I Want To Buy A Retro Game : Please Help !!!

[DoKtor]

Hello everyone! I am new to the forum so Happy New Year & Good Luck to everyone in 2009!!!
I live in the UK and I love classic arcade games and the older console games.
I want to invest in a retro gaming table, such as a Taito 80's classic Cocktail Table but 'hand on heart' I'm pretty clueless as to exactly what I should be buying and how to go about it.
I am planning a games room for my new home and I wonder if it is possible to buy/commission someone to build me a table which has the old classics on it such as Phoenix,Defender,Galaxian,Scramble,Space Invaders,Pacman etc. and which can also possibly play the old Nintendo games, such as the original Mario series.I'm afraid I'm not technically minded so If it broke down I would be relying on someone coming to repair it!
Do any of you kind people out there have any thoughts on which direction I should be heading in?
Thankyou,DoKtor

[Wolfrider31]

Not sure about the cocktail tables, but both Target and Costco have their own upright arcade machines. I'm not sure if the UK stocks them but I'm sure you could find them somewhere.

[Mayhem]

If you're looking for a general purpose MAME style machine in the UK, I'd recommend looking for Chris Wilkins (aka Boyo) online and asking him. In the past I would have recommended Ian Boffin (aka Fuseball) but I think he doesn't do that now.

[DoKtor]

Thankyou very much, Wolf & Mayhem................much appreciated!!!!!!!!!!

[PapaStu]

/me reads OP

/me sees OP is talking about arcade cabs

/me shimmies this to Arcade Alley

[XYXZYZ]

Check out
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php

You can learn a lot by lurking there.

[channelmaniac]

You can also give a shout out to Andy at the Sega Shed in the UK

http://www.segashed.co.uk/

He should be able to help you find an older game system.

[IG-88]

How much are you willing to spend? Having one custom built from scratch is gonna cost ya. However if you can find one that has been converted or just in bad shape, you could put whatever you want into it. It really takes no wood working skill. Just some time and effort. Go over to BYOAC and post this. You'll get all kinds of help.