Arcade Standards for Restoration: Future Proofing the Hobby

[marvelsf136]

I'm curious whether there are any options for restoration that are acceptable for regarding modernization of classic cabinets.

I've been reading through all of the arcade related subreddits and although there are some cool results, I generally cringe at gutting an original game to use a cabinet on building a mame system (It's not that hard or more expensive to build a cabinet from scratch) as well as the amount of time and effort and money people put into modding out an arcade1up (The quality of the cabinet isn't worth the amount of upgrades they are throwing at it).

I've been wondering that for the good of the original machines, whether there were some guidelines or acceptable instructions for slight modernization of a classic machine.

And if there were not, would the community be willing to create them?

Example:

Replacing a monitor with an approved modern screen.

Leaving the mounts in a way they can be easily restored to an original crt.

A suggested destination for the original crt if it will no longer stay with the cabinet. As to keep the crt within the community and alive for its intended purchase.

An approved method of adding an alternate video input as so the game can maintain its original purpose, while offering a compromise to add alternate game options.

An approved method of replacing and maintaining the original controller deck to stay with the original cabinet instead of gutting it and drilling holes into the original.

Perhaps restoration guidance from arcade purists on cabinet conversions can provide a compromise that prevents the massacre of classics and future proofs the hobby.

[CarltonF574]

The problem is that people are cheap and lazy and doing something like repairing a CRT instead of replacing it or buying an adapter to interface with the original harness instead of cutting it up requires more time/money/research than most of these people are willing to put into it.