A fan of the Nintendo 64 has designed and made a functional arcade cabinet made to play the system. Local multiplayer games were popular entries on both classic arcade cabinets and the Nintendo 64.
The N64 was Nintendo's defining home console during the late 1990s. While it did not reach the same sales numbers as Sony's PlayStation, games like Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and the original Super Smash Bros. helped show what Nintendo was capable of making when it came to 3D gaming. N64 games have been consistently rereleased on Nintendo platforms either as remakes like Star Fox 64 3D on the 3DS, through the Virtual Console on Wii and Wii U, or some of the best Nintendo 64 games included in the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack.
A passionate fan of the N64 has converted it into a working arcade cabinet complete with four functional controllers. The creator of this cabinet, who goes by Ravnfrausing on Reddit, shared photos of it on the N64 subreddit. They made the cabinet with a deconstructed N64 connected to a CRT TV, all situated inside a wooden frame. All these materials cost them about 4,500 Danish krones which equates to roughly 650 U.S. dollars. They showed the cabinet running Mario Kart 64, one of the N64's most popular multiplayer games which helped make Mario Kart a mainstay of Nintendo consoles, something that continues today with the DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe giving fans more to enjoy.
Other gamers on the subreddit compared it to the famous Nintendo 64 kiosks that used to be found in McDonald's restaurants. Some expressed interest in buying or making their own N64 cabinets, and Ravnfrausing stated that they plan on making a build guide in the next few weeks for those interested in making their own. Modern arcade cabinets made by Arcade1Up and similar companies have gained popularity with those who want an arcade experience in their home, but these primarily focus on recreating arcade games rather than those on home consoles.
The legacy of arcades remains strong despite there being decades of history since the golden age of arcade games in the 1970s and 80s. Some of the best arcade games of the 1990s are part of franchises that remain strong today such as Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and Soulcalibur. While there are plenty of other ways to enjoy these games today, the experience of playing a game on an arcade cabinet, even if it was originally a console game, is something that still resonates with gamers today.