(Topic ID: 148387)

I mirror bladed my freakin' arcade! (Updated with VIDEO walk through)

By frolic

8 years ago


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  • 75 posts
  • 49 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 8 years ago by luch
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    52
    #1 8 years ago

    I had a vision for installing a floor to ceiling mirror at the far wall of my arcade game room. Had it professionally installed. Literally makes the room look twice as long. The room is 40' long, currently with 14 pins along the wall.

    My wife and I also installed LED lights along the top, which run along the 3 other walls and are mirrored, creating the super long room effect. She figured out the system of mounting the leds.

    Even when you are standing in the room, knowing you are looking at a mirror, it still confuses you.

    frolic-mirror-blades_(resized).jpgfrolic-mirror-blades_(resized).jpg

    Video walk through added:

    #17 8 years ago
    Quoted from CaptainNeo:

    Why do you have a gap between Full Throttle and Star Trek? Is that the doorway?

    There's a door there to a cold storage room. Although I just had the door reversed, so that it no longer needs clearance in the arcade. I'll be able to reduce the gap, which will allow for 1 more pin, bringing my max to 15.

    #19 8 years ago

    People are over pretty regularly. I like to live out my dream of when I was 17 years old and having my own arcade, but without it turning into "the worst job in the world". So it's when I feel like it, not a grind.

    The goal was an authentic arcade experience, so everything there is commercial spec, including a token machine and all machines are on token play. Sometimes I host charity nights where the token money is donated. Lets me scratch my itch of being an operator, lets people have access to the games, and all for a good cause.

    #21 8 years ago
    Quoted from kaneda:

    Awesome. Do you have any vids?

    Only 1, as it's pinballs first, so there was some space for 1 cabinet without sacrificing room for a pinball.

    It's a Pac-Man's Arcade Party. A licensed Namco coin-op, also on token play.

    Also visible in this pic is my token machine, and a touch screen juke box. There are 14 bar stools, plus tables. So between the games, the stools and standing room, room for a fair number of people.

    DSC0138_(resized).jpgDSC0138_(resized).jpg

    #25 8 years ago

    It's a basement. Originally was set up as a 1 bedroom apartment when I bought the house. There was a kitchenette and 1bedroom wall and closet that were all removed.

    I happened to be house hunting a couple years ago, after i got "the sickness" so an arcade was a big part of what I was looking for. If the house we looked at didn't have a workable basement, it was a no go.

    The complete story of my journey is documented at www.frolicsarcade.com

    #28 8 years ago
    Quoted from pinnyheadhead:

    Very nice setup! I really like your "pay to play" events for charity. Can I ask how much per play you set your games at?
    You also use tokens also? Awesome! That brings me back remembering the days of putting those gold coins in my favorite vids. Right on!

    Since I'm trying to raise as much money as I can, tokens are $1 and games are priced between 1 and 3 tokens. Older games are 1, brand new games you don't see anywhere else are 3.

    As commented by people in this thread, you don't see game rooms like mine everywhere, so I leverage the "premium prices for a premium experience".

    I make the charity nights special, I create flyers for them. Here's an example.

    And I had my own tokens minted too .

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    #31 8 years ago

    I just recorded a video walk through of my arcade:

    #35 8 years ago

    Definitely "worth it". Best mod ever .

    The reactions it generates is awesome.

    Pricing would be hard to compare because it is a custom job, and I'm in Canada. I chose to use professionals than trying to mount panels myself, as I wanted it precise, not just hanging mirrors. But I'd say it was the best bang for the buck I ever spent.

    #36 8 years ago
    Quoted from jkashani:

    This is truly amazing! Inspiring! Motivating!

    Just doing my best to pass on "the sickness".

    If it weren't for seeing other game rooms on Pinside and in person, I'd never have been inspired to take mine to this level.

    I've always had a vision for what I wanted, in my case it was a "commercial" operation that looked that way in every way but actually wasn't.

    #38 8 years ago

    I made a video with more detail about the lights:

    I bought them from ledlightshack.com

    They are Crazy Lights.

    #50 8 years ago
    Quoted from marspinball:

    I started checking my home Depot for channel and they have at least ten types including metal, plastic clear and white. Do you mind showing which one you used and how you mounted it to the wall? Also a close up picture would help showing how low from the ceiling.

    This is what I used, from the Canadian site:

    http://www.homedepot.com/p/Alexandria-Moulding-3-8-in-x-3-8-in-x-96-in-Metal-Mira-Lustre-U-Channel-Moulding-AT015-AM096C03/205576702

    My wife used it for a renovation project, as actual trim, and had some left over and had the idea of housing our leds in it. I don't think there's any right or wrong way to do this or house it, other than making sure the u-channel is big enough to not just hold the led strips, but also the power wires and CONNECTORS... that is the biggy that will take the most width.

    For the distance from the ceiling, I don't have a measurement handy, but all I did was run 1 string of leds into the u-channel, then I plugged it in and held it up on the wall and moved it up and down to determine how much light I wanted. I also stood in front of my games as if I was playing, to see how much light was being reflected on the glass. Once we found our sweet spot, my wife made a cardboard template to gap the u-channels, so the spacing would be consistent.

    She mounted them to the walls by drilling holes in one side of the channel, and then putting screws into the wall, and resting the u-channel on the screws. She then used velcro tape to attach the u-channels together so they weren't gapped between each piece.

    So, I have to give my wife full credit for doing all this work. It was my vision, but she executed it.

    #51 8 years ago
    Quoted from mamemaster:

    What board are you running in your multicade?

    It's not a regular multi-cade. It's an actual legit game made by Namco.

    http://www.namcoamerica.com/game.php?gameid=32

    I had been looking for a multi-cade, but decided on this one for the appearance, the menu system, and that it was legit coin-op so it fits with my overall theme. Fits perfect in that row without taking valuable space somewhere else.

    #57 8 years ago
    Quoted from jorge5240:

    If I paint my ceiling black how will this work? I thought the LEDs were showing through a diffuser but it looks like you have them in a track and they reflect up. Is this correct? Great effect and I want to reproduce it but I want to make sure I understand it.

    no idea about the black paint.

    But yes, the trick is to have indirect led light, and the actual leds are hidden from view.

    Black paint will reflect the light less, so it would be more muted in effect I would imagine.

    #58 8 years ago
    Quoted from 27dnast:

    So what are you going to do when you want pins 15, 16, and 17?
    Do you have a game storage/workshop?

    I have room for 1 more, by reducing the gaps between machines. After that, games will start to rotate out. But with a 15 game collection, some can come and go. Since I buy new games, and basically every future purchase is a nib, that will only give me a few new options per year, and I don't buy every title.

    I do have a work shop and storage in another part of the basement. Spare parts, etc. But I'm going to limit my pins to the 1 "power wall", I won't start cramming them everywhere.

    #59 8 years ago
    Quoted from Captain_Kirk:

    I noticed you have a colorDMD in Star Trek which hasn't been programmed yet, and no colorDMD in Metallica which has.

    Star Trek has an actual blue dmd. The one Stern makes. I bought it when Star Trek was released, before colordmd was announced as being supported on Stern machines.

    I'd like to upgrade my games to colordmd, but truthfully I am waiting until Spike is supported, because I don't want GOT to look bad in comparison. If I could put a colordmd on GOT, even just in upscale grey tones, I'll do that.

    2 weeks later
    #71 8 years ago
    Quoted from toyotaboy:

    c. REALLY love the "friends pay to get tokens, but money goes to charity" aspect.. first time I heard of anyone doing that

    Yeah, as mentioned, it scratches my itch of being an op and ties the whole experience together.

    I only make it for charity on certain nights, when I make my place open to people who want to come. If it's just me and a handful of friends I'll leave a container of tokens out to help themselves.

    So far the charity nights generate on average $100/hour of coin drop. I do it infrequently enough to leave it a special attraction.

    #72 8 years ago
    Quoted from Syco54645:

    Where the hell did you get those sweet LEDs?

    http://ledlightshack.com/

    Look at their "Crazy Lights".

    2 months later
    #74 8 years ago

    Some fresh pics taken with a real camera and a jumpin' arcade night full of players! Mirror and crazy lights in full display!

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