Project Arcade: Build Your Own Arcade Machine

553 Pages·2011·11.3 MB·English

by  John St. Clair

Project Arcade
Build Your Own Arcade Machine
Second Edition
John St.Clair
http://avaxhome.ws/blogs/ChrisRedfield
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Project Arcade: Build Your Own Arcade Machine, Second Edition
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
10475 Crosspoint Boulevard
Indianapolis, IN 46256
www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2011 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN: 978-0-470-89153-7
ISBN: 978-1-118-03881-9 (ebk)
ISBN: 978-1-118-03883-3 (ebk)
ISBN: 978-1-118-03882-6 (ebk)
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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This book is dedicated to my wife Kristi and my children Kayci, Isaac,
and Sebastian, without whom my life would not be complete.
I’d also like to dedicate this book to my parents, Ed and Liliane, and
brothers Don and Andy, who inspire me.
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Credits
Project Editor Vice President and Executive
Christopher J. Rivera Group Publisher
Richard Swadley
Production Editor
Rebecca Anderson Vice President and Executive
Publisher
Copy Editor
Barry Pruett
C. M. Jones
Associate Publisher
Editorial Director
Jim Minatel
Robyn B. Siesky
Project Coordinator, Cover
Editorial Manager
Katie Crocker
Mary Beth Wakefi eld
Proofreader
Freelancer Editorial Manager
Jen Larsen, Word One New York
Rosemarie Graham
Indexer
Associate Director of Marketing
Robert Swanson
David Mayhew
Cover Designer
Production Manager
Michael E. Trent
Tim Tate
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About the Author
John St.Clair is a network engineer employed by a K-12 school
district in a small county in Georgia. As network manager,
John is responsible for the daily operation and stability of
the networking infrastructure for the school system.
John has worked in the IT fi eld since high school, approxi-
mately 25 years ago. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in
Computer Information Systems in 1995, and also holds
MCSE and CNA networking certifi cations.
He started in the video gaming fi eld like many children of the 80’s, feeding
most of his allowance into quarter-gobbling machines at the local arcade. His
primary claim-to-fame in this subject matter is being the creator of the Build
Your Own Arcade Controls (BYOAC) web site at www.arcadecontrols.com. This
site has grown from a small hobbyist site to the de facto home of the hobby,
with an average of 90,000 visitors monthly. Virtually every item of note in this
hobby makes its way to the BYOAC web site, from product launch, to technique
discussion, to presentation of yet another personal arcade cabinet project.
As if the above wasn’t enough to occupy his time, John is also a martial artist,
studying Jujitsu, Aikido, Hapkido, and Kyuki-Do.
John splits his personal time between being a web-master, tinkering with his
arcade game collection, martial arts, and raising a family.
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Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank my wife for her support and love while I wrote this second
edition, and for doing the job of two parents again so that I could write this book.
I can’t imagine life without you by my side. I want to thank my kids, Kayci, Isaac,
and Sebastian for their understanding and being willing to do without daddy
while I was working on the project. I’d like to thank my father and brothers for
their support and encouragement, and my in-laws Don “Cappy” and Jeannie
Oakley for the same. I’d like to honor the memory of Earl Mead, a genuine
WWII war hero to our country and personal hero to our family, who passed
away just before this book was fi nished. “Grandad” was a father, grandfather,
and great-grandfather, an inspiration to all of us, and will be sorely missed.
Finally, I’d like to honor the memory of my mother, who passed away too soon
between editions of this book. She instilled in me the fi rm belief that you can
do anything you set your mind to, which attitude I hope is refl ected well in the
book you hold in your hands now.
I’d also like to thank my friends Mark and Michele for being rock solid friends
in both the best and worst of times, and particularly Mark for his invaluable
advice while building the cabinet. Thanks for being my “Dave Smallwood!”
I’d be remiss not to mention the folks who turn ideas into books — my editors
Christopher Rivera and Scott Meyers, and the rest of the behind the scenes folks
at Wiley Publishing. Their gentle urgings to mind the schedule made sure this
book came out on time. To quote Douglas Adams, “I love deadlines. I like the
whooshing sound they make as they fl y by.” Thanks everyone, I’m pretty sure
I drove you nuts this time!
Special thanks go out to all the people who helped turn my Web site from
a simple little one-page affair in late 1997 to the community it is today, which
ultimately led to the book in your hands now. Jason “SirWoogie” Presnell in
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viii Acknowledgments
particular for doing so much to help keep things running behind the scenes, and
Jay “PlanetJay” Wilkinson who had the job before him. Thanks also to Arthur
“SirPeale” Peale, Michael “JustMichael” Horton, Kevin “SirPoonga” Jonas, and
Matt “Nivo” Nivison for helping run the message forums.
Another round of appreciation goes to Andy Warne, Randy Turner, Kelsey
Schell, Howard Casto, Tom Van Horn, Robin Merrill, Dave Hagstrom, and
Zonn Moore, for providing technical expertise, feedback, and proofreading of
book material. Also Scott Glazer for donating the plans for the project, and a
big thank you to everyone else who allowed me to include their projects and
material in the book. Special thanks go to Mitchell “Pixelhugger” Gardiner for
the amazing job he did on the artwork for the cabinet!
I’d also like to give a shout out to all the chat room, wiki, and message board
regulars, whose contributions are too numerous to mention and are found
throughout this book. Also a big kudos and thanks to everyone who has docu-
mented the construction of their own Project Arcade machines. Thanks for being
part of everything ladies and gents!
Yes, it’s a bit sappy, but I mean every word. Without everyone here, this book
wouldn’t be nearly as good as I hope you’ll fi nd it to be.
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Contents at a Glance
Introduction xix
Part I Playing Your Games the Way They Are Meant to Be
Played — with Arcade Controls 1
Chapter 1 Picking Your Path to Game-Playing Nirvana 3
Chapter 2 Building Your Arcade Cabinet 15
Part II Designing and Building Your Dream Arcade Control Panel 67
Chapter 3 Pushing Your Buttons and the Joy of Joysticks 69
Chapter 4 Taking Your Game Out for a Spin — Spinners and Trackballs 99
Chapter 5 Arcade Controls for Power Gamers 123
Chapter 6 Building the Control Panel 151
Part III Hooking Things Up Under the Hood — Time to
Trick the Computer 187
Chapter 7 How It Works — Turning a Computer into the
Brains of an Arcade Machine 189
Chapter 8 Using the Keyboard Connector for Arcade Controls 211
Chapter 9 Arcade Controls Using the Mouse Connector 239
Chapter 10 Miscellaneous Bits of Arcade Trickery 263
Part IV Putting Together the Final Pieces 283
Chapter 11 Audio — Silence Isn’t Golden 285
Chapter 12 A Picture Is Worth a Thousand . . . Tokens? 301
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