Creating a Replica of the Historic Computer Space Arcade Cabinet

A common problem through history and every culture is that people tend not to preserve everyday objects that they perceive as commonplace or unimportant. That seems to be especially true in the modern age when it comes to electronic devices. Because of rapid technological development, electronic devices become obsolete long before they’re old enough to garner a “vintage” or “antique” status that might motivate preservation. Computer Space, the first arcade video game, is a good example of this. Few units were made and even fewer were kept pristine, making it very rare today. In an effort to help more people experience this classic, Richard Horne of Heber built a Computer Space replica.

Computer Space was created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney of Atari (and earlier, Syzygy) fame. It was the first arcade video game and is often cited as the first commercially available video game in general. Because it was the first, the arcade game cabinet format that would later become the standard didn’t yet exist. So the Computer Space cabinet is incredibly unique, with a curvy “futuristic” fiberglass body. That cabinet was a significant chunk of the overall cost of a Computer Space machine, limiting its sales. In total, only 1,500 Computer Science arcade machines were made and not many survive today.

Horne had the challenge of recreating that iconic cabinet without the luxury of access to an original. That forced him to model the cabinet in CAD based on reference photos and videos. The organic curves made that very difficult, but Horne was eventually able to create a model that looks very accurate. He then sliced that up into smaller chunks to fabricate using Heber’s 3D printer farm. From there, Horne used a special glue mixture to assemble the pieces.

That’s about all we get in this first video from Arcade Archive, but they promised a follow-up that will have more information. It is safe to assume that Horne will use something like an automotive body filler to smooth out the 3D-printed cabinet, before sanding and painting. We also know that this will take advantage of real TTL (transistor-transistor logic) electronics, courtesy of work completed by enthusiast Alston who designed new PCBs based on the Computer Space originals. In theory, this recreation should look and operate exactly like a real Computer Space arcade machine from 1971.

If you want to keep up with this project, be sure to follow Arcade Archive on YouTube.