Home of Home Arcades

All the dads I know in this world are nostalgic, whether that be about school, an 80’s film or a 90’s football squad. We’re especially nostalgic about our early gaming experiences, and the magic of the arcades in our youth. A number of companies have sprung up over the years that allow you to re-live that arcade experience on a cabinet at home and high street retailer GAME stock all the best cabinets, justifiably billing themselves as the “Home of Home Arcades”.

I’m sure all dads would love one of the full sized units from Arcade 1UP, that GAME stock – including two and even four player classics from the 80’s and 90’s that pretty much guarantee years of nostalgic delight, but as amazing a gift as these would be not all of us have space for one.

So, if you’d still love to put a smile on Dad’s face, without taking up a significant corner of one of your rooms, you could always opt for one of the smaller units stocked at GAME. For starters there’s the Arcade 1UP Countercades, which have full sized controllers but a smaller screen and sit nicely on a table or counter – hence the name. Or if you’d prefer smaller still – something that can easily be stowed away – there are the Arcade 1UP Collectorcade units that measure in at around 13 inches in total, with screens just over 3 inches. You’ll find some all-time classic titles in all of these Arcade 1UP sizes, with Pac Man, Space Invaders, Dragons Lair, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Street Fighter II being just a few of the favourites in their collection.

Another brand available at GAME is MyArcade, which provides a great budget option at just £34.99 for their Micro Player units – with 2.75 inch screens. Classic titles in this range include Pac Man, Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble, Street Fighter II Champion Edition and more. There is also a larger MyArcade Namco Museum Arcade Hits machine that sits at 10 inches tall – with a 4.25 inch screen – and boasts 20 arcade classics on the one machine. The joystick is removable on this unit and is larger and more comfortable to play with.

Then there are a number of classic cabinets from Numskull, whose Quarter Arcades are what they say on the tin, quarter sized versions of classic arcade machines. Made with real premium quality wood and metal materials, these cabinets are highly authentic and even include the air vents, screws, and plaques in their replica machines, making them a quality option but without taking up too much space. Titles available include Pac Man (are you noticing a pattern yet?), Galaxian, Galaga and Bubble Bobble and they retail at £99.97.

Finally, we come to the newest editions to GAME’s “Home of Home Arcades” range – Replicade which GAME sent me over to test for them. Again, these units are an exact replica of the original machines but sitting at 1/6 the size, so they will happily sit on any desk, and can easily be placed in a cupboard when it’s not in use. The games are all iconic 80’s titles: Missile Command, Space Ace, Dragon’s Lair, Food Fight and Q-Bert. I tested Q-Bert and Missile Command, which were two games that I adored as a child in the 80’s, and I can confidently state that the games play exactly as they did in the arcades.

Unboxing the Replicades I was very impressed with the painstaking levels of detail on the cabinets, which measured around just over 11 inches tall each. The artwork was incredibly detailed, the scale and position of the controls felt right, and the materials felt high quality. The only difference in appearance that I could tell from a full-size cabinet (beside the size) was the addition of the power button at the back and the charging socket. Q-Bert also had two USB ports and a HDMI port so that the game can also be plugged into a TV. I plugged Q-Bert in first and powered it up, feeling a satisfying wave of nostalgia as Q-Bert’s – hilariously 80’s – computer generated voice greeted me, followed by the familiar bleeping sound effects. I need to add that at this stage both my kids came running into the room to find out what was making such odd sounds – both being far more used to modern console games. They were mesmerised and for the first twenty minutes of it being switched on I didn’t get to re-live anything; I was just spectating while they took it in turns to move Q-Bert around the squares. Still, it was nice to know that such a simple game still stands the test of time with children.

While I waited to get Q-Bert back from my kids I plugged Missile Command in and was again thrilled to hear the oh-so-familiar sound effects from my youth. The sound of the missiles exploding on Missile Command, while Q-Bert was hopping around on the other machine was starting to recreate the atmosphere of some of my boyhood trips to the seaside. The graphics and sounds of both were incredibly similar to the originals and the controllers – which are both rather unique as far as arcade games went – were also accurate. Missile Command uses a track ball rather than a joystick, and the Replicade does a fantastic job of copying this. It also mimics the CRT style screen of the original machine cleverly – though because my living room is so bright this meant that I saw a lot more of my own reflection than I remembered from arcades. It also made seeing the curser (which you control with the trackball) a little difficult at certain angles I found having the unit between my legs on the sofa, rather than leaving it sat upright on my desk, helped. It was no great hardship, as the units are so portable, but it was one way in which being so true to the original can be a problem when scaled down. It does also acknowledge this on the manufacturer’s website and states that their CRT FX lens is best used in a darkened room.

The playability of both games is excellent, and fans of the originals will definitely be happy with either of these as a gift. Personally, I like to have them sat at my WFH desk, with them both switched on even when I’m not playing them. There’s something about the sound effects going on in the background that I find relaxing when I’m having a stressful day at work. The only problem with this of course is that instead of giving my eyes a rest from my work monitor every hour or so, I find myself have a quick blast on one or the other. At some point I’ll probably put a shelf up to keep them on, but I’d better make it a wide one because I fully intend to add to the collection with one of the other brands available at GAME.

You can find all the brands above at GAME

Check out more advice from Paul about Father’s Day gifts.

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