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]

The Arkteg features a 24-inch 1080i LCD that's powererd by a Dell GX260 SFF—a bargain bin PC that can handle any MAMEing you have in mind. With the PC core, you score extras like Wi-Fi, DVD playback and karaoke, along with support for multiple brands of romz. (69 licensed games including Mortal Kombat II and Centipede come preloaded.)

The keyboard stows away while HAPP buttons and joysticks along with a Betson-Imperial 3-inch ball sit framed by a laser-cut aluminum panel.

On the beer side, the Arkeg stores 5 gallons of brew along with a 5lb CO2 bottle. Everything's kept cool with near-silent Solid-state Thermoelectric Cooling System.

Is it worth $4000? Probably not. But Dream Arcades drinking-and-driving-friendly Octane will run you almost double. [Arkeg]

For those who already have a PC of their own to stick inside, the table is a available gutted of its computer components but still packing all of the joysticks and handy ports. In this bare bones configuration, the table runs about $4,000. Fully loaded with the PC and two packs of games, the system is priced at $4,900. (Those prices include delivery and VAT in the UK.)

Of course, there are other options if your cheap or like your MAME furniture in black. But this Surface Tension table is the most stylish tabletop arcade setup we've seen yet. [Surface Tension via Bornrich]

But the best part may be what the designer used to create the sleek black frame around his computer screen—it's just plain old black cardboard. And to further the simple mod theme, the joystick simply pulls out from the table's built-in drawer. There's no mounting, but maybe that's actually a good thing. [Mamebook cocktail via Unplggd]

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®

Although the system will play all sorts of games, Eric only plays Ms. Pacman. "It hasn't yet translated into a better score," he says plaintively. [Flickr via MAKE]

The Gamerator can also be customized to fit your console of choice or even a fully functional PC. Browse the web with a beer, and when you need a break in the chugging, just store your glass in one of the two built-in cupholders. You know, just like when you're cruising the strip in the minivan.

Remember the old days when you were stuffing more quarters into machines before time ran out? Well this is the new, over 21 and way more awesome version—though no one can predict just how many glasses will fall victim to "slip and shatter" as we try to booze up before putting the finishing whoop ass on M. Bison. And the $2,000 pricetag really isn't that bad when you consider...uhh...yeah, it's a bit pricey, even for a MAME cabinet. But we're sure it's worth every penny. [ebay via technabob]

As expected, performance is an issue. For example, Pac-Man and Q*bert run quite well, but Galaga and Gyruss are marginal even with frame skipping and lowered sound quality. The SDL port was the quickest way to get everything up and running without having to delve into the guts of MAME. I'll take a stab at slapping together something based on a really old, simpler version of MAME to see if it runs any better.

How do we know it was a man? Do you know any women who would make something like this? Q.E.D. – Jason Chen

Building a MAME console inside a TARDIS [Asciimation via Neatorama]

Step 1: Log onto Amazon and purchase costume.
Step 2: Ask ladies to play with your joystick.
Step 3: ??
Step 4: Profit!

As you can see it's not quite complete, but we're getting there. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Amazon via MAKE]

Ed Farias wrote in to tell us about his product, Arcade in a Box, an all-in-one arcade console with computer guts built directly in the controller that can be plugged directly into external video sources. It's a great idea if you like the feel of proper controllers but you want to utilize your big new plasma or fancy projector as the display, or if you don't want or have room for an arcade cabinet.

If you decide later on that you'd like one after all, Arcade in a Box fits right into Mameroom's Ultimate Arcade II Cabinet; it's 100% MAME compatible so you can play every game out there, and it should also work with PC games that let you reconfigure their controls.

You insane DIY people can buy the PDF plans for building their own Arcade in A Box for just $12.50, while lazy bones like us who want to play not build can purchase a complete working system for $1,199. IIf you'd like to build some but not all of it, there's the AIAB Kit, which comes with computer parts for $399 or without for $250.

Arcade in A Box

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]

ProtoMAME #5 via TechEBlog

The fine people over at iPodLinux have been working on getting MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) onto their iPods—a pretty neat achievement in and of itself, but one of them has gone an extra step further and built a MAME Cabinet around his iPod Nano. The iPod and Ms Pacman, together at last. Nerdtastic!

iPod Nano MAME Cabinet [UmlautLlama]
iPodMAME Project [iPodLinux]
iPod Nano MAME Cabinet [OhGizmo!]