Bringing the Past Home: Owning Your Own Arcade Machine

Written by Mike Dodd

Thursday, 15 October 2009 10:53

From the late 80s through to the mid 90s one of the greatest joys of being a gamer was going to the arcade, slapping down some quarters, playing with your friends and strangers alike, and having fun. The arcades of yesterday are now little more than memories and live on primarily in restaurants and overpriced amusement parks. We now Xbox live and other gaming systems, but what if we want that old experience back?

This past year I was sitting down and reflecting on the great time in my high school years in the arcades back in Owen Sound and I got an idea:

"What if I just bought an arcade machine or maybe built one?”

The idea sounded insane at first but slowly took more hold as I started to research it. The idea just kept gathering steam as I realized how affordable the process would be. I spent an afternoon looking around on EBay researching prices and was both surprised and saddened. A lot of people that want to buy an arcade machine want one that is near factory condition and in perfect working order. This is not an unreasonable request until it comes to paying for it. I wasn't prepared for what I was about to find and I was disheartened a little bit. However, what if I bought pre-loved and looked around a little harder?

I did some looking around in some forums that I frequent and got some more inspiration. I had another idea: Craig's list and Kijiji. Neither site has a reputation for being reputable, but I threw my post inquiring about a machine to the winds to see what would happen.

Checking around these sites can be a useful starting point for someone who wants to buy a machine straight up and not ask a lot of questions, but as always ‘buyer beware’ because you can get burned if you don't do your research. The sellers on both sites had some great bargains, but I was wary because I was still researching what I wanted, how about much I wanted to pay for it, and deciding how much work I wanted to put into it.

The Short answer was:
1) Not a lot, and no more then $500

2) Next to nothing except regular maintenance

The research, however, continued and I read up on what I could do to bring the arcade experience home. I learned bizarre new terms like MAME, Supergun and JAMMA and what they could mean to for me have a machine in my living room. I discovered that there are ways you can turn a home PC into an arcade machine through programs like MAME, which stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulation, or I could buy a thing called a Supergun which could turn any JAMMA board into something I could use on a TV with an S video input.

The idea of building my own machine sounded very exciting until I realized how much work I would have to sink into it. Although it would be a rewarding and personal experience, I am not that experienced nor am I that patient. I did see some custom cabinets, but changed by idea about them after looking at the cost of building one. Plus I failed Shop class in high school.

I decided building was not the best option for me at the moment. I also discovered that electricity is not my friend and that if you’re not careful when building your own machine, you could potentially kill yourself with the monitor inside the machine. I went in search of more answers. I discovered more about electronics and switches than I thought possible, but it made some sense.

I figured I might be able to install some of my own buttons and joysticks, but I was even unsure about that at since it's been years since I soldered. Still, proceeded on. Learning more and more about the inner working of a machine, I decided on what kind of a machine I wanted; a Capcom machine.

I based this decision on four factors:
1) Street Fighter 2. It's a classic and I want to be the #1 world warrior.
2) Looking at the various board and connections, Capcom has a system called CPS-2 which works like a cartridge system and is easy to swap out. However, it had a thing called the Suicide battery which could kill the board. Thanks to research I could work around this if necessary
3) There are TONS of them available from EBay to sellers on Craigslist and are inexpensive if anything

4) It's easy enough that with enough research and confidence I could install it myself

I headed back to the Internet to proceed with research. I was still getting excited to have a machine in my living room, but I felt like I was out of options and decided to take a break from the dream to go visit one of the places that still had coin-operated machines to get some inspiration. As I was walking through a local mall in Hamilton I saw one of the machines that I was thinking I wanted to buy: an X-Men vs. Street Fighter machine and I decided to game on it for a few minutes.

Then it hit me: Why not just buy this machine?

It’s just sitting here and clearly not doing well since it's tucked near a furniture store and one of those fly-by-night cell phone places... and c'mon Ryu and Wolverine on the same machine! Sure it's no Marvel vs. Capcom 2, but it's as close as I'm going to get without selling out a fortune and my soul. I glanced upon to the marquee which was an old Street fighter Alpha one and it had the number of the company that owns the machine. I decided to take a chance and give the company a call. The worst they could tell me was "no" and life and the hunt would go on if they would not sell to me.

I made the call and after some negotiations I managed to talk the guy down to a reasonable $300 total.

This was a STEAL and it was EXACTLY what I was looking for!

The cabinet was in good shape, no real wear and tear except for the control panel layout. Buttons were in good working order except for maybe one, which I could get replaced easily enough. The monitor was in great shape and had no discoloration despite the age of the machine. The CPS-2 battery was in good repair and person was VERY surprised when I asked about this and I think it helped when haggling over a price. The Sideart work was in great shape except it wasn't a SF vs. X men, it was Smash TV, but it was either professionally painted or was a hell of a good shape decal.

I've seen some good machines go cheap but nothing like this and the fact that it was local and the machine was in good shape helped cement this as a good deal. I made my purchase after inspecting the machine and having it demonstrated for me by the person selling it to me and asking questions including "How do I program this?" and "Can I set this up to freeplay?" and "What do I need to know about caring for this at home?"

Also I made sure to keep the contact information if I have more questions or if there is something that needs fixing that I might be beyond my abilities.

Eventually I got the machine home by renting a dolly. You will need one that has straps, so I recommend checking out things like UHaul. You will also need a trailer or a pick-up truck to move this thing, or a REALLY large and long van. I made a huge mistake after doing all this research and reading and it's an easy mistake to make too: measure your hallways and door ways as I found out.

I was 2” too short to get machine up my stairs and into my living room. No matter how much we fiddled with it, it would not fit. So as a word of warning MEASURE where you want to put this thing and measure the machine before you buy it. It's an easy step to overlook but could mean you having a great machine or a rather expensive doorstop. Luckily I had a large downstairs stairwell and it fit rather well, so it all worked out in the end.

I got the machine home and it was cool. I had many great fights on it, but I decided it wasn't enough. I wanted more and I wanted my machine to do more, so I headed to the Internet again. I stumbled across Jammaboards.com and sites like it that offered multi-game boards. I found a sweet ass 18-1 Capcom CPS-2 that would fit into my machine. I also found out that some of these boards could have problems, but by doing proper research and asking people questions I was able to find all the info that I needed. I confidently made my first board purchase.

I enlisted the help of a professional to install the board because I wasn’t that confident in my own abilities. However, in retrospect it looked easy enough. One of the things that is important to remember and take note of is that once you purchase the machine, it's yours and may not have a warranty or the like on it, so buyer beware when you get your new toy.

Now that I have my new 18-1 Capcom Machine and a newly redone marque for X men vs. Street Fighter and ordered some new buttons and joysticks to optimize it for fighting games, I'm very satisfied with it and very proud of it. Buying an arcade machine proved to be a great adventure and a really good experience with learning more about what happens on the other side of the coin slot.

Now I have an arcade machine and have one of the best pieces of my childhood back in my life. This is pretty damned cool and well worth pursuing if you’re ambitious and have that love of the arcade flowing in your blood and want that experience in your own place.

Comments (6) Add Comment

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written by Holly Green, October 15, 2009

lol my S.O. just saw this on my computer screen and said "I want THAT!" I should post my friend Damon's home made arcade machine sometime.

Freaking amazing!!!
written by brownkidd, October 15, 2009

So inspirational!!! I might have to get one of my own in the next coming months.

Is it possible to get a mix of games from different publishers on one cart? I want a mixup of Capcom and Neo Geo games along with the Killer Instincts and Mortal Kombat II.

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written by Dr. Cossack, October 15, 2009

Great post. I've been somewhat tempted to get an arcade machine, but I doubt that I'd be able to find such a deal in my area. Some of the make-it-yourself kits look nice, but they are expensive.

Personally, I could really go for a cocktail version: it's an arcade machine and it's a TABLE! I've seen one a few years ago, and in retrospect I should have asked about it: tucked in the basement of a restaurant as it was, I might have been able to get my greedy hands on it.

some info
written by MarcD, October 16, 2009

Bownkidd,you won't be able to get a mix between SNK and Capcom - you'll need to buy both an MVS board and a CPS board. Many arcade companies use dedicated boards, meaning that a game is on a motherboard and can't be changed. Some, like SNK and Sega, though, use a motherboard without the game on it. The games actually come on cartridges, which fit onto the motherboard. SNK has a great system in particular, since they make 4-in-1's, meaning you can plug in four carts into the board at the same time, rather than replacing the cart every time you want to change a game. It's called the MVS and is a great way to go - there are tons of great games that cost very little.

Let me know if you have any more questions. I don't want to encroach on Mike's territory, but maybe I'll put together an arcade intro / buyers' guide next week.