Donkey Kong 3 Cabaret Scratch Build

After finishing the Nintendo Red Tent, I’ve been eager to tackle another project. I knew I wanted to create something original again, but this time not completely dedicated hardware – I want something just a little bit versatile and also able to play my original games. Let’s talk about a Donkey Kong 3 cabaret

Nintendo arcade cabinets are still my favorite style and for a long time I’ve been a fan of their one and only cabaret style made for Donkey Kong. A fellow KLOV’er created a cabaret style Nintendo cabinet for DK Jr. a while back which really inspired me.

All of this leads me to making a Donkey Kong 3 cabaret!

It’s never been made before
It will let me experiment a bit with artwork
A fictional cabinet like this is the perfect home for Fix It Felix 3, a game I’m really proud of.

Let’s get started!

A Nintendo Cabaret

The cabinet is just like the original Donkey Kong cabarets, as far as shape, size, and construction goes. You can see what one of those looks like below.

I will take this opportunity to do a few things differently though. First, I won’t be using wood grain. Second, I’ll use a light up marquee instead of just a sticker. Lastly, in general, I’m going to be upgrading the artwork a bit. It will still be completely inspired by Donkey Kong 3, and a cabaret. So, it won’t be super garish with lots of simple shapes and lines like an original cabaret.

Artwork

I created an entire art package for my game, primarily in Illustrator. To start, I made the control panel overlay. By tracing an original and then shaping and sizing it for an extra button, giving it some color, and a few small graphics for a splash – I end up with something new and awesome. See my control panel compared to an original below.

A scan of the Donkey Kong cabaret control panel overlay

Donkey Kong 3 cabaret control panel overlay — My Donkey Kong 3 cabaret control panel

The rest of the artwork came together pretty quickly after that. I kept the sideart just like full-size upright and the marquee is similar to a Donkey Kong cabaret marquee except colored to match my pieces. Lastly, the bezel was inspired by the KLOV member who made a DK Jr cabaret except in my colors and with two instruction panels I dreamed up.

I had to be very careful on sizes – measuring multiple times, over and over, before sending it off to print. You don’t want to get anything wrong and have to reorder, artwork can be expensive. I used Arcade Art Shop in the UK for my pieces, specifically because of their ability to reverse print on plexi.

Hardware and Electronics

For most arcade pieces that are Nintendo related, I’ll be using Mike’s Arcade. Items like a jamma harness, iso transformer, etc, I’m ordering from Arcade Shop.

Wiring to the cabaret for power is pretty standard, but once inside I’m using some additional AC power to run a full desktop computer. I had to also build my own monitor power transformer since I’m using a 14″ Sanyo monitor which runs on 100VAC.

The desktop is using CRTEmudriver so that it can properly send out 15khz with a combination of GroovyMAME and Switchres to properly set each game that I play for my monitor.

Assembling the Donkey Kong 3 Cabaret

The artwork is in so it’s time to assemble this bad boy! There are a few little things to prep the cabinet, like drilling mounting holes for the monitor and crimping ends on a bunch of wires. In the span of one weekend, I took care of that.