Building a new MAME Arcade Machine!

There has been a little itch in the back of my mind for the last several months. Sort of like a tickle that's been getting bigger and bigger. I've built a few arcade cabinets in the past, and just last year sold the machine I built for myself. I wouldn't say that I regret that decision - I don't. There were a few good reasons that I wanted to get rid of it. But, as time went on I remembered how much I
enjoyed the building of the machine, more so than even owning a completed one.

So, a couple weeks ago, I started the process of building a new one. This time around I am taking more pictures and will use this blog as a guide for others to build there own arcade machines too. The look and flavour will be different for sure, but you can use this blog as a guideline for your own project build.

First, the planning. The machines I've built in the past were

based on the Defender style cabinet. This time I wanted to try something different. My all time favourite arcade game was Galaga, and it was housed in a Pac Man style cabinet. So, for a challenge, I decided to use that style for my design.

I also wanted to make it a little bit smaller too. One of the big reasons that I got rid of my last machine was because it was just so big. With this build, I want to make the cabinet smaller. To accomplish this I decided to use an LCD monitor and not go with a cheaper, or traditional CRT tube monitor. Those things add so much bulk and weight to the machine, it becomes almost impossible to move around if need be.

So, with the basic plans drawn out, I made my first trip to

Home Depot for this project! YEAH! On a side not, a Pontiac Vibe can hold more than you would think. :) This was the first of a few trips. I am trying to keep the weight down as much as possible on this cabinet, so I decided to use plywood for the construction material.

In Part two, I'll start to cut and build my new arcade cabinet.