I intend to build my own arcade cab, I was wondering if anyone could recommend a place to buy a flat pack style kit for the cab? I have recently moved from the UK to the US (florida). I am ok with the tech build, I am going to source PC parts etc, I will have further questions regarding a mame set up but at the moment I want to get the shell, artwork, joysticks and monitor set up then mess with the heart of the machine. Any help is appreciated
Depending on where you live in Florida, and where you work, you may have a unique resource available to you. Are you near the Orlando/attractions area?
Ah, ok. Well most of the prefab cabinet kits that I've seen are $500+. Here's an example: http://www.mameroom.com/Products_UAII_Kit.asp. They're all particle board construction, but do look nice. In my opinion, a better option would be to buy a broken or gutted cabinet from eBay or craigslist. With patience and luck you can get one for ~$100 and it will be made of real wood and more authentic. After you have a cabinet, you'll want to visit http://na.suzohapp.com/ for all the magic parts. You just need to place and wire your buttons/joysticks, connect them to one of these (http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac1.html) and then plug that into that PC/laptop inside the cabinet. It's up to you if you want to use a PC monitor or an authentic arcade CRT. I used a regular PC monitor in my MAME, but kind of regret that decision. :/
Cheers for the advice, I think I will keep my eye on craigslist, ebay et al to find a cab. I might try and source out a few arcades if there are any local to me and see if they have anything left for spares. I would prefer a CRT screen, I will see if I can get a cab with a working one, failing that and $$ constraints I may go for a PC monitor. What level of PC/Mame can (if possible) run things like virtua fighter, tekken, virtua striker etc?
