Places like Arcadeshopper, Dreamarcades or MikesArcade have kits you can purchase online. Purchase a MAME arcade kit that has all of the pieces cut for you. You're looking at around $300 for the lumber, nuts and bolts. This option is good if you have a garage or a dry, level backyard. There are plans and guides that can be found online. This means going to Home Depot or Wild Willy's Wood N' Waffles and buying the plywood or fiberboard yourself and getting crazy with a jigsaw. Starting with a cabinet, you have a couple of options:ฤก. Those are followed by money, time and Band-Aids when you realize you haven't pick up a saw since sixth-grade shop class. So what are the main items you'll need? A cabinet, a monitor, a computer and a joystick are the big things on your list. Plus, you can brag to your friends about awesome you are with tools. But if you have an extra monitor or an older computer to spare, then you've eliminated the cost of two of your items. Ask your parents for money or come to grips with roughly 766 days of not eating lunch at school. For the lazy in all of us, the easiest way is to just go to eBay and buy a pre-assembled MAME machine for around $2,300. There are two ways to own your own MAME arcade cabinet: Build one or buy one. But how do you put together your own coin-op classic machine? Let us point you in the right directions. Wouldn't you rather have your own arcade machine that can play over 3,500 of your favorite arcade hits? Think of the accolades you'll receive from friends as they wander through menu after menu of golden oldies like Scramble and Zaxxon. Sure, you can just run emulators and ROMs on your PC, but there's no comparison to standing in front of a real-deal cabinet. Since the creation of MAME, fans of classic arcade games can revisit their favorites without going on a mad cross-country tour for surviving old-school arcades.