Why were arcade machines so big in the old days? Like, seriously, those things were huge,massive even
Why were arcade machines so big
arcade
Related Topic
- Illustrated list of differences between the arcade and NES versions of Super Mario Bros
- How to modern Arcade machines have thousands of games while the originals could only hold one
- Found a Jamma cabled cabinet. Can I replace the board with a multigame one
- JAMMA Arcade: How to properly wire audio
- Why didn’t the arcade machines keep on “scaling” as the years went by
Best Answer
Because CRTs are big and heavy.
A picture tube of that era was generally about as deep as it was tall, so if you want to have a big picture, you're already going to have to have a cabinet that's fairly deep. Picture tubes of that era were also quite heavy. The 19" tube Pac Man used would have weighed in the 70 pound range. Bigger ones could be 100 pounds. They have to be mounted high enough for a standing person. You're not going to want to mount a very heavy CRT in some lightweight cabinet that could easily get tipped as it's going to be used by excitable teenagers yanking joysticks back and forth.