Hardware
Retro Space, A Level Up From Nolan Bushnell’s Original Game Cabinet
August 18, 2008
If you’re into retro gaming but find Donkey Kong vinyl wall coverings a little too juvenile, it’s time to check out the Retro Space. Dutch designer Martijn Koch has updated Atari founder Nolan Bushnell’s original game cabinet, the Computer Space, for the design savvy gamer. According to Koch’s personal manifesto this cabinet is a beautifully crafted, hi-def, yellow “screw you” to console gamers he collectively refers to as “Mr. Couch Potato” for bringing down the arcade business.
Koch created the cabinet out of precision milled medium density fiberboard swathed in four layers of semi gloss (your pick of yellow, white, blue, green or orange). The layout includes three Sanwa joysticks, a Suzo trackball and a 16-button configuration to meet the needs of every game from Street Fighter to Centipede. The lack of a spinner means no Tempest.
The cabinet comes with over 100 licensed titles spanning the 70s, 80s and 90s loaded onto an onboard PC running off a 2GHz Intel Core2Duo processor. But a glance at the full spec sheet will show you this puppy goes way beyond simply playing Galaga.
Koch doesn’t list a price for this piece of art but you can find out more at Retro Space. It’s clearly a labor of love. His email authenticator even makes you spell out words like “RType” and “Akuma” to get more info. www.retrospace.nl
[RetroThing via Complex]
2 Responses to “Retro Space, A Level Up From Nolan Bushnell’s Original Game Cabinet”
that thing is so weird and sexy at the same time. I.. I want one.
By GeorgeR on Aug 20, 2008
If I could pull up a stool to this I’d be into it. I’m want to sit and play. Yeah, I’m lazy.
By wiizard on Aug 20, 2008