Reliving the past by playing old arcade or console games brings happiness to old school gamers. For this, we can thanks every developers who spend most of their free time coding emulators. Those software are truly awesome and fulfill retro gamers needs but still, we will all agree that there’s nothing like playing the real thing. For arcade fans though, this is no easy task. Believe it or not, some old school fanboys manage to gather dozens of big arcade cabinets in their own basement to create what we call gaming rooms (if you have one and live in Montreal, call me!). But not everyone have the budget or space to do so. For other enthusiasts, combining emulators with hardware is the best of both worlds.

We bring you today the top 10 handmade arcade cabinets based mostly on looks and functionalities. Be warned though, because of the fact that handmade cabinets are not made in a day and that the hobby is not overly popular, you may have seen some of those projects already. It just shows that frankly, with high standards like these, you got to have something up your sleeves to get up in the top 10. There is undisputed champions but a few surprises as well. Literally clicking through hundreds of examples (found on www.byoac.com, the biggest arcade building community) just proved my point. So here is the hall of fame.

Images in this article do not always give justice to the cabinets. Click on them for more info.

10 – Game Creature

Here’s a good start that shows that sticking to a theme is a winning formula. Not a big cabinet, it should easily find a spot in any household (I would find a place home!) Greenish theme makes it appealing and the side panels are simple and effective. It uses a simple control panel with just enough buttons to make it functional for most arcade games. Probably the first time on a top 10 list, I had a sweet spot for this one.

9 – Heavy Metal

This cab has been seen here and there on the internet for good reasons. Build quality seems top notch and the theme is again what make it stand apart. The cabinet has the shape of the familiar Ultimate Arcade 2 but without the drawer. Notice there is no artwork on the control panel and that does not bother since you can find some on all sides. Cluttered art designs are as bad as a naked cab. Simplicity has won again.

8 – System7

First thing you see here is the original shape of the cabinet. It’s good to deviate a little from the standard upright position like most of the other cabinets. Control panel is farther from the screen and it’s just better for people to gather around at a Street Fighter 2 party. There is still some room for upgrade since a bigger screen can be fit into it. Good and simple artwork wins again.

7 – Cosmicade

You can already see a trend here, simplicity and staying true to the thematic. This machine is a good example. You can’t believe how many fancy cabs there are with too much buttons, colors or weird cabinet forms. Theme on this one is well executed with black and blue colors and you have all the controls you can wish including a trackball, spinner and 4-way joystick for older games. Don’t overlook the electrical logo on the side. There is a well hidden drawer on this one too (I hate cabinets where you see the drawer!)

6 – Modular Mame

It’s time to get away from simplicity. The control panel on this one can be customized at will. 22 modular panels can be connected to adapt the game you want to play. This construction must have been a headache but the result is pure genius. The control panel alone made this one a winner. This is not what we call a beautiful cabinet but it’s far from an ugly one with its classy black finish. This one could have been called the transformer. Thumbs up.

5 – Bella’s Arcade

Look at this. Don’t you want to initiate your little girl to video games with this lollipop of a cab? How can she resist? This cab is so cute it deserves the fifth spot hands down. That pink frame is just cracking my heart. Art work seems to be taken straight from a child book. Some cabs just look like they have been bought in a store since they are so well done and this pink toy is one of those.

4 – Rototron

Like the modular cab we’ve seen earlier, the Rototron let you change the controls and do so brilliantly. Rotate the control panel and you’re set. How’s that? It certainly took a lot of thinking to get it done like this. It won’t win a beauty contest but you must hit the builder website to see the rotating control panel in action to understand why ingenuity wins over beauty. Born to be a classic.

3 – Neon Mame

Talking about classic, this one surely is. In fact, if you do have an interest for MAME cabinets, you certainly have seen this one before. This box looks heavy. Again, theme is the thing here. Black and blue, neon on the side, lighting joysticks and buttons and onscreen interface that match the design. If the builder makes some for sale, he will find a pot of gold. Don’t you want one?

2 – The Woody

Now, this is class. High class. Astronomical class.  Look at this shiny piece of wood. It took just a sneak peak to know this cab would go on top of the list. Even your mom wouldn’t complain having this in her main living room. I absolutely love the fact that it’s half-size and that the artwork was kept to a minimum. Wood is the art here. I had a real trouble making it number 2 since it is so beautiful. Truly a masterpiece, nothing less.

1 – Supercade

Champion of them all. Da numero uno. The all-in-one piece of entertainment. 4 player controls, 7 buttons configuration for 1 and 2 player, 4-way joystick, spinner, trackball, a flight stick and a light gun. All of this on a split-level control panel without a Frankenstein look. Add to this a modern shape and a sweet finish and all others will be judge by it. Since an image is worth a thousand words, I’ll just let you stare at it and imagine the possibilities. This cab is certainly no new kid on the block and will stay on top of the list for years to come. Hail to the king!

Super duper special mention: Guitar Hero Cabinet

Not a traditional cab in itself, this massive Marshall stack packed with Guitar Hero just missed the top 10 by an inch. You can’t disagree that playing your favourites songs in front of a Marshall beast like this wouldn’t give you THE superstar feeling. I may be wrong here but from the look of the website, it seems that this great idea, among cabinets #2 and #3 of our list above are all from the same builder (Knievel???). To this guy: YOU ROCK!