Hacks & Contraptions
For a long time I wanted to have a real Arcade Machine, but I dont have the space for it in my apartment. So when I read this article i decided to make one myself.
I got some descriptions from the guy who made the one featured in the article, and decided to create my own design using Adobe Illustrator. I
wanted to make it in a way, that I can cut most of the parts, using a CNC machine or a Laser Cutter. This will also make it easier and faster to do more iterations, or make a copy just in case some of my friends wanted one too.
I decided to get it cut on one of my friends CNC machines, mainly because a laser-cutter leaves burning marks and a smell of burning wood that i do not find charming for this project.
I used all of the same electronics as in the article, a Game Boy Advance, a couple of miniature buttons from eBay and a quite expensive joystick from DigiKey. To make my life a bit easier I glued it all together with cyano glue, and used wooden painting sticks as support for the GBA and the screen.
I en ended up deciding that this one would just be a prototype, mainly because i would like to extend the cable between the GBA main unit and its screen.
The next release will get stickers, panels, backslid marquee, front buttons and a connector for power on the back, but for now I am just happy for this one, and looking forward to taking it to a LAN Party ^_^
Pictures of the finished Mini Arcade and of the process can be seen below:
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