Benny's Arcade Life
The ongoing saga of a retro-gamer building his home arcade dream.
Please refresh the pages often, as they won't always do it for you!
The first game room - original plans for the old house
Below are the old plans for the arcade layout. Note that it was a fairly modest space, hence the term 'mini' in it's name. Hopes were to be able to cram in four upright cabs, my pinball machine, a cocktail cab (and in the distant future, a hand-built, mechanical pinball table).
So far, the First cab (Horizons) is about 95% complete. The pinball machine is is good shape, and I'm currently converting it to LED lights. The Asteroids cab is going to need some cosmetic improvements, but it's totally playable.
What's still in waiting: I have the initial side panels created for the 4-player Mother cab, but the cocktail & Vertigo cab are still in design phase only. The mechanical pinball machine is kind of a dream project for me; nothing written down yet, but I do plan to make it happen one day . . .
The Game Room
I've moved into a new home, so the game room is completely different. I will update this section soon!
At the far end (south) is the console gaming area, pretty much just for the kid and his adventures on the PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. The wall is stacked with DVDs, Vintage Star Wars toys, and a collection of Playmobile Back to the Future toys. ​
At the far end (south) is the console gaming area, pretty much just for the kid and his adventures on the PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. The wall is stacked with DVDs, Vintage Star Wars toys, and a collection of Playmobile Back to the Future toys. ​
​This game room has a little more overall space than the arcade from our previous house. The plain rectangular shape lends well having games lined side-by-side. I will still be able to add another cab or two in the future. The theme of the arcade has not been decided yet but will most likely involve a funky graphic along the East wall, with classic video game and Star Wars graphics.
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There used to be a fireplace in this room, and the chimney stack can still be seen coming out of the ceiling. This is going to be covered with a plastic half-dome that with be done up to look like the death star. The biggest challenge right now is getting the outlets in the room converted from the old style two-prong to correctly grounded three-prongs. Slow progress but it’s getting there!
