The Emulation Station

Rayder · Sep 17, 2003, 06:43 AM

This IS art...in a way. My brother-in-law created this MAME machine that will also play Visual Pinball tables. He built this from scratch, no actual arcade machine was used in the making of this machine(the coinbox was bought from a supply shop).

Check it out at my website HERE or click the WWW button at the bottom of my post for some pics.

He has ALL the MAME games and ALL the Visual Pinball games in it. It's freakin' SWEET! One thing not in the pics is the steering wheel he can use for racing games. He eventually wants to get a light-gun for it too.

Kgentatszu] · Sep 17, 2003, 06:55 AM

he built this from sketch???

***Zardon*** · Sep 17, 2003, 07:15 AM

that really is incredible !

HsuGotaQ · Sep 17, 2003, 07:24 AM

That is one impressive machine your brother-in-law made! Got a few questions thought. Does the screen rotate? Because in this picture the screen seems higher than wider (3x4 ratio) whereas the other images (like this one) the screen seems wider than higher (4x3 ratio). Also, how much money he spent on this machine? I would be interesting to know how much the cost of creating such a beauty comes up to. Anyway, I really dig the central ball pad. It's the perfect controller for any bowling or golf game!

Rayder · Sep 17, 2003, 08:02 AM

Oh Yes! The screen does indeed rotate! He created the cabinet using some blueprints off the net somewhere, but he integrated a few of his own ideas. He maximized the the area that stores the PC and sub-woofer. He came up with the rotating monitor idea himself. (That's why there are no details on that, it's still being developed (but it works) and he's considering motorizing the rotation.) He altered the control panel from the original blueprints to make the panel accomodate an MS FF Wheel (that works too) and the track-ball. He still wants to get a light-gun (he said he knows just the place to get it). It's a constant project, but I felt it was to the point of showing off and I thought he deserved a little praise for his creation. It really is a work of love and devotion on his part (his kids love it too, of course

).

Seems like he told me that he spent somewhere in the vicinity of $2500-$3000 US for the materials and components(my brother and I hooked him up with alot of the PC stuff), but I'll ask him about the cost more directly. He's the head mechanic at the auto shop he works at, he has a wife(my sister) and 3 kids, not to mention doing major home-improvement projects(currently remodeling his kitchen), so he's usually quite busy. But I'll try to get that cost info.

He used to collect pinball and arcade machines, but thought this made more sense space and maintenance-wise. One machine, thousands of classic arcade favorites, including hundreds of pinball tables (through Visual Pinball http://www.randydavis.com/vp/ (shameless plug

) ) that you really can't find in an arcade anymore, what more do you need for your retro-arcade enjoyment?!?

It be the shiznit!!

Oblivious · Sep 17, 2003, 09:12 AM

Very nice! But I was wondering... you mentioned a subwoofer... what kind of sound system does it have?

Edit: Nevermind... anwsered my own question. It's on the page after all.

Iridium · Sep 17, 2003, 09:21 AM

Very nice work indeed!

IronChisel · Sep 17, 2003, 11:16 AM

I have been thinking about doing this myself, so I have looked into it and seen the amount of work that goes into one of these.
All I can say is, Amazing!