Kemperle Industries keeps three Barcade arcade games playable

Kemperle Industries reverse engineered replacement controller parts for Quick & Crash, Gunblade and Monkey Ball, helping Barcade keep vintage cabinets running at locations nationwide. The Brooklyn company says the work shows how scan-to-part manufacturing can extend the life of obsolete hardware that no longer has factory replacement parts.

Why it matters: - Barcade’s business depends on working vintage cabinets, and broken parts can take a playable game out of service when no factory replacement exists. - Kemperle Industries’ scan-to-part process gives Barcade a repeatable way to repair the same cabinets across locations nationwide. - The approach also points to a broader use case for obsolete parts in automotive, architectural and other equipment.

What happened: - Kemperle Industries reverse engineered and reproduced controller components for three classic arcade games: the gun controller for Quick & Crash, the gun handle for Gunblade, and the banana-shaped handle controller for Monkey Ball. - The work supported Barcade, the Brooklyn-based arcade bar founded in 2004 and known for pairing classic coin-op games with a full bar. - Barcade operates the same arcade cabinets across its locations from New York to Los Angeles, making each replacement part useful beyond a single machine.

The details: - Kemperle Industries 3D scanned the failing original controller to capture its geometry. - The team rebuilt the part as CAD data and made internal design changes to strengthen it for mold-making and casting. - The redesign preserved the original fit and feel. - SLA-printed prototypes were used to validate the design. - The company then produced master parts, molded them and cast them in resin. - Every finished part was dimensionally inspected before delivery. - Kemperle Industries says the final controllers are functionally identical to the originals and built to withstand more gameplay than the factory parts. - Barcade CEO and co-founder Paul Kermizian said the company turned to Kemperle Industries when it could no longer keep the Quick & Crash guns working. - The Quick & Crash restoration is documented as a case study on Kemperle Industries’ website. - Barcade also produced video showing the restoration from scan to finished part.

Between the lines: - The project shows how small-batch engineering can solve a maintenance problem that mass manufacturers no longer support. - The work is especially useful for operators with multiple identical cabinets, since one successful reproduction can be reused as more parts wear out. - Kemperle Industries is positioning the same workflow as a service for manufacturers, engineers and businesses that need discontinued components brought back to life.

What's next: - Kemperle Industries will continue using its scan-to-part pipeline for obsolete or unsourceable components outside arcade repair. - Barcade can keep deploying the reproduced parts wherever the same cabinets need replacement pieces. - The company says its process applies to automotive parts, architectural hardware and other discontinued equipment.

The bottom line: - When vintage hardware breaks and replacements no longer exist, Kemperle Industries is turning dead inventory into working parts again.