So I'm looking to start an arcade cabinet collection to host at work with the dream of maybe opening a public barcade or something in town once my collection is good enough.
You can see some of my discussions earlier about budgeting for some of my top picks here (while also not worrying about too much in the repair world)
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=50877
And Neo-Geo Specific
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=50880
So far, I've been having a hard time finding a good price for some of my favorites without a bunch of transportation costs.
So here's some thoughts that popped in my head:
Would it be more cost-effective to build my own cabinet structure and/or renovate/change artwork and controls on a dead cabinet and then buying the boards and such of the game I want instead of buying a complete and functional unit?
I've hard stories of people getting dead units for $100+ and then just swapping out parts. Or if I could build a cab if I can't find any/enough dead pieces.
Anyway, in addition to costs, what are your thoughts on getting the structures to be somewhat authentic to the original cabinet design?
There's some games like Donkey Kong, I'd really like to get an original cabinet, but for something like Street Fighter II, I could probably try to recreate best I can (and the same structure used for other games) using diagrams like those here
http://www.classicarcadecabinets.com/st ... er-ii.html
I see some tutorials for building like these here
https://www.hanselman.com/blog/Building ... binet.aspx
http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-Ca ... /?ALLSTEPS
https://sysadminblogger.wordpress.com/arcade/
But I don't want the stuff with removable joysticks and multiple control schemes and such. Again: authentic feeling wanted.
Thoughts on this concept?
Any other online resources that would help?
Any pitfalls to avoid?