I’ve wanted my very own arcade cabinet since I was a kid. After decades of waiting I’ve finally built my very own cabinet and couldn’t be happier.

I grew up in the 90s and spent plenty of my youth at my local arcade. The lights, the sounds, the art, the glowing of screens. I was hooked! That’s the first time I think I realized my love of video games. I was especially fond of the beat ‘em ups. The TMNT games from Konami were among my favorite.

Decade’s later, the release of Shredder’s Revenge again peaked my interest of beat ‘em ups and arcades in general. In my opinion, this game would feel right at home in an arcade and it plays extremely well with an arcade stick and buttons. This game was the final push I needed to pursue my childhood dream.

Below are some things I think are worth mentioning about the build.

1. This is not a 1,400 game MAME machine. As much as I love the classics, a lot of those game are purely of interest to me due to nostalgia and not games I'd genuinely seek out to play today. I wanted to image what a modern day arcade cabinet may feel like with todays modern titles. I didn't want to build a MAME machine. Currently, this machine only has 11 games on it. All of which are modern, retro-inspired games that are purchased via Steam. That list includes titles like Shredder's Revenge, Huntdown, Double Dragon Gaiden, Streets of Rage 4, etc. Each game on the machine is something I enjoy playing and something I believe translates well to the arcade experience.

2. Big Box is the front end software I use to select games. I built a custom theme that's very minimalistic.

3. I'm using something called ShaderGlass to emulate the CRT feel. It's extremely impressive and anyone playing games using 16-bit inspired art or retro games should check it out.

4. The coin door works as do the coin acceptors. They have been wired up and programmed in a way to simulate the A/Start buttons on a controller. So, for example you could use quarters to play the games. It's especially fun with Shredder's Revenge.

I hope you enjoy.