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Arcade Cabinet Restoration Project

In 2002 myself and a few friends decided to restore an arcade machine. Since then this cabinet has provided us countless hours of fun!

When we first found the mini cabinet at a junk shop it was a neglected mess. Restoring it was a spare time activity and it took us about 6 weeks. We then set about getting it to play MAME and other arcade games. Below is a quick run down of how we did it.

The team: Jay Daniells, Chris King and Nigel Robinson

Project Objective: Restore and customise an arcade cabinet to present a 3D computer game demo (which was also designed and built by us as part of our QANTM New Media training assessment).

The arcade cabinet was purchased from a OP Shop for $20.00. The display monitor was missing and both game controllers and the power transformer was damaged beyond repair.

Process: The cabinet was first stripped of old parts and a timber control panel was constructed and installed. Damaged surfaces were then repaired and prepped for painting.

Once our custom painting was complete the control panel was fitted with a modified Namco Playstation arcade joystick and a 17" CTR monitor was mounted on an installed internal shelf. The monitor was protected by a 5mm thick glass plate. A sheet of black adhesive vinyl was also stuck to the underside of the glass to create an authentic display window.

A modified fluorescent desk lamp had its plastic ends cut to fit inside the light box housing. The light box signage was my design and was made out of yellow translucent adhesive vinyl and pearl Perspex sheeting.

The arcade joystick was connected to a PC via a Playstation USB Adapter.

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