Nintendo Bartop Arcade - Scratch Design/Build with X-Carve 1000mm

Projects
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Hi All,

I’ve seen so many amazing projects here that I was inspired to share my own! Hope you enjoy…

I’ve built a few mini arcade cabinets over the years now by hand, and got a 1000mm X-Carve partly to aid in my builds. I started from scratch with a new design, and given the size of the bed, I opted for a bartop form factor. Being a “child of the 80s” and having grown up during the “golden age” of arcades, I wanted to replicate that experience as closely as possible and create the most “arcade accurate” cabinet I could. I decided on a Nintendo silhouette because:

  1. The shape is iconic
  2. The control panel is flat wood (and not bent metal), meaning I could CNC it
  3. I’ve seen other Nintendo bartops on BYOAC and absolutely loved them

So here’s my all-original, made-by-me, X-Carve-cut, 3D-printed bartop cab:

Oooh…“but you wrapped it in Pac-Man graphics!” you say? That’s because this one I sold, and the customer wanted Pac-Man. That said, I have full graphics packages for Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, and Popeye. :slight_smile:

My design process is as follows:

  1. Trace cabinet silhouette in Illustrator (including location of cross members)
  2. Import into Sketchup
  3. Push the flat outlines into 3D
  4. Model all hardware (rPi, power supply, amp, LCD, joystick, latches, etc) and place in the model
  5. Flatten and export all the pieces to be cut on the X-Carve
  6. Clean up in Illustrator (including expanding pockets by .5mm due to physical limitations of X-Carve)
  7. Export SVG to Easel
  8. Create dog bones for pockets in Easel (ugh…what a pain…why doesn’t the dog bones app replace in-place rather than creating a new object at 0,0?)
  9. Paint inner cabinet surfaces
    10.a. Cut! (wood and plexi)
    10.b. 3D print! (about 20 parts total, including marquee retainers, circuit board holders, fan guard, etc)
  10. Cut t-molding slots
  11. Apply vinyl wrap to front pieces
  12. Glue it together (yay tab and slots!)
  13. Apply vinyl to sides
  14. Tap in t-molding
  15. Add hardware and wiring (including a custom-programmed Arduino that acts as my keyboard controller for the control panel)
  16. Load up Retropie
  17. Have fun!

I’ve added a lot of nice touches that reflect my love of arcade days gone by, including:

  1. Keyed access with hinged back panel
  2. Latched control panel (sorry, I think visible screws holding down control panels are ugly and not service-friendly)
  3. Donkey Kong-themed, 3D printed rear exhaust fan guard
  4. Yep, a rear exhaust fan
  5. 2 x 3" Dayton drivers for surprisingly good stereo sound
  6. Backlit marquee
  7. Single pushbutton shutdown controller for easy and safe Linux-friendly on/off
  8. Push button “coin slots.” When pressed, they send “1” and “2” for direct compatibility with MAME
  9. Select, Start, and Pause “service” buttons hidden under the control panel
  10. Leg levelers provide a stable base on uneven surfaces
  11. USB port on the back panel to connect retro controllers
  12. Handle on the back panel. Pick it up and take it with you!

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!

Here are a few more pics:

1
11280×960 1.16 MB

2
2960×1280 1.48 MB

3
3960×1280 1.22 MB

4
41280×960 1.25 MB

5
51280×960 1.25 MB

6
61280×960 1.07 MB

7
71280×960 1.14 MB

8
81280×960 1.08 MB

9
91280×960 1.05 MB

10
101280×960 1.27 MB

17 Likes
2

Fantastic project. Two arcade style projects on the forum recently that are out of this world awesome.

1 Like
3

Thank you for a detailed write-up! :smiley:

Love it!

1 Like
4

Amazing craftsmanship and detail!!

1 Like
5

Beautifully done. Bravo.

1 Like
6

How do you go about licensing the roms that are included with that, I am thinking of doing the same thing but not sure how to go about getting licensed.

7

wow looks great! really well done.

1 Like
8

Hi Dominick,

Thank you for your interest in my project. I am simply a cabinet builder. The only software included with my machine is:

  1. Embedded controller code for safe shutdown
  2. My keyboard controller Arduino code in the control panel

The platform, emulators, and games shown in my video are NOT included and are for demo purposes only, with the intent of demonstrating what my arcade game cabinet is capable of.

I’d be more than happy to answer any questions you have about how I designed, cut, and built my arcade cabinet, my experience with X-Carve, etc. However, a discussion of software (including ROMs) is out of scope for this forum.

Thanks, and I appreciate your understanding.

Josh

2 Likes