving them into place, plugging and starting them up, and playing away! Some buttons could use help and I don't have keys for the X-Men or Police Trainer backs. The Ameri-Darts is missing a middle back panel.

[cyberfluxor]

So today while driving home what was spotted on a side country road was a Mata Hari pinball. I called up a friend to get a hand and somehow managed it into my back seat with other parts in the trunk. Got it back home and into the garage so for a free pick-up I now have my first, dirty pinball that would be one hell of a task to clean up and get running again. I plan to break it down when I get a chance, clean as much up as possible and assess where to go with it. Pictures to come a bit later.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

You found a pinball machine?! Sweet score, even if it is in rough shape.

[dendawg]

It's one of the add-on boards to turn Pac-Man into Mrs. Pac-Man. Because I have 4 Super Pac-Man boards I might get the other add-on to convert it to Mrs. Pac-Man, but I don't know if that's possible with the Super board. Worst case, I trade it for some other arcade hardware stuff.

Don't see how that's possible considering the Pac/Ms. Pac-Man boards have Z80 CPU's, and Super Pac-Man has a 6809.

[cyberfluxor]

Don't see how that's possible considering the Pac/Ms. Pac-Man boards have Z80 CPU's, and Super Pac-Man has a 6809.

I was only relaying what I heard about them at the time and it might have been about something else. I still haven't really touched those little boards, I ment to inquire about them on KLOV awhile back. As a newbie then and still roughing it today I wouldn't really suggest taking my word as gospel in the field, rather hope some more experienced people may fill in the gaps and direct me in picking up the loose information.

I went back by my place to take a few pictures (still haven't moved in yet). I did a little wipe on the glass to get a better picture of the playfield.


Back display:

You found a pinball machine?! Sweet score, even if it is in rough shape.

Yea I know right? Apparently there was a Pac-Man out there hauled off a few days ago, pinball left behind. I wouldn't have minded an arcade, but a pin to play with is pretty sweet. I hope it doesn't come down to costing large money to repair, otherwise I may need to part it out to get some other stuff.

[goatdan]

For a Mata Hari, that is actually in great shape from those pictures. Nice score. If you decide not to work on it, I'd suggest selling it as a complete project instead of parting it out, you'll almost definitely get more money for it that way, as parting out a Mata Hari with boards of unknown condition will only net you money for the playfield. Besides, that way a pinball machine can continue to live somewhere!

And watch out, pinball machines multiply like freaking rabbits.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Yea I know right? Apparently there was a Pac-Man out there hauled off a few days ago, pinball left behind. I wouldn't have minded an arcade, but a pin to play with is pretty sweet. I hope it doesn't come down to costing large money to repair, otherwise I may need to part it out to get some other stuff.

Pretty cool. And not in bad shape considering- finding it. I've looked at machines in peoples house in worse condition. I have yet to dabble in the pinball world as I don't have any space for one right now, but I'm sure with some research and reading you may be able to get it working. Unless it's a complete rats nest under the playfield.

Good luck, and I'm interested to see your progress on getting the pin going.

[cyberfluxor]

For a Mata Hari, that is actually in great shape from those pictures. Nice score. If you decide not to work on it, I'd suggest selling it as a complete project instead of parting it out, you'll almost definitely get more money for it that way, as parting out a Mata Hari with boards of unknown condition will only net you money for the playfield. Besides, that way a pinball machine can continue to live somewhere!

And watch out, pinball machines multiply like freaking rabbits.

Thanks for the tips. I've seen a number of people turning towards pins and that's a real costly venture there. One becomes 3, 3 becomes 5 and next thing you know you're stashing them in storage someplace. IMO if you aren't playing them and can't find a commercial spot to make a few bucks, then you're better off selling.

Pretty cool. And not in bad shape considering- finding it. I've looked at machines in peoples house in worse condition. I have yet to dabble in the pinball world as I don't have any space for one right now, but I'm sure with some research and reading you may be able to get it working. Unless it's a complete rats nest under the playfield.

Good luck, and I'm interested to see your progress on getting the pin going.

Well, the insides are actually really clean and nice. Once I feel it's ready I'd like to power it up, but take any testing procedures prior to ensure there are no shorts or clear blowouts someplace. It may be a few days before I touch it again but certainly if it lights up or duds out I'm sure an update will occur. The gameplay videos look alright, but no music is a bit of a bummer.

[Ed Oscuro]

From the first post, what's the panel in the third picture? It looks rather awkward to use (depending on the mounting).

[InsaneDavid]

...but no music is a bit of a bummer.

Vintage pins make their own "music."

[cyberfluxor]

From the first post, what's the panel in the third picture? It looks rather awkward to use (depending on the mounting).

I can't recall and don't believe it's for any of the games I have.

Vintage pins make their own "music."

Straight up, the effects are real nice and the lighting is sweet. Will be nice if things actually work.