I have been a gamer of one type or another since I was 10 years old and my father bought me an 8 bit Nintendo. There is no question in my mind that video games have not only inspired me to be a creative and imaginative individual, but it is certainly the reason I ultimately become an IT professional and a writer (of sorts). I owe a lot to my dad, he had an uncanny ability to see past what I was doing and recognize how it affected me in the long run. He understood that while video games were just that, games, there was a whole world of people behind them and it was his way of tricking me into an interest in computers, programming and reading books, all things that would become a driving force behind the success of my life.
Of all the many types of gaming experiences I have had the pleasure to enjoy which included everything from video/PC games, miniature and board games, RPG’s and more, there is one memory that sticks out above them all. That memory is of me walking into a Bowling Alley for the first time in my life (I was about 12) and discovering the Arcade section.
This was a magical place to me, the sounds, the visual overload, and the sheer selection of games that were often not available anywhere, were now all in one very special place. All you needed was some quarters and you were rewarded with one of the most exciting gaming experiences of a 12 years life.
From that point forward I always had a special fondness for Arcades that would remain with me for the rest of my life. Even today when I see an arcade unit somewhere, I can’t resist dropping a few quarters into the machine to get a moment of that nostalgic feeling of being a kid.
As I grew older I always had a very specific dream and desire. I wanted to have an arcade unit in my house so that I could enjoy that nostalgic feeling of being a kid whenever I wanted. For years I considered buying a unit, perhaps refurbishing one or building one from scratch. There was of course always something in the way. College, marriage, kids… life.
When you turn 45 years old, however, something very interesting and unexpected happens. After a whole life spent being overwhelmed by planning, studying, working, raising kids, etc.. etc suddenly everything slows down. You suddenly have more time and more money, in a way, all your hard work starts to really payout.
I realized recently that, it’s not actually too late to fulfill some of my little mini dreams, that I can actually fit some me-time into life’s equation.
This brings me to this little article. Starting today I will begin work on creating my very own, stand-up arcade unit from scratch. I plan to document this project on this site, filling it with pictures and updates on my progress, and perhaps it may even become a sort of step-by-step process to inspire your own do-it-yourself project.
You will find on the top of this site there is now a new menu link called Project: Arcade. All of the articles I write for this project will appear here in a list and whenever I do any work on the Arcade unit, I will add it here.
I don’t know how many people are going to be interested in this sideshow, but I swore when I created this blog that I would document all of my gaming experience and while building an arcade unit is certainly a bit of a stretch of that definition, I say close enough!
Day 2: Coming Soon!