I’m sketching out ideas for my games room I plan to create over the next 2 or so years (basically a miniature sports bar in my basement).
I want to make a small video game centre. I will be building a ‘shell’ that looks like a stand-up arcade game ( example ). This won’t actually be a video console, but more of a shelving unit made to look like one.
Inside will be a 21" colour TV supported on a sturdy shelf, with the screen pushed up against the opening to look like the monitor on a console unit and ventilation holes drilled into the top.
The bottom part (where you put the coins in a real video game) will actually be a swing-out door that houses several different console systems (Atari 2600, Sega Genesis, Sega Dreamcast and a Playstation 1 or 2) controlled by an A/B switch (or an A/B/C/D/E switch I guess) and a selection of games cartridges / disks.
The question here is, would it be safe or stupid to hook up the the central power for the entire unit (TV, systems, and maybe a light) to a switch? By that I mean, turning the TV set on and off by a switch instead of the on/off button of the TV. The remote for this old TV is long gone, and I’d really prefer to squeeze the montior in nice & tight with very little non-screen area showing, which would effectively bury the power switch on the front of this particular TV set.
The individual game units I plan to turn on as needed to play, so I’m not worried there, just the actual TV I’m a little worried might blow by being turned on and off this way.
We have cable, and the power cords to both of our TV sets are plugged into their relevant cable tuner boxes (which arrived with “power out” connectors and directions to use them for just that purpose). The net effect is that we power the TVs on and off as a side-effect of turning the cable tuners on and off.
No problems so far (and “so far” is 16 years and counting).
The TV might take longer to warm up and come alive if you cut its power entirely - although, that’s not too common anymore. Old tube-based sets (pre-transistors) often kept a “keep warm” current trickling through the tubes so the TV didn’t need five minutes to come on.
It also may refuse to turn on when power is restored unless you press the power button.
In either scenario, there’s no harm to the TV, just potential annoyance to you.
Some TVs are not happy with having main power cut, and can lose programmed options, e.g. learned channels, user options, etc. Ensure that the set you’re installing won’t become cranky when used in the fashion you propose.
I’ll try and scan my drawing, but it’s pretty much the Deer Hunter unit. I don’t think you’re understanding quite what it is I’m planing to do, though.
I’m not out to actually convert an existing arcade game into a multi-game, mult-platform, coin-op game (I’m not doing ANY hard-wiring or anything). The ‘housing’ is really just a shelving unit cut out of MDF that will resemble the arcade games in shape. Think of it as a custom-made entertainment centre, but in the shape of a stand-up arcade game.
So, the consoles (Dreamcast, et al) are really just on a shelves inside the ‘shell’, but below the shelf the TV is on. Exactly the way your VCR, DVD player and Stereo Receiver might sit on the shelves of your entertainment centre next to your TV -just that this entertainment centre happens to be in the shape of an arcade game unit. When you walk into a room, and even walk right up to it, it’ll look like an arcade game (I’m thinking if I can even get a fake coin slot to attach to the front to really add authenticity, and maybe an Arcade Stick to sit ont the facing …eh, maybe not)
To play, you just have to power on the monitor, set the A/B/C switch to whichever console you want to play, insert a game, and power on the console (in theory anyway).
the only proble you are likely to run into is the Tv and its default program.
If when initially powered on the tv will default to say channel 2 or 3, or to video input, then great, should be no problem. However if the tv always tries to auto-program or defaults to a channel/setting not conducive to your video system, then it will be a pain in the ass every time it switches on.
So, the life of the TV isn’t the issue, but what the TV will do when turned back on, is. IIRC, restoring the power won’t turn the TV on, so that idea is out.
FTR, this TV is slightly old enought that it doesn’t have auto-program, so it won’t try to do that every time I turn it on.
So, I guess I’ll have to come up with some sort of cover that will cover the area where the on/off button is (maybe a strip of tinted acrylic?). I might be able to dig up a universal remote, too.
[/thinking out loud]
I’m not sure if this will work with the consoles you want to add, but if I were doing this, I’d definitely put a PC in that cabinet and run Mame on it. Then again, the mods here probably frown on Mame so we shouldn’t discuss that in too much depth.
Anyway, check here for a ultracool controller setup.
