Jump to content
LaunchBox Community Forums

Arcade cabinet recommendations


jlister

Recommended Posts

Hi,

 

i’m not an expert in DIY so was tempted to go with an arcade1up cabinet and mod it to use bigbox, lots of videos and help out there.  But they are a bit on the small size, both in height, though can get a riser and the width for the controls for 2 players, though, at that price it is a bargain.

I’m based in Uk and found this site,

https://www.libertygames.co.uk/store/video_arcade_machines/retro_multiplay_arcade_machines/legends-ultimate/
 

its twice the price of an arcade1up over here but less than the premium cabinets that go into thousands..

it has bigger dimensions than arcade1up, 24” screen,  looks like i can just plug a pc in with bigbox, 6 buttons,   Im not great at judging quality, would appreciate any feedback or recommendations of other sites that are in UK or ship out to UK, under £1000 or wife wont be happy !

thanks

james

 

Edited by jlister
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I did was get an old arcade cabinet that was no working and gutted it. I got it for free. There are many out there that you can do that with. You'd get a much higher quality cabinet that way as well. I then built a new control panel out of wood and retrofitted it in place of the old control panel. Looks great, especially with custom artwork applied.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/30/2020 at 8:12 AM, jlister said:

Hi,

 

i’m not an expert in DIY so was tempted to go with an arcade1up cabinet and mod it to use bigbox, lots of videos and help out there.  But they are a bit on the small size, both in height, though can get a riser and the width for the controls for 2 players, though, at that price it is a bargain.

I’m based in Uk and found this site,

https://www.libertygames.co.uk/store/video_arcade_machines/retro_multiplay_arcade_machines/legends-ultimate/
 

its twice the price of an arcade1up over here but less than the premium cabinets that go into thousands..

it has bigger dimensions than arcade1up, 24” screen,  looks like i can just plug a pc in with bigbox, 6 buttons,   Im not great at judging quality, would appreciate any feedback or recommendations of other sites that are in UK or ship out to UK, under £1000 or wife wont be happy !

thanks

james

 

Hey, I thought I would add to this and let you know this is exactly what I did.  I heavily modified it but the height with the riser is unchanged.  I’m 6’7 so I set it on 4 cinder blocks which is 8 additional inches and it’s perfect for me.  For people who aren’t human giraffes, I would say an additional 4-6” would likely be perfect.  There is a seller on eBay who sells custom risers with an additional 4,6, or 8 inches and the price is not much more than the branded risers are.  Here is a link to those.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Arcade1up-Riser-Only-12-14-16-and-18-for-your-Retro-Arcade-Machine-/333664734807?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292


 I’ve considered making my own for cosmetic reasons but the blocks are growing on me.

 

hope this helps. 

369D010B-C5CD-4B04-8AF8-FAA82A1A5461.jpeg

Edited by Tackett1980
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

If it helps, I am also no diy-expert. But I had a go at making the below:

https://www.instructables.com/A-Super-Easy-Arcade-Machine-from-1-Sheet-of-Plywoo/

It's the first thing I ever built out of wood or anything, and it came out okay I feel. I wouldn't let a carpenter look too closely at the woodwork mind you...! :

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,156921.msg1648530.html#msg1648530

The secret is that it's lots of straight cuts and nothing too complicated. I didn't do T-moulding or anything like that that required a router, and modified it for my own needs, but I didn't need to draw up plans etc.

If you can't find something that you like and is in budget, then I thought I'd give you the option of thinking about building one. Of course, this would be super cheap but take a chunk of time. But that feeling of building your own cabinet and still getting use out of it years later? Great!

There are plenty of vids on youtube and threads on the byoac forums (linked above) that can give you helpful ideas for customising it for yourself.

There's also the precut wood shells you can buy on amazon/ebay. Or from here: https://www.arcadeworlduk.com/.

I'm also in the UK and have bought stuff from arcadeworlduk in the past and had no issues. Helpful customer service as well in my experience.

Good luck with your choice!

Edited by Psynaptik
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, damageinc86 said:

Recroommasters looks soooooo good.  when I finally have enough extra dough for a dedicated arcade cab, I will definitely be going with them.

I started with a recroommasters Xarcade cabinet and heavily modified it myself. I added my own monitor stand with marquee, a custom control panel instead of the Xarcade Tankstick, and a steering wheel and pedals. 

I can vouch for the quality of their products. Very highly recommended.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I've built many arcade cabs including full DIY, kits & modding original. The most gratifying is DIY or modding an original but for my current cab I went with a company in GA called Monster Arcades. Full disclosure...they are not cheap, BUT after getting one I personally will never go back to the old chip board/OSB melamine type that everybody else uses. This thing is solid birch & rock solid. I couldn't be happier. Just my personal opinion.

 

Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...