So for a while now I’ve had this completely sensible idea to build a retro arcade machine. You know, a nice chill little project. The real idea was to test it all out on the students and then build a better one for myself. Minor detail: I had no idea how to build one… absolute punt of a project.

After a bit of research I stumbled across the absolute GOAT, Bob Saggert. Will link to him as soon as I remember how. His YouTube series gave me just enough confidence to think, yeah nah, I could probably do that. Which is usually how I end up in these situations.

Riding that misplaced confidence, I somehow convinced the deputy principal at the time that this would be a great learning project. Teaching through making, problem-solving, all that good stuff. I even remember saying in my pitch that I was also fully prepared to learn alongside the kids, or fail publicly and call it “authentic learning.” She took the bait (legend), I bought the plans, which are honestly epic and suddenly I was committed.

Right, into it.

I grabbed some plywood from the shed, printed the plans, and started building the cases. Oh, probably worth mentioning, in classic Jeffy fashion I made four. Because one is never enough. Ha. Ha. Ha. Fuck it, just send it.

Turns out making four arcade cabinets takes slightly longer than making one. (Shocking. Also: you idiot.) The class absolutely smashed the electronics side of things, wiring buttons, setting up Raspberry Pis, getting everything running. But we ran out of time before we could install everything into the cases, and the project stalled.

Life happened. The half-finished cabinets sat in the shed for a while, quietly judging me.

A few months later I finally got my act together, made a schedule, and chipped away at them every lunch break. Sanding, filling, finishing, installing hardware the whole grind. And then suddenly… boom. Four empty boxes, ready for the fun stuff.

Custom made interchangeable laser etched control boards. LED banners with custom artwork. Inbuilt speakers. Raspberry Pi brains. And some badass Amazon arcade buttons that were surprisingly mint and made the wiring dead easy.

I got a little bit loose with a pixel-style splash of colour down the sides. Honestly? They turned out pretty sweet. Lining up all four machines in a class full of kids going full tit in Street Fighter was an absolute sight! Chaos, trash talk, and pure joy.

In the end, I sold them for $500 each, after some extensive testing in my own shed over summer and through the school year. Me and the kids got pretty bloody good. Very rigorous research methods.

Update:
The machines were such a hit that I ended up offering the project again. Three lucky lads built their dream systems with custom buttons, artwork, paint jobs. Fully bespoke. Big project, and it took alot out of both me and the kids… but hands down one of the most fun ways to teach: learning by having a go, stuffing it up, fixing it, and carrying on.