MAME Cabinet

Bloominglabs has a homemade arcade cabinet with a computer running MAME. Over 11,000 games are playable on the cabinet.

How to start?

Boot it up! Everything should start automatically. Right now, the keyboard and mouse are somewhat necessary for navigating the selection of games. (For example, switching to the "Favorites" category currently requires the mouse). You can search for games just by typing letters. Once you have launched a game, you will be shown a brief technical description. Press any keyboard or arcade button to pass this and start the actual game.

The controls should work for most games.

To pause a game, press the escape key on the keyboard.

To leave a game, pres the Escape key on the keyboard twice.

Things to know:

Should you need access into the control panel itself, it is held by velcro.

A Key Wiz (perhaps this version?) provides a PS/2 keyboard interface for the controls.

The control panel is on hinges and opens toward you by lifting on the back side, allowing easy access to power on the PC inside. Be careful, the control panel's velcro may let go and try to drop itself on your feet.

The video from the monitor is available on all TVs in Bloominglabs on channel 99.

What is in the box?

AMD Phenom II 6-core CPU @2.7 GHz

16 GB of DDR3 RAM

AMD Radeon HD4670

(Many thanks to the members who donated these high-quality parts to the new arcade cabinet computer!)

MonoPrice 1-to-2 VGA splitter (The product has been retired, but it is the 2-port version of this splitter.)

Optimus STA-300 radio/amplifier

A little over 11,000 arcade game ROMs.

Possible improvement projects:

(feel free to make this better, you have my permission! Just mark stuff off the list, or add to it)

• find fun games and add them to the "Favorites" category

• tweak MAME configuration to allow navigating the interface without keyboard or mouse

• custom Bloominglabs Lit Marquee

• sturdier (or better yet: modular!) control panel

• analog joysticks for control panel

• trackball + 2 buttons for control panel (cshields has a trackball, need to buy a mount for it and an interface, probably from Happ) to play crystal castles, golden tee, and act as a mouse interface

• external volume control (instead of turning the knob on the amplifier inside the cabinet)

• external power button

• better video splitter (The CRT monitor is actually quite good; the picture looks bad because the splitter adds tons of noise.)

• wi-fi card for the computer

• add other emulators, ROMs for them, and a launcher to switch between emulators