| The cabinet was finished
but was missing a marquee. I’ve done a lot of work in
Photoshop and wanted to make a marquee from scratch. Since the
entire machine was made this way it only seemed fitting. I worked
on the design for a couple of weeks and was very happy with
the results. It was a fusion of a number of marquees and paid
homage to Pac Man, Donkey Kong, and Space Invaders. I took the
file to Kinko’s. Three days later I had my marquee. It
turned out rather well. The paper they used let just the right
amount of light through and it looks.
The last thing I wanted to accomplish with the machine was
the ability to use it as a jukebox. I tried a number of software
packages before I settled on Virtual Music Jukebox. It looked
the most like a traditional jukebox and worked well with the
controls. I filled the hard drive with mp3’s of my favorite
bands and the cabinet sounds surprisingly good. I forgot to
mention I used Altec Lansing speakers and a subwoofer for
the audio.
Now that it’s completely finished was it worth it?
It definitely was. Even though we had a few hundred hours
of labor and cost overruns that would make a politician blush,
we have two machines that no one else on the planet had. When
people come over they are always amazed with the machine.
When they ask me how to make one I tell them, “Do a
search on EBay, the prices are reasonable.”
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