# Making an retro arcade cabinet!
**URL:** https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795
**Category:** Show & Tell
**Tags:** make, art, game
**Created:** [January 10, 2024, 8:50pm UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795 "2024-01-10T20:50:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Sonicblaston](https://forum.makecode.com/u/Sonicblaston)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2024, 8:50pm UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/1 "2024-01-10T20:50:09Z")
I am finally going to make an arcade cabinet!
I have been planning this since 8th grade. The reason I am finally able to make this is because we now finally have self chosen project in arts and crafts (if that is what it’s called in english). I am going to post updates about the project here, as well ask for help if I need it (spoiler: I need it) before I can even start I have an instant problem though. I can’t seem to find the link to where you buy the buttons and joysticks as shown in the tutorial
I really need to find out where I can buy these. Please help!
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### Author:  [@KIKIvsIT](https://forum.makecode.com/u/KIKIvsIT)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2024, 8:52pm UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/2 "2024-01-10T20:52:15Z")
Here are some links that might help…
[Wooden Arcade Cabinet.docx](https://1drv.ms/w/s!AqsgsTyHBmRBnDsGKQqVKZ0dYw0t?e=FoA5tz)
[Cardboard Arcade Cabinet - DIY.docx](https://1drv.ms/w/s!AqsgsTyHBmRBnW-Epjm-WdjDODKm?e=E6VX3m)
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### Author:  [@randomuser](https://forum.makecode.com/u/randomuser)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2024, 5:27pm UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/3 "2024-01-12T17:27:05Z")
> [@Sonicblaston](#):
>
> I am finally going to make an arcade cabinet!
GASPPPP!!! [twinss](https://forum.makecode.com/t/decorate-my-arcade-machine-cabinet/20772)!!! (quadruplets? XD)
I have the link to what I bought, but it’s on amazon canada (I bought it while on vacation up there) but there should be something similar near you!
> **[SJ@JX Arcade Game LED DIY Kit Mechanical Keyboard Switch Arcade LED Button...](https://www.amazon.ca/SJ-JX-Mechanical-Keyboard-Controller/dp/B07R5Z218X)**
>
> If you have other questions, please contact me by email.Zero Delay SJ@JX 822B USB Encoder for PC MAME Raspberry Pi & Android. Suit for 5V LED.Cherry MX Black Switch Button. Non-clicky Recycling 50 million times. Contains Logo and LED is Always...
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### Author:  [@Sonicblaston](https://forum.makecode.com/u/Sonicblaston)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2024, 10:14pm UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/4 "2024-02-06T22:14:28Z")
_ **Update!** _
- I got the materials for the cabinet. (The teachers bought it yesterday).
- I have also started cutting. (The sheets weren’t big enough to include the joystick and buttons panel).
- The electronic parts has arrived (one day earlier than expected).
\*I made a blueprint for the build. (Actually I made this quite a while ago).
I’ve got alot of progress. But i have a few things to say to the people who wants to do this as well.
1. Your wooden sheets should be at least 9x2440x1220 in size. You will also need **two** of these sheets. I cut the two on the picture above out of one sheet. The rest is for all the other sides of the cabinet
2. Choose your woodtype wisely. There is a variety of different qualities regarding the wood. Personally I used plywood sheets made out of pinewood.
3. When looking for buttons and joysticks🕹️ . Please don’t just use the first website you see. When doing from places like Amazon and Ebay. You should check the reviews of the seller. When you buy from other websites, you should search up the website on trustpilot ([trustpilot.com](http://trustpilot.com)). This is where I bought them from. ([https://www.amazon.com/Hikig-Buttons-joysticks-Controller-Raspberry/dp/B07JFXQSM5/ref=sr\_1\_1\_sspa?crid=OTFVHSL5AECY&keywords=arcade+kit&qid=1707250189&sprefix=%2Caps%2C1060&sr=8-1-spons&sp\_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1](https://www.amazon.com/Hikig-Buttons-joysticks-Controller-Raspberry/dp/B07JFXQSM5/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=OTFVHSL5AECY&keywords=arcade+kit&qid=1707250189&sprefix=%2Caps%2C1060&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1))
Thats all the tips I had for now. The next update will be around Tuesday next week. I really hopes this is going to come in handy for someone
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### Author:  [@randomuser](https://forum.makecode.com/u/randomuser)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2024, 10:05pm UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/5 "2024-02-07T22:05:33Z")
Awwh, lucky! I almost got to make mine out of wood, but I got woodworking at the height of the pandemic…
… so while at any other time of year the woodworking class makes entire tables and can sculpt watever they want as a final project such as a _retro arcade cabinet_…
… i made bridges out of popsicle sticks like this was kindergarten 😭
YOUR DESIGN LOOKS AWESOME!!! I can’t wait to see how it turns out!!
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### Author:  [@Sonicblaston](https://forum.makecode.com/u/Sonicblaston)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2024, 10:15pm UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/6 "2024-02-12T22:15:01Z")
Just a small update before tomorrow.
The raspberry pi 4 has arrived!
forgot to buy the hdmi cable😩. I had to use the one I had from the raspberry pi 400
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### Author:  [@Brohann](https://forum.makecode.com/u/Brohann)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2024, 12:23am UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/7 "2024-02-13T00:23:20Z")
are you going to use a web browser to run the makecode kiosk on the rpi or are you going to make a bootloader for it (the rpi 4 is not supported)
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### Author:  [@randomuser](https://forum.makecode.com/u/randomuser)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2024, 2:10am UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/8 "2024-02-13T02:10:26Z")
LUCKY!! That’s awesome!!
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### Author:  [@Sonicblaston](https://forum.makecode.com/u/Sonicblaston)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2024, 12:10am UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/9 "2024-02-15T00:10:26Z")
I could just use desktop mode on rpi 4. however I was actually planning to use retroarch. My uncle got me a 512 gigabyte sd card. Installed with retroarch and more games than I will ever need. (23 736!)
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### Author:  [@Vegz78](https://forum.makecode.com/u/Vegz78)
#### Post date: [February 15, 2024, 12:13am UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/10 "2024-02-15T00:13:37Z")
Nice project, @Sonicblaston! Thanks for sharing blueprints, purchasing links for buttons and joysticks, and your progress! Looking forward to seeing the final result!
> [@Brohann](#):
>
> are you going to use a web browser to run the makecode kiosk on the rpi or are you going to make a bootloader for it (the rpi 4 is not supported)
You are probably already aware of this, but instead of going for the kiosk browser mode or trying to get the bootloader to work, on the Raspberry Pis, including your chosen RPi4, you could use [McAirpos](https://vegz78.github.io/McAirpos/)\* to get it to run MCA games natively, also as part of RetroPie, Recalbox and Batocera together with other emulators and games well suited for your arcade cabinet:
> [@MakeCode Arcade on Raspberry Pi (including RetroPie, Recalbox, Batocera etc.)](https://forum.makecode.com/t/makecode-arcade-on-raspberry-pi-including-retropie-recalbox-batocera-etc/14267):
>
> With reference to previous correspondence with @richard and @peli, and happy to announce that McAirpos now supports running MakeCode Arcade games natively and with controller support on [Batocera](https://batocera.org) retro-gaming distro in addition to [RetroPie](https://retropie.org.uk), [Recalbox](https://www.recalbox.com) and the [Raspberry Pi OS](https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/) [console](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_console) and presumably other similar ARM hardware and Linux flavours, as well as a new working [Ansible](https://www.ansible.com) playbook template that allows quickly scripted installation onto several devices in parallel in e.g. a classroom, collaborat…
(\*Given that it still works as it should on the latest releases of these retro gaming systems. I haven’t had time to test and update the repository for a while.)
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### Author:  [@Sonicblaston](https://forum.makecode.com/u/Sonicblaston)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2024, 5:12pm UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/11 "2024-02-16T17:12:58Z")
I will try to make a full guide from this later. However some things from the blurprint needs to be changed. I need to change the width of the machine to something around 72cm because of the screen I’m buying. That sadly means I have to go buy some more sheets. 60cm was a little tight on space anyways.
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### Author:  [@randomuser](https://forum.makecode.com/u/randomuser)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2024, 6:23pm UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/12 "2024-02-16T18:23:42Z")
Oof, good luck!
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### Author:  [@Sonicblaston](https://forum.makecode.com/u/Sonicblaston)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/13 "2024-02-27T19:16:16Z")
UPDATE.
I have decided to make the machine with a width of 68cm.
I have now cut out the back panel of the cabinet. I have also mounted it together with both of the side panels. I cut some cubes to screw the panels together (look at picture) the cut wasn’t perfect, so I used sandpaper to sand it down. However it’s still not perfect. I decided to mount the wooden blocks to be used as support for the roof and floor of the cabinet. The cabinet is now screwed together, and is able to stand all by itself
I am going to use a few extra wooden cubes to be sure that the cabinet is strong enough.
When I am going to make the panel for the buttons, I am going to use a panel cut out from an old school desk. Because as you all probably know, you are going to hut those buttons pretty hard in the heat of the battle. That’s why I’ve decided to use a school desk since they are a lot thicker. (Forgot to take a picture of it)
I am supposed to make a log of all I that I do. However, I wasn’t supposed to make it here😅
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### Author:  [@randomuser](https://forum.makecode.com/u/randomuser)
#### Post date: [February 29, 2024, 6:40pm UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/14 "2024-02-29T18:40:55Z")
AWESOMEEEEE!! It looks so cool : D
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### Author:  [@Sonicblaston](https://forum.makecode.com/u/Sonicblaston)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2024, 10:08pm UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/15 "2024-03-05T22:08:31Z")
**UPDATE**
I made the roof and two panels for the front and secured the walls
I am starting to get somewhere
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### Author:  [@Sonicblaston](https://forum.makecode.com/u/Sonicblaston)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2024, 10:09pm UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/16 "2024-03-05T22:09:01Z")
Another thing. Tomorrow my class is going on a class quiz semifinale! They are going to sleep in the capital city However I am not going. That means I get two entire days to work on this project! That means around 10 HOURS!
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### Author:  [@randomuser](https://forum.makecode.com/u/randomuser)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2024, 1:06am UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/17 "2024-03-06T01:06:54Z")
DUDEEEE WAHHHH ITS SOO COOL!! You’re making me jealous, I may need to buy power tools. (Oh, and wood. and parts. and a place to do woodworking…)
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### Author:  [@Taser](https://forum.makecode.com/u/Taser)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2024, 2:02am UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/18 "2024-03-06T02:02:58Z")
Makecode woodshop
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### Author:  [@Sonicblaston](https://forum.makecode.com/u/Sonicblaston)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2024, 9:04pm UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/19 "2024-03-06T21:04:25Z")
**UPDATE**
I have now made the actual controller panel for the Arcade Machine. I used a school desk as the controller panel. Just to get it extra sturdy. I must say though… it is looking sick!
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### Author:  [@randomuser](https://forum.makecode.com/u/randomuser)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2024, 1:21am UTC](https://forum.makecode.com/t/making-an-retro-arcade-cabinet/25795/20 "2024-03-07T01:21:49Z")
SiCKKKKKKKKKK!!!
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