Before smartphones, tablets, Playstations and Xboxes, gaming machines used to be BIG.
And you had to actually go outside to play them. 😱
However, even though arcade machines were a lot bigger than our modern-day devices, they weren’t quite as massive as the machine you’re about to see…
Standing 4.90 metres (16 ft 1.15 in) tall and 1.98 m (6 ft 5.99 in) wide, this is the world’s largest arcade machine.
It’s taller than an adult African elephant and it’s even slightly taller than the average female giraffe! 🐘🦒
A regular arcade machine usually measures around 2 metres (6 ft 6 in) in height.
Did you know?
The tallest giraffe ever was 5.8 m (19 ft) tall. His name was George and he lived at Chester Zoo, UK, after arriving from Kenya in 1959.
This immense arcade machine was built in Spain by a company called MadLabs.
"We love video games, we like going BIG and we enjoy breaking the limits," MadLabs said when explaining why they broke this world record.
If you want to play on this machine, you’ll have to visit Zaragoza in northern Spain, where it is located. 🌞
The supersized arcade machine requires a supersized coin to insert into it, which MadLabs provides.
You’ll also need to climb some stairs just to reach the machine’s buttons! 😩
But what games can you play on the world’s largest arcade machine?
Well, there’s only one, but it’s one of the best games ever – Tetris!
The normal Tetris videogame code didn’t work on the massive machine, so a special version was created especially for it. 😎
It’s no different to the original version of Tetris though – it has all the same fast-moving, colourful shapes and fun music.
"It’s a new madness come true."
Did you know?
Michael Artiaga (aka dogplayingtetris) became the world’s youngest Tetris champion at the age of 13, in 2020. He played against his own brother in the final!
The previous largest arcade machine was built by Jason Camberis (USA) in 2015. It took him two whole years to build it. 😵
His arcade machine was 4.41 m (14 ft 4 in) tall 1.93 m (6 ft 3 in) wide and 1.06 (3 ft 4 in) metres deep.
It may not be as big as the new record holder, but it had lots more games to play. 🎮
In fact, it had over 200 games, including classics like Pac-Man and Dragon Spirit (you might not have heard of them, but your parents and teachers probably have!)
Building big things like these record-breaking machines requires lots of different skills such as engineering, maths and science.
STEAM Day (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Maths) takes place on 8 November every year. It’s a day for celebrating these skills, as well as learning more about them. 🧪️🔧
Test your own knowledge on these subjects in our STEAM quiz!
