The Nintendo Switch family of consoles is great at a lot of things, but you know what they’re not any good at? Being an arcade cabinet from the 1980s. OK, it’s probably a highly specific market lamenting that one oversight, but if you find yourself in that niche, then UK-based peripheral maker iMP Tech might have just the thing for you.
The Mini Arcade Pro is an arcade cabinet shell compatible with the original Switch, the Switch OLED, and the Switch 2. It’s built around an eight-button base unit with a retro-style eight-way joystick, emulating the look and feel of classic rigs, with your console slotting in to serve as the screen. It also packs in a few touches you wouldn’t find in the arcade, like a mappable Turbo feature.
Given the Switch is home to a host of classic arcade-style games—thanks to titles included in the Nintendo Switch Online libraries for NES, SNES, and Genesis/Mega Drive, and through various retro releases such as Namco Museum over the years—this should make for a gadget perfect for delivering some (slightly gimmicky) throwback fun. Sadly, it’s marred by production and design issues, making it hard to recommend.
Photograph: Matt Kamen
Building Simulator
The Mini Arcade Pro comes flat-packed in seven pieces, though you’ll only use six to put it together—there’s a tray each for the original Switch models and the Switch 2. Each of those is hinged, allowing you to insert the core tablet of either console, and then seals magnetically to hold it safely in place. It's all fairly intuitive to snap together. A rear panel adds stability and 12 storage slots for Switch game cards, and then the console tray slides into place, docking onto a male USB connector. A marquee strip then snaps onto the top, holding everything together. The arcade base draws power from the console, but a through-port underneath allows you to plug a USB-C charger.
The unit pairs with the console as a controller, which involves a little bit of menu diving and telling your Switch to regard it as a Pro Controller in wired communication mode. If you usually use a Pro Controller wirelessly, you’ll need to swap this setting each time. For anyone using a Switch 2, the cabinet can use the console’s wake function and has a C button to activate GameChat—connecting a camera might be a bit tricky given the setup, but the Switch 2’s built-in microphone suffices for voice chat.