Suggest an Arcade controller board for a MAME cabinet build.

I have an X- arcade, I would say it was decent enough. However I have modded it heavily now and I just love it. Changed the stick for an Omnistick and used Seimitsu buttons.
It was not a super easy mod. I recommend you only get an X-arcade if you want a trackball and save time and money on the initial build.

 

No problem on the merge - just a suggestion for the future We'll always move/merge where necessary.

I guess I misunderstood when you said....

Sounded pretty clear that you wanted to build one!

Really? Where?! All you said was you were building a cabinet - it's even in the topic. Now you say you can't be bothered to do that!

You haven't mentioned where you're located. This is an international forum. I'd sort you out a cabinet - here in the UK. If you're in America or Australia, that's going to cost a fortune to ship.

Still, you're missing my main advice - if you're thinking of buying an $800 rip-off cabinet from that site (or an overpriced joystick board), check eBay, Craigslist or whatever you have locally for a used generic cabinet. Then you just need an interface, stick a PC in it - done! You should be able to pick up a cabinet (including controls pre-wired) for a few hundred dollars tops. Probably far less.

You can rotate a monitor - quite easily in some cabinets. If you really wanted two cabinets to have one horizontal, that's doable regardless of what monitor you stick in there. CRT is nicer, though.

 

You should quote the full sentence. It said "Looking to build an arcade cabinet from Rec Room Masters." Since this is a hardcore Arcade board, I assumed people would know that this is for a cabinet with Ikea-style cabinet assembly.

It seems most people who are handy will build their own or restore an older cabinet. It's just not in the cards for me.

My fault! I was getting my posts confused since I posted in more than one msg board. Oops!

Toronto, Canada. Too bad. That would've been pretty cool.

Though some people are indecisive, I know *exactly* what I want. A cabinet that ;

- requires no modification/refinishing whatsoever. (no time to spend on that)
- can be dismantled for easy moving up and downstairs as I will be moving next year.
- can be customized with the art I want.
- will accept a 32" LCD.
- can be carried in my Yaris.

RRM's Ikea-style cabinets are exactly what I need/want and they offer the customization options that are convenient.

Your needs are probably incompatible with mine. You sound like a purist who's going for nostalgia to recreate old arcades. I'm going for a bigger (and in my view, a better) experience and for practicality. I don't need/want a coin door, for instance. In any case, I initially was asking about controller boards ; not cabinets. I'm positive the advice you're giving is sound, but it doesn't apply to my situation.

As for what is available locally, unfortunately it's a very niche product so there aren't many available to purchase anyway and the very few cabs that are available just don't fit my needs nor would they fit width-wise in the basement staircase. Oh, they joys of living in an old house.

Thanks. I didn't know this. Not a fan of CRTs as they're bulky and heavy, though. I was thinking of a 16:9 monitor turned sideways for games like Pac-Man and vertical SHUMUPs. Nice to know that this could easily be done.

Thanks again for all your help!