New build - Arcade In A Box

[UrbanDragon]

Originally this was just going to be making a joystick and have it also be the case for my ODroid XU4 running the ORA RetroPie image, but I got a bit carried away and added a small HDMI monitor (1024x768 resolution) and then decided to make it similar to the old record players we had when I was really young.
I set the TV Dial to channel 3 of course.
There's a 4 port USB hub on the front for additional controllers and the Bluetooth dongle (XU4 doesn't have built in wifi or bt).

[Clyde]

Nice idea. :) Could you please enlighten us non-whereveryouarefroms what's special about channel 3?

[UrbanDragon]

Back in the olden days, when you hooked up your Atari 2600 or Colecovision to the TV (or heck even your VCR) you had to set it to channel 3 or 4, depending on which one was less likely to get interference.

I’m ancient and stuff :)

[Clyde]

I see, thanks. I'm also old enough to have seen those times, but I never had an Atari 2600 myself. I had an Emerson Arcadia 2001 variant called Tele-Fever. But I don't remember which TV channel it used.

[UrbanDragon]

@clyde we always used Channel 3 in my area because there were no stations on that channel.
I remember using it for my Coco 2, Atari 2600 and even my first NES way back when :)

[ByteThis]

@clyde I never played on that system. Were there any good games on that ? Looks a little weird and uncomfortable to play. And did it make a mean cup 'o' coffee ? *A coffee-company releasing a videogame-system? * lol..I started with a Commodore Vic 20 myself. Cassette drive and all..haha

[Clyde]

@bytethis Well, the coffee company just sold an existing system and re-branded it. The Arcadia had a handful of arcade ports like Jump Bug, Jungler and Route 16, as well as some renamed arcade clones (Cat Trax = Pac Man, Robot Killer = Berzerk). It also had noteable originals like Tanks A Lot.

The Tele-Fever's integration of the controller into the console wasn't so bad, comparable to today's bigger arcade joysticks. You could place it on a table, on the ground, or on your legs. But after someone stepped on it (me? a friend? can't remember), I replaced it with a real Arcadia 2001 that had Intellivision-like controllers with screw-in joysticks as a nice bonus. Luckily, the cartridges were compatible with both models.

All in all, I loved that system. Although I was the only one who had it in my circle of friends, and thus couldn't exchange games with my friends, I had a system that nobody had. :)

[Rourow]

Good idea , good job!