Newbie questions about arcade machines

My friend and I are old hands at playing arcade machines. We're
interested in getting our own machines. I have some basic newbie
questions that hopefully somebody can answer.

Is is true that you can play multiple games on the same cabinet by
replacing the PCB board with a different PCB board? Is this simply a
matter of pulling it out and popping in the new board (ala a Nintendo
cartridge) or is there more to it than that?

I'm used to seeing arcade machines from the outside. What does the
actual computer system look like? I just remember seeing tons of wires
when the arcade attendants would open one up.

Space is a major concern for me. I don't have room for a full machine.
Can anyone provide me with screenshots of a mini-cabinet and the
dimensions?

Lastly, how much money are we talking about for a nice mini-cabinet
with everything that is needed to play?

The games we want to play are old: DK, Joust, Main Event, Mat Mania,
X-men, Mr. Do, etc. How hard are these to get?

Lastly, my friend saw some type of mini-cabinet at a local BJs outlet.
He did not recognize any of the games that were on it. Does anybody
know what this is? Would it be suitable for our needs?

T.Y.I.A.
dos-man

Max wrote:
> <ChairShot RemoveThis @mail.com> wrote in message
> news:1146151397.104111.40610@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> > My friend and I are old hands at playing arcade machines. We're
> > interested in getting our own machines. I have some basic newbie
> > questions that hopefully somebody can answer.
> >
> > Is is true that you can play multiple games on the same cabinet by
> > replacing the PCB board with a different PCB board? Is this simply a
> > matter of pulling it out and popping in the new board (ala a Nintendo
> > cartridge) or is there more to it than that?
>
> somewhat true: if games use exactly the same board designs. you can swap.
> anything 'Jamma' is interchangable, just need to watch the control layout
> (ie. putting a fighting game board in a gun game cab just wont work without
> mods).
>
> another route is the MAME cabinet (use google.com to gind reams of info on
> MAME). uses a computer and processing platform to play a whole bunch of
> emulated games in a single cabinet.
>


I'm a little skeptical about emulators - especially those running under
windows. Ugh.
I know that these are simple and old games, but I just have no respect
for Windows as a gaming platform. The very fact that it is a
mulitasking OS raises a red flag for me since I want my computer to
concentrate on the game at hand and not on background programs that
could slow down or crash the system.


>
>
> > Lastly, how much money are we talking about for a nice mini-cabinet
> > with everything that is needed to play?
> >
>
> depends on the title, how collectable, and what type of condition it is in.
> anywhere from free on up
>

Free sounds good to me

Thanks,
dos-man