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Just starting to convince myself I need an arcade machine.... maybe?


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Hey all! My names Stu. I’m from Hervey Bay QLD.

 

Been a gamer since I picked up my first controller. Living in South Africa in my youth I had a Famicom and still to this day I’m not 100% certain but pretty sure it was a Chinese clone as I had rich friends who owned actual NES systems. Mine however was a Famicom with the permanently attached controllers which slide into the sides. (If this were a video I’d have the click soundbyte from the Switch videos)

 

Next up was a Sega Mastersystem 1, when everyone was getting a Megadrive I was happily playing yesteryears games too young and too stupid to realise I was behind lol.

 

It didn’t matter I was happy with what I had and every weekend I would beg my brother to let me come with him to the shops where all the arcade machines lived. Him being 9 years older than me I don’t blame him that he most likely said “no”. But every nowadays and then he’d say yes and I’d spend hours and too much money on Splatterhouse and Mortal Kombat.

 

I’m 35 now and have always kept multiple consoles. I love my retro games and dying to get back into arcade and pinball which I haven’t had access to in a few years. There aren’t too many places locally to get a good fix the bowling alley has games and pinball but they are pretty wretched.

 

I am thinking about eventually (but not too soon) investing in a cabinet myself or building one eventually.

 

I wanted to say hello and hopefully find some peeps near by to meet up with. Looking forward to meeting like minded people!

 

 

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Just starting to convince myself I need an arcade machine.... maybe?

 

Haha thanks guys @Tonjo @Roachy1312

I have a question. If a lot of ppl on here and elsewhere are using PC’s in a candy cab for example why not just build a cab yourself with PC and Modern screen why choose a candy cab with CRT for this purpose.

I’m thinking of going the PC emulator route as it just seems easier to do so rather than purchase multiple PCB’s. I’m new to all this so I’m asking now to save getting flamed later so please be gentle. Lol

 

 

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Haha thanks guys @Tonjo @Roachy1312

I have a question. If a lot of ppl on here and elsewhere are using PC’s in a candy cab for example why not just build a cab yourself with PC and Modern screen why choose a candy cab with CRT for this purpose.

I’m thinking of going the PC emulator route as it just seems easier to do so rather than purchase multiple PCB’s. I’m new to all this so I’m asking now to save getting flamed later so please be gentle. Lol

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Aussie Arcade

 

most of us here prefer the look on a CRT, LCDs just dont look right or give the right "feels"

MAME on a pc is easy and cheap, I flip flop between MAME and PCBs, I have a cab for each. I love having OG boards but it can get very costly and a pain to swap out boards where as with MAME you have all the games you want at your fingertips and dont need to worry about expensive old boards Failing

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@loki4101 yeah I do understand the nostalgia “feels” but as I am so new I don’t want to start with old parts and wires and all the craziness I will have to endure to own an original cab and original PCB’s. One day though I will gladly jump in but I need to start somewhere.

 

That’s why I am thinking of starting a build from scratch probably a modest bar top. Monitor maybe 27”-32” with and 2 player set up. Something to start the addiction just a little taster.

 

So is MAME the recommendation for emulation? I apologise I am very nerdy but not technically more of a punk jock nerd rather thanks a A class student nerd! So forgive me for being very noob on some subjects.

 

 

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Honestly Mate it all depends on you, i personally love both for different reasons.

 

CRT looks like how i remember them looking, that said sometimes they are $$$$ and i just cant justify the cash for them.

 

I built a kid sized arcade not long ago *ill upload photo later* that uses a LCD because its for my daughter so it didnt need to look the "goods" but that said my gauntlet legends cab has a CRT in it which i will keep as a CRT to keep it "original" as much as possible.

 

:cool:

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What he said. I love my CRT's, i've loved learning about them and getting them set up. Nothing beats a CRT running right res at the right refresh rate. And if you set up a PC running GroovyMAME just right, there's no way you'll be able to tell the difference from real hardware save in one or two edge cases. Original hardware is still to be preferred, but boards are expensive and add another complicating factor.

 

There's a guide to connecting a Win10 PC to an old CRT on here, but google will bring it up as well :)

 

LCD is much easier though. Not sure if regular MAME is recommended over GroovyMAME, but it won't hurt to familiarise yourself with the latter.

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@Roachy1312 @buttersoft hmmm the CRT love is strong huh. Lol. I will bear that in mind for maybe a future project certainly not quite ready to go that route just yet. One of my thoughts being weight alone kinda makes me wanna stick with a modern screen especially for my proposed bar top.

 

And with CRT’s, for future reference, am I correct in thinking they are a dying breed?

 

 

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CRTs are the best way to go for authenticity of the arcade experience. However, yes, they are a dying breed. It's getting increasingly more difficult to find suitable chassis for tubes and Jomac, the usual big seller of chassis in Australia, can't get the best universal chassis anymore, which sucks.

 

If you're doing a bartop, you'd be using LCD, simply due to the size of the cabinet. CRTs are only really used in full sized cabs and when paired with GroovyMAME and CRT_EMU driver, it produces an almost 100% authentic experience. Near enough that no one except the most rabid arcade die-hard will be able to discern it from an original board. That's why most of us still use CRTs, because we want to play the games as they were intended.

 

There are ways to make your LCD look like a CRT these days and it works out pretty well. However, the one thing that will always bug me about LCD cabs is viewing angle and input lag. Those are problems that simply cannot be solved on consumer level LCD screens.

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Just go for whatever works for you to start with and use what you learn from that to get a feel for where you want to go next.

If your thinking bartop I would say the easy way would be just a comp and LCD with an Ipac interface. If you dont want to do the woodwork I think a few of our sponsors make flat pack kits. I personally haven't used groovy mame but I know alot of the guys seem to love it. I recommend doing things in small steps, get mame running so you understand it then look at front ends...Maybe just get it running on your desktop first

 

Thats just my 2 cents

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@loki4101 yeah exactly that. I am under no illusions of how new I am to this so it will definitely be a slow start to begin the progression.

 

Maybe after some years I’ll be more finicky about what display I am running but for now it’s not gonna be primo.

@namastepat I thought as much about the CRT situation which is a shame. But yes due to my first build being a bar top I’ll stick with LCD for now.

I’m looking at Gumtree now and see a 32” Bravia for $120 not sure whether to pull the trigger. Any thoughts?

 

 

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@loki4101 yeah exactly that. I am under no illusions of how new I am to this so it will definitely be a slow start to begin the progression.

 

Maybe after some years I’ll be more finicky about what display I am running but for now it’s not gonna be primo.

@namastepat I thought as much about the CRT situation which is a shame. But yes due to my first build being a bar top I’ll stick with LCD for now.

I’m looking at Gumtree now and see a 32” Bravia for $120 not sure whether to pull the trigger. Any thoughts?

 

 

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Jesus, a 32" screen in a bartop would be a bit nuts IMO. That's a big ass screen for a bartop and would make for a very large bartop. Most bartops use a 17 inch or 19 inch 4:3 screen, or a 20-22 inch widescreen.

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Just starting to convince myself I need an arcade machine.... maybe?

 

Okay okay that’s a few of you saying no. Maybe that is a little on the top big size. Bravia a pretty decent tv though right? Or is there better options out there?

 

 

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Okay okay that’s a few of you saying no. Maybe that is a little on the top big size. Bravia a pretty decent tv though right? Or is there better options out there?

 

 

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Definitely go for a 19-22” no bigger mate or your eyes may bleed [emoji23][emoji23]

 

 

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@Roachy1312 thanks man appreciate that. I would want my bar top too look a little bigger than the kids setup there. But I don’t want my eyes to bleed either haha

@namastepat a PC monitor?

 

Ok so maybe I was looking a little too big. But 22” seems a little on the smaller side to me. I know it’s only gonna be a bar top but I would like it to be a beefy impressive looking one not a Diddy little thing something to stand out.

 

Does everyone stick to 4:3 it’ll be easy enough to get a PC monitor in that size and would have the connections I want.

 

 

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a lot of ppl on here and elsewhere are using PC’s in a candy cab for example why not just build a cab yourself

 

 

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Aesthetics.

 

In an honest moment I can’t deny that this has had a huge impact on my decisions. Now I’m talking about the “cabinet” here, not whether you’re using PCBs or Emulators.

 

I personally just love the candy cab design. The look, the feel, and the durability of the cabinets. I could keep going on and on.

 

Plus I love to sit down and play.

 

Good luck with your build [emoji106]

 

 

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Aesthetics.

 

I personally just love the candy cab design. The look, the feel, and the durability of the cabinets. I could keep going on and on.

 

Plus I love to sit down and play.

 

Good luck with your build [emoji106]

 

 

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Yeah I agree they are one sexy beast. I grew up with stand up American style arcade Cabinets so the candy cab is new and exciting to me can’t deny I would buy one if I could!

 

 

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If you get a chance see if you can find someone in your area that has one to take a look at so you can get an idea of what you like and dont like the screen size.

I would have to say running 4:3 is a must.

 

Candy cabs are a thing of beauty but for me its the US cut corner hands down...one day, oh yes one day :007:

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@loli4101 yeah that would be ideal. If someone is near by to Hervey Bay let me know I’d love to see one up close. I’m going to get over to the new Timezone that opened up her to have a look for ideas too. And play some games >_<

 

 

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