| I love my Rover Metro, a fantastic little go-kart of a motor. It, unlike the Seat Marbella it replaced, is a proper grown up car with it’s grandad steering wheel and the general higher level of comfort. That doesn't stop me yearning for my little red box of Fiat Panda-based joy on a perpetual basis, though.
The sensation is the same that you get when parked in a lovely swivel chair trying desperately to recreate the ambience of an arcade. Sitting down with an X-Arcade and the brightness and contrast set to "Insult" is great, and employing friends to stand over your shoulder and watch you intimidatedly play whilst they throw you off-kilter with shit playing advice is even better. What would be brilliant though is to have your own arcade machine, right over there, in that corner.
The prettiest car in the world.
Project Arcade by John St. Clair (of Build Your Own Arcade Controls website fame) is a greatly encouraging cookbook for creating exactly this. It’s an authorative resource, but there’s no impression of being told that there’s only one way of doing things. The initial chapters take you through the construction of his own arcade cabinet, and when when orated by the inner voice have a real feeling of “I had absolutely no idea what I was doing – you truly can do this too”.
Each chapter is interleaved with little tips and tables of things to consider. It’s quite a shock to discover how many types of control are available to you for example, and it helps you weigh up whether you’re going for a sparse, single-joystick layout or a more grand effort combining joysticks, trackballs and lightguns. It’s not too proud to show you other people’s attempts either for inspiration - there’s a whole section at the back of the book devoted to projects such as cocktail cabinets and even one called Secret Arcade, an arcade cabinet built into a wardrobe!
This or Robotron? Tough choice…
The book’s available in two versions – paperback, and as an Adobe eBook. But we all know that eBooks are rubbish, so personally I’d stick with the paperback – especially as it comes with a CD and it’s far easier to thumb through when you’re up to your elbows in the back of your nascent cab. The CD also contains a set of blueprint diagrams for various types of cabinet, plus a version of the MAME arcade emulator and utilities to help you with the crafty magic of configuring the thing.
Ah, that’s nicer… Well, go on then!
Really, if you have even the slightest wish to know how these things work let alone make one for yourself, give this a read. You’ll be all nice and fired-up enough at the end of it all to want a crack at it yourself.
Best of three on Seat Marbella Turbo Challenge, then?
JUNOSIX, July
2004.
RODENT CASH RATING -
Well worth the cover price
"Best for building."
Comment
Here.
My WotR MAME cab piece:
http://www.wayoftherodent.com/themamegame.htm
The websites of John St. Clair:
www.arcadecontrols.com
www.projectarcade.com
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