The finished cabinet

Ever since I tried MAME (Multi Arcade Machine Emulator) and found that I could play all the classic arcade games of my youth, I have wanted to have an arcade style machine at home. I noticed after doing some research on the web that thousands of other people have had the same dream and hundreds of them have taken the time to document their efforts. This site isn’t going to go into fine details of my project. It is simply an online journal of the steps required to make it happen and links to good resources. I will also make my cabinet design and some artwork available in the hopes that it helps someone else.

If you want to make a cabinet exactly like this one, let me point out one significant fact - It is HUGE! Total height is 6′5″. I didn’t want a small cabinet because I am tall so I designed this cabinet specifically for me. If you use my plans, look them over to see if you really want a cabinet this big. You could easily change things to make this cabinet a foot shorter, a few inches thinner, and a little less deep. If you are tall like me or just want to feel like a little kid again playing a big machine, then this is for you.

I can honestly say it was well worth the effort. I took my time so that nothing was rushed and I am 100% satisfied with the results. The excitement during the process was as enjoyable as having the finished machine. Now I know why many people build more than one, or help their friends build arcade machines.This was a project of passion. If you share my passion for classic video games and are contemplating a project like this, I highly recommend it!