Arcade machines have always been more than just boxes filled with games. They’re loud, colourful, tactile objects tied to memories of competition, friendship and the strange magic of discovering a new game for the first time.
That idea sits at the centre of Arca Arcade: Round One, now exhibiting at Carlisle Street Arts Space in St Kilda.
Created by Māori artist and designer Preston McNeil, Arca Arcade transforms the traditional arcade cabinet into a collection of handcrafted, wall-mounted contemporary artworks — while keeping them completely playable.
Speaking with Levelhead Gaming, McNeil explained that the project began after an old arcade cabinet could no longer be properly restored. Replacing its bulky CRT with modern technology left him looking at a huge, mostly empty box.
From there came the idea: why not redesign the cabinet completely?
The result is a series of machines that sit somewhere between industrial design, gaming history and contemporary art.
Importantly, though, McNeil hasn’t sacrificed the experience of actually playing them. The cabinets use modern displays, quality controls and carefully configured games, with McNeil regularly putting them through their paces during Street Fighter tournaments.
Experienced players have even surprised him with how positively they respond to the controls.
But over several exhibitions, McNeil says he discovered something bigger happening around the machines. The sort of thing that we at Levelhead Gaming love to highlight ... People sharing stories that relate to gaming.
Grandparents introduced younger family members to games they remembered, players gathered around cabinets together, and visitors who might never normally enter an art gallery came specifically to experience the exhibition.
For McNeil, that social side of arcade gaming has become one of the most important parts of Arca.
Modern gaming may connect millions of people online, but there is still something unique about standing beside another player, hearing the buttons being mashed and experiencing a game together in the same room.
McNeil’s own Māori heritage also plays an important role in the collection. His Tākaro series brings traditional influences into the arcade format, including collaborations such as pounamu greenstone joystick ball tops created by artist and jeweller Joe Sheehan.
Alongside the existing collection, McNeil also showed us his latest Street Fighter II creation an intricately designed cabinet featuring transparent acrylic panels, a dynamic marquee and an internal diorama ... As we kept saying "it's about the details"
It’s wonderfully excessive, deeply nerdy and exactly the kind of thing that makes Arca Arcade work.
These machines aren’t simply preserving retro games. They’re preserving something special about how we used to play them.
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