Over the past two decades, the potential and ambition for shipping container conversions have increased exponentially, and people have managed to use shipping containers to make almost any kind of building from swimming pools to pop-up stalls.
The cheap, robust and transportable nature of shipping containers has made them ideal for transportation, set-up and display, and one natural application of this is the shipping container arcade.
With the rise of venues such as Arcade Club, retro-themed bars and the omnipresence of arcade machines in most kinds of fan conventions, many people have been tempted to create a shipping container arcade of their own to keep the machines safe and provide an enjoyable place to play.
Here are some considerations to keep in mind.
Soundproof Your Container
One of the reasons you may not want to keep arcade machines in the house is because of the noise, but for the sake of your ears, you may want to install carpets and insulation into the floor and sides of your container.
Arcade machines are designed to get your attention, but due to the way sound carries against corrugated metal, the dulcet tones of Daytona USA could ring around your ears if you are not careful.
Pay Attention To Dimensions
Arcade machines can come in all shapes and sizes, so you must know your machine can fit if it is larger than a standard upright cabinet or a candy cabinet such as a Neo-Geo or Sega Astro City.
Standard ISO containers are 7.8ft (2.3m) wide by 7.9ft (2.3m) high, with both 20ft (5.9m) and 40ft (12.03m) lengths.
This means, for example, that certain games such as Sega’s R360 would be an exceptionally tight fit, as would similarly fully-featured arcades such as F-Zero AX.
A huge machine like Ridge Racer Full Scale may not even fit at all in a standard-width shipping container.
