Arcades were at one time always crowded and filled with gamers. It was a fun experience to shoot for the top score or go head to head in the latest arcade brawler. Things have changed though since the explosion of home consoles and gaming PC’s. Their emergence have all but slowly extinguished arcades from malls and outlets. While gaming consoles and PC’s offer incredible performance for the price, there is something missing. Part of the exciting arcade experience is lost when you throw a standard controller in the mix and game from the comfort of the couch. While I love modern gaming I still heavily enjoy the retro titles from the past. To recapture this lost era and overall experience I began researching in great detail about arcade cabinets. This included the different types and styles available and their varying price range and overall offerings. Multiple vendors offer prebuilt units but usually this meant they only played one certain game from a particular genre. While those machines are still nostalgic and enjoyable in their own right I still wanted more. It was at this point that I realized that a custom build would be ideal. This would cut cost and open the door for endless options in regards to the cabinet’s design and its configuration. Luckily, I am good friends with an excellent carpenter that was even more excited than myself to get started on the project. Once the design, features and specs were mapped out we set off to buy and order the needed supplies. After all the parts and materials were in place the actual build took roughly 5 full days. If you wish to have your own personal arcade cabinet, contact Chris at chrisfisher51802@gmail.com. He will be happy to discuss the different plans available, prices and options. Each unit can be completely customized to your liking making it truly one of a kind. Below is a video of the finished work, materials, tools and a short preview of playable games. Materials/parts: Viewsonic VA2703 27″ 1920×1080 3ms DVI LCD Monitor X-Arcade Tankstick + Trackball Arcade Coin Door With Coin Mech Custom Built Gaming PC with GameEx Front-end Altec Lansing 5.1 Surround Speaker System 3- 3/4 4×8 sheets of hardwood plywood 4- 1x2x8 5lbs box of wood screws 1 5/8 long Wood glue 1/4 x 2 x 8 pine Gallon of gloss black paint Wood filler 2x6x8 12 volt fan for cooling 12″ light Plexiglass 1/4 thick 25 foot roll of 14/2 wire 2 electrical boxes 1 light switch 1 outlet and a GFCI outlet adapter to 6 plugs Appliance cord Wire nuts 120 to 12 volt converter 8 – 12 volt red LED lights Reflective tape Furniture gliders for bottom Tools: Cordless drill Countersink bit Table saw Compound miter saw Palm sander Hole saw Jig saw Air nailer [media=]
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