Acting like a grownup sucks. Sure, you can have nice things, but not the kind that’s actually fun. Your Beer Arcade? Sold on eBay. Your Space Invader Couch? Sold to the local embalmer. Your robot battle table? Dismantled and sold for parts by your wife (at least, that’s what you’ve always suspected). What the heck is a guy who wants some geeky in-home entertainment to do? We suggest these Surface Tension Arcade Tables — erstwhile grownup tables that hide a full-featured arcade gaming rig.
Doing away with the childish appearance of traditional arcade boxes, the systems are installed inside elegant coffee tables that should make a fitting addition to any adult living room. All electronic parts are hidden, so it looks just like a classy coffee table for putting your feet up while chilling in the sofa.
The Surface Tension Arcade Tables come in three designs: Double7, Arcane and Dual. All three feature timber frames, high-quality wood veneers, domino joints, 6mm toughened dark glass top and your choice of finish. The game display sits under the glass, with the controllers hidden in drawers on either side of the table.
Both the Double7 and Dual get 19-inch displays, while the bigger Arcane gets a larger 26-inch display. All tables come equipped with built-in stereo amplifiers, Happ arcade buttons, Sanwa joysticks and a cabinet-hidden dual-core Windows 7 PC. The GameEX UI runs as the gaming front-end, although the setup should be compatible with any PC-based emulators. It comes with all the usual computer connectivity, including WiFi, USB and HDMI, so the system can easily double as a living room PC (just plug in a mouse and keyboard).
Pricing for the Surface Tension Arcade Tables start at £2,000.