For those who need a refresher, check out our original article about M.A.M.E. We will soon be posting our next episode of Game Apparent TV which will focus on my mindless rambling about the work that went into converting the Space Invaders cabinet we acquired in Episode 2. This is an opportunity for me to offer some technical details with some of the rambling filtered out.

In creating the M.A.M.E. cabinet, I had three essential jobs:

1. Building the cabinet (or modifying a non-functioning original)
2. Configuring software (the emulator and the games themselves)
3. Building and wiring the interface (including the control panel and display)

There are a number of sites with relevant information for all of this. However, I would like to focus on the third step. The first step is mostly wood-working. Though it’s challenging, it’s fairly straightforward. The second step is pure computer stuff. Except for picking a front-end interface, this was the easiest for me. However, the third step was the most intimidating. (For those of you who haven’t wired before, be sure to view the upcoming episode to see the bundle of spaghetti that hides underneath the panel!) Though the cabinet itself may seem like the element that brings authenticity to the arcade gaming experience, I contest that it’s the interface more than anything else. If the interface is right, once you begin playing everything else will just fade away…

My biggest discoveries that made this a possibility (other than insight and support from Darren and other friends) were the following sites:

• Build Your Own Arcade Controls - A wonderful resource and forum that answers practically every question that you might have about building a cabinet. Be sure to search the forums before you post any questions. Chances are, your questions have been asked multiple times before. You just need the answers.
• Groovy Game Gear - If you only wanted to buy your parts from one location, this would be it. I chose to get a number of my components from them, but still used different vendors for other items. Yet this site covers all the bases. The one item that I had to get from them was the TurboTwist 2 spinner. I bought the Token Top knob to go with it. This spinner is brilliantly designed to fit in a standard button hole and you can get it with its own USB interface which requires no drivers - it just works!
• X-Arcade - This company makes freestanding controllers, but they sell parts separately too. I own one of their original Dual Joystick controllers and it has functioned flawlessly for seven years. I got my trackball from them and I bought an Arcade Bundle that included 2 joysticks and 20 buttons with micro-switches.
• Ultimarc- This company makes the industry standard keyboard controllers. (This is the “brain” that translates your button-presses into keyboard presses so the computer can understand your commands.) You can buy good controllers from Groovy Game Gear and X-Arcade as well, but after reading countless articles and forum postings, I was set on Ultimarc. I chose the Mini-PAC with the harness to minimize my need for crimping wires. I still needed to make extensions, but nothing like I would have done if I wired from scratch. This unit also comes with its own diagnostic software and as complicated as I thought it would be, hooking the buttons and joystick to this unit was a dream.

The trackball proved to be the most problematic element of the control surface. The housing itself is rather large and it needs to be mounted approximately 1/4″ from the surface of the control panel. Most people suggest routing out 1/2″ of your 3/4″ MDF to accommodate the housing. Having little experience with using a router, I decided to buy a 1/4″ sheet of MDF and a 1/2″ sheet of MDF. This way, I could use a jigsaw to cut out the shape I needed in the 1/2″ MDF for the housing while just using a 3″ hole saw in the 1/4″ MDF for the ball itself. I then Used wood glue to fuse them together.

As far as my display, I decided to go with an S-video monitor. Many purists will tell you that an actual arcade monitor is the way to go and Ultimarc makes a special video card that can interface with these. However, I wanted a large display and I didn’t want to pay alot. The S-video option provides a better representation of color and clearer graphics than a composite monitor will. I got a videocard with an ATI chipset that had an S-video out for only $20. By using a 25″ monitor, I could still have a decent-sized image when I would run vertical games. Titles like Pac-Man, Galaga, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Xevious, and Tempest are all vertical titles. If I used a smaller monitor that was mounted horizontally, the vertical games would seem too small.

Handling audio was easier than I had expected. Though I am only running mono, I was able to use the original speaker that was in the Space Invaders cabinet. I disconnect the wiring harness from the speaker by removing the existing wire nuts that were connecting it. In turn, I took a simple 1/8″ mini cable and ran it from the computer’s speaker out to the leads on the speaker. The PC’s audio card offers enough amplification to drive the speaker comfortably.

I have numerous other insights and comments (and you can bet that I’ll continue to share them), but I’ll hold for now. Feel free to comment below or share any thoughts and/or questions with us via the forums.