A Very Small Yet Functional Arcade Cabinet

In the world of retro gaming, there’s a fine line between size and functionality. On the one hand, a full-sized cabinet is much to large to fit nicely into a normal home, however, those that are too portable start to loose their playability — like this version of Tetris on a soldering iron. Leaning toward the “quite small” side, but still presenting a well laid-out control surface, is this 21cm (or 8.25”) high arcade cabinet designed around the Raspberry Pi.

The diminutive arcade cabinet uses a Pi 2 to run a Recalbox image for emulation control, similar to RetroPie. Video signals are split out, so it can plug it into a television for a more full-sized experience. Interface-wise, the button layout comes in the form of a PCB that conveniently matches the length of the screen.

Unlike larger arcade cabinets, the game’s structure is actually 3D-printed, and a set of laser-cut plexiglass forms the black outer shell of the device. Although creator “RealPheonix” claims this isn’t his best work, it’s still a great looking little machine.

If you’d like more info on the build, he will be posting a video about the process on his YouTube channel, and he even plans to make a second version in the future!