GARETH HALFACREE’S
Hobby tech
The latest tips, tricks and news in the world of computer hobbyism,
from Raspberry Pi, Arduino and Android to retro computing
T
he nostalgia-fuelled ‘mini’ console
trend is in full swing, despite a few
missteps along the way – such as
Sony’s ill-received and rapidly discounted
PlayStation Mini, which failed to include any
of the platform’s most well-remembered
games. However, consoles were already
pretty compact; what happens if you apply
the same concept to some larger items of
yesteryear, such as arcade cabinets?That’s where Quarter Arcades,
from Numskull Designs, come in.
‘Well, the pun certainly helps,’ says
Ryan Brown of the company’s
naming, and the related decision
to scale its products down to
one quarter of their original
sizes. ‘It’s mostly down to their
manageable size; we think
they’re still fairly large, but small
enough to be reasonably stored
or displayed in UK homes, and
easy enough to move around
should you want to do so.
‘They’re collector’s pieces as
much as they’re meant to be
playable,sotheyshouldbethe
perfectsizetodisplayina cabinet,
orona shelf.Plus,ofcourse,unlike
intheUSA,mostpeopleintheUK
simplydon’thavethespaceto
keepseveralfull-sizedarcadecabinetsin
theirhome,sothisisthenextbestthing!’
TheQuarterArcadesmachines,
whicharedesignedtobeascloseas
possibleinappearancetotheirfull-sizedINTERVIEW
Ryan Brown from Quarter Arcades
CUSTOMISATION / HOBBY TECH
Numskull’s Quarter Arcades do just what the
name says, bringing quarter-sized arcade cabinets
to the homeThe attention to detail extends to the US-style
coin slots, which are obviously non-functionalcounterparts, bar a move to an LCD in
place of a CRT, weren’t Numskull’s first
creation; that honour goes to a range of
game-branded products, such as hats,
mugs, figurines and even scented candles.