Proving that being on lockdown is not the end of the world, one genius dad built a full-sized retro arcade game station using materials he scrounged up from home.
Saying he had “little to no DIY skills,” Steve Addison, 32, was able to get creative in a way that not only kept himself busy but also gave him the chance to bond with his three-year-old son Felix.
Steve, who is an Assistant Business Manager from Lincoln, said that the inspiration for his idea was an Atari that his mother-in-law gave him for Christmas.
He said: “I only played it a couple of times as it took some time to hook it up to the TV. This is what gave me the idea of having an arcade cabinet of my own. We’re a video game-loving family, even having a subtle theme used at my wedding.”
Steve drew up some blueprints for the game station which was built around the TV he planned to use. Starting first with a scale model made of cardboard, he went on to use MDF the next day.
With some borrowed tools and a few that he had on hand, Steve then started cutting out the boards and sanding them.
He said: “I then joined each piece together with brackets on the inside to keep to aesthetics on the outside.
“As the build developed I looked online for some arcade buttons and found some on eBay. I then fitted a Raspberry Pi computer with arcade games added to it.”
The body took about two days to construct but while he wasn’t busy building he also painted the characters on the side.
Steve continued: “I do keep adding to it here and there – like the USB lights around the outside and in the marquee – but I’m happy with how it’s turned out.
“All in all the project probably cost me just £150 including wood, electronics; the light gun was probably the most expensive thing.”
It’s no surprise that Felix “absolutely loves it” and spends a lot of time on the machine. His favorite games are Bubble Bobble, Spyro the Dragon, and Sonic the Hedgehog.
Steve said: “He loved seeing all the characters come to life each morning as I’d usually spend an evening after he went to bed painting them.
“He likes to play the two-player races on Sonic the Hedgehog and gets very competitive. He’s also got a brilliant button bash technique when he plays as Spider-Man on Marvel vs Capcom.”
Far from planning to turn it into a business or continuing hobby after the lockdown is done, Steve said it wouldn’t be too soon if he never saw a plank of wood again. But in the meantime, he’s now in the midst of making a smaller table-top version.
He said: “I was in the garage trying to squeeze past an old table and decided I was going to use it to build a second table-top machine.
“This took me again a couple of hours a day but about two days to build. It’s been a slightly longer process as I’ve had to wait for parts to be delivered. It’s not finished, and I’m not sure what I want to do with the second one yet.
“I was planning of possibly making a third (much to my wife’s dismay) for my staff when work re-opens.”
Steve and Felix have also been working on a Nintendo Labo kit but Steve hasn’t forgotten his wife. In fact, she has her very own dance mat.
Steve said: “When I first announced I was building this to my wife, she seemed very skeptical as I’m not the most DIY savvy person, but seeing the project now she’s just happy it’s turned out the way it has and not an eyesore in the living room.”
“My wife will be on placement soon, and I wanted to make sure Felix and I had plenty of things to do together. What better way to bond and occupy our time, than over the games from my childhood, passing on my passions to the next generation?
“My advice to anyone planning on doing a similar project would be to make sure you plan your time accordingly and ensure all measurements are correct, the last thing you want is for the TV not to fit.”
Steve added: “The project has really given me something to focus on and keep myself busy. The outcome has been really rewarding and proved that someone with little to no DIY skills is capable of building one.”
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