Way back in 1999, a friend and I built an arcade cabinet as a summer project.
I ordered the joysticks and buttons from Happ Controls and used the circuit boards from a couple of cheap Playstation controllers. It used to sit in the corner of my room behind two bar stools. It housed all my consoles and had a slot in the front so that I could run controller cables to play Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Freaks, and Sega Bass Fishing.
It was awesome… but heavy… and difficult to move.
When I moved to Leederville (and later Sydney) it stayed at my parents’ house. My sister used it for a while, but it eventually fell into the category of simply “taking up space”. She asked it she could get rid of it and I said that was fine, but I wanted to keep the control panel (she also pulled out the light and speakers, seemed a shame to throw them out).
So now it’s gone… and I’m thinking of building a smaller tabletop cabinet or standalone arcade stick.
Here’s the last photo of it all in one piece:
Sigh. I never did get a real arcade panel. It only ever lit up with the word “Arcade” (quickly printed out on paper as a placeholder title).
Rest In Pieces: Mr. Arcade ’99!