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There's a new viral video making the rounds, and it's about a 9-year-old kid who built his own arcade out of cardboard boxes in his dad's used auto parts store in East L.A. The whole idea is full of win in so many ways that it's difficult to know where to begin, which is okay because the video pretty much speaks for itself, but there are some things definitely worth pointing out. Let's start with his age. It bears repeating that little Caine is just 9 years old. Instead of spending his summer vacation hanging out with other kids his age or holed up in his room playing video games, he was slicing and dicing cardboard in his dad's shop en route to one of the coolest DIY modding projects in recent memory.
Caine's Arcade is rudimentary, sure, but it's also extraordinarily detailed and leaps and bounds ahead of the cardboard computer case former Maximum PC Associate Editor and Contributing Writer, David Murphy, built as part of 'The $500 PC Build-Off' challenge. There are games of challenge, tickets that spew out of slits in the cardboard (with Caine pushing them through), prizes, and even a security system to make sure no one abuses the $2 fun pass, which is good for 500 plays, versus getting four plays for a buck. The kid even figured out a way to build a claw machine using not much more than rope. This kid is the real deal, and lest there be any doubt, he made business cards and designed a shirt with "Staff" on the front and "Caine's Arcade" on the back (the video explains he was reluctant to wear the shirt to school because the other kids didn't believe he had his own arcade).
His first customer happened to be Nirvan Mullick, an "award winning filmmaker," among other things, who was shopping a door handle for 1996 Toyota Corolla. He recorded the video that would go viral and also organized a flashmob to get the kid more customers. As mentioned, everything about this story is full of win, culminating in a scholarship fund Mullick setup for Caine on CainesArcade.com, which has raised over $110,000 so far.
Check out the video below:
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imagonex
April 12, 2012 at 2:49pm
Never underestimate the spirit of a child. I hope parents look at this. I every hovering, overprotective, controlling parent out there sees this. I also hope every spoilt brat iPhone, Xbox, PS3 kid out there sees this. Caine moved a box and ended-up inspiring an entire neighbourhood. Quite the butterfly effect.
I wish Caine the best in his future. One day a box, maybe next day a skyscraper or something we'd never imagine.
There's a lot to learn here.
Engelsstaub
April 12, 2012 at 1:27pm
This is the kid who would rather build the game than play it. That's why he's going to likely go far as an adult :)
The Corrupted One
April 12, 2012 at 11:17am
Impressive, somebody give this kid a grant!
And this is nothing, if anyone has been on Kickstarter, you will have seen the Viper(BSG) flight simulator my friend is building with his family in the garage.
iheartpcs
April 12, 2012 at 10:35am
It is ingenious, but should he really be making $100,000+ from it?
NcOle
April 12, 2012 at 9:47pm
By the time Caine is old enough for college who knows how astronomical tuition will be, and a kid like this has a mind that shouldn't go to waste.
I hope this moment in his life inspires him to attain great success in his future!
Joji
April 12, 2012 at 3:49pm
Funpass = $2
From that flash mob let's say around 100 people came. 2x100 = $200
He basically earned $200. I highly doubt people payed $1 or a nickel for every try. 99% of them most likely paid for the funpass.In the end, $100,000 is an over exaggeration. He deserved that #200 that he earned.
Paul_Lilly
April 12, 2012 at 4:38pm
I think he was referring to the donations to his college fund, in which I would reply, why not?
Papaboy
April 12, 2012 at 9:54am
That kid is amazing and Im glad to see people not only recognizing his ingenuity but taking the extra time to let others know as well. Thank you MPC for sharing that.
KoiMaxx
April 12, 2012 at 9:19am
If game developers nowadays had the level of ingenuity this kid had, imagine the type of titles they could release with the multimillion dollar budgets they have...
The Corrupted One
April 12, 2012 at 11:21am
I have always wondered why I have never seen any arcade machines running modified PC games(unless you count that super cool Half Life 2 machine).
Do you count Time Crysis 2. (geddit?)
Pball1224
April 12, 2012 at 7:12am
This is an unusual article for MPC but I really liked it. That's a cool video. It's great to see people taking interested in something a kid is doing and promote it, there seems to be less and less of that these days.
