So, with the decision to go forward with my project to build a MAME cabinet…I am faced with one glaring decision that could make or break this project. How much money can I throw at this?

While I am in no rush to complete the project, it would be fairly awesome to assemble this rig ASAP. So far the biggest way for me to cut costs on this project will be to find a way to get the cabinet itself built for cheap. There are a few arcades local to my area, so my hope is one of them puts up an old cabinet for sale that isn’t one of the top sellers.

Having a pre-built arcade cabinet would cut down some costs of the project and I can always redesign my control panel around the available space. The only requirement for the control panel is that it must be comfortable for two players to game alongside each other. I would jump for joy if I could locate a decent condition cabinet for a few hundred dollars locally.

The real question about all this still remains, do I charge my friends to play on this awesome machine once it is done or not?