A full sized arcade takes up a lot of real estate, so, to save on both the physical and monetary footprint, I decided to build the console alone. However, I wanted my console to be able to play classic arcade games. This means having a spinner and, if possible, a trackball in addition to joysticks and buttons.
I found an old Sony STR-6800SD receiver on the side of the road and salvaged it's tuning knob and feet. Originally I planned on creating some variation of the 'Twisty-Grip' mouse hack, but I came up with another solution:First fit an old drill bit into the knob (any shaft will do).
Then open up a mouse with trackball. Remove the trackball and any plastic in the way of the spinning optical encoders. Loop a rubber band around the shaft of the optical encoder. (I cut my mouse in half to get useless plastic out of the way.)
Drill a hole where you want your spinner to be on the console. I found some plastic spacers that fit around the bit to act as a smooth surface to spin on. Enlarge the hole to fit the spacer and glue the spacer in place.Insert the bit through the spacer. On the underside of the console loop the rubber band around the bit. Affix the mouse to the underside of the console so there is tension on the rubber band. When the bit spins, the spin will be transferred to the mouse through the rubber band belt.
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For a trackball I found a Radica Golden Tee home game for $1 at a garage sale. The fine fellow here illustrates the key points for wiring it to a mouse. I cut a space out of my console fitted the top of the trackball assembly right into the wood.
The joystick and button layout can be found here [doc format]. The button at the top will be hooked up to the escape key for exiting games in Mamewah and the button at the bottom will be the pause key (p).
I got a basic 2-player joystick and button pack (don't forget to order extra buttons!), an I-PAC ve keyboard encoder and a pack of small buttons to fill in for various functions required by the software. You can also see the .187 female spade connectors used for easy wiring. [The people who sold me the joystick pack also sell a keyboard encoder with wires and quick connectors already hooked up. Worth checking out.]
Button and joystick wiring. A piece of cardboard raises the I-PAC so the pins do not rest directly on the wood. Twist ties and tape make for a modicum of organization.
Here is the completed console box bottom. It needed to be trimmed to allow enough space for the buttons at the edges. Some basic hinges connect the top to the base in the back and allow easy access to the wiring.
One of the cool things about this model is that it came with S-Video out, so that a television could be used as a monitor.
