Sunday, November 11, 2012

Custom Arcade Cabinet

Finally made my dream of building an arcade cabinet come true. Decided to design it to be a sit-down 1-player style setup - I figured if time/space/money allowed I can build another one and have a head-to-head setup. Its loosely based on the "vigolix" cabinet (google it) which only uses 1 sheet of plywood, but i expanded it to be a bit bigger. It stands 5ft tall and is 2ft wide.  I constructed the frame from scratch with wood / paint / lexan panels for the ctrl panel and marquee. I did most of the construction with a cordless drill, jig-saw and a handy dremel tool - nothing fancy.

Its powered by a xbox360 slim / PS3 slim and a asus "evo" vh236h monitor which i vesa mounted on the front panel. The control panel consists of sanwa buttons and stick for the main 6, seimistu buttons for the rest, and a shiny new akishop multi-console PS360+ PCB all courtesy of www.focusattack.com. I also installed a mount underneath the monitor for a smart phone / tablet / etc - for now i resurrected my old Sony PSP and downloaded the move lists from my fav games as photos for reference.

Update: 11/11 - Added a LED light and mounted Bose Speakers to the sides... Also printed and laminated both PS3 and XBOX360 button layouts and mounted it to the front of cab for easy reference.

If your in the NYC tri-state area and are interested in having me build one for you. Hit me up and we can work out the specs / price… Let me know what you think.. - Jon

More info about the build and pics here.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Hemberg Coffee Table "Look Down" Arcade Hack

My Coffee Table Arcade Hack made it on ikeahackers!


Materials: Hemberg Coffee Table, Lack Wall Shelf

Description: Had this idea to build a "look down" console arcade setup with my Ikea Hemberg Coffee Table. I also used a Lack Wall Shelf to anchor the monitor and serve as a platform for my arcade fight sticks when not in use. The hack is actually really simple to do: 

Parts Used: 

- Hemberg Coffee Table 
- Lack Wall Shelf 
- 23" Asus VH236H Monitor (standard for gaming due to 2ms response) 
- Xbox 360 Slim 
- Two Madcatz TE Fight Sticks 


1) Remove Glass Top and un-install the drawer assembly of your Hemberg Coffee Table. 

2) Remove the actual drawer, the top panel and sides. The only pieces that should be left are the bottom base and the back panel (which is now used to support the monitor). Re-install the stripped drawer assembly. 

3) The Lack shelf is then installed centered and flush to the front metal legs of the table and secured with some dry-wall screws. You may want to adjust this based on the monitor you use. 

4) Install the monitor (must remove base of monitor) angled with the back resting on the back panel of the drawer and flush with the back of the lack shelf. You can cable manage all the connections underneath the monitor since there will be some space due to the angle. I installed a strip of packing foam in between the monitor and the shelf to hide wires and to serve as protection for the monitor. 


5) Your gaming console fits directly underneath the table as shown in the photos. 

6) Kick back on the couch while you game in your own coffee table arcade setup! Enjoy...




Custom Balrog "FIGHT MONEY" Stick

My custom Balrog "FIGHT MONEY" stick. Foehammer Case, Seimistu Translucent Buttons and Stick. Akishop PS360 Board. Custom art by yours truly. 

Hori EX3 Custom Mod

And another one.....! Freshly modded Hori EX3 stick. Cthulhu board / Sanwa buttons from focus attack.. Replaced the stock art and added 3 extra buttons for Start, Select, Home. Also added a Neutrik USB port to connect a cable instead of wrapping it up. The only original parts really left are just the shell. The original top panel is disabled since I replaced the stock PCB. Using this as my compact backpack warrior AE / GGPO stick along with my laptop when I'm on the road.. Hit me up if your interested in a custom stick / mod... Enjoy y'all..