How to Build Your Own Arcade Machine from an Old Computer

Did you find yourself feeding quarters to arcade machines in
the '80s and '90s? Do you have any old computers -- or even
computer parts -- sitting around taking up space? Do you want
to relive those great arcade moments in the comfort of your
own home?

It's all possible thanks to emulators. Emulators are pieces
of software designed to imitate a particular arrangement of
hardware and software. There are emulators for just about any
sort of hardware or software you can imagine. But when it
comes to arcade games, one emulator reigns supreme: the
Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, or MAME.

The purpose of MAME is to preserve old arcade games. Most
arcade games were hardwired into processor chips. However,
there were a few games like Dragon's Lair and Space Ace that
ran on laserdiscs. You might also run into an arcade game
that relies on some other form of storage device, but for the
most part, the code that makes your favorite arcade games
tick exists on physical chips attached directly to a circuit
board inside the machine.

The MAME software emulates that hardware, including the
arcade machine's memory, processors or central processing
unit (CPU) and input/output (I/O) spaces. When paired with
an arcade game ROM (an acronym for read-only memory) and
perhaps a selection of sound samples, MAME can imitate that
game. The MAME program supports thousands of ROMs. But while
MAME is free and easily available, you won't find any ROMs
with it when you download a copy. That's because most arcade
games -- even those made by companies that have since
closed -- are protected by copyright. Unless you own a copy
of the physical hardware for a particular arcade game, it's
against the law to download and own a ROM.

But let's assume you have a big pile of arcade game chips
sitting in a box at home. You've purchased each and every one
legitimately, but you lack the hardware to run them or the
games themselves have deteriorated. In that case, it's
perfectly legal for you to seek out the ROMs for the games
you own and download them. Lots of sites on the Web host
ROMs -- they aren't hard to find.

Of course you could just run the emulator and ROMs on your
computer and play games like that. But what if you want the
real arcade experience? You'll need to put in some work and
be skilled in sketching, carpentry, wiring and coding. But in
the end, you could own an arcade machine capable of playing
practically any arcade game ever made.

Choosing an Arcade Monitor and Computer

The first thing you need to keep in mind is that the
designers of MAME wanted to create a way to preserve video
games -- the ability to play the games is simply a byproduct.
That means that while the goal of the emulator is to recreate
the arcade machine hardware's behavior as faithfully as
possible, it doesn't always translate into a playable game.
Programmers are always working to improve MAME, and older
versions may not support all ROMs. Some games may run but
will be extremely slow. You should test your ROMs with the
version of MAME you prefer before jumping into an arcade
machine project.

According to the MAME Web site, the minimum requirements for
running MAME on a computer are:

* Any MMX-capable AMD or Intel processor
* Windows 98 or later
* DirectX 5.0 or later
* A DirectDraw or Direct3D capable graphics card
* Any DirectSound capable sound card

Most modern PCs blow the doors off of these minimal
requirements. The more powerful a computer is, the better it
will be at handling the processing requirements of MAME.
Computers that have a graphics card with a graphics
processing unit (GPU) may fare better than machines with
basic graphics cards. Because MAME is attempting to reproduce
the behavior of hardware, it requires a lot of processing
power. Because of this, some games may run poorly no matter
how fast your machine is.

There are other versions of MAME called ports that will run
on machines with a Mac or Linux-based operating system. If
you download the basic PC version of MAME, you'll see that
it's a command-line system. That means you must type in
commands to change settings and run ROMs. If you prefer, you
can download a MAME frontend that incorporates a graphical
user interface (GUI). A good GUI will eliminate the need to
incorporate a keyboard into the final arcade machine.

You'll also need a monitor for your game. Some MAME
enthusiasts prefer cathode ray tube (CRT) television sets to
computer monitors. They argue that computer monitors provide
too sharp a picture and detract from the real arcade
experience. If you choose a television, make sure your
computer and TV can connect with the right cables. A CRT with
an S-Video port and a computer containing a graphics card
with its own S-Video port works well, but there are other
options.

Deciding on Your Arcade Controllers

What kind of games do you want to play? Arcade games like
Centipede work best with a trackball. The classic game
Tempest used a dial-like rotary controller. Several driving
games used a combination of a steering wheel and pedals for
the gas and brake. And of course, hundreds of games had
a combination of joysticks and buttons.

MAME supports many different ­controls. You could install
standard game controller ports on the computer you'll be
using and hook up standard computer joysticks, steering
wheels or gamepads. You can even use game controllers that
connect to your computer via USB. MAME doesn't automatically
enable the controller function -- you'll have to turn it on
either by a line command or through a GUI.

These controllers should work with most games, but they don't
necessarily reproduce the feeling of a real arcade machine.
For that, you need to go out and buy actual arcade
controllers and buttons. Some vendors sell prefabricated game
control panels that you can purchase and incorporate into
a cabinet. A prefabricated control panel will cost more than
the sum of its individual components, but it will save you
time when it comes to wiring and encoding your controls.
Still, many enthusiasts like the freedom they have when they
buy each component separately and design their own game
control panels.

Some MAME arcade machine fabricators like to include multiple
control devices on a single machine. MAME enthusiast Jeff
McClain built what he calls the Ultimate MAME Cabinet and
included four joysticks, a spinner control, a trackball,
a light gun and more than a dozen buttons in a custom-built
cabinet. Many vendors sell arcade machine controls -- you
should be able to find most standard controls without too
much trouble. If you want something specific -- such as the
Star Wars flying yoke or Spy Hunter's custom steering wheel
-- that might require a bit more effort to seek out.