The Role of Video Game Cabinets

Silicone for your cell phone’s protection. A crystal case to secure your PSP and prevent it from falling. Cabinets for your video game set. You read it right! In Texas, a cabinet is used to protect and maintain the condition of your video game set.
Cabinets for schools and offices are where important files or documents are kept. What seems to be an obsolete cabinet for the office can turn out to be rewarding.

Game cabinets hold low-end computers painted and decorated to look like real retro arcade machines. The computer is stored inside the cabinet, which is secured by locks for protection if the PC needs to be taken out for some reason. Often, a joystick or game pad is firmly attached to the cabinet to serve as controls. But if those are not available, a keyboard or mouse may be used as substitute. A sort of cabinet frame is built around the monitor, which is set slightly deep into the cabinet with an upward angle, to resemble the authenticity of an arcade machine and for easy viewing as well.

A computer per se does not require notable specifications or hardware; just the basics will be enough. Any secondhand computer or an unused unit lying on the basement will do. What a computer needs are:

1) Basic monitor that can fit in the cabinet. (a television can be used for better realism)

2) A working keyboard and mouse in proper condition.

3) Any old processor (a 166 MHz Intel Centrino Processor will do)

4) A CD-ROM drive to install the operating system.

5) A USB port to transfer files in, or the CD-ROM Drive.

6) A set of speakers to emit the game’s audio and music

7) A 10 or 20 Gigabyte hard disk.

There you go, no other Internet capabilities such as WI-FI or bluetooth, a modem, or Ethernet ADSL broadband are needed. After all, did arcades have Internet access in those days?

Now on the computer software, a low-end operating system with low system requirements will do such as Microsoft Windows 98 or Windows Me, or a minimal distribution of Linux (such as Zenwalk). Microsoft no longer supports Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me, so you can either buy a used copy of Windows through eBay or any local computer shop. Old or unused copies of Windows 98/Me should cost around $30 to $50. However, if you want to cut down on expenses, you can download a free Linux distribution from the Internet. A few examples of good, minimum Linux distributions are Zenwalk, SLAX, Zipslack, or Debian. Read about these on websites like Distrowatch or Wikipedia to find out which best suits your needs. Windows, however, is still the safest choice.

Once the machine has been set up with an operating system, you should now load it up with emulators and ROMS. Emulators are software programs that run ROMS (the arcade games).

You need emulators as these games do not run naturally on Linux or Windows the same way an EXE file (an executable) would upon double clicking it.

The author is a registered web copywriter in a web design company associated with a company offering video game cabinet.

The author is a registered web copywriter in a web design company associated with a company offering video game cabinet.