FunSpotting: Arcade Machine Madness

In the Beginning...

I've always wanted to have my very own arcade machine, but I don't think I could ever pick out just one game to have. So I'd likely end up owning several machine. The logistics of keeping them maintained seemed too much to handle. And where the hell would I put them all? I mean, don't want to end up like this guy. Well, actually I DO. But let's face it. Unless I experience a windfall of cash, that just ain't in the cards.

But what I could do is build my very own MAME cabinet. MAME of course stands for Multi Arcade Machine Emulator and it's just that. It's software that runs on a standard computer that will run nearly any arcade game you can think of. Stick the PC in a video game cabinet, toss on some fancy pants controls and boom, you've got an arcade in your living room. After years of talking about it, I finally did it. Hooray for me!

This isn't a "How To" post. There are plenty of other people who have done an excellent job explaining what it takes to build one of these things. I will say that it wasn't as hard as I thought and even though I made a ton of mistakes, I'm really happy with the results.

This is Eric

Credit must go to my friend Eric who stumbled upon some guy looking to unload a bunch of old arcade machines in his garage. Most of the stuff was junk, but there were three cabs in pretty good condition. We got them for $15 each.

Mine was an old Rally Bike machine. Hardly a classic. We hauled them back to my cousin's barn. In exchange for storing these monstrosities, we'd build a MAME machine for him as well. We spent a good deal of time gutting the machines, cleaning them up, sanding them down, and basically getting them ready for all new parts and a fresh coat of paint.