Ever built your own Mame cabinet? Owning and anachrofitting an old Jamma box is great fun — as is the satisfaction of being able to answer the question “What arcade game is that?” by saying “Every one of them!” But it gets old: the huge, 300 pound cabinet; the heavy TV screen or monitor crudely mounted within; and the noisy old PC lurking inside, gobbling energy like a broken fridge.
Enter Dean Liou of Envador, who hand-crafted a compact cabinet that rests easily on a desktop and shows off authentic arcade controls and some clever design.
“Usually, you have to dedicate a machine to it,” Liou said. “Here you just put in your regular laptop and go.”
The Happ arcade controls are hooked up with an i-Pac USB adapter, and there’s a slide-out tray at the bottom to hide a keyboard and mouse.Dreams of owning certain valuable rarities aside, this seems the perfect blend of old and new. It’s a one-off, but Liou said he’d consider making one for about $2,000. Here’s the story behind it and some video.
