Let's build a bartop arcade (was: donate donate lcd for bartop arcade build)

You have to go on the days the truck delivers they go pretty quick…also look at shopgoodwill.com its and ebay for goodwill items…ill keep my eye out for one as well

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S® 6.

Someone just posted a build yesterday of a nice bartop arcade machine they built to /r/RaspberryPi.

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yeah i’ve seen something similar, looks like he refined a different laser cut build.

I suggest we get 2 builds going, one for an xbox, and another with a PI, that way we can cross teach and learn about each setup.

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ok i was able to win a working original xbox for 30.00 shipped that we can tear down and clean up.

Anybody have a a PI they would like to donate?

I have a Pi B+ I could donate. Need most of the accessories still, I can throw in a SD card.

cool…what did you use for the controls interface with the PI? @themitch22

For my costume I used a winbook windows tablet and used an ipac2 control board. I haven’t tried hooking up controls to the pi yet.

yeah i’m familiar with the IPAC2, i guess we can dig around and see what the standard control method for the Pi is.

was that you bidding against me :smile:
I snagged one as well. I have a raspberry pi b+ and have installed RetroPie image. It’s somewhat usable, as long as you have a matching rom set for one of the five flavors of Mame that it comes with, which as luck would have it, I did not have a compatible romset. Many games worked, but it is not without its headaches. I’m looking for a seamless usability, as the last thing anyone wants to think about when playing games or showing off their new toy is having to fuss with the underlying magic that makes it happen.

I cut out my prototype cabinet on the laser today using foam board. It is a vertically configured one, about 16 inches wide (one player. I’m exploring options per se. I play mostly vertical games (platformers, shooters), but enjoy fighting games as well, so I am at odds with which orientation to go with. Also, with th 17" 4:3 monitor I have on hand, and my desire to make do with on hand parts, I think a basic, vertical, one player bartop is a good starter.

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wow i was thinking the same thing, i lost one today for 17.00, and the i maxed bid 20 and somebody got it for 21.

Retropie = Emulation Station correct?

What mame version does it come with, i have and older and recent set.

The Pi has limited preconfigured GPIO pins for controls, i think 2 buttons plus up down left and right. An Ipac/Kade will be needed for a 6 button plus config. I read a little on how to do this, but i have no experience programming a Pi.

Hahaha yes that was me. I was bidding on two. Got one for 21 :wink:

ok just let me know how you want to handle the show and tell or if you just want to get a class approved by the powers that be…

Can we meet up at dms when you are ready? Hopefully soon as this arcade itch is killin me :wink:

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sure i should have some time this week…

I would like to get in on any build as well. I have been meaning to build a small bartop arcade for a while… I will try to be up at DMS most afternoons this week after 6pm.

– Shawn Christian

Stupidly excited. I was just gifted a Raspberry Pi and I also have an old XBox that needs to be repurposed. I think I’m going to go the XBox route since there’s really not much use for it at the moment and it can hold more games.

With xbox and coin op can you play 2 players?

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Yes. You can even add a usb hub for keyboard and mouse but normally do not need that.

I’m in. I modded my old XBOX (Xecuter 3) many years ago and it still runs emulations such as MameOX and all the console games. But would be nice to update it with a more modern interface and emulator.

I’ll be back in Dallas tomorrow and at DMS on Wednesday/Thu/Fri evening per usual… :smile:

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Yes, you can actually go up to 4 players if you wanted to based on the xbox ports.

Most use 1 and 2 plyr options, you can also add a trackball in the 3rd port for the golden tees and centipede type games.

The kicker is just the cable, Xbox to USB which you can make, but i have a few of these from prior builds to help out with the group build.

Keyboard and mouse would be used for Amiga and C64 type games which are compatible with Coin Ops, I’ve seen a few rigs with about 13,000 playable games from all sorts or genres and consoles.

@nickdangerous Does Vector have any space available on the jump server. If so i could just load up a current version of Coinops or Premium for anyone to pull down at will for future builds.

I’m thinking for the xbox builds, we could go over softmodding, teardown, hard drive upgrades, and then incorporating the modded box into a workable bartop. Any other ideas?

I also have a friend sending me an email on his PI builds, he’s does 2ply 6 button configs off of one PI, so i’m interested in seeing what he’s doing to make that happen.