Arcade & Retro Gaming Journal · London
High scores, hard resets and the machines worth chasing.
Weekly deep-dives into arcade cabinets, CRT restorations and competitive score-chasing — written from a Shoreditch workshop by people who actually solder.
Our log book
Ten years anchored to the arcade floor
From a single blog post about a broken Pac-Man board to a full editorial crew, here is how the voyage unfolded.
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2015 · The first repair log
A £40 boot-sale Pac-Man PCB refused to sync. Documenting the fix in one long post pulled in 12,000 readers overnight — and ArcadeArenaLegends was born.
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2018 · The Shoreditch workshop
We took a lease on Rivington Street, filled it with 30 cabinets, and started filming teardown videos and CRT geometry guides between deadlines.
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2021 · The leaderboard project
We launched verified high-score tracking for UK players, with slow-motion score replays and hardware-latency notes for every submission.
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2024 · 90,000 readers a month
Today a five-person crew publishes reviews, restoration diaries and tournament coverage — still opinionated, still soldering, still free to read.
What we publish
Columns worth bookmarking
Four recurring series that keep our readers coming back every week.
A full strip-down of one machine each week — cap kits, boardset quirks and the parts that always fail. Photographed step by step so you can follow along on your own bench.
Restoration diary
Before & after the bench
Drag the slider on each cabinet to see how a weekend of work changes a machine.
From the mailbag
What readers tell us
★★★★★
The CRT convergence guide saved my Neo Geo candy cab. I'd been quoted £180 for a repair I did in an afternoon following their photos.
★★★★★
Their verified leaderboard finally got my Galaga run recognised. The replay breakdown even spotted a pattern I could improve.
★★★★★
Visited the Shoreditch workshop after reading an Arcade Hunts post. Genuinely knowledgeable crew and a proper OutRun sit-down.
Support the log
Membership tiers
The blog stays free to read. Members fund the workshop, the parts and the deep-dives.
Reader
Free
Everything published, forever.
- ✓ All articles & repair logs
- ✓ Weekly newsletter
- ✓ Public leaderboard access
Workshop
£6/month
For the hands-on crowd.
- ✓ Everything in Reader
- ✓ Full-resolution teardown photos
- ✓ Verified score submissions
- ✓ Monthly members-only livestream
Operator
£15/month
For collectors & venues.
- ✓ Everything in Workshop
- ✓ Priority repair Q&A
- ✓ Free workshop visit each month
- ✓ Listed on our Arcade Hunts map
Get in touch
Pitch a story or ask a repair question
Tip-offs, restoration questions and workshop bookings all land in the same inbox. We usually reply within two working days.
- +44 20 7613 1234
- [email protected]
- 45 Rivington Street, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3QB
- Mon–Fri 10:00–18:00 · Sat 11:00–16:00