E3 2019: Turn Your Home Into A Dream Arcade With Arcade1up’s Collectible Cabinets

Growing up, the arcade was the best way to spend an afternoon. As the place with all the latest cutting edge games, the idea of having these giant cabinets in the comfort of your own home was something every kid in the 80’s and 90’s would have loved to have… until they realized they cost more than they could count. The hay day of arcades may have mostly come and gone, but Arcade 1-Up is reviving the experience with small, affordable licensed arcades designed to turn your living room into your old hangout from decades past. And they won’t cost a small fortune!

These cabinets were on display both at their own dedicated booth and at various booths throughout the E3 show floor. If it was popular decades ago, chances are it could be found as a home arcade. Some of the games we saw included Mortal Kombat and its sequel, Final Fight, Street Fighter 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Marvel Super Heroes to name a few. Units with similar button layouts like the MK games could house more than one game in the same series, and are built faithfully like the original cabinets that inspired them. Everything from the name of the game at the top, the joy stick layout and the art on the side were authentically recreated in a way that almost felt identical to the real thing. Squeezing four players into a game like Turtles can be challenging due to the smaller display, but it works almost as well as it would have in an actual arcade. 

Perhaps most impressive is their price point, falling between $200 and $300 depending on the game. If all you want is to be able to play the game, you’ll surely find cheaper ways to play these classics through the many digital stores across gaming platforms. However, the novelty of having a fully functioning arcade machine with its size and price shrunk down for home consumption might be too great to pass up, especially if you have that favorite game you want to experience in the same way as you did as a kid.

Arcade1Up units can be found through most major electronic retailers. For a full list of available games and ones that are coming soon, visit arcade1up.com.