This project is probably the most ambitious and time-consuming project that I have ever done. I was also one of the most rewarding as the finished project was showcased in local woodworking expos, and a search for "MAME arcade console" puts this project in the top 20 google results.

I was inspired to make this while working at TKO Software in Santa Cruz, where we all played a MAME machine on our breaks. I decided that it would be cool to buy just a controller to connect to my PC at home. After I couldn't find any good quality controllers, I decided to design and build my own. A year later I was finished!

Here is how I designed and built it. First I chose the electrical components. I decided to use buttons and joysticks from Happ Controls and the I-Pac interface controller from Ultimarc. I then researched several existing controller designs and came up with the following design using AutoCAD and 3DS MAX:

With the physical design planned out, and after talking to Joe from Joe Woodworks, I decided to go with a nice wood inlay. I designed a cool looking phoenix design and I used my friend to model as 2 sexy girls. The final designs looked like this:

Then it took some time to combine the two designs. I had also decided on using purpleheart wood with a yellowheart inlay. The final design looked like this:

Now was the most time-consuming part of the project: Trying to get it built. While Joe was great at woodworking, he didn't have the right tools for such an intricate inlay design. I tried exploring laser cutting, water jet cutting, and computer controlled milling methods. After looking around for a while, I decided to go with Custom Inlay in Kentucky, who specializes in guitar inlay. The results really paid off though, and after Joe applied 5 coats of hand-rubbed Epifanes marine varnish, it looked great! I wired it up and here is what it looked like:

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in building one of these. If I ever get some investment money, I would like to design a full-sized arcade machine.