Gamechuck Arcade - a hobby project while developing retro games

[p3r02d3r0]

Hi, I’m Igor Kolar, co-founder of a small game development studio from Croatia.

I’m an industrial designer by trade. At some point during the making of our first game, it occurred to me that making games weren’t hard enough, so I thought we’d venture into hardware territory as well.

Truthfully though, I actually wanted to contribute with something closer to my own, honed skill set, and also give a previous project a better going at.


The first prototype

I think trying to chase the old physical archetype of the arcade only ensures it will continue to remain ‘retro’ in our minds. I find that somehow ironic, particularly as it happens with all iconic pop culture designs. Be it the arcades, any of the early home consoles, or the Commodore Amiga, those shapes are revered.

I’d like to think that this arcade could stand side by side to high-end Hi-Fi equipment, and still look like it belonged there.


Prototype (right) and the newest, almost final version of the arcade

Many of these design choices are in turn, the causes of the long development time. I wanted all the panels to match seamlessly, which meant working with tighter tolerances than you’d be able to get away with on an archetypical arcade design.

I didn’t want to resort to slapping a sticker on the side and calling it a day, which meant several clear coats and polishing to get the smooth piano finish.

And I wanted to be able to do as much as possible in-house, which meant putting together the machines that can produce the components.

From the ground up, up, down, down, left, right…

The Ooznest Workbee CNC has been instrumental in cutting out the major pieces of the arcade. The Prusa MK3 3D printer proved to be an incredible supplementary tool to the big CNC. With it, I was able to very quickly prototype both components which are going into the arcade, but also components for the machines that are making them.



Inside the arcade, I'm using parts printed in PETG, a very flexible and sturdy plastic, mostly as a mediary between the fibre board and whatever component I'm attaching to it.

I think 3D printing technology has come a long way, and for certain applications (and in low volume production) I think it makes no sense to bother with injection moulding, if printing gives you the result you need. It’s certainly durable enough.

Modular, fully functional, and anatomically correct

There are several key principles employed in the design and construction of the Gamechuck Arcade. Starting with, “Things should not break easily”. That is why there’s 22mm (0.87″) of fibre board between the outside world and any of the interior components.



It’s also why there’s 6mm of laminated glass before you can reach the delicate 120Hz screen inside.

Next one is, “If they do break, it should be easily replaced”. The benefit of standardized sizing in computer components, enables the usage of off-the-shelf parts for the machine running the show. This means that they can be either easily swapped out if they end up being faulty, or even upgraded somewhere down the line.



The entire control surface, is removable, so that it could accommodate single, dual or up to four player configurations, light guns, or things I couldn’t think of or need, yet.

“It should be easy to use.” It doesn’t need any other peripheral, or app to get it going, and the most you should have to do is select the menu (and consequentially game) language, and your Wi-Fi password, should you choose to connect it online.

Nothing Without the Games

From its modest beginnings as a literally hand cut piece of 6mm (.23″) fibreboard, the arcade was always accompanied by our in-house developed game I'm not going to advertise here. The first three-day prototype, the all-proto-stages, and the final product demo version all came out with respective arcade hardware.



It is an unapologetically difficult game, and when you play it, you will realize why we build the arcade so sturdy.

What now?

For now, the Gamechuck Arcade is still a hobby project. An ambitious one, yes, and it remains to be seen where I go with it from here.

Looking forward to seeing your comments, criticism, questions... 

[pbj]

What ---fudgesicle--- is a game chuck?

Is your game a metal slug clone?  Why 8 buttons?

[meyer980]

You made your own arcade controller circuit board? That's dedication. Would love more info on that. Is it maybe an arduino clone? A keyboard input device? A gamepad? I'm assuming if you went through the trouble of making such a thing, you're considering selling them?

Quality looking work so far

[p3r02d3r0]

What ---fudgesicle--- is a game chuck?

It's the name of my crafts company. I wanted to give it a memorable name 

Is your game a metal slug clone?  Why 8 buttons?

Good catch It was inspired by metal slug and several other games 8 buttons for future games we might develop for the arcade and/or for more players on the same arcade

[p3r02d3r0]

You made your own arcade controller circuit board? That's dedication. Would love more info on that. Is it maybe an arduino clone? A keyboard input device? A gamepad? I'm assuming if you went through the trouble of making such a thing, you're considering selling them?

Quality looking work so far

Thanks

Well, the whole system is a wild hybrid The "system" is an x86 PC (for now, until I find a better solution), while the arcade controller circuit board is completely custom-made, yes.

Basically, the arcade has a custom PCB for the Atmel controller that's intended for controls and lighting. It's easily replaceable if something goes wrong, and it also enables effects on the light rings that will respond to the game.

The ultimate goal is to find an investor one day that could help with pushing the project on the market, but... we'll see