{"id":1799,"date":"2026-10-13T12:29:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T16:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.legeekretrogaming.com\/geekblog\/?p=1799"},"modified":"2026-10-13T14:15:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T18:15:02","slug":"5-years-and-9-months-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.legeekretrogaming.com\/geekblog\/?p=1799","title":{"rendered":"5 Years and 9 Months later\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It has been a minute!\u00a0 Arcade1UP kind of ran itself into the ground by annually re-releasing slightly nicer cabinets of Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter II, and later got bought up by Basic Fun, who (checks notes) are doing the same thing?\u00a0 But at least they brought back Outrun?<\/p>\n

I \u2013 on the other hand \u2013 stopped blogging, but kept fiddling with Arcade1UPs. I currently have EIGHT of the damn things, with parts to build one more, so let\u2019s check the predictions I made in 2021<\/a>\u2026[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/5″][vc_single_image image=”1805″ img_size=”medium”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/5″][vc_column_text]The Simpsons<\/strong> did come out, but the 2nd<\/sup> game was Simpson Bowling?\u00a0 I passed, but the cab was later found to be easy to mod with more games.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/5″][vc_single_image image=”1807″ img_size=”medium”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/5″][vc_column_text]Tempest<\/strong> came out as a decent refresh of the Asteroids\/Centipede cabinet.\u00a0 There were some nice after-market mods to make the machine look more authentic, but you could not replace the spinner controller.\u00a0 It also came with a horizontal screen, so vertical games \u2013 like Tempest \u2013 were shrunken. Passed.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/5″][vc_single_image image=”1810″ img_size=”medium”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/5″][vc_column_text]Tron<\/strong> was released, featuring Tron and Discs of Tron, and it was very close to the look of the original arcade cabinet.\u00a0 I bought one, but felt uneasy about the purchase, and later traded it, unopened, for Rampage and Space Invaders.\u00a0 Part of it was the high price, but it also may be due to my left-handedness. Tron is one of the rare classic arcade games that really favors right-handers.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/5″][vc_single_image image=”1812″ img_size=”medium”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/5″][vc_column_text]So far, no one has offered a Q*bert<\/strong> cab for sale, but I am currently in the process of making one out of Space Invaders.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/5″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/5″][vc_single_image image=”1816″ img_size=”large”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/5″][vc_column_text]Buy Stuff Arcades, who among other things offer both Android and Mini PC upgrade kits for various Arcade1UPs, released their own reproduction Super Sprint<\/strong> cab.\u00a0 It is a thing of beauty, but EXPENSIVE! They have plans to eventually release a two-player Championship Sprint kit for Arcade1UPs, so I will wait and see.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]For me, what has made these cabinets a hobby and not just \u201cblowing money on magic beans\u201d has been all the tinkering and customizing you can do with them. There is a whole cottage industry of folks online that will help you add light-up marquees and coin doors, replace vinyl artwork, and add real arcade parts and custom control panels. It can be a rabbit hole within a rabbit hole, but here are some highlights of what I\u2019ve been putting together:[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Ms. Pac-man<\/strong><\/h1>\n

After adding the new kickplate vinyl I mentioned in my previous post, I replaced the marquee and then installed a 60-in-1 Jamma kit from DIY Retrocade.\u00a0 I tried various replacement control panels with added trackballs, a joystick that could swap between 4-way and 8-way, but nothing seemed quite right.\u00a0 I settled on using the original control panel with the 4-way stick from the kit, added a 2nd button, then limited the game list to 2-way and 4-way games.\u00a0 The icing on the cake was installing a scan line generator.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”1824″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Xmen vs. Street Fighter<\/strong><\/h1>\n

It\u2019s probably overkill, but I eventually reworked the cab into a Street Fighter II Turbo, dropping a MiSTer FPGA inside.\u00a0 Similar to a RetroPie build, most of the assembly went smoothly, but it took me several tries to figure out the right solution to working audio, and then several MORE tries to get the controls to play nice.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”1828″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/6″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Outrun<\/strong><\/h1>\n

I started with a few stickers and some better covers for the pedals, then eventually raised the cab up by 6 inches, bolted the pedals in, and added a real JEGS racing seat.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][vc_single_image image=”1835″ img_size=”medium”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/6″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Asteroids <\/strong><\/h1>\n

I got the parts used and luckily, Arcade1UP was nice enough to replace the monitor as it was in ROUGH shape.\u00a0 I added some vinyl, a light-up marquee, GRS Spinner, and Atari-style \u201cvolcano\u201d buttons.\u00a0 I also redesigned the control panel graphic.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][vc_single_image image=”1832″ img_size=”medium”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/6″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Centipede<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Much like Asteroids, I started with adding a light-up marquee, GRS trackball, and Atari-style \u201cvolcano\u201d buttons, later swapping in the guts of an 8-in-1 Centipede Partycade. I then changed all the vinyl to Millipede.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][vc_single_image image=”1837″ img_size=”medium”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/6″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Space Invaders<\/strong><\/h1>\n

I played around with maybe making it a dual Q*bert\/Mad Planets cab before settling on Q*bert, and laid out the control panel myself. It\u2019s looking good, but other that lighting up, it currently does \u201cfuck all\u201d.\u00a0 I will eventually put in a JROK board.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][vc_single_image image=”1838″ img_size=”medium”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]TL;DR don\u2019t be like me!\u00a0 Go outside! \ud83d\ude00
\n– Ben<\/p>\n

Cottage Industry Vendors<\/h3>\n

https:\/\/thearcadegamefactory.com\/<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.arcadeshop.com\/<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.buystuffarcades.com\/<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.diyretroarcade.com\/<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.escapepodonline.com\/<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/focusattack.com\/<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.jegs.com\/<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.retro530.com\/<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.szabosarcades.com\/<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/thunderstickstudio.com\/<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/www.t-molding.com\/<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It has been a minute!\u00a0 Arcade1UP kind of ran itself into the ground by annually re-releasing slightly nicer cabinets of Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter II, and later got bought up by Basic Fun, who (checks notes) are doing the same thing?\u00a0 But at least they brought back Outrun? I \u2013 on the other …<\/p>\n

5 Years and 9 Months later\u2026<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7,8,29,27,28,5],"tags":[20,19,24,23,25,21,22],"class_list":["post-1799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arcade","category-atari","category-capcom","category-konami","category-namco","category-sega","tag-arcade","tag-atari","tag-capcom","tag-konami","tag-sega","tag-simpsons","tag-tron"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Gkjg-t1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.legeekretrogaming.com\/geekblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/banner-10-12-26.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.legeekretrogaming.com\/geekblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.legeekretrogaming.com\/geekblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.legeekretrogaming.com\/geekblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.legeekretrogaming.com\/geekblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.legeekretrogaming.com\/geekblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1799"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"http:\/\/www.legeekretrogaming.com\/geekblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1859,"href":"http:\/\/www.legeekretrogaming.com\/geekblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1799\/revisions\/1859"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.legeekretrogaming.com\/geekblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.legeekretrogaming.com\/geekblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.legeekretrogaming.com\/geekblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.legeekretrogaming.com\/geekblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}