Paradise Arcade - Part 1: Initial Concept

Since the moment I found out that arcade games exist, I wanted an arcade cabinet in my home.  As a child, this was a dream that seemed as unattainable as being able to fly.  As an adult, such dreams are possible.  But even when I first realised that building a fully authentic arcade machine, capable of playing hundreds (thousands!) of arcade games was doable, it still seemed very hard, too hard to seriously consider.

I overcame that "too hard" feeling and replaced it with determination after visiting Funspot (https://www.funspotnh.com/), the largest arcade in the world, when I was road tripping around the USA as an exchange student in 2012.  The inspiration for going there, and the reason I knew the place existed, was the awesome documentary The King of Kong (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0923752/ - check it out!).  I could write a whole blog just on the experience of visiting Funspot, because it really was special, and it is a place that I recommend everyone visit.  But this is a project blog, and the main point of mentioning this is to say that I had such an incredible time the two days that I was there playing arcade games non-stop, that I became determined to build my own Mame cabinet, even if it was a daunting task.

Back in 2012, I didn't have any soldering or electronics skills, but was experienced with woodwork, and the first project on this blog (the Raspberry Pi Nes) was actually something I undertook as a bit of a warm up to this project.  I finished this project back in 2015, but I'm only just getting round to blogging it now.

It probably goes without saying that I'm a nostalgia junkie, so the point of a project like this is to evoke the memories and feelings of childhood, when I stood at arcade cabinets having my mind blown by the incredible graphics and gameplay that were so much more advanced than anything we had at home.  To that end, my goal here was not to recreate a particular arcade cabinet that existed, but rather to recreate the cabinet that my memories conjured up when I thought back to my childhood.  But I have a pretty good memory, so what my mind conjured up would be pretty faithful to the real thing.  I really value authenticity in these types of projects, so that the cabinet appeared authentic, with authentic parts and details was extremely important to me.

The first thing I did was start to mock up a 3D model, no particular dimensions, just something that "looked right" as a starting point.  I built the following model in Wings 3D (http://www.wings3d.com/) which is a really nice program for doing more artistic modelling.

I was pretty happy with that, it had the shape and proportions that I thought looked right.  I went with a standard two player 6 button setup that works for the majority of games.  I definitely did NOT want some frankencabinet that has the controls for six different types of games on it.  Nothing nostalgic about that.  Next I slapped a basic texture on it, and was even happier with the overall look.  The SF2 marquee was just a placeholder.  At this point I wasn't sure what I would do in terms of artwork, I was thinking I would just put the artwork from one of my favourite games on it.

As I made this model, I was thinking about details, and started making a list of required features, that were as follows:

1.  A CRT monitor (a big one!), but not a huge cab - There is no way I was putting an LCD in there.  LCD might be easier and more convenient in so many ways, but there is simply NO comparison if one wants the authentic experience.  I also wanted the screen to be big.  When you're a kid, the screen seems so big and in your face, so I needed to have that feeling.  But I also didn't want a massive fat cabinet.  So I planned to keep the cab as slim as possible, while accomodating a large screen.

2.  MCA sticks - I didn't actually know what an MCA stick was by name at this point, I had to ask a friend of mine that used to work in an arcade.  I was confused because none of the arcade sticks in Funspot had been like the arcade sticks I remembered in Australia.  My friend told me that the vast majority of the arcade cabinets I played on as a kid were built by LAI - Leisure & Allied Industries and used a particular kind of joystick.  The company still exists today (https://laigames.com/about-lai-games/) and is an Australian company that built it's own cabs, and often made it's own artwork, for the Australian market.  The LAI cabs back in the day had this logo:



I didn't know what LAI was until I chatted to my friend, but I recognised that logo.  The MCA sticks look like this:

They have an all plastic exterior, with an internal metal shaft, and instead of a spring they have a rubber bushing around the pivot point to provide resistance.  Apparently they are practically indestructible.  They feel great, with a short sharp throw, but they are a bit too stiff for some.  They are made to be mounted in a 2mm steel control panel, so my choice to go with these sticks automatically meant I would have to fabricate a steel control panel.

3.  Illuminated coin return buttons with the coin slot integrated into the translucent red button - This sounds like a very strange requirement, I know.  There are a variety of different coin door/coin slot/coin return button styles, but for some reason this particular type stuck out in my memory, so I had to have it!



With further research I learned that this is a Coin Controls coin return button, so I would have to look for Coin Controls coin door.

4.  An "over under" coin door - again, no particular reason, just a style of coin door I remember and one I think looks good.



*Spoiler* this ends up being the one feature I compromise on due to difficulty tracking down a Coin Controls over under door.  It wasn't so important, the style of the actual coin return buttons was the important bit.

5.  Wood grain laminate/vinyl - I had to have that fake wood grain look, it's just wonderfully retro, and so many cabs had it back in the day.

6.  T-molding - of course, what authentic cab wouldn't?

7.  Square perforated metal grills over the speakers - a lot of cabs I played on had this.

That was pretty much it.  So with those requirements in mind, I started to accumulate parts, and began putting together a proper 3D model with accurate dimensions to build from, which I will cover in the next post!