Retrogamer

The Retrogamer project is all about building a retro gaming community. Complete retro game and system collections can be catalogued online and discussed with other retro games fanatics.

MAME

One of the ultimate tools to the retro gamer has been the MAME project. All those games you wasted your pocket money or allowance on as a child are now available for you to play for free. (Even though the legality of doing so is questionable.) Playing games on your PC with MAME is a lot of fun, but it doesn’t quite replicate the real experience of fighting for space in that smoky room wresting with a machine twice as heavy than any of its users. Here is the photo diary of someone who wanted more….

Building a MAME cabinet

The following is a sequence of photos which illustrates the development of a fully functional MAME cabinet from design to completion. This model includes controls for two players (each having a joystick and 6 buttons), plus specialised controls for single players. (An extra joystick plus a trackball.

	The bits Loads of buttons,joysticks and a trackball.
	The cabinet design Cabinet side design, with monitor position.
	The button layout The original control panel layout plan.
	The button layout printed Layout printed and placed onto MDF for hole positions.
	Panel cut and drilled The button panel ready for assembly of controls.
	Controls mounted Panel ready for wiring and extensive "testing"
	MDF Slabs of 15mm MDF ready to be cut.
	Cabinet panels Slabs cut to cabinet profile with a circular saw.
	Cabinet assembled The cabinet starts to look like the real thing.
	Cabinet complete The cabinet is painted and the monitor and computer mounted inside.
	Time for.... ...some seriously long Robotron sessions! The final result up close.