Work in progress arcade build (real CRT!). Should I use a MiSter FPGA or Batocera PC inside??
I picked up this Silver Strike Bowling cabinet, but it was completely gutted when I got it. I had hoped hoped to re-use some of the parts, at least the the wells gardner tube/chassis, but the chassis was salvaged by whoever sold it and the tube was completely burned to shit.
So I found a 27" Philips set in great condition, and the surgery was successful! Got the whole tube and chassis in there and secure now. Pics included of my Philips tube/chassis that I transplanted into the cabinet. CRT is a must-have for arcades, IMO.
It's currently just running component off a splitter from my couch setup, but this will be a standalone-unit. Currently deciding whether I should use a MiSter FPGA or a Batocera PC as the brains of the machine. I run both already on my couch setup. I prefer the Mister in general, and it's definitely easier to set-and-forget than Batocera. Navigating the UI and options is a breeze. And obviously accuracy is what sets apart the FPGA....
But from what I can gather, FBNeo (which batocera runs) is basically as good as the MiSter cores for CPS arcade games and Neo Geo emulation, which is mostly what I want to run in the cabinet anyways. The Batocera front-end is going to be much prettier and customizable when swapping between games, and the scraper to get artwork and descriptions feels almost mandatory for a set-piece arcade unit, as opposed to the bare-bones text approach of the MisTer. Batocera can also run more games than the MiSter, like CPS3, atomisweave, or naomi games, and the entire mame catalog. Though I think the CPS3 core is coming soon for MiSter.
I also think building a new Batocera PC (or buying a rig used and replacing the video card with something with analog output) is also gonna be cheaper. Mister requires picking up the box (qmtech or whatever alli express version), a new power supply (the one that comes with it sucks), a big SD card, wifi/bluetooth adapter, USB hub...and I'm not sure how compatible it would be with a USB encoder. But with a batocera setup I can re-use some hardware I already have, and the older PC parts it needs (or a Dell optiplex) can be found pretty cheap.
What do yall think? I also obviously have to get the control board setup, wire up the speakers, re-finish the cab, pick or design some artwork, put in a marquee...but taking it one step at a time here! I'm currently leaning Batocera as the base of this project, but curious what everyone else thinks, or if anyone else has experience with a CRT based multi-arcade cabinet build.