Welcome to the Githens' Arcade Page

In about 2002 or 2003, I first got the itch to build an arcade machine.  The machine will emulate most arcade games, all Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Sega, Atari and Nintendo Gameboy games.  It is also able to play visual pinball which is a very realistic emulator for real pinball machines - the physics and graphics are quite stunning.

To launch the games you use a "front end", I am currently using MALA.  There are tons of these out there and each offers their own quirks and benefits.  Mala happens to support an LED lighting system that can individually light up the keys and trackball - I hope to incorporate this in the future.  The skins are completely customizeable and the current one I am using has an Apple type feel to it.  By pressing F12 at any time you can take a screenshot of  a game and it will then be incorporated into the skin.

All software for this machine is free, but there is some question to the legality of some of these games.  The frontend (mala) launches the appropriate emulator and the selected ROM.  Roms are available all over the underground internet and each rom represents an individual game.  I currently have about 10,000 roms for all the various platforms.

Okay, so the picture below shows an overall shot.  Side art, the marquee and the control panel overlays were printed at Kinkos on their large format bubble jets.  These prints cost about $10/sq ft so you want to make sure you get it right.  I used plexiglass on all prints to protect them.  The character art was downloaded from www.localarcade.com and since it is all vector art the image quality is top notch.  I will add links to the bottom of the page so that others may use my art.  Kinkos did balk at my art at first because of their misunderstanding of copyright law - you are (at least in the US) allowed to recreate trademarked and copyrighted materials for your personal use - there is some stipulation about the number of copies but this is in my basement and I am well within the "fair use" limits.  You can also see the yellow buttons on the side of the control panel - these are used for the Visual Pinball games.  The cabinet is built out of 3/4" MDF and all exposed edges are finished with arcade molding - this provides that real arcade feel.


I still need to add the last plexiglass that will cover the screen.  It will also have artwork on the back of it - just a few characters and it will be painted to completely hide the TV's bezel and buttons.  To turn the TV on and off I hacked up the remote control and connected an arcade button to the power button on the remote - so I didn't have to take the TV apart and I have external on/off switch.  Also the Marquee reads "ARCADE - Recapture Your Youth".  It is backlit with Cold Cathodes which are used by guys to light up the inside of their computers.  The cold cathodes run off the 12v through the computer so they turn on and off with the CPU.


The control panel is composed of two elements - 1) the trackball and 2) the buttons and joysticks.  The trackball is identical to the units found in the Golden Tee machines and is nothing more than a PS2 mouse - it even has wiring for the three buttons you would find on traditional mice.  The buttons and joysticks are actually wired to a keyboard emulator.  The keyboard emulator allows you to use the simple contact switches that buttons and joysticks contain.  Ultimarc.com has all kinds of joysticks, buttons and emulators.  Below you can see about 90 feet of wiring!!




Occasionally you will need to interact with the windows interface of the computer, so you really need a keyboard handy.  I picked up the drawer sliders for a few bucks and it was a quick and easy install.