Cabinets and HTPC Setups Running GameEx

[los abrazos rotos]

Heres a few pics of my Discs of Tron themed mame cab running GameEx.. Its my first one & I've just I've just finished it!

[ClassicGMR]

Oh my... I love your cabinet! Tron is a favorite and what you've done just looks awesome and inviting to me.

[kemikal]

Custom Vewlix Arcade Cabinet Running GameEx Frontend

Thought I'd share my arcade cabinet project, based on the Taito Vewlix with my own touches. Still have a few cosmetics to complete but it's up and running with a PC and Xbox 360 inside. Used advice and write-ups from other custom Vewlix projects around the web.

I've hooked up two Mad Catz Tournament Edition Arcade Sticks, as they are USB they work perfect with both the PC and Xbox 360. I can switch the sticks between the PC and 360 by a press of a button on the front of the cabinet.

I was bought up on the Sega Megadrive, SNES and N64 era (early / mid 90's) and in the arcades Street Fighter 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Bubble Bobble etc... where very popular in local shops and at college.

The cabinet itself has a 32" LCD screen, this helped in making it fairly slim depth wise as space in the house is limited.

The PC runs Windows 7x64 and boots straight into GameEx and then can be controlled via the sticks. I've designed a custom GameEx theme based on the Viewlix colours and artwork, this goes well with the marquee at the top.

There is also a video below showing the GameEx interface in action and near the end my children are having a play on it, even though I don't get a chance to spend much time on it the kids absolutely love it, especially retro's such as Metal Slug, The Simpsons, scrolling beat'em ups etc... which are perfect for them with the simple controls.

The Xbox 360 is used mainly for the Street Fighter 4 (X Tekken) and other 2 player beat'em ups.

[thedevilbunny]

I posted this video in another thread but figured I might as well put it where it should go, here in the user cabs section! I have built several GameEx based machines, but i'm most proud of my Cocktail Virtual Pinball Machine. Tom really helped me with a few added options in the new version of GameEx to get this thing running nice and smooth. After watching a lot of the vids and seeing a lot of the pics in here, I wish I had the cosmetic flair ya'll have, but sadly I'm barely just creative enough to make it work, and not creative enough to make it pretty...haha.

http://youtu.be/60qGYFDY38s

[ClassicGMR]

Soooo.... you finished my pinball machine I see? Bring it over!!

That is fantastic. I would love to do something like this in the future once I am settled into a house. I have given it more than just a passing thought but I don't have room for a pinball table here as yet.

One disappointment... I was hoping to see you show us Funhouse as you were hovering over it in the list(5:25). My favorite table.

[thedevilbunny]

You have fine taste in pinball my friend...Funhouse is right up in my top 10 for sure. I'd have to say my favorite table right now is Taxi, but i'm really getting into Attack from Mars.

[Draco1962]

Awesome job! I like the seeing the table snap displaying on the background as you go through the menu! You really need to put together a detailed manual for setting the software, etc. I am psyched!

[thedevilbunny]

It's actually not all that difficult...there are a TON of faq's and youtube video's on setting up future pin and visual pin and UVP....the Gameex software makes rigging the frontend pretty dang simple. First you setup gameextender to send and recieve on 127.0.0.1, and set the viewer setting to display on the secondary screen. That'll get you imaging on screen 2 (the backglass monitor). After that, it's just setting up the images....I set the Image Path in the emulator setup to my backglass directory..that'll get you backglasses on the 2nd screen. Then you set the rest...example I have background snap to my table pics, title set to the wheel image logos, and box and cart images as front and back of the pin flyers. I will say I had to fiddle with the instruction cards and ended up putting it on addtional art 1....I had it on controls and instructions, but when gameex showed them as it loaded the game, it blew them up to fill a vert screen and they looked horrid. One important note, make sure you setup visual pinball to turn off the gameextender on load so you can see your UVP backlglasses. That's pretty much the long and short of the setup.

[ClassicGMR]

I admit I purchased this and didn't actually build it myself but when the person that built it wanted to sell it I jumped on it.

NES PC:

Intel Atom 1.3 GHz N330 dual-core ITX motherboard.

2GB DDR2 PC2-6400 RAM running in single channel mode (only 1 DIMM slot onboard).

80GB 2.5" SATA HDD running Windows XP (stripped down using nLite).

GameEx Front End.

Slimline DVD drive.

All controlled by an XBOX 360 USB game pad.

The only change I'll be making to it is upgrading the drive. Overall it looks great in my entertainment center. No one knows it's a PC at first.

EDIT: Yeah at some point I will be putting one of these together myself. It's too much of a geek project for a PC repair guy like me to pass up trying. I get spare parts across my desk every day.

[Draco1962]

Pretty cool! Would definitely upgrade the hard drive so you can expand a bit. Would be cool to run it with an NES theme.

[ClassicGMR]

Pretty cool! Would definitely upgrade the hard drive so you can expand a bit. Would be cool to run it with an NES theme.

Just finished updating and doing a better case for it.

I kept the same motherboard, removed the DVD drive(can always use external if I need to), upgraded the HDD to 500GB/7200 RPM, added a wireless card, added 2 small fans to the upper case(not pictured) and changed the front port.

* I mounted the motherboard higher for better airflow by stacking 4 motherboard brass standoffs into a "tower". I put three sets together to get the height and stability right (couldn't fit a 4th set due to the power button).

* I ripped apart an HP tower and got the panel from the front panel on the tower. The headphone and mic jacks work as well as the USB ports.

* The wireless card is a Tenda 54G card that I took the slot cover off of. The antenna fits inside the case right along the side.

The whole system works better and LOOKS much better.

Here's the new specs:

Intel Atom 1.3 GHz N330 dual-core ITX motherboard.

2GB DDR2 PC2-6400 RAM running in single channel mode (only 1 DIMM slot onboard).

32GB SSD SATA Primary HDD running Windows XP.

500GB 7200 RPM 2.5" SATA HDD for all the data.

Wireless keyboard(when needed) is a Perixx 710 wireless keyboard w/ touchpad.

GameEx Front End.

All controlled by an XBOX 360 USB game pad.

[KRC]

Absolutely loving this as im a huge NES fan

[KRC]

@ClassicGMR,

How good are the Perixx 701 wireless keyboard w/ touchpad, thats something I could do with at the moment!

[ClassicGMR]

@ClassicGMR,

How good are the Perixx 701 wireless keyboard w/ touchpad, thats something I could do with at the moment!

Oops... it's not a 701 it's a 710.

It's a very good keyboard. I haven't tested the range as yet because I only need it to work in the 8 feet between my couch and the TV. Touchpad is nice and has the dual-finger scroll function. It suffers from most small form keyboards suffer from - smaller keys. When I'm on a roll typing I tend to hit the wrong keys. It's definitely not an everyday keyboard but works well for when I need it.

I also have the Logitech K400 wireless keyboard and that works great in my cabinet. The problem I had with the K400 is the case was too tight and every time I used keys on the left half of the board it would trigger the HOME key and open a browser. I took the screw completely out of the top left corner and it works fine now as well.

I would honestly recommend either though the Logitech has a much smaller dongle where the Perixx is a full-size dongle.

[KRC]

@ClassicGMR,

Thanks for the advice, I think ill go hunting for one on the weekend, this is something that I could really use,so I don't have 2 wires for keyboard and mouse coming from behind the tv.

[beaven78]

Arcade Coffee Table

I decided to go down the route of converting a coffee table into a MAME machine. I wrote an article on MyListMyLife detailing some of the steps involved.

http://www.mylistmyl...com/blog/227028

Check it out, let me know what you think

[KRC]

Im not really an expert in Arcade coffee table's but that looks pretty sweet to me

[ClassicGMR]

Arcade Coffee Table

I decided to go down the route of converting a coffee table into a MAME machine. I wrote an article on MyListMyLife detailing some of the steps involved.

http://www.mylistmyl...com/blog/227028

Check it out, let me know what you think

That's pretty nice! How does it actually feel to play a cabinet with controls that low though? I'm curious.

[Venomouse]

First one I've built, still some minor things I want to add / move cosmetically. Cost far more than I originally budgeted

Running gameEx frontend.

Few shots are before the monitor bevel / t moulding etc was added, I will be removing the rope lights as they heat up too much.

might even be bothered taking some real photos later once its complete

[KRC]

Good stuff Venomouse

Sometimes I wish I had a cab rather than a PC, but unfortunately there is no room anywhere in my house

[nullPointer]

That’s one fine looking cabinet Venomouse! Nice display of craftsmanship and attention to detail. Like KRC I’ve often dreamed of starting a dedicated arcade cabinet project, but space considerations and WAF are both playing a big part.

Lately I’ve been sizing up my kids play house both for dimensions and general viability of housing an arcade cabinet. Here’s hoping!

[KRC]

Also the Mrs wouldn't approve, I asked her opinion on having a cab in the house, and she said, "I'm not having a contraption like that in the house"

[nullPointer]

Yeah they tend to get so hoity-toity about stuff like that. I mean geez, I let her have an ironing board and a stove, what's the problem?! (Oh man, oh man, oh man I hope my wife never reads this comment! ... I Love You Honey! )

[Draco1962]

That was my initial goal, but, as finances tightened and other things in our life began taking a higher priority, I was lucky "Mrs. Claus" got me an X-Arcade Tankstick for Christmas. That being said, she was warm to the idea of a hybrid HTPC-gaming platform. It will still take some time to get all of the requisite components in place, but I think it will end up better in the long run. Besides, since the same display will also be home to the 360, she will get use of it to play Dead Island or team with my for some Guitar Hero! I love my wife!

[Venomouse]

After buying a new desk for the pc, I actually ended up making more room so wifey was nullified