Portable MAME

I always wanted to build a Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator (MAME) to play all the classic arcade games of the past, but I didn't want to construct a giant cabinet with a cathode ray TV and take up space in our house that we don't have. I started thinking about what would make a good home for all the arcade controls that I could put away in a closet when I wasn't playing games. What I landed on is a bass guitar case I found on craigslist for $40. It was a tight fit, but I managed to get everything in it, including an old Dell D630 laptop to run the MAME UI.

I simply connect a power cable to an outlet and HDMI cable to an HDTV and go. I got a keyboard stand to put it on so we can play standing up or maybe in front of the couch. The best part about it is it's completely portable! Arcade fun in an easy to carry box.

This was a super fun project! All in all, I don't think I spent much more than $200, which doesn't include the old laptop which I had lying around, though that's probably only worth about $20. I'm very happy with the result. It's really fun to pull this out and play some of the old great games with friends. It feels like going back in time firing up these old games, and they are still as much fun as I remembered.

Check out the pages on this blog for details on the build!