If youve invested any time in setting up a gaming room in your house, you probably have gone to great lengths to arrange your classic consoles. You may have adorned the walls with lots of cool game art. You may have even found the perfect gaming desk and gaming chair to accent your gaming lair.However, without at least one arcade cabinet, that do-it-yourself basement arcade is missing that special something. Luckily, you dont have to spend your days scouring Craigslist and renting a pickup truck to haul a classic arcade machine that only plays one game. Grab one of these cabinets and enjoy a collection of arcade games the way they were meant to be played. We’ll also help you save on an arcade cabinet with the biggest sales from Amazon and Walmart this Black Friday.TL;DR These are the Best Arcade Cabinets
1. Creative Arcades Full-Size Cabinet Arcade Machine
Best Arcade Machine
The Creative Arcades Full-Size Cabinet Arcade Machine is basically the closest thing to truly bringing the arcade home. It’s a fully commercial grade cabinet featuring four Sanwa joysticks and 32-inch screen.What’s more, it’s loaded up with 3,500 games including classics like Mortal Kombat, Robotron, and Moonwalker. This machine even comes with a pair of bar stools for when you get tired of standing.
2. Chicago Gaming Arcade Legends 3
Best Multi-Game Arcade Machine
Chicago Gaming has been manufacturing these Arcade Legends full-size cabinets for a number of years now. With a 24 LCD monitor and 165 games (including at least three versions of ubiquitous bar-favorite Golden Tee), the Chicago Gaming Arcade Legends 3 is a full-size, professional-grade arcade cabinet. The button and joystick setup is what you would expect to find on a commercial arcade machine. And very importantly, it’s even got a trackball for hitting those golf balls.3. Arcade1UP Galaga Arcade Machine
Best Cabaret Arcade Cabinet
It’s easy enough to see the appeal of having a throwback arcade machine in your home. But, old technology had a tendency toward being big and bulky. Cabaret models keep the design a bit more on the svelte side, and that’s the case here with the Arcade1UP Galaga Arcade Machine.This model stays trim at just 19 inches wide. It would also normally stand at just under 46 inches tall, but it includes a hefty riser that can boost it up to 61.8 inches tall. It features both the classic Galaga and Galaxian arcade games plus original artwork on the cabinet.
4. Prime Arcades Cocktail Arcade Machine
Best Cocktail Arcade Cabinet
Lets face it: standing is for suckers. Back in the old days of arcades and bars that also had arcade machines in them, someone was like, Hey what if we could set our drinks on an arcade machine and play at the same time? And so, the magical cocktail arcade machine was born.This particular unit from Prime Arcades includes 1,162 classic games (412 vertical and 750 horizontal) including Galaga, Street Fighter II Turbo, and a whole lot more. And just to make sure youre getting the most out of your newfound freedom from the tyranny of standing, it even includes the chrome stools.
5. My Arcade Data East Classics Mini Player
Best Tabletop Arcade Cabinet
If youre short on floor space, theres always the option to stick a fully functioning arcade machine on the tabletop. This unit from My Arcade features 35 titles from the Data East classic collection, including BurgerTime, Joe and Mac Returns, and Street Hoop.The games are displayed on a 4.25 LCD screen and controls include a miniature joystick (which you can screw off for a regular D-Pad) and arcade buttons. Plus, the authentic Data East design on the cabinet is pretty rad. Big things really do come in small packages. MyArcade also has a MiniPlayer dedicated to Namco’s classic collection if you’d rather play games like PacMan and Galaga.
6. Bubble Bobble Micro Player
Best Mini Arcade Cabinet
Now we’re getting into the realm of portable arcade machines with Bubble Bobble Micro Player. It has a tiny 2.75-inch screen with a matching pair of itty-bitty arcade controls.This arcade machine will easily fit into the palm of your hand, so you can pack it into a bag and it makes for a great tabletop decoration as well.
7. Tiny Arcade Space Invaders
Best Tiny Arcade Cabient
Big, expensive arcade cabinets just arent in everyones budget. Thankfully, this Tiny Arcade cabinet only costs $17. This Space Invaders machine is, as the name suggests, super tiny. Think keychain-size tiny. But amazingly, this little wonder plays the full and original Space Invaders on an even tinier screen. The controls work great, too. The tiny controls. And even better, theres a tiny price.8. Arcade1Up Mortal Kombat Arcade Cabinet
Best Fighting Game Arcade Cabinet
Before you get into a big huff thinking that IGN has selected Mortal Kombat is the best fighting arcade game over Street Fighter, Tekken, Soul Caliber, Dead or Alive, King of Fighters, Darkstalkers, BlazBlue, Smash Bros. or any of your other favoriteswe’re not.We’ve simply selected Arcade 1Up’s Mortal Kombat Arcade Cabinet (read our review) because it best emulates the classic experience of playing the first three games in the series. At only $300, it certainly costs less than a genuine Mortal Kombat machine thanks to being three-quarters of the size of a traditional machine.
At this price, you get a set of robust controls that fight stick owners will appreciatethough the bat top joysticks won’t be super ergonomic for everyone. The games play just like they used to as well. Although this unit has an LCD screen rather than CRT, there isn’t any smearing or ugly ghost effects. Everything looks crisp and as colorful as the original games were down to the pixelated blood squirts. And if you’re more into Street Fighter, Arcade1Up has a machine for you too.
9. Namco Pac-Man Pixel Bash
Best Pac-Man Arcade Cabinet
Hey, its a Pac-Man party and everyones invited! Except for Inky, get lost Inky. While most of the cabinets on this list are manufactured by third parties using emulators to install huge numbers of classic games, this Namco Pac-Man Pixel Bash machine is pretty unique.After all, its sold by the legendary Namco, and if youre familiar with Namcos popular Namco Museum collections for consoles, this is essentially the same concept, but in a between full- and cabaret-sized arcade cabinet with a 19-inch monitor. This unit comes with 32 classic titles including Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug, and more in a well-made, eye-catching machine.
10. New Wave Toys Tempest X RepliCade
Best Tempest Arcade Cabinet
Tempest holds a special place in the hearts of arcade players. It was a groundbreaking game due to being Atari’s first full-color vector game and its low-friction, geared spinner wheel. Few arcade cabinets have managed to successfully replicate the majesty of the original game until the Tempest X RepliCade.The Tempest X RepliCade is a foot-tall miniature replica of the original full-size arcade machine. However, this 1/6 scale machine packs almost the functionality of the original machine down to the illuminated marquee and die-cast metal coin door. Of course, that all-important dial is also spot on here. You can carefully move using the knob’s 24 tactile positions or reliably spin in a complete circle with one quick motion.
Kevin Lee is IGN’s Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspamMark Knapp is a regular contributor to IGN and an irregular Tweeter on Twitter @Techn0Mark
