Of Course a Swede Designed This Beautiful Arcade Machine

Like the Terminator, 1980s videogames refuse to die. Arcade bars from Williamsburg to Los Angeles that feature coin-operated machines like Tron, Q*bert and Centepede continue to thrive. The companies that restore and retrofit these original gaming platforms also report strong sales; boomers prefer the CRT relics, while millennials favor the LCD clones. Even Silicon Valley has embraced the trend. Google HQ has banks of vintage arcade games beeping away in the employee lounges and lobbies. Ms. Pacman, Qix, and Defender are particularly popular. Then there's Pixels, the upcoming summer blockbuster that will finally prove that the 8-bit Donkey Kong is a better actor than the two-bit Adam Sandler.

Anyone wishing to recreate this Reagan-era fantasy in their own home should consider one question: Would a gigantic appliance festooned with acid trip art, a flashy light show and bold typeface (see: Crack Man), clash with the drapes? Unless your décor happens to be early arcade, the answer is undoubtedly yes. There is, however, a sane alternative for those 8-bit aficionados whose taste veer more toward Man Ray than Man Cave: the Pixelkabinett 42.

Conceived by Swedish designer and obsessive-compulsive craftsman Love Hultén, the PK42 is a brilliant reinterpretation of the classic video arcade machine. Instead of the usual candy-colored MDF box, Hultén constructs his sober wood cabinets from premium ash veneer and paints them using a subtle palate that Pantone would approve of. The first PK42 to emerge from Hultén's Göteborg workshop was rendered in a soothing pistachio shade similar to what Jean Prouvé used on his iconic steel chairs 80 years ago. The control panel is also a classy touch; fashioned from American walnut, it compliments the prevailing DWR aesthetic nicely.

The only nod to ornamentation is a subtle planetarium motif that practically disappears into the swirling grain on the front of the cabinet. Tiny LEDs represent the planets of our Solar System. Yes, there are 9 of them, including Pluto. Hultén says these dots "glow and breathe softly, much like the light on the side of a MacBook." This is a minimalist's idea of going gonzo: designing a sleep-mode light show. If you want to get picky, there's also a small speaker cutout on the control panel in the shape of Saturn. But that's it for arcade gaudery. Close the "dust lid," and the PK42 morphs into an attractive plinth, suitable for showcasing your Tesla bust. Despite the subdued lines, the sci-fi vibe is palpable: rocket nozzle feet, vertical silhouette, improbable dimensions (47 by 20 by 16 inches; lid closed). It looks like a CAD prop straight from Pixar by way of Memphis, a video arcade game designed for Buzz Lightyear.

We live in a world of liabilities, stress and uncertainty. It is only natural that some people wish to reclaim their childhood.

Designer Love Hultén

Hultén draws on a CAD program, too. For anyone interested, it's Rhino3d. But the PK42---the number is a pun that refers to the machine's two-player capability---isn't a computer-generated product. Like all the toys in Hultén's portfolio (we showed you many of his other creations when we last profiled his work), the PK 42 is made entirely by hand. Assembly requires 150 hours of labor, much of it exceedingly tedious.

"I'm a perfectionist and a control freak," confesses the Göteborg native. "I do all the work myself, everything from the first sketch to nailing the shipping crates." In between there's lots of carpentry, gluing, painting, metalwork, cutting, milling, drilling, wiring, and soldering. The guy even writes his own web copy and designs the ad campaigns for his retro-futuro inventory.

At $4,200 for the base model, the PK42 is twice the price of a genuine old-school arcade game, and that doesn't include shipping ($550 to U.S.). Standard equipment includes: a 19-inch LCD screen (4:3); two joysticks, 10 arcade buttons; a slider knob; two toggle switches; and a JAMMA PCB board loaded with Golden Oldie hits like Mario Bros, Donkey Kong and Dig Dug.