Make sure to pick a good one – some people are struggling at the flashing step due to low-quality SD card writers.Īctually you can use any monitor – even those with 4:3 ratio, which can even be flipped vertically, as many of the Final Burn Alpha games are actually meant to be played on a vertical monitor (just like on those old arcade machines). We will use a USB keyboard at the initial set up stage. Regular office stapler will work as well, I had a bigger one at home.Īny decent size screws are suitable, but the shorter the better. Standard 30 cm (12”) ruler will work just fine.

The total budget in my case was about €270, but it could be about €140 if you find a used monitor with a box (I just bought a brand new one). Otherwise, you can easily drop any other platform ROMs to the according folders, and they will just work (probably 😉 ). The FBA games typically use 2 to 4 controller buttons, sometimes 6 (works for us!).

While RetroPie can emulate 50 different gaming platforms (including PlayStation, PSP, Dreamcast, Nintendo, MSX, and others), I will focus on setting up controllers and games for an emulator called Final Burn Alpha (FBA) – basically a multiple retro arcade machine emulator. I will also explain how to add a nice cardboard-compatible theme, and fetch game video previews and info. The software part will run on RetroPie, an excellent image for Raspberry Pi micro computer. I’m going to use the box that came with the monitor as a cabinet, which means the final arcade machine will be a portable bar top version. So, here is my take on how to do it just using a pencil, a ruler, and a knife. Unfortunately (or luckily?), I don’t have a circular saw at home. However, the common problem is building the wooden cabinet – well, not a problem if you have a circular saw and some other professional tools available.

There is quite a number of tutorials on the Internet on how to do that. I’ve been enjoying arcades in 90s that’s why I’ve decided to put one together at home.

Arcade machine with coin slot