The reason he needed a custom design and didn't just retrofit an old cabinet was portability; the cabinet needed to sometimes fit in a small convention center booth and other times stand by itself on the floor, and the whole thing needed to break down and fit in the trunk of his car.
The project turned out really great and makes the game even more fun to play. Click the "read more" link to see more pics & a link to the game website.
The game runs on an old laptop & uses a separate flat screen monitor for the screen, it was originally going to be displayed on an old 24" CRT computer monitor for a more authentic arcade feel, but that thing was too big to lug around. The flat screen ships well & looks just fine.
This pic is us wheeling it into a recent classic arcade gaming party in LA. All the other arcades arrived in truck beds and rented trailers.
The joystick controller is made by a company called X-arcade.
More build pictures here.
The game website here: abobosbigadventure.com
