Finishing up your MAME cabinet (thing)

At this point you should have a repainted cabinet, a control panel that has some way to interface with your computer, and a computer that is loaded with MAME.

Just plug everything together and you should be ready to rock! Once you get it all together you are probably going to want to play most of the common games at least once so you can properly configure the controls for them. Many titles such as Robotron 2084 default to some wierd controls that will have to be changed for your panel. Any game that uses an analog controller is probably going to have to have its "analog controls" settings adjusted slightly for best feel.

You may want to browse eBay for some sideart to decorate your newly finished machine. I suggest choosing something generic, like a large sticker that says Capcom. If at all possible you may want to locate and install generic artwork for the marquee, control panel, and monitor bezel as well. Having no actual game title stuck on your machine lends to the realism that would otherwise be ruined when someone sees a machine all decorated up as Joust, but sees Street Fighter 2 on the screen. A machine with nothing but generic artwork can keep the illusion up no matter what game is running inside. If you can't find generic artwork, then look for Neo Geo artwork, as the Neo Geo system was designed with multiple games in mind. You may even be able to locate MAME artwork kits, but I don't like those very much, as they are often low quality.