Parents would always want their kids to have some of the best moments during their childhood. While things have changed a lot since they were kids parenting needs an upgrade too. Mark Stevenson 36 decided to show the old school games to his two-year-old son Grayson.

This dad in Norwich built an arcade machine for his little one. He even shared the entire process of DIY on his blog for people to follow and create one.

Mark always wanted his son to play the ‘simpler’ games that existed during his childhood. He finally took this mission to make a DIY arcade machine in his own hands.

This retro arcade game cost him around £100 to finish. A few things were bought online at a reasonable price and he picked some stuff from his home and office.

Mark works as a Research Software Engineer at Liverpool Football Club. He found time create this project during the evenings after work. He completed it within a few weeks of planning and assembling the parts.

“I grew up playing on these kinds of old school computer games – Sonic Pacman Sensible Soccer – and I wanted Grayson to experience some of the simpler games that were available back then. Being so young the simplicity of the games and controls made them ideal for him – and he loves them” he shared.

He wrote the step-by-step procedure of building the arcade machine on his blog. He explained “I measured Grayson – because believe it or not I was making this for him not just for me to use – so the height was important he had to be able to stand and use it. A few sketches on a bit of paper and I had a shopping list.”

Fortunately he found a screen at his workplace. “I got mine from work as they were binning a load. It’s VGA square bad quality. EXACTLY what you want for a retro DIY Arcade Machine!”

He picked a USB button controller and buttons from eBay and purchased speakers from Amazon.

The process began and he shared the entire experience. He wrote “I have no “workshop” to build things in – so this was all done in the kitchen balanced on chairs and the table. The biggest power tool I own is a jigsaw so lots of cutting by hand for this.”

He completed the decoration of the machine with 700 stickers. Then added a layer of varnish to make them stay at their place. Mark shared “Put lots of newspaper down so you don’t inadvertently varnish your kitchen floor!”

“There’s costs for the techy stuff some of the games will need a licence and so on but that’s personal preference. It was made in the evenings after work – in the kitchen as I don’t have a shed or anywhere like that” he added.

This smart dad is proud of his creation and motivated others to bring back those memories by creating this. “They’re low cost in the grand scheme of things and if you’re keen on either the DIY side of things or the techy side of it then it’s a great little project” he said.

“If you have kids to make it for then even better because they’ll love it and that reaction makes it all worthwhile.”

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