June 14, 2026
Let's get it started!
The arcade is going to be run on a Raspberry Pi. Day 1 was all about the unboxing and getting a feel for what we're dealing with.
DIY Arcade Game
One of our students is spending the summer building a real, playable arcade game entirely from scratch using a Raspberry Pi. We’re documenting the whole process here — the hardware, the code, the wrong turns, and everything in between. Follow along as it goes from parts on a table to something you can actually play.
June 14, 2026
Finding a working home
We found an old monitor that we could use for now, so we set up a workspace to call home.
June 16, 2026
Let's get coding!
It was time to start setting up the Pi to handle the arcade games. We had to find games that we wanted to put on the arcade, get the emulator working, and start loading them on. It's going to be a long process but we had to start somewhere.
June 19, 2026
We have a monitor!
After getting a bunch of our games loaded into the system and setting up temporary controls to test the games, we thought it was time to get the monitor that will eventually go into the arcade game. No more squinting at a tiny monitor!
June 22, 2026
Track ball has arrived
The track ball in in the building, but it's been a little glitchy. We've been doing some troubleshooting to find out why it won't move certain directions within certain games.
June 28, 2026
Let's start building
We've got about 15 games working correctly, but up until now we've only tested them with a keyboard and mouse. To move forward, it's time to create the board where all the buttons, joysticks, and trackball will go. We enlisted the help of an expert (thanks Scott!) to help with the actual cutting phase. After careful mapping out, drawing, planning, and cutting, the framework is complete!
