Make Your Own Paper Videogame Arcade

Thanks to Way of the Rodent for its feature providing printable plans for making your own mini classic videogame arcade using paper cut-outs. The accompanying text explains: "Finally - relive those early-to-mid '80s arcade glory days without the hassle of paying for stuff or having to learn how the machines work so you can keep fixing them or negotiating with strange, staring men at frightening auctions", before linking to printable color templates for games including Gauntlet, Defender, Robotron, and Tempest and asking: "Send pictures [of your completed mini-arcade], too. We'd love to see how you interpret and arrange all of this", in a move reminiscent of Konami's Metal Gear Rex paper model kit handed out at E3 2003.

Re:Lameness Alert!

[cgenman]

What are you talking about? This would be *perfect* for Mr. Smither's Malibu Stacy collection...

Ok. I guess you have a point there.

Hardly origami

[Flexagon]

Hmm. Scissors, irregular polygon, glue, scoring the paper to fold properly. I was thinking of something more clever from that title.

Re:Hardly origami

[simoniker]

Fair comment - 'origami' changed to 'paper' to better reflect the, uhm, non-complexity of the creation.

Re:Hardly origami

[sparcv9]

The topic has already been changed, but for the sake of accuracy, these constructions are closer to what is know as kirigami in Japan.

Origami...

[Fizzl]

Nuhhuh...
What's with the topic?
I don't think this has anything to do with origami. It should read something like:

Games: Make Your Own Paper Doll Cloth Videogame Arcade

Can be cute

[cgenman]

Actually, if you print them out 3 to a sheet, the resultant 1/3rd size 1/10th size arcade cabinets are kind of cute. They're also not so large as to be considered freakishly obsessive, which is a nice bonus.

Sorry...

[KDR_11k]

Yes, but will they run Linux?

Imagine...

[madaxe42]

a beowulf cluster of these....

paper arcade?! kinda neat...IF....

[Xoo]

What's with all the hating? I think this is kind of a nice idea... *if* one of the following conditions apply:

1. you have access to a nice photo/hi-res color printer at work, and printing paper cut-out art is clearly more productive than printing out more cover sheets for your TPS reports

2. you are the illegitamate child of an HP, Epson, Canon, or Lexmark executive and can guilt-trip them for access to a motherload of ink cartridges

3. having pac-man and defender mini arcade boxes next to your Jennifer Love Hewitt shrine in your room may cure cancer, and you intend to prove this

4. you want to re-live the 80's and be reminded on how you spent thousands of dollars in quarters on games that you can play for free on Flash applets.

I prefer the real thing.

[Cthefuture]

Seriously, just build your arcade machines.

The dimensions are out there. No need to go to auctions and buy expensive and/or crappy old hardware. Build your own from scratch, use MAME and voilà.

You know, then you can actually play the arcade machines.

That's what I did anyway. I built my own air-hockey and pool table also.

Re:I prefer the real thing.

[deltwalrus]

"That's what I did anyway. I built my own air-hockey and pool table also." ...and no one cares.

What we need now...

[FauxReal]

are plans to convert these paper arcade machines into MAME cabinets using old LCDs from digital cameras.

Interesting

[Thedalek]

I would say "Mod parent up!" if it weren't for the fact that a processor small enough to fit in there and fast enough to emulate all these systems would cause the little paper cabinets to burst into flames.

Re:Interesting

[FauxReal]

I was actually joking. But little flaming cabinets sounds kinda fun.

Re:What we need now...

[Ahchay]

We have considered butchering a GBA and using that to do something. But then we remembered that the GBA version of Defender is absolutely awful (besides, the screen is too big).

Cheers

Chris

Re:What we need now...

[FauxReal]

What if you found small screens and just put the parts underneath the "floor" they could be on a stand of some kind that could hide the electronics in it.

w00t!

[CoffeeJedi]

neato! now i have a little arcade setup in my cube! what's that? supporting the... users? oooh! right... yeah... i'll get to them.... eventually... tommorrow............