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u/Loose_Boysenberry_34

r/arcade r/batocera
Image 1 — Converted my Arcade Legends 3 to Batocera while keeping the original CRT, controls, trackball and electronics
Image 2 — Converted my Arcade Legends 3 to Batocera while keeping the original CRT, controls, trackball and electronics
Image 3 — Converted my Arcade Legends 3 to Batocera while keeping the original CRT, controls, trackball and electronics
Image 4 — Converted my Arcade Legends 3 to Batocera while keeping the original CRT, controls, trackball and electronics
Image 5 — Converted my Arcade Legends 3 to Batocera while keeping the original CRT, controls, trackball and electronics
Image 6 — Converted my Arcade Legends 3 to Batocera while keeping the original CRT, controls, trackball and electronics
Image 7 — Converted my Arcade Legends 3 to Batocera while keeping the original CRT, controls, trackball and electronics
Image 8 — Converted my Arcade Legends 3 to Batocera while keeping the original CRT, controls, trackball and electronics
Image 9 — Converted my Arcade Legends 3 to Batocera while keeping the original CRT, controls, trackball and electronics
Image 10 — Converted my Arcade Legends 3 to Batocera while keeping the original CRT, controls, trackball and electronics
▲ 78 r/batocera+1 crossposts

Converted my Arcade Legends 3 to Batocera while keeping the original CRT, controls, trackball and electronics

I recently finished converting my Chicago Gaming Company Arcade Legends 3 cabinet to Batocera.

The goal was to modernize the system without gutting the cabinet. I wanted to keep the original CRT, controls, trackball, speakers, wiring, and as much of the original electronics as possible.

The original game computer was replaced with a laptop running Batocera, but the rest of the cabinet is still largely original.

The biggest challenge was the controls. The Arcade Legends control system does not behave like a normal USB gamepad, so I built a small software bridge that lets Batocera use the original joysticks, buttons, player controls, and trackball without rewiring the whole cabinet.

I also wanted to keep the original control panel completely intact. Instead of adding Coin or volume buttons, I reused the existing controls:

Tap the player button = Start
Hold the player button for about one second = Coin

The original Exit button also doubles as a volume modifier:

Exit + Player 1 Up = Volume Up
Exit + Player 1 Down = Volume Down

Exit by itself still exits the current game.

The original trackball is also still in use through the original controller electronics. I ended up increasing its movement sensitivity in software so it feels right on the cabinet.

I kept the original CRT and cabinet audio as well. A few games needed individual tweaks for things like trackball/spinner behavior or screen sizing, but I tried to keep those fixes game-specific rather than changing the whole system.

Overall, the project ended up being much less destructive than I originally expected. The cabinet still looks and feels like an Arcade Legends machine, but now it runs Batocera and a much broader game library.

I documented the complete build, including the hardware changes, photos, scripts, configuration, installation steps, and troubleshooting here:

https://github.com/TokyoWars/arcade-legends-3-batocera

Hopefully it helps anyone else trying to modernize one of these cabinets without throwing away the parts that make it unique.

If anyone has done something similar with an Arcade Legends or related cabinet, I’d be interested to see how you approached it.

u/Loose_Boysenberry_34 — 18 hours ago