When I was a kid, I loved to go to the arcades. The sounds, the lights, the games, the secret high score fights with random players you never met, arcades are amazing. Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted one.
So lets skip a couple decades and bring the timeline to three months ago. I saw a few youtube videos and read a few forums. My childhood dream seemed so close. I had the skills and the tools. All I needed was a quick few days of work and I could have my very own arcade. Just about every game could be emulated and it all seemed so easy. I exhaustively researched and planned. I thought I had it all figured out. I couldn't have been more wrong.
I started at the same place every gamer starts, the computer. I knew emulation didn't require much. So I picked up a junker lenovo T520 with a dock on craigslist. It had everything I needed. Lenovo laptops suck out of the box, but they are near infinitely upgradeable. So, after buying 128gb ssd, 2tb main drive, 8gb of ram, and an expresscard external gpu running an old spare GTX 560ti, I was ready to go (or so I thought).
Next up was the design. I spent about a week on the dimensions. I needed the arcade to fit my house. It needed to be just right, not to big, not too small. It needed to be the right height and fit everything I wanted without too much excess room. I finally decided on a profile, drew it up, and took a week off work.
I figured, with my shop and skillset, it would take me about a week. I was WAY off. After a week I had a shell. No controls, no paint, no computer, nothing. Just the woodwork was done. Even then, there was still miles to go.
So, on to the weekends and evenings it went. I set goals. Small goals for the weekdays after work and large goals for the weekends. I didn't want to turn absentee for my family, so it all needed to happen in moderation. Slowly, it took shape.
I had other work to do like the graphics, the drawer handles (actual nes controllers), and button layouts. Along the way, I made more mistakes than I would like to admit. I made a wiring diagram because FUUUUUUUUUUCK....
(those main joysticks there, they're upside down. I didn't find that out till much later.)
...and that doesn't even begin to talk about the weeks I spent trying to get all the emulators to all work. But finally, it all came though. Months later, using more money, research, time, and rum than I ever could have dreamed, it finally came through. I now have an arcade with over 10,000 games from just about every console and coin op ever made. I never thought it would take this long, but it was worth every second and every penny.
Edit: This particular frankenstein was alive for maybe 5 minutes before my wife took over for a 1 hour session of Dr. Mario.
Also, for those that just really gotta see what's under the skirt...
So lets skip a couple decades and bring the timeline to three months ago. I saw a few youtube videos and read a few forums. My childhood dream seemed so close. I had the skills and the tools. All I needed was a quick few days of work and I could have my very own arcade. Just about every game could be emulated and it all seemed so easy. I exhaustively researched and planned. I thought I had it all figured out. I couldn't have been more wrong.
I started at the same place every gamer starts, the computer. I knew emulation didn't require much. So I picked up a junker lenovo T520 with a dock on craigslist. It had everything I needed. Lenovo laptops suck out of the box, but they are near infinitely upgradeable. So, after buying 128gb ssd, 2tb main drive, 8gb of ram, and an expresscard external gpu running an old spare GTX 560ti, I was ready to go (or so I thought).
Next up was the design. I spent about a week on the dimensions. I needed the arcade to fit my house. It needed to be just right, not to big, not too small. It needed to be the right height and fit everything I wanted without too much excess room. I finally decided on a profile, drew it up, and took a week off work.
I figured, with my shop and skillset, it would take me about a week. I was WAY off. After a week I had a shell. No controls, no paint, no computer, nothing. Just the woodwork was done. Even then, there was still miles to go.
So, on to the weekends and evenings it went. I set goals. Small goals for the weekdays after work and large goals for the weekends. I didn't want to turn absentee for my family, so it all needed to happen in moderation. Slowly, it took shape.
I had other work to do like the graphics, the drawer handles (actual nes controllers), and button layouts. Along the way, I made more mistakes than I would like to admit. I made a wiring diagram because FUUUUUUUUUUCK....
(those main joysticks there, they're upside down. I didn't find that out till much later.)
...and that doesn't even begin to talk about the weeks I spent trying to get all the emulators to all work. But finally, it all came though. Months later, using more money, research, time, and rum than I ever could have dreamed, it finally came through. I now have an arcade with over 10,000 games from just about every console and coin op ever made. I never thought it would take this long, but it was worth every second and every penny.
Edit: This particular frankenstein was alive for maybe 5 minutes before my wife took over for a 1 hour session of Dr. Mario.
Also, for those that just really gotta see what's under the skirt...
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