How to Build a MAME Arcade Machine for Your Home

By reading this simple overview you will gain a good understanding of how all the parts and pieces come together to create your very own arcade cabinet. Afterwards you will be able to go on to the rest of the guide and plan and build your very own MAME Arcade Machine!

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. * Cabinet – Generally made out of ¾” plywood or medium density fiberboard (MDF) the cabinet can come in many different designs and types. All cabinets essentially do the following:
   
   - House the computer
   
   - Support the display (monitor/ TV) and the speakers
   
   - Allow the control panel to be mounted
   
   - Are often finished with side art, marquees (signs at the top) and/or coin doors
   
   For more information check out buildahomearcade.com
2. Control Panel – Like cabinets, control panels can come in all sorts of designs and can provide different levels of functionality based on the arcade controls you decide to include. Basically the control panel is a piece of wood or MDF that has been drilled and cut so that all the individual arcade controls can be mounted (joysticks, trackballs, buttons, etc.).
   
   For more information check out buildahomearcade.com
3. Interfaces & Wiring – Once all the arcade controls are securely mounted to the control panel board it is time to connect them together via wiring. All of the controls are wired to what is called an interface card. The interface card then connects to the computer either through the PS2 port or the USB port. Once connected to the computer your arcade controls act as input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, or game pad depending on how they are connected/ what the controls do.
   
   For more information check out buildahomearcade.com
4. Computer – Nothing too fancy here, most MAME arcade machines use an average PC. Your arcade can play regular computer games, if the game itself is configured to use the controls. MAME is what is known as an emulator which basically tricks the computer into thinking it is an arcade machine. Emulators then use ROMs, which are the individual games, to allow you to play arcade/console games on your PC. This site doesn’t offer any ROMs but a simple Google search for MAME ROMs or ROMs in general should provide you with more than enough information. You also should check out the home of the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator.
   
   For more information check out buildahomearcade.com

Tips & Warnings

• The basic goal of a MAME arcade machine is to use arcade controls (joysticks, buttons, trackballs, etc.) to act as input devices (like a mouse, keyboard or game pad) while playing games (PC or ROMS) off your computer.
• For more information check out buildahomearcade.com