Cairo writers keeping the arcade era alive, one cabinet at a time
A small crew of enthusiasts in Cairo, Egypt breaking down classic hardware, pixel art, and the games that shaped a generation of coin-op fans.
Meet the TeamWhat Drives Our Coverage
Three writers, one shared obsession with getting the history right
Every piece starts with source material — original manuals, developer interviews, and firsthand cabinet inspection before a word gets written.
We skip the recycled top-10 lists and instead dig into why a game mattered, how it played, and what made its pixel art distinct.
We write as players who grew up on these cabinets, not marketers — our takes come from actual hands-on time with the hardware.
Our reviews and retrospectives are never padded with sponsored placements or paid rankings — just honest analysis of the classics.
We capture our own footage and stills from real hardware and verified re-releases rather than lifting images from other sites.
New arcade breakdowns publish every week, so the archive keeps growing with fresh angles on games old and new to our coverage.
What Readers Say
Their piece on Ninja Gaiden's arcade PCB variants sent me down a three-hour rabbit hole. I didn't know there were regional board differences until I read that article.
I've followed a lot of retro sites and most just rehash the same five games. Socna covered Gaplus and Bubble Bobble's less-known sequel in the same month. Refreshing.
The writeup on how Pac-Man's ghost AI was actually coded held up under scrutiny — I checked their sourcing against an old Namco interview and it matched.
The Archive So Far
Numbers that reflect years of steady, unrushed coverage
How We Put a Piece Together
From pitch to publish, every article goes through the same checks
Pick the Subject
We choose a cabinet, franchise, or arcade era based on reader requests, anniversaries, or gaps we've noticed in existing retro coverage.
Research and Playtest
Writers pull original documentation, cross-reference developer credits, and spend time with the actual hardware or a verified re-release before drafting.
Fact-Check the Draft
A second team member checks dates, release regions, and technical claims against primary sources before anything moves toward publishing.
Publish and Revisit
The piece goes live on our weekly schedule, and we return to update it if new information about the game or hardware surfaces later.