Kemperle Industries Keeps Three Classic Barcade Arcade Games Running

Kemperle Industries reverse engineers controller parts for Quick & Crash, Gunblade, and Monkey Ball, keeping games running at Barcade locations nationwide.

BROOKLYN, NY, UNITED STATES, September 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — When a vintage arcade cabinet breaks down and the part that failed hasn’t been manufactured in decades, there’s often nowhere left to buy a replacement. For Barcade, founded in Brooklyn in 2004 and credited as the original arcade bar concept, pairing classic coin-op games with a full bar, that’s become a recurring problem. Kemperle Industries, a precision fabrication, design, and engineering company based in Brooklyn, has quietly been solving it for several of Barcade’s oldest games.

Over the past several projects, Kemperle Industries has reverse engineered and reproduced controller components for three classic arcade titles: the gun controller for Quick & Crash, the gun handle for Gunblade, and the banana-shaped handle controller for Monkey Ball. In each case, the original manufacturer no longer produces replacement parts, leaving worn out or broken controllers as a dead end for operators trying to keep a cabinet playable.

“Maintaining vintage equipment in a high-volume arcade bar is a challenge and often reproduction parts must be sourced – or even manufactured,” said Barcade CEO and Co-Founder, Paul Kermizian. “Faced with the inability to keep guns for the extremely popular 1999 Namco quick draw shooting game Quick & Crash in working condition, Barcade turned to Kemperle Industries to re-engineer and reproduce the guns.”

Kemperle Industries’ 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 validated the design before a set of master parts was produced, molded, and cast in resin. Every finished part was dimensionally inspected before delivery. The result: controllers that are functionally identical to the originals, built to hold up to far more gameplay than the factory parts ever did.

Because Barcade operates the same arcade cabinets across its locations nationwide, from New York to Los Angeles, a single controller reproduction isn’t a one-off fix. It’s a repeatable solution any Barcade location with a matching cabinet can use as the part wears out elsewhere.

“Once a manufacturer stops making a part, most people assume that’s the end of the line,” said Aljoša Kemperle, Founder and CEO of Kemperle Industries. “That’s exactly the kind of problem our workflow is built to solve. Whether it’s an arcade controller from the 90s or a component for a car that hasn’t been in production for decades, if we can scan it, we can bring it back to life, usually stronger than the original.”

Beyond arcade restoration, Kemperle Industries applies this same scan-to-part process to any obsolete or unsourceable component, from automotive parts to architectural hardware to discontinued equipment. It’s a service manufacturers, engineers, and businesses turn to for reverse engineering parts that no longer exist anywhere else. It’s quiet work, but it’s kept three arcade classics playable long after their original parts stopped being made.

The Quick & Crash project is documented in full as a case study on Kemperle Industries’ 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.

About Kemperle Industries
Kemperle Industries is a Brooklyn, NYC-based precision fabrication, design, and engineering company built on 40+ years of combined team experience. The company 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. It 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. Past clients include the Guggenheim Museum, James Earl Jones Theatre, William Nelson Studio, New York Art Foundry, and Barcade. Learn more at kemperleindustries.com.

Kathleya Afanador
Kemperle Industries
+1 718-557-9578
info@kemperleindustries.com
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