Ps2 Arcade Table Project

[Mulletino]

I'd mentioned this in the Battlestation thread so thought i'd post more info on it now it is complete:

 

Many moons ago I had a dream of turning my PS2 with HDD into a Retro Gaming Arcade Table, seeing as I had most of the PS2 Retro Compilations and an old CRT TV and Arcade Controller. I thought it would make a nice addition to my Man Cave. I wanted to do this on as small a budget as possible.

I'd been keeping an eye out for a suitable Coffee Table for ages and finally found one on Gumtree for $5 a couple of months back. Here it is with my PS2, the old CRT (couldn't have those lovely old games on an LCD now could we) and the Arcade Stick:



Would have been better had the TV not had a VHS build in, but I wanted to utilise existing gear I had. I also had bought those castors for $3 and fitted them already. Turns out the Arcade Stick was faulty, kept selecting stuff it wasn't meant to, and the PC speakers I was planning to use were also faulty and unfixable. So I bought new speakers ($5) and a new PS2 Arcade Stick ($40). Anyway, first step was to cut out the hole for the TV to drop in to see what fittings etc would be required to get this going:



There was less space than anticipated so this governed where everything would go. The glass there is the glass that came with the table, as it was a) broken and b) not toughened it was going to need replacing, luckily a mate of mine had contacts and sorted me out some new cut to size toughened glass! Result.
Anyway, then it was time for a trip to Bunnings and JayCar for the required parts. Dodgy retro paint job applied, it was time for a fit test to see where all the bits could go inside. I also put some more PS2 games i'd bought (Sega Classics and Sonic Collection) on the HDD:



Next step was to fit the hinged vented doors, the controller shelf, the external 4 player controller extensions under the controller (for Gauntlet and also to easily swap the Arcade Stick for a DS when the game requires analogue control), the external RCA ports for plugging in my TV Games and Megadrive etc, the top vinyl was cut and fitted with the new toughened glass on top, internal fan also fitted to PS2 side vent, and a quick test go of Bubble Bobble from the Taito Classics.

 

I picked up a spare working Phat PS2 from a flea market for $10 so that's now sat aside as a spare in case the laser finally goes on my old one. I also picked up some mini marquee and logo stickers from www.arcadestickers.co.uk to go under the glass to make it feel a little more arcadey.

 

This is a video of the finished item (minus some cable tidying) in action, with the pimp lights on:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ5LZ2a-il4

 

It won't look pretty to the purists but it performs the function I required and came in under budget, the most expensive items being the LED lights and the stickers (postage to AUS sucks), so under $200 it stayed!

[TPA5]

Bravo! Let's see some pictures of the finished unit as seen in the video! I love arcade machines, this is such a cool idea for a project I'm almost tempted to steal it and add it to my ever-growing wishlist of cool stuff. Looks really clean in the video, well done and congrats at staying under the budget.

[+GoldenWheels]

Love it mulletino--and fully intend to steal it once I see a suitable table on the cheap.