So, I finally finished my Polybius arcade cabinet. It's not really a Polybius, but it's a multi-game unit. I wanted to do this as inexpensively as possible, make it as reliable as possible, and have the most number of games and playability.

In total, I spent less than $900 dollars total on this entire system... and I COULD have saved a ton of money, but went all dumb on the first purchase.

Cabinet - $300 - I could have gotten this much cheaper, but I didn't /really/ shop around like I should have. I paid $250 to ship a $50 dollar cabinet. You can find a broken arcade machine on Craigslist near you for easily half that. I ended up having to rebuild most of the base with 1"x4" beams due to the fact that it had been water-logged and falling apart.
Paint & Hardware - $50 - For keys, paint, screws, etc... I spent about another $50 bucks.
Game Elf 619 in 1 - $130 - The heart of the system is the JAMMA-compatible "Game Elf" multi-cade system. Pretty much any game you'd want, and many you don't. They are not alphabetically ordered. :/
Control & Harness Kit - $75 - Came with two joysticks, 12 buttons, two player start buttons, and the JAMMA wiring harness.
Frogger Control Panel - $40 - I bought this because it only had one joystick in the center with no buttons. It was easy for me to drill holes in and lay my button template on.
Dell 20" "auto-on" LED monitor - $50 - Bought on eBay with VESA monitor bracket. I had to build a support stand out of left over 2x4s that I had, but this plugs RIGHT into the Game Elf.
Green T-Moulding - $35 - Thought it looked cool.
Polybius Marquee - $55 - Had it custom made with graphics I found online.
225 Watt Power Supply - $25 - The Game Elf uses a computer power-supply, but all the other items (wiring harnesses and stuff) use the 12-volts.
Coin Doors - $60 - I didn't really need these, but the old ones were trashed, so I bought new ones.
Smart-Strip Power Strip - $40 - Allows you to plug one item in, and have it automatically turn everything else on.. IE: have the "remote switch" for the CPU power supply automatically turn everything else on.


All in all, it's been pretty cool. I had some buddies over last week, and we played Double Dragon, Rampage, Contra, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and several other games. My daughter on the other hand, is addicted to the Dungeons & Dragons side-scroller (Golden Axe) style games. I still plan to install a track-ball in the center of the control panel, that'll give me better support for trackball games like Millipede, etc.






Only other thing I think I might do one day, is buy a Sega Racing GT arcade machine seat, and set it up as a cockpit to play racing games. But... I don't really play games, and we don't have basements in Florida so I'm limited on space.

That looks very cool. I've thought about making something similar, but I like the tabletop arcade machines better

quote Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]: Only other thing I think I might do one day, is buy a Sega Racing GT arcade machine seat, and set it up as a cockpit to play racing games. But... I don't really play games, and we don't have basements in Florida so I'm limited on space.

Is that the 82-T/A [At Work]ling there playing, dam dude, you are going to need to get some guns before she reaches puberty to chase off the boys. Or maybe mine the front yard.

nice job and if you don't have the space at your place bring it on up here, I am sure Amanda would love it.

Steve

------------------
Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't



Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

quote Originally posted by BlackEmrald: That looks very cool. I've thought about making something similar, but I like the tabletop arcade machines better

They have those here for $335: http://www.arcadeshop.com/cabinets/cabinets.htm

quote Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]: They have those here for $335: http://www.arcadeshop.com/cabinets/cabinets.htm

So the major expense of these machines are the initial purchase of the cabinet. Did you consider building your own, or is there some obvious reason you wouldn't want to do that which I am missing?

Also have you considered some graphics for the exterior of your machine?

quote Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]: Hahah... yeah... not looking forward to teenage years. But she likes the Fiero... so that's a start!

Dam another Kathryn, the little 12 year old who grew up right here on the forum. Well who knows yours may grow out of it, she can't have her dads taste in cars, its just so over the top, from Fiero's to Crown Vics, face it dude, you can't make up your mind.

Steve

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/085309.html

[This message has been edited by 84fiero123 (edited 07-27-2015).]

Looks good, man, hope it brings you a lot of enjoyment!

Very nice! I'm digging that green t-molding!

quote Originally posted by 84fiero123: Dam another Kathryn, the little 12 year old who grew up right here on the forum. Well who knows yours may grow out of it, she can't have her dads taste in cars, its just so over the top, from Fiero's to Crown Vics, face it dude, you can't make up your mind. Steve

Haha, thanks Steve. I don't want to post too many pictures of her, but she LOVES the race-cars at the $wap $hop. They have these electric race cars that are designed after the Formula-1 cars (Mercedes McLaren, Scudaria Toro Rosso, Ferrari, etc...) and she loves driving them, and always beats all the boys. She was rough at first... slamming into them and running them off the road, but she's learned to out-maneuver them rather than driving recklessly. She never takes her foot off the gas, and always manages to cut in on the apex.

Once she's old enough, I'll probably see if I can get her into karting... she loves it, and I never really pushed her into this. The funny thing is, I gave her all my old Matchbox cars, and she bedazzled all of them (put little jewel stickers on them).

quote Originally posted by carnut122: Very nice! I'm digging that green t-molding!

Thanks, I didn't want plain black, so I went with the green moulding... to sort of off-set the POLYBIUS image.
This is where the name POLYBIUS came from:

quote Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]: Once she's old enough, I'll probably see if I can get her into karting... she loves it, and I never really pushed her into this. The funny thing is, I gave her all my old Matchbox cars, and she bedazzled all of them (put little jewel stickers on them).

My God, that's sacrilege ! She should be tarred and feathered.

Steve

[This message has been edited by 84fiero123 (edited 07-28-2015).]