Hello Everybody!! First off just want to say I have been reading thru the forums here, and all you guys and gals are amazing on the things you can hack, rip, burn, and build!!!!
The things you can do with these game consoles are down right CRAZY!!

Well on too my story, I just picked up 5 full-size arcade games.
1) Turkey hunt USA (works perfect)
2) Sharpshooter (needs 2 new guns)
3) Martial Champions (works perfect)
4) Asteroids 1979 all original unmolested condition (needs power supply)
5) Gauntlet Legends 4 player (flawless condition)

Sooooooooo......I was thinking about turning the martial champion’s cabinet into a MAME and using the Xbox to drive it.
I'm looking to make it look and feel just like and original arcade. I plan to take 2 x-box controllers and direct wire them to a new dual 10 button 8 way joystick panel (that I plan on building). I’m also going to replace the old 25” tube monitor with a fresh 27” color TV. My first question is what arcade emulator has the most arcade style games on it.
I have a bone stock x-box, so what’s my next step? Also have a fresh 40GB hard drive i would like to install in it as well.
Don’t think the old 8GB is going to cut it. So what are my first steps I need to take?

Thanks guys and gals!!

Will standby for answers
CaliforniaDad

CoinOPs Showcase is king in my book. It is by far the most stylish and sleek set up of the MAME emulators out there but if you're going to be upgrading the hard drive, you have space for options and picking one that suits you.

If you're starting from scratch then here are a few general steps you need to take.

1. Consider how you're going to mod the console soft vs hard.
2. Decide on how big of an IDE harddrive you're going to need (if its just MAME you would be fine with 100gb or so)
3. Pick a dashboard to run everything from (I like XBMC)
4. Install the emulators you would like (check the stickied message from fumachu for a list of emulators)
5. Start looking for ROMs to play

This community is a great resource.

First you have to mod the console. The easier way is softmod, it is plenty of tutorials around. The stock Xbox usually has a 10 Gb hard disk, enough for a Mame based emulator as Reignite and a thousand and more of games with screenshots.

Thanks guys!
So would my first step be installing the new 40GB hard drive into the xbox?
Then doing the softmod to it?
What is the differance between (hard-soft) mod?

So I could run the "Reignite" on the xbox's factory 10gb hard drive? Is there a step by step on how to load that to the xbox?

The hard mod needs a modchip and some solderings (difficult) on the motherboard of the console. A soft mod can be done easily, being only software based. Changing the hdd can be done only after modding the console, and it is easier with a hard mod (you can just put a new hdd, with the softmod you have also to generate a special code to lock the hdd. anything is explained in softmod tutorials). So, the easier way would be softmodding and keeping the original hdd, it has enough space for Reignite, the games, the games screenshots for the menu. The video previews need a lot of space and arent strictly necessary, even if they look great.

Well I already have the harddrive, So I might as well use it. Can you point me at the easy soft mod and hard drive replacment?

You can check the tutorials section in xbox-scene dot com, under Exploits/Softmod Guides. The easiest method is a xbox memory card where you put a special game save (you need a friend with an already modded xbox to copy the gamesave on it) and an original game disk of Mechassault, or Splinter Cell or 007: Agent Under Fire. Without the memory card you can copy directly the game save into the xbox hdd with the hot swap method, connecting the xbox hdd to an ide cable of a pc. Better you begin to check those tutorials, anyway all the possible methods are always a bit tricky and cant be called 'easy', at least they cant be explained quickly in few lines.

you can check my build thread for xbox cabinet conversion

if your putting in a 40gig hdd then this is what you need for arcade emulation.

coinops reignite r3 for all your mame needs.
final burn 1.1-this emulates all those sega games which arent emulated in coinops like powerdrift,galaxy force,turbo outrun..
Ki XXX1.0-the only emulator for xbox which emulates killer instinct 1and2 arcade.
cpx3-this emualtes streetfighter 3 third strike,streetfighter3 second impact,joos bizarre adventure...

once you have those on your xbox then you are still going to have lots of space,i would recommend you looking into console emulation nes,snes,genesis,gba......

when you get your xbox modded let me know via pm i can help you out with this stuff.

edit/one more thing when you softmod your xbox and you want to install a main dashboard go with one which has a file explorer,either unleashx or xbox media centre i would recommend.

Here are some other resources you'll need.

First is http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/

Then you'll need these guys:

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/ for buttons and joysticks and
http://www.ultimarc.com/xba.php for the monitor adapter and ipac controller

If I may be so bold, I'd also add FBA-XXXPro...1.26 if you want HD....so many options.....just perfect...playing Final Fight better than it looked in the arcade?....priceless!

K

Is it simpler to softmod and xbox with a moded xbox? Is there a step by step for that?

here is a tutorial on how to softmod an xbox.
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/218495

here is a tutorial on how upgrade your xbox hdd.
http://www.techfreaks.org/articles/modxbox2.shtml

the most important thing when softmodding your xbox is to make sure you have a backup of your eeprom incase anything goes wrong.

Can I do the soft mod without the (game action replay)

in low def http://www.youtube.com/inbox?folder=messag...ction_message=1

yes you can softmod without an action replay its called hotswapping.
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/198478

there should be some videos on youtube to take you through the process of hotswapping.if you dont wont to do this either then you should go down the modchip route if you or soemone you know are comfortable with a soldering iron that is.
or maybe someone in your area offers a modding service.

Okay i got it!! I used another modded xbox and loaded the softmod to the xbox mem stick and did the transfer.
So Now I have my new modded box with nothing in it. So How can I start loading the arcade games (coinOps) ect ect. Do I just FTP the box and load the apps strait to it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3MgoLAbqF4

opps sorry thats Showcase running

yes you just do it by ftp or you can use the dvd drive to burn files onto your xbox with your dashboard file explorer.

I think iI need a newer dashboard. The one I happened to load looks kinda old. It is (Microsoft Evolution X) V+3935
What is a good one to use to make it look like (Arcade Style)Also i dont see " File Explorer" on the xbox menu.

well personally i go with xbox media centre with the rapier skin,i wouldnt call it arcade looking but it looks nice and i set up xbmc to boot straight to the emulators on boot up.
you can use evox to ftp files to your xbox hdd.also there is different skins you can get for evox

I got a NEOGEO MVS-2 at auction for 300.00 mint condition...original monitor and everything



Then I got one of these...

http://ultimarc.com/xba.php



You need the Xbox to JAMMA adapter at the bottom...Then just wire your speakers through an amp...I made it so everything turns on with a wall switch.

Then you get UnleashX dashboard and use the "scrolling wheel" design and make it have all your FBA-XXX roms launch directly with video preview...you can customize further by changing your loading screens to black to give it more arcadey feel...also I took retail games like Capcom Vs. SNK and Marvel Vs. capcom for Xbox and hex edited the Default.xbe so that instead of flashing "Press Start" durring the attract mode it says "Insert Coin"...Its just cosmetic but when the attract mode for these games is running now it looks exactly like the arcade attractt mode!

After you get everything set up you can go back into Mameox or FBA-XXX and set it to safety mode so that no one can mess it up...these options were added specifically for us cab owners!

Well I just loaded the CoinOps Ignite R3, It plays fine, but there are no games? Did I miss somthing?

yes the roms

check your pm

for you showcase is best id say

I would agree to that for sure. Just do some googling and you'll find the torrent....just be patient its a huge file

So what would I google "Showcase roms"

Coin Ops R3 Showcase roms ???

Found it "CoinOPS reignite SHOWCASE" <--------Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeettttt

@californiadad concerning the xbmc dash if i was you i would just downlaod some skins for evox as it can be a problem replacing a dash on a softmodded xbox,basically its easy to F it up.

Oh really, Darn cause I just got XBMC loaded up, looks great!! I was trying to DL the rapier skin but, the zip file keeps saying its corrupt??
Tried a few different zip programs. No go

download the rapier skin from here.
http://www.deviantart.com/download/1373138...MC_by_tvnca.zip

its the official site for it.
did you get your hdd upgraded?

Cool, Im downloading the new skin now. I plan on upgrading the HD in the morning. Ill let ya know how it goes.
Thanks!!


Ahhh........That new DL link you gave me worked like a charm! No error this time Sweeeeeett! Time to go change some skins

Does one need all of these adapters (shown) for this project...? I checked that site and it would be over $100 for all of them. I haven't found a clear description anywhere on how to set it up with an Xbox.
More info or any steps would be much appreciated...
I have an original TMNT machine I am thinking of converting.
Thank You

Do you need it? No not really. Is it worth it? Hell yeah it makes it super easy. The picture above is for connecting an xbox to a JAMMA wired cabinet. So if you've got a real arcade machine you just take out the original game board and plug that part labeled as J-Pac into your cab where the game board was. If your monitor and controls work in your TMNT cab this would be great for that, barring the fact you'd need another controller adapter for players 3 and 4. (and after that you'll want to drill some holes and add more buttons on your control panel, these modifications get addictive real fast)

I always thought a TMNT machine would be great for 4 player Super Mario War.

Thanks for the info RedCaps!

Yes mine is an original one...
It is in practically mint condition, so I don't really plan on permanently changing it.

I want to built a new control panel, and then just interchange them.

So I need,
1. Controller Adapter/ps2 cable
2. J-Pac
3. AV/speaker to j-pac connector.
(how would my speaker connect?)

And...
how is the method modified if I want to add a new control panel with more buttons?
( I am not worried about 4 player right yet, I will make a 2 player control panel with buttons that match an xbox controller)

Thanks again