MeggyCade: When Handheld Pixel Gaming Isn’t Enough

November 24, 2010 by Mike Szczys 12 Comments

[Bomber Punk] built his own arcade cabinet, but you won’t find any MAME games here. He made the enclosure to house a Meggy Jr. 8×8 pixel graphics game console. Proper coin-op buttons and a joystick replace the stock tactile switches that come with the kit. [Bomber Punk] has also added a lighted coin slot. A three-cell battery pack powers the beast, with a programming port to one side so that different games can be loaded from a PC. We’d like to see a processor upgrade that would allow multiple games to be stored on a stand-alone system.

Take a look at the video after the break, it’ll bring a smile to your face.

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IPad Arcade Dock Has Hidden Projector

July 20, 2010 by Mike Szczys 18 Comments

This iPad dock is a well-executed gaming accessory. [Linkreincarnate] used a Hori Wii fighting stick as the controller. In his hardware explanation he outlines several benefits of this choice including built-in support in most of the iPad emulators, as well as foregoing the need for a wired connection. Just above the controls there is a standard docking connector which holds the iPad in place and patches through the audio to some external speakers. But that’s not all that is included in the build, the final touch is a pico projector that can be used if you want a larger gaming experience. Video of the hardware and a gaming demonstration can be found after the break.

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Mini Racing Cabinet

July 6, 2010 by Mike Szczys 10 Comments

Here’s another small arcade cabinet. This time around it’s the racing simulator Daytona USA. [Pocket_lucho’s] cabinet work has been featured before and he did some fine work with the control interface on this build. The wheel is from the controller of an RC car and the gear lever from a heavily used toy. He fashioned two pedals using gate hinges and a couple of leaf switches. The guts pack quite a punch with a mini ITX motherboard running the show. This will look great next to Ms. Pac-Man. Check out the video after the break.

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Child-sized Cocktail Cabinets

May 30, 2010 by Mike Szczys 22 Comments

[Sam Seide] dropped us a line about his new arcade creation. We loved his Punch-Out build that used a punch dummy as a game controller. This time around he’s made some mini-cocktail style MAME cabinets. He removed the screen from a netbook and placed it face-up underneath the acrylic bezel. There are controls on either side for two players as we would expect from any quality cocktail cabinet. The control panels are interfaced through the now familiar iPac boards and are a bit unfinished on the underside but that doesn’t decrease our need to see one of these on the coffee table at home. Check out demo and an outline of the parts inside after the break.

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Part Arcade, Part Guitar

April 28, 2010 by Jakob Griffith 11 Comments

Finally a guitar that all of the arcade gaming geeks can jam with. [Mike Davenport] sent us his 8bit arcade based guitar for his senior project. Details are a little sparse if you intend to build you own at the moment, but he does mention the basics: such as it uses an FPGA for logic and function, the strings and joystick modify pitch, it has selectable waves and other parameters, and even includes save banks! Check out a video of him playing street fighter rocking out after the break. Continue reading “Part Arcade, Part Guitar” →

The Mini-Markade

February 16, 2010 by Caleb Kraft 28 Comments

We love arcade games. Who doesn’t? We feel that the “arcade” feeling just can’t be replicated in any other form factor than an arcade cabinet. [Moslevin] must feel the same way too. He has built, what could possibly be the worlds smallest arcade cabinet. Aside from a coin mechanism, it is fully functional. It is an ATMega328p running his own custom software. The games he has available are Tetris, Invader, and Breakout, all coded by himself as well. We’ve seen small arcade cabinets before, but none this small.

Propeller Arcade

February 13, 2010 by Mike Szczys 12 Comments

This arcade cabinet has been saved from a gruesome death. [Oldbitcollector] picked the broken rig up for $50 and is building a Parallax Propeller based arcade machine. This began back in October and he’s just dropped in a newly painted control panel to replace the NES controller seen above. He pulled the replacement screen out of an old 19″ TV and found it to be a perfect fit. We didn’t find a complete list of available games but we know he’s got a menu system to choose the game and have seen Donkey Kong, Frogger, Defender, and at least one other in the videos. There’s less choices than a MAME cabinet but who needs more than a handful of the old 8-bit gems anyway?

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