For years the thought crossed my mind about having my own arcade machine at home. I always dismissed it because I figured that it was either too expensive to buy or far too complicated to build. Well, as I’ve recently discovered, they are surprisingly easy to build with the proper instructions. What’s more is that the components to build one myself were all around me once I was conscious of what actually powers the typical in-home arcade machine. In most cases, its gathering dust in your home right now and resides in the form of your old computer.



So why build your own arcade machine? Well I’ll share with you my reasons.

Reason #1: It’s extremely less expensive than buying it online. PC Cabinet arcade machines, as they’re called, sell for thousands of dollars online. They come to your house and in most cases you put them together. Contrast that to the do-it-yourself machine which, with proper instructions, usually ends up costing a few hundred dollars or less depending on how many of the materials you already have on hand. The one you make doesn’t need to look cheap either. Following some simple steps allows for you to have a professional looking machine.

Reason #2: It is an amazing conversation piece. Regardless of your age group, there’s no doubt that having this machine in your home is going to draw attention. Now that I have one, my place has become more of a hang out spot and people are definitely impressed when they see the thing. Even if they don’t like video games it still turns heads. This is especially true if you already have some sort of gaming or billiard room at home.

Reason #3: You can bring back that nostalgic feeling. Remember all the games you played as a kid. Well chances are you’ll be re-creating many of those memories by having those games on your arcade machine to play. You’re able to do so in a comfortable environment. This is especially good when you become emotionally charged when playing a game and don’t have to worry about looking like a weirdo as you scream and/or use other behavior that would suggest you are not “acting your age." True emotions of victory and frustration can be freely expressed!

Reason #4: There’s something special about using arcade controls. Going in par with Reason #3, when using the arcade controls we are able to experience gaming in a different way that can only be experienced by standing up-right at the arcade controls. While gaming with a friend (or enemy) there is heightened feeling of competitiveness while at the arcade and especially when you don’t have to pay to play. Also, the special-ness of the arcade controls works well for one of my friends who is horrible at all video games but unleashes an unexplained skill-set when hitting all the buttons at once and delivering a Shi-Rooken Uppercut.

I hope this info opened your eyes to all the benefits of having your own arcade machine and home and how easily and affordably that can become a reality for you.