For some time I have been saying I wanted to build out an arcade machine. A few years back we used my kiddo’s old computer and installed Ubuntu with RetroPie so we could emulate some old school games that I grew up with. He loved it and I got a kick out of playing some of the games of my childhood.
The cool part was that it was him and one of his friends who helped in getting the machine up and running. They did get to play some of the N64 games as well so that was very entertaining to watch them.
The last couple of weeks I’ve been having this random itch to build something and yesterday I caved and got a few arcade joysticks and buttons. The other reason is also because I haven’t really wanted to build out my keyboards that have been waiting for so long now. I also haven’t had a keyboard itch in a long time so that may be part of the reason. I do want to build out the firmware though so that is one thing I do need to think about soon.
Now, the kit I got was a random one from Amazon which I guess we’ll find out how decent it really is. It was a 2 player kit with multiple button colors and bat top for the stick. I grew up with those and kiddo wanted that as well. I wanted ball but the good part is they can be swapped out later too
The one thing I will need to get is most likely a jigsaw in order to cut out the wood for the cabinet. One thing I haven’t seen is a decent guide to building out one but that is also because I haven’t really looked too much. I have seen a handful of YouTube videos that touch on how to go about it though which has helped a bit. I will probably get a part list though because I know that will help others down the line. If not it will at least be a good reference point.
I do know that I need some wood and the thickness will matter a bit because the buttons will need to be a certain depth so they can be tightened correctly and won’t slip off. I may need to get some Loctite for the threads too so that is one thing I will need to add to the list. Screws, wood glue, paint. I’ll figure out more later though.
This project should be pretty fun though since I want kiddo to help with a lot of it.