Making the most of an arcade cabinet?

cj iwakura

So I just bought this baby from a mechanic of all places:







It was worth it just for Shinobi, but can I expect to get any more mileage out of it? Switching boards, etc? Or should I just leave it as-is?

BlindZenDriver

Cool find. If I had the space I'd love something like that.

My choice would to either:
A. keep it original so really do nothing except perhaps a good careful clean outside and inside(to make sure dust/dirt build up is not causing cooling issues).
or
B. Replace the electronics including the screen with PC hardware and run MAME on it to enjoy being able to run all sorts of games on it.

For history going A would be the right thing, but unless you're like a Shinobi fanatic I suspect there is more fun to be had going the other way. Of course there could also be the route of keeping to arcade original internals and then just switch boards and so when you can get your hands on other original gear, but to me that seems like a lot of work and money for little result.

King Riptor

I would restore it if possible. I'm not sure if shinobi is particularly rare or not but if you ever decide you don't want it or can't take it with you it will sell faster as a restored original rather than a custom unit

cj iwakura

King Riptor wrote: »

I would restore it if possible. I'm not sure if shinobi is particularly rare or not but if you ever decide you don't want it or can't take it with you it will sell faster as a restored original rather than a custom unit

From what I can tell, it's fairly common(71 in rarity at an arcade site, 100 being the most common). The board alone seems to sell for around what the cabinet cost. From what I read elsewhere, since it's a system16 board, I'd have to do major major adjustments to run anything else on it.

Darkewolfe

It's so incredibly easy with a raspberry pi to build a custom cabinet that i think any time you have an original, you might as well keep it original. Half the interest to it is having the original art and everything.

cj iwakura

As you may or not be able to tell, the cabinet is a little plain. I found these two accessories on ebay.

The first is for the side, the second a bezel for the screen(I assume).

Thoughts? Not sure how I'd apply them, but they sure look cool.