Gizmodo: cabinets

The Dr. Frankenstein MAME Cabinet

Mark Wilson — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:00:00 EDT

I do not know what Frankenstein has to do with arcade cabinets, nor do I care. Because this Frankenstein MAME cabinet reaches basement gaming nirvana.

Built from scratch over 60-80 hours, the cabinet features all of the patina and grommets associated with Victorian/Steampunk aesthetics. But it's the hand-made marquee along with the gorgeous green lithopane portals revealing Frankenstein's monster and and bride that really elevate this project beyond anything we could ever hope to accomplish, even if we put our minds to it. [Frankencade and The Steampunk Workshop via gizmo watch]

Dream Arcades Xbox 360 Fight Stick Takes SFIV Wireless

Mark Wilson — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:40:00 EDT

Arcade-style fight sticks are seriously in vogue, and now arcade cabinet maker Dream Arcades is releasing a wireless fight stick of their own for the Xbox 360.

Housed in an MDF body (sturdier than particle board), Dream Arcades' controller one-ups Mad Catz' sticks in that it can connect to an Xbox 360 from 35 feet away—we're assuming through a USB dongle—plus it should feel more like an arcade cabinet simply due to its build materials. The company uses unspecified but "real" arcade components and overlays, plus they allow for custom button configurations, which is pretty handy.

I know I know, a lot of you will start bitching about wireless issues with lag. But really, you aren't that good and you play online anyway.

Slated for release in 5-7 weeks, we don't yet know a price, but we're expecting it to be around $150 with pre-orderers getting some sort of a discount. We'll let you know when Dream Arcades actually begins taking those pre-orders. [Dream Arcades]

The Xbox 360 Meets Arcade Cabinet

Mark Wilson — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:10:00 EST

I play my Xbox on a 46-inch high def plasma, from a comfy couch with an excellent wireless controller and surround sound headset. Yet I still lust the nostalgia of arcade cabinets.

By Solomods, the Xbox 360 cabinet is really a retrofitted Midway cabinet from the 1990s. It's been stuffed with a stock Xbox 360 (60GB hard drive and Wi-Fi adapter), so it can play any 360 game while accepting wireless controllers should you tire of the joysticks.

But it's $2,250. And as much as I'm normally willing to drop too much money on things I don't need, I just can't justify spending that much for green flames, a lopsided neon sign and standard definition—nor can I really advise it—as much as the whole decision makes my inner 7-year-old cry. [Solomods via technabob]

Xbox 360 Goes Coin-Op

Mark Wilson — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:10:00 EDT

While the Xbox 360 arcade is ironically the least expensive version of 360, The Arcade Station T2 is the probably the most expensive...and it actually belongs in an arcade. Essentially an arcade cabinet housing an Xbox 360, the Arcade Station T2 features two controllers, memory card slots and system link gaming (which we're assuming means local multiplayer, not full LIVE access). Potentially bundled games could include Halo 3, FIFA 08, Assassins Creed and Devil May Cry 4, but players won't need to shove in more quarters every time Master Chief gets teabagged. This will be a pay-for-time unit. Bonus pic:

Currently in testing overseas, the officially licensed cabinet should be available in the coming months. And if it only ditched those controllers for a couple of high performance joysticks, we might just be tempted to score one for home use. [Kotaku]

Dreamcade Vision 29, Big Screen Arcade Cabinet

Mark Wilson — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:10:00 EDT

My arcade cabinet fever just can't be thwarted—a disease that sits in remission until a new model pops up in my RSS. The limited edition Dreamcade Vision 29 is particularly interesting because it features a large, 29-inch arcade monitor perfect for burning your eyes out during marathons of Missile Command. Though the unit falls well short of authentic with its PC-based emulation, the long games list may change your mind as practicality enters the equation:

Atari® Game Pack Asteroids® Asteroids Deluxe® Battlezone® Black Widow™ Centipede® Crystal Castles® Gravitar® Liberator™ Lunar Lander™ Major Havoc™ Millipede® Missile Command® Pong® Red Baron™ Super Breakout® Space Duel™ Tempest™ Warlords®
60 Atari 2600 games

Midway® Game Pack
Spy Hunter®
Defender®
Defender II®
Gauntlet®
Joust®
Joust 2®
Rampage®
Robotron 2084®
Bubbles®
RoadBlasters®
Blaster®
Rampart®
Sinistar®
Marble Madness®
SPLAT!®
Satan's Hollow®
Vindicators®
Root Beer Tapper®

Digital Leisure Game Pack
Dragon's Lair®
Dragon's Lair II®
Space Ace®

Namco Museum® Pack
PAC-MAN®
MS. PAC-MAN®
Galaga®
Galaxian®
Dig Dug®
Rally-X®
Pole Position®
Pole Position II®
Xevious®
Dragon Spirit®
Bosconiant®
Rolling Thundert®
Mappy®
Sky Kid®
PacMania®
Galliga88®

Capcom® Game Pack
1942®
Commando®
Ghost'n Goblins®
Sidearms®
Vulgus®
Street Fighter®
Street Fighter II CE®

It's $2499 as described with an "MP3 jukebox," or a bit more when you add lightguns and extra games. [Dreamcade via Bornrich]

Gigantic Xbox 360 Cabinet Eats Smaller Xbox 360s, Poops Game Boys

Jason Chen — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 18:50:44 EST

Gemaga (Japanese for giant things that should not be giant) had a video up on this huge Xbox 360 that doubles as a cabinet. The video's not there, but you can still tell from the screencap that it's large enough to fit 10 regular sized Xbox 360s, 3 PlayStation 3s, and one Xbox 1. And since there's no video, we can't tell if it has a giant DVD tray or warms up the house 10x better than a real Xbox. [Gemaga via Gadgetcom]

Gizmodo Clips: Building the DreamArcade Head-to-Head Arcade Table

johnb — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 10:05:37 EDT

In this Gizmodo Clip, our own loving editor, John, builds a DreamArcades.com Head-to-head Arcade Cabinet. It's long, so watch this only during lunch.

Product Page [DreamArcades]

Quasimoto Arcade Cabinets

johnb — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 15:14:10 EDT

I'm not sure that a hideously deformed hunchback is exactly the sort of spokesperson you want for an arcade cabinet company, but the product looks pretty hot.

Quasimoto makes a number of cabinets, including this beautiful black oak model. Each one includes 27" HD monitor (1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i) and THX sound. It's compatible with most consoles and even has a fancy tray for holding all your games. They start at about $2,000 it will be the best $2,000 you ever spent—until the SO figures out you spent two bills on an arcade cabinet.

Product Page [Quasimoto]
Sale Page [ChristopherGames]

Live from CES: Gameroom Classics

Travis Hudson — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 18:46:07 EST

Too lazy to build a MAME cabinet? Just buy one. Gameroom classics has four units on display this year including a new Capcom-only table-sized cabinet. The one thing that still grinds my gears: none of these damn machines have Galaga, debatably the best arcade game of all time. I mean, honestly, the Galaga ship could so kick Pac-man's ass in a fight. They have three tabletop models on display: a classics model, a SNK Playmore model and a very sexy Capcom model. There is also one full-sized classic games cabinet. On the tabletop models the controls seem to be decently responsive, at least compared to that piece-of-trash cabinet that Target is selling. The UI is also very easy to navigate. The tabletop models are available this month for around $850 and expect to shell out over a grand for the full sized cabinet.