You Just Bought a Big Electronic Games Midway Arcade     Cabinet. Now What?

You Modify it of Course!

by RetroBlast reader Lane C. with introduction by James     McGovern

Introduction

As many of you know I was not very kind in my review     of the Big Electronic Games- Midway Arcade game available in Target stores     around the country over the holiday season. While I certainly voiced my     opinion, others saw value in the price point as well as the smaller size     of the unit for the space conscious. Reports from Clay Cowgill which he     posted on various newsgroups indicated the product had brisk sales in     many locations. So I can assure you that whether or not this game continues     to be sold in stores, we will be seeing more of it and I would bet that     many transformations have already begun.

One collector on rec.games.video.arcade already posted     pictures of a control panel modification that displayed some promise.     In my review the controls and the display were the main sticking points.     Now, we are pleased to present another round of modifications by RetroBlast     reader, Lane C.

Lane has tackled a slew of other shortcomings of the     unit and I must say I am impressed with the progress. Below you will find     enhancements to the marquee, power switch, the display, and more.

While we all have our opinions about what is worthwhile     and what is not etc. Not many of us would be in this hobby if we were     REALLY thinking clearly. It is in this spirit that we acknowledge Lanes's     hard work and congratulate him on a job well done.

James McGovern

Modding the Midway "Target" Cabinet

Raising the Base

The cabinet was only 33 inches from the floor to the     controls and you really had to look and lean down to play. I raised the     unit with a base by 6 inches to bring the controls up to 39 inches - right     where most controls are.

I did this by making a box out of 1" thick lumber     that fits the interior of the inside of the bottom of the arcade cabinet.     In order to make it flush with the outer sides I glued and stapled on     pieces of 3/8" pine to make the little step you see.

I made a partial front skirt with room for your feet     to protrude underneath, and then made a slightly taller one for the back     but still left a gap. The entire structure was strengthened by placing     corner braces on the top interior of the box.

The final touch was to notch the top front slightly     to clear the bottom of the cabinet's door. The 3/8" pine only came     in 5-3/8" (or maybe it was 5-1/2".. I know it was less than     6") - so to get the extra fraction of an inch and to make it easier     to move (slide on on carpet) I hammered in little stainless furniture     glides. I think the finished product with 2 coats of black Rustoleum looks     pretty good!

No Marquee Light? I Don't Think So.

I mounted a cheap $8 fluorescent light I purchased from     Lowes. I also placed a scan of the original marquee between 2 pieces of     Plexiglas that I had cut from 1 piece - also purchased and cut (for free)     by Lowes for 8 dollars. I then ran some black electrical tape around the     edges to give it a frame and hold the two halves together. In order to     mount it to the cabinet, I super-glued one half of of a pair of tiny 3/8"     brass hinges to the plexiglas and used the included tiny brass screws     to secure the other half to the top 3/8" wood of the cabinet.

I really think this was a nice touch for the price.     My only wish is that I could make the marquee with a single piece of paper     and not have any seams. It is longer than a single piece of paper and     I have a tiny 1/16"-1/8" overlap where it makes a tiny line     that is darker than the rest. I likely will make a new insert to put in     there at a later date.

Power to the Speakers    

I also bought a powered speaker system with subwoofer     (Labtec Pulse 285) from Meijer and placed them in the header area behind     the now lighted marquee. It only cost $17 and made the sound MUCH better     where you can actually feel some audio and and even has a remote power     and volume switch.

To make the connections I unplugged the male RCA phono     sound jacks from the back of the switch (on the inside of the cab) and     I used a standard sound blaster type 1/8" male stereo adapter to     convert the stereo 1/8" male plug to 2 RCA phone jacks... essentially     a Y cable. In order to connect the male end of this adapter to the male     cord from the Labtec speakers I used a 1/8" stereo female to female     adapter from Radio Shack - I think it was $2.99 or $3.99. This way it     requires no cutting striping or soldering - real simple and flexible.

Modding the "Target" Midway Cabinet continued

Control the Power

The power unit in the cabinet is a normal surge suppressor/filter     power strip enclosed within a custom molded plastic enclosure. The raised     part is just an accommodation for a Wall wart transformer that provides     the DC power for the electronics module. It's the type of transformer     that has a plug right on it (no cord in between) and goes directly into     a 120 outlet and just hangs on the wall by the plug. The enclosure on     the midway power strip has a big square bulge in it, underneath is one     of these wall wart transformers. It supplies the 12 volts to the electronic     module.
   

I removed the screws that kept the TV plugged in and     plugged in a 3-prong adapter (to raise the connection) and then plugged     in a 3-way outlet adapter so the external
     switch can power everything. You could also remove the entire plastic     housing and just use the power strip.

The Finale: Locating Lost Pixels

I recieved a remote for the monitor from Big Games.     This enabled me to make all kinds of settings changes to improve the display.     The improvement, while not making everything accurate is nonetheless,     a dramatic improvement! I was able to get more and much better colors,     better contrast, less glare, more clarity, and an all-around better picture.    

Here are the settings I used:

Color: 100 (normal was 50)

Brightness: 40 (normal was 50)

Contrast:30 (normal was 50)

Sharpness: 100 (normal was 50)

Tint: -30 (normal was 0)

Blue (special setting): off (I think normal was on)    

Red (special setting): on (I think normal was on)

Color Temp: Warm (normal was normal)

Below you can see the end result of the finished modifications.     If anyone wants to duplicate what I have done and needs exact dimensions,     let me know and I will be happy to send them along.

RetroBlast Reader

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Update: New Pictures of Another Builder's Mods to     Replace the Control Panel

Another "Target" Midway cabinet owner who     created a much needed modification to the control panel has made these     pictures of his work available to RetroBlast.    

The builder has replaced the stock controls completely     with a wooden contol panel surface as well as actual arcade quality joysticks     and buttons. You will notice he reduced the number of buttons for each     position from six to two on the left and four on the right. Now he is     all set for Defender and Stargate and it certainly looks much cleaner.    

The creator of this modification also writes in to tell     us that he is making additional panels for other Midway cabinet owners     and to his surprise there is quite a demand. If you are looking to upgrade     and update, the controls are a great place to start in my opinion. The     two areas I found the unit lacking in the most were the display and the     controls. Like Lane, Bill also contacted the cabinet's manufacturer and     recieved a remote control unit for the display which seems to improve     the experience.    

You can contact Bill by email if you are interested     in having a control panel made for your Big Electronic Games Midway cabinet.     [Bill's Email]    

Also be sure to check out his website containing additional     pictures of his work to be posted soon. [Bill's     Website]    

Conclusion

It should be noted that Lane was a major contributor     to the review we originally ran for the Midway cabinet. He provided the     RetroBlast readers with the "inside scoop" as it were in the     form of interior photos and commentary about his thoughts upon opening     the game. You can see part one     and two that review in our hardware     reviews section.    

While Lane does not know it yet, in recognition of his     efforts on the review, his work with this cabinet and of course his excellent     article about the modifications, the RetroBlast team will be springing     for a marquee to be printed with the design of his choice by one of the     reproduction artwork vendors that grace our pages. You just can't have     a dang seam on your marquee! Great work Lane and thanks for sharing your     progress.    

James McGovern    

Modding the "Target" Midway Cabinet continued:     Final Update

     Here we are with the 3rd and final update (for now) to the Midway modifications     Lane C. has performed on his "Target" Midway Arcade Cabinet.

You may remember that we left the last installment with     a promise from RetroBlast! to Lane that we would help him aquire a replacement     marquee so he would not have to suffer through the inkjet copy which was     split into two pieces with a seam down the middle.

We made some inquiries and Mike from Classic Arcade     Grafix stepped up to the plate to provide a replacement for Lane's project.

Many thanks to Lane for including us in his project     and a very big thank you to Classic Arcade Grafix for his assistance in     getting Lane some decent artwork for his cabinet.

I give you the final installment as told by Lane C.     on his thoughts about the marquee from Classic Arcade Grafix.

- James McGovern

Replacing the Midway Marquee

by Lane C.

March 2006

Classic Arcade Grafix did a great job. It was nicely     packaged and arrived in excellent condition without ANY damage.

The marquee itself is very nice as well... they did     a good job of placing, sizing, and printing the graphic I provided to     them. The size I requested for the finished product was SPOT ON!

Marquee installed with no backlight

I opted for the styrene material. It is very nice and     needs nothing added to be put to use. I placed it right where the original     marquee was - just had to super glue my little brass hinges on it. The     reproduction is so good, that if the marquee is not lit - you don't realize     it's not the original wood (non lighted) one.

The styrene material seems durable and break resistant,     the only down side is that it really eats light - they warned me about     this when I placed the order - very thoughtful of them. I pressed on as     I didn't want to have to make a frame - I just wanted to place the marquee     like the original was.

Marquee installed with backlight turned on

I had a cheap fluorescent light for my home made marquee     that had seams... it barely gave any light through the new marquee, so     I had to pop in a brighter light.

I was concerned that it would be costly to put something     in there that would give off enough light, but I managed to do it for     under 20.00!

I settled on a 18" 3 bulb vanity light bar (like     what goes above a bathroom mirror) from Lowes for 9.99, stock number 73400.     It has a highly polished chrome finish that really does a great job of     reflecting all the light towards the marquee.

For lights, I was really worried about putting too much     wattage (read heat) in the fully enclosed marquee area - so I looked for     a creative solution... I ended up buying a 4 pack of screw in fluorescent     bulbs for only 7.98, again from Lowes, stock number 146558. They are only     13 watts each, but crank out 800 lumens of light - comparable to a 60     watt bulb. So, you get all the light, without all the heat. It is a nice     cheap
     solution!

Homebrew marquee lighting

I have included pics of the marquee with it on and off     (can't tell much difference due to the camera's flash) and one showing     the vanity bar light with the fluorescent bulbs in place.

I'm very satisfied with the marquee, Hats off to RetroBlast     and Classic Arcade Grafix!

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