Chapter 3. Mini Retro Arcade Cabinet

In this chapter, we will build a mini retro-style arcade cabinet, which runs a selection of emulators that can play games from a wide variety of game consoles and arcade machines. This will be done using an operating system called PiPlay (formally known as PiMAME).

An arcade cabinet is essentially a standard computer and monitor in a custom-built cabinet used to mimic the style and shape of retro arcade machines.

This project will also be the first that involves a significant amount of woodwork and carpentry in the making of the cabinet for the arcade system. Although it seems like a daunting task for anyone who has not undertaken a project like this in the past, the construction is relatively simple and can be done with common household tools.

To control the games, we will use a selection of arcade controls that are readily available online. We will interface them to the Pi using the GPIO port and some software written by Adafruit.

This project is based on a similar project built by Tony Dixon at Maker Space, Newcastle.