Fix

Build A Nintendo Arcade To Get Your Old-School Game On

Playing old-school NES games is reassuringly awesome, but playing them in emulation at your computer is inauthentic and sometimes kludgey. Check out this awesome homemade Nintendo arcade system and consider the possibilities.

If you liked the arcade cabinet we shared with you last year but you weren’t sold on the styling, this table-top arcade cabinet might be what you’re looking for.

Instructables user russm313 turned an old PC and a 17-inch monitor into a table-top gaming machine that runs NES games in emulation and even sports old school controls. Check out the video below to see it in action.

You’ll need to do some shopping for a few specialty parts like the joy stick and buttons, but the parts aren’t expensive. Read over the full build guide at the link below to see the parts list and step by step photos.

How-To Build a Nintendo Arcade [via Make]

Tagged:

Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)

  • CascadeHush

    DUDE... 'Joy Stick'? Really? 'JOY STICK'?!?!?!

    It's 'Joystick'. One word. I know this may be old school, but was it that long ago?

  • anthonylitz

    Nice feature article!! I use to be into MAME a lot and built my own arcade machine joystick pad for 4 players with 6 buttons each. Building the joypad is probably the funnest part of the whole thing!! Ebay was the best place at the time to buy the parts like joysticks, buttons, ect.

  • LynxWinters

    @elgilicious: They look like Happ parts. A stick and four concave buttons from them would probably run about $12-15 plus shipping.

  • Mutant-Kitties

    This is a great article. Anyone have any tips on the keyboard hack that he mentioned?

    Mutant-Kitties

  • Keeter

    @elgilicious: Russum (the creator) just did a google search. He didn't want to promote a certain company, but he says there are quite a few online retailers.

    He's also doing a SNES version soon. This is said to be proof of concept for the idea.

  • elgilicious

    What brand are the joystick and buttons? I would have loaded SNES on this too and installed additional buttons, but this is still pretty cool.

  • andrewcovarrubias

    Playing console games on a PC is inauthentic. Play them on an arcade cabinet instead, just like you did growing up when you...

    No, this is just as inauthentic, at least for NES. Still cool, though. I like.

  • daweinst

    Pretty sweet. It looks great. I made a similar project, but put everything in an NES console that connects to a TV. It's a fully functioning computer in an NES case that works as an NES/Genesis/Arcade/N64 emulator.

    I detailed the build here:
    [booteeee.blogspot.com]

    daweinst

  • McGrep

    Awesome. I saw this on Instructibles and the turnout is impressive. It's surprisingly simple and doesn't require too much.

  • Gyroscope352

    @hofi: Me too, but this is still way cool. And probably better in the end.

  • Swizzler121

    his only mistake was doing this on windows. he could of got it working way better on a custom linux build. it wouldn't need all that extra crap so unlike windows you can just turn it off, get it booting super fast, and with some hacking you could probably make it totally look like a Nintendo arcade cabinet.

  • jthatch

    @Gyroscope352: agreed.... that's just cool

  • hofi

    Aw, at first I thought they'd built the arcade out of an actual NES. ;-)

    hofi

  • Gyroscope352

    I don't think I've ever seen a blog post with so much win.

Post Your Comments

Got something to say? There are two ways to comment:

1. Guests

Click here to comment instantly.

2. Facebook Users

Click below to comment using your Facebook account.

We're looking for comments that are interesting, substantial or highly amusing. If your comments are excessively self-promotional, obnoxious, or even worse, boring, you will be banned from commenting. All comments are moderated.