Kemperle Industries Restores Classic Arcade Controllers

Kemperle Industries, a Brooklyn-based precision fabrication, design, and engineering company, has successfully reverse-engineered and reproduced controller components for three classic arcade games: Quick & Crash, Gunblade, and Monkey Ball. This work has allowed Barcade, a nationwide network of high-volume arcade locations, to maintain these games in working condition, even as the original manufacturers no longer produce replacement parts.

The company's team has been instrumental in this effort, having reverse-engineered and reproduced the gun controller for Quick & Crash, the gun handle for Gunblade, and the banana-shaped handle controller for Monkey Ball. These projects have been critical for Barcade, which operates the same arcade cabinets across its locations nationwide, from New York to Los Angeles. A single controller reproduction is not a one-off fix but rather a repeatable solution that any Barcade location with a matching cabinet can use as the part wears out elsewhere.

The Quick & Crash project, in particular, is documented in full as a case study on Kemperle Industries' website. The company's team 3D-scanned the original, failing controller to capture its geometry, then rebuilt it as CAD data. From there, the team made internal design changes to strengthen the part for mold-making and casting, while preserving the original fit and feel. SLA-printed prototypes were validated before a set of master parts was produced, molded, and cast in resin. Every finished part was dimensionally inspected before delivery. The result was controllers that are functionally identical to the originals, built to hold up to far more gameplay than the factory parts ever did.

This work has been crucial for maintaining vintage equipment in high-volume arcade bars. The company's ability to scan and bring back to life parts that no longer exist anywhere else has been particularly valuable in this context.

Kemperle Industries, founded on 40+ years of combined team experience, offers a full scan-to-part pipeline, including 3D scanning, reverse engineering, design and engineering, 3D printing, CNC routing, molding and casting, metrology and dimensional inspection, and specialized manufacturing. The company serves engineers, manufacturers, small business owners, designers, artists, and product inventors across industries including automotive, heritage restoration, sculpture and public art, and brand and retail experiential work.

The Quick & Crash project is a testament to Kemperle Industries' capabilities, and the company's work on the Quick & Crash controller is detailed in a case study on its website. Barcade has also produced video content documenting the Quick & Crash restoration, giving a behind-the-scenes look at the process from scan to finished part.

Kemperle Industries' work on these classic arcade games has not only kept these games playable but also set a precedent for the company's broader service of applying the same scan-to-part process to any obsolete or unsourceable component, from automotive parts to architectural hardware to discontinued equipment.