This reminder of arcade gaming’s golden age seems to be the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything, as even its name suggests.
Despite the manufacturer claiming that the name of this rig actually reads as Arcade for Two, thus suggesting that two players can play the games simultaneously, I still think it’s a subtle reference to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
Don’t get fooled, this is not actually an arcade machine, as it packs PC hardware under the hood. Still, the design is so convincing that anyone could mistake R-Kaid-42 for one of the things my generation used to play games on.
This bespoke arcade rig was designed and manufactured by Swedish design company Love Hultén. One might have guessed that, as there is something very Scandinavian about the design of the product.
The rig is assembled with the help of a screwdriver that is provided in the kit. To make the resemblance even more credible, the rig boots up into an arcade interface as soon as the R-Kaid-42 is connected to a monitor or TV via the provided VGA cable. Upon doing so, the two players can choose from more than 20,000 games from a wide variety of classic platforms.
As far as the hardware goes, R-Kaid-42 comes with a CPU running at 1.8 GHz, along with either 32 or 64 GB SSD storage, and 4GB of RAM. Needless to say, these specs are good enough for running any arcade game out there without any problems.
When not in use, R-Kaid-42 looks very much like a vintage radio. My grandparents had such old-fashioned radios, so I’m quite familiar with the design. Check out the following video to see how R-Kaid-42 gets assembled into its arcade rig form. It’s nice to see that even the VGA plug of the monitor is covered in wood. Of course, the retail version packs this accessory by default.
Speaking of the retail version, whoever wants this will have to get €790 (approximately $1,000) out of their pocket, as that’s how much the Swedish company asks for one. Given the rather steep price, I’m not sure how many people will be able to buy it. People who grew up surrounded by arcade machines might get nostalgic and pick up this valuable rig. It looks well as a collectible item and the fact that it’s bespoke makes it even more attractive, even as a form of investment.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGZI47ZX6NU&w=600&h=338]
If you liked this post, please check this IKEA cabinet-enclosed arcade machine and the arcade version of Diablo 3.
