I guess I should ask if anyone has spotted this project, if not please let me know if it exists ( don't want to re-invent the wheel etc. )
There are tons of Pi cases out there, some intragrate a keyboard and other parts makeing it look like an old 80's PC.
What I would like to do ( for demos at the "Mad Scientest Fair" and other hacker events ) is create an arcade case for the Pi.
In that then all I need to do it hook to a HDTV and power and I have an old school game time ( via MAME )
The focuse of the project is to try and make it:
- As reproduceable as possible ( plans in a PDF and maybe a youtube video )
- Make it as affordable as possible
- Make it as aestheticly pleasing as possible.
So if intrested let's get designing and building!
Ok first part I need is to adapt an old VGA 1280x1024 flat pannel monitor to work with the Pi
DO NOT get the $12 cheap chineese version off of ebay as that will draw power from the Pi's
HDMI port ( please read http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14160 )
Instead I ordered off of Amazon the $25 version that is powered:
Thus my case design will have to fit that monsiter!
Don't forget you will need to modify the /boot/config.txt as in
hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=4
See => http://elinux.org/RPi_config.txt
Update: it arived today and it does work, but like all cheap chineese HW there is a down side. It set's it's output via the input:
So my old flatpannel LCD ( VGA in only) does 1280x1024 thus 1080p does not work, but 720p does since it can lock frequency at 1280x720.
Thus settings hdmi_group=1 hdmi_mode=4 in /boot/config.txt gives me a crisp image all be it letterboxish.
Thus be FORWARNED! this cheap device can only do the modes above!
That's not a bad idea. If you wanted to get clever with the case, you could make it look pretty cool, as well.
I'm thinking we will end up here:
and or here for just the Arcade-Pi case with controllers:
Joystick and buttons can be purchased at http://na.suzohapp.com ( note that HAPP acutally made the orignal arcade parts from back in the day! )
Moveing forward, here is the artical about setting up MAME on the Pi:
http://blog.sheasilverman.com/2012/06/raspberry-pi-and-mame-part-2/
So it looks like everyone is compileing the "Advnaced MAME" emulator:
http://advancemame.sourceforge.net/
Which looks prittly good:
http://advancemame.sourceforge.net/snapshot.html
And this, just in time: http://dvice.com/archives/2012/10/8-bit-horror-ga.php
Then this happens, the picade?
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pimoroni/picade-the-arcade-cabinet-kit-for-your-raspberry-p?ref=live
And then this: http://hackaday.com/2012/11/26/tiny-mame-cabinet-built-from-raspberry-pi/
You should really get moving... (-: