Building a Retro Arcade at Home

One of my projects during the lockdown has been to drag out my Hot Rod Joystick, updated it for USB connection, and to configure a Raspberry Pi 4 into the ultimate home arcade.

What you need to play classic arcade and console games at home – hardware (Computer or RaspberryPI), emulation software (Retropi or Lakka – which both run Emulation Station) and game ROMs.

The game ROMs are a mix of public domain, abandoned games from companies that have gone out of business and copyrighted games. Legally you need to own a physical copy of the game. Just like with music, if you purchased a CD you are allowed to make a personal digital copy for yourself.

What Types of Games are available?

There are tens of thousands of historic video games that have been emulated and can be found. Many of these games would have been lost to history or only rarely found at tag sales. You can find emulated games such as:

Standalone arcade games
Console games like Atari and Commodore 64.
Handheld LCD type games
PC Games
CD-Rom games

It really is amazing how much work the gaming community have put into preserving these old games for modern players to tryout and play.

Home Arcade Ingredients:

Large SD card – I downloaded a massive 256G image and a 64G image –
Raspberry Pi kit – might as well get the best one available – https://amzn.to/36flQHn
Keyboard, gamepads or arcade controls of your choice. Even if you have a gamepad or arcade controller, a mini keyboard like this is handy and it is only $13 – https://amzn.to/36c2wuE

Software:

Once you get the hardware setup, you’ll need some software. The actually game ROMs (read only memory) taken from the actually arcade game chips or console cartridges, a front end and the emulators.

Each gaming system had unique hardware that ran the games. Just about every system has been emulated in software. Emulation Station is program that pulls all of these individual emulations into one program. And then organizing front ends such as Retropi or Lakka go on tip to make everything easier to navigate.

Lakka ( http://www.lakka.tv/ ) is a stripped-down overlay. You can collect individual ROMs on a thumb drive and then run them with Lakka on your microSD card.

RetroPi is a fancier, more graphical front end. You can build your own version of the interface with photos, videos, background music etc or download a prebuilt img from a fellow hobbyist who has put in hours and hours of work making sure all the games have the right emulators, photos and video clips associated with them.

RetroPi Image from https://www.arcadepunks.com/

Part of the fun of playing these historical MAME arcade games and console games is getting them to work. Not all of the games will successfully work. But here are a few tips for getting them to run.

TIPS

“TAB” key will bring up options within the game and within the interface.
“ESC” hit escape twice to exit a game.
“START” and “SELECT” at the same time will exit a game.
You might have to download a driver to get a two-person arcade panel to work as two controllers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tw0VglqbUQ
Default keys in MAME – http://members.optusnet.com.au/spacetaxi64/MAME-Arcade/MAME-Keys.html

CONTROLLERS

2 Pack Classic SNES USB Controller Gamepad https://amzn.to/2Ze63Y6
Arcade buttons and joysticks – https://amzn.to/2yljhY4
Trackball for games like Centipede – https://youtu.be/pYOlTTnM4ug – inexpensive trackball – https://amzn.to/3g2eADn
Spinner controls for games like Arkanoid and racing games – http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=86&products_id=268
Mini keyboard – https://amzn.to/36c2wuE

Pre-Built, Ready to Go Home Arcade Machines

If you aren’t that handy, don’t have the time to DIY, there are professional quality home arcade machines available for purchase. These come in cocktail table versions as well as stand up arcade versions. You can get full-sized cabinets, bar tops or even 3/4 mini-sized versions.

Arcade1UP

Another pre-built option on a smaller than life-sized scale are the licensed, mini-arcade cabinets from Arcade1UP.

Arcade1UP arcades are available in multiple exciting versions, the just under 4ft tall cabinets include commercial-grade construction and coinless operation. All the machines feature the original artwork of all-time iconic games. With immersive full-color hi-res displays and sounds, and combined with original joystick and control buttons setup, you are looking at endless hours of gaming!

Classic upright “Cabinet” design
Dimensions: 45.8″ H X 22.75″ D X 19″ W
Weight: 58.5lbs
2 Games in 1 (Space Invaders Original, Space Invaders Color)
Upgraded 17″ Color LCD Screen
Authentic arcade controls
Commercial-grade construction
Original Artwork
Coinless operation
Owner can adjust the volume
On-Screen Game Selection Menu
Plugs into an AC outlet