IKEA Lack 2 player arcade table

Rok

This is my first arcade table build (using an IKEA Lack table). It was intended to be a draft attempt as I expected things to go wrong at every step of the way but somehow they didn't! I wondered whether it would be a bit cramped for two players but it's actually a really comfortable size for two people to both play at the same time.

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You can just make out the two additional buttons on the left hand side for pausing play and for returning to the main menu.

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I exposed the spare USB sockets from the rPi3 so that two extra joypads could be connected for four player games or that a keyboard and mouse could be connected for SCUMM games or any of the computer emulations (Spectrum, Apple II, BBC, etc.). At the back right there's the volume control knob alongside a headphone socket. I couldn't fit the four gang plug inside the table so I cut the cables as short as possible and attached it underneath.

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I'd love to hear any thoughts and/or feedback about the table...

PingSpike

Great project man!

The purpose built pause button is a nice touch :)

What's the button next to 1P and 2P, is that the coin button?

Great work!

Rok

@PingSpike Thanks! And, yes, those are coin buttons for player 1 and player 2.

caver01

@Rok Nicely done! It's very clean with the flat top done that way. I did something similar with my Portable Cocktail Cabinet but with for player positions. I like how you managed to keep everything so thin. Does the bottom come off for access?

I always appreciate dedicated buttons. It makes everything so much easier for guests to learn. In my first cabinet back in 2009, I had them along the back edge. This time around, I put them in the top left and top right corners. I have dedicated EXIT, PAUSE, and Volume UP and DOWN buttons, plus a dedicated button by the power plug to trigger a sudo shutdown command. It may seem like overkill to some, but you will be glad you added these admin buttons.

Rok

@caver01 : Ah, so that portable cocktail cabinet is yours! I was looking at it the other day. Very impressive indeed!

Unfortunately I didn't have the foresight to give myself easy access. Hopefully I won't need to go back in unless/until the rPi4 comes out. Then I'll be unscrewing the acrylic, removing the monitor and going in that way.

I totally agree about the dedicated buttons. I oohed and aahed a lot about how many to add. In the end I settled for the two that would be used most as I can easily plug a keyboard into one of the usb ports under the table if I want to do any configuration changes that are more involved. And I chose these speakers so that I could expose the volume knob and headphone socket after stripping them down. The photo doesn't show that too well, but it's pretty effective.

And thanks to you and @dankcushions of course for helping me work out how to get the pause and exit buttons working well in LibRetro!

caver01

So that's what that is--a volume knob. I was wondering about that!
It's funny how complicated we can make these things. One idea leads to another idea, and before you know it, it's more than just mounting buttons in a table top--you are making external USB ports, adding a headphone jack and volume, dedicated admin buttons. . . and it seemingly never ends!

If you look at my original blueprint, I only had two admin buttons--one in the top left and one in the top right. Well, I had a total of six black buttons so I simply installed two more. I am glad I did--so now I have four admin buttons. There's also the IPAC "shift" function that we can leverage. I don't really use it, but it's good to know that it is there if needed.

Rok

@caver01 : It's funny - I want to make another table of some sort now even though I don't need another one. It was just such a fun process building it!

And with regards to the I-PAC shift controls, I'm trying to disable mine now!

caver01

@Rok I was thinking I would disable mine too, but the default shift button is P1 Start, if I recall, and you need to hold it down before the shift is activated. So, I don't really worry about someone accidentally triggering the shift functions. You just don't hold that button down in typical gameplay--even when using Start. If anything, you press start once, or repeatedly, and when you do hold it for any reason (even by mistake) it's not intuitive for anyone to consider hitting another button at the same time.

Now, I did disable the RetroArch hotkey function as we have discussed. This gets triggered immediately, so you can easily (and accidentally) exit a game when trying to drop coins and hit start. That's not an issue with the IPAC shift function.

Rok

@caver01 : Funnily enough I had more problems with the shift button when I was using non-LibRetro versions of Mame. The combination of Player 1 start and Player 2 start at the same time would press escape and exit back to the main menu - this had quite unfortunate results when two people were both desperately jabbing at the start buttons to continue a game at the same time. With LibRetro, and having the hotkeys disabled, it isn't such a big deal. It's just that... well... it's the only thing left that I'm not really happy with (until I think of the next thing).

igillen

I'm making a similar build from the same table, but black. I'm putting mine together this weekend when my last part comes in. I did have a couple of questions when/if you would be willing to answer:

How did you bezel the edges of your monitor? I was planning in just covering the metal edges of mine but I was curiuous what you did.
How thick is your acrylic top and did you cut it yourself? I got a step drill bit and a hole saw for that step but again, I am hoping to learn from the experience of others

mattchoo

Love your project. Would like to do the same. Do you have the measurement/ blueprint for the acrylic board? Position for joystick, buttons & screw at corner? I am trying to ask the supplier to cut it directly for me.

igillen

@mattchoo
This site has several layouts to consider
http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/layout.html

mattchoo

@igillen Thanks. For the acrylic corner where you need to place screws, do we need to pre-drill holes there?

igillen

@mattchoo
I bought a step drill bit for the button holes (a hole saw works too but is less clean). Don't try and put a screw through acrylic without a hole. for the joystick screws, i would reccomend countersink screws that sit level with the table surface and then placing the acrylic surface over them. You'll want one hole for the joystick, hols for the buttons, and a small hole near each corner of the table to keep the acrylic down

I used a smaller regular drill bit to make pilot holes for the step drill and for the corners

TheTrustedOne

There is a great video series started on creating a table like this over at http://www.youtube.com/MikeysLab It really helps fill in some of the blanks!