Turning my Saturn into an Arcade Bartop

[3rdman]

Hello all! It's been 10 years since I last posted here...I haven't had a lot to say, I guess. :/

In any case, I've just recently discovered the Rhea/Phoebus mod that allows our Saturns to run games from an SD card and after recently building a Retopie machine, I can't help but think that a dedicated Saturn in an arcade bartop would be fantastic!

My general thoughts are this: I'd sacrifice a pair of Saturn controllers and wire them up to a control panel. I'd have to do the same for the reset button as well....the power button would simply stay on and I'll add an on/off switch to the entire assembly.

I'd also like to "exit" the game and get back to Rhea's game menu to select a different title...From what I've seen of Rhea, there is a button physically on the mod that is used to select the title. I'd have to somehow hack that to an external button.

So while I'm waiting on the Rhea/Phoebus preorders to open up again, I'm in research mode and I figure this is the perfect place to ask.

1. Is there a guide online to hacking the controllers as I want to do?
2. I've decided to use an LCD screen...I've recently bought the SCART/HDMI adapter so I'll put that to use unless a easier/better option comes to me...any recommendations.
3. Do you think that cooling will be an issue? I am hoping to make the case free of fans.

Thanks to all! Good to be back!

 

[SegaSaturnShrine]

1.How good are you with a soldering iron? As for adding external buttons etc that's all you really need is some good soldering skills and a steady hand. Just essentially run some wires to the external buttons from there original spot on the board or w/e. 3. As for cooling, you should be fine as long as you have some decent ventilation. You shouldn't even need any fans as the stock console doesn't have any, just relies on the vents in the case as it doesn't generate much heat at all.

I'll let somebody else chime in for number 2 as I'm not too sure...