There are plenty of companies selling retro gaming products. There are plenty of Raspberry Pi projects. There are plenty of people selling arcade buttons, fight sticks, trading cards, and T-shirts.

Sudo Grizzly Gents is doing something a little different.

Part workshop, part retro-gaming operation, part electronics playground, and part community archive, Sudo Grizzly Gents is deliberately small. The products are built in limited batches, each finished machine receives a serialized plaque, and much of the information needed to build your own projects is given away for free.

We sat down with Billie Grizzly to talk about what Sudo Grizzly Gents actually is, why he refuses to compete with mass-produced retro gaming companies, and why giving away the information might be just as important as selling the hardware.

Interviewer: Let’s start with the obvious question. What exactly is Sudo Grizzly Gents?

BG: Sudo Grizzly Gents is a small boutique operation. I build retro gaming hardware, fight sticks, Raspberry Pi projects, and other electronics, but there’s also a whole DIY side to it. We sell finished builds, parts, buttons, precut wood templates, trading cards, and merchandise.

But I don’t want it to just be a store.

Interviewer: What do you mean by that?

BG: I want people to be able to learn something from the site even if they never spend a dime.

That’s why we have free plans, free paper templates, free emulator downloads, and the hacktorials. If somebody wants to build their own arcade, I don’t want the answer to always be, “Buy mine.”

If you want to build your own, fucking build one.

Interviewer: So you’re actually giving people some of the information that could allow them to make the product themselves?

BG: Exactly.

I sell the physical stuff that makes it easier. Buttons, parts, precut wood templates, things like that. But the knowledge shouldn’t be locked behind a checkout page.

Interviewer: That’s not exactly the traditional business model.

BG: I know.

But I’ve always been more interested in people actually making things than convincing somebody they need to buy something.

If someone downloads the plans, builds their own cabinet, and never buys anything from me, that’s still a win.

Interviewer: Then what makes your finished machines worth buying?

BG: The fact that I actually build them.

They’re not coming off some giant assembly line. They’re produced in tiny batches, and every one gets a serialized plaque.

You’re getting something made here, not something where I slapped a logo on a box that came from a factory with 20,000 other boxes.

Interviewer: How small are these batches?

BG: Usually five to eight bartops or nine to twelve fight sticks at a time.

And there are yearly limits too. We’re talking no more than 55 two-player fight sticks and roughly 20 cabinets a year.

Interviewer: That’s incredibly small compared with a mass-market company.

BG: That’s intentional.

I’m not trying to become Arcade1Up.

Interviewer: Why not?

BG: Because I don’t want to make thousands of identical machines.

There’s nothing wrong with mass production. That’s just not what I’m interested in.

I’d rather somebody have cabinet number 17 and know that there aren’t 50,000 other identical ones sitting around.

Interviewer: So the limitation is part of the product.

BG: Absolutely.

The limitation is part of the identity.

Interviewer: What about customization?

BG: That’s another big part of it.

People can request different themes and art styles, and within the production limits we can work those into a batch.

That’s one of the advantages of being small. I’m not trying to convince a factory to change a production line for one person.

Interviewer: You mentioned fight sticks. Are those your most popular products?

BG: Yeah. That’s why the yearly limit is 55 two-player sticks.

They’re probably the thing people know us for the most.

Interviewer: And they’re serialized too?

BG: Every one gets a serialized plaque.

I keep records of what gets built. There’s something cool about knowing exactly which one you own.

Interviewer: Do you only sell complete arcade machines?

BG: No. That’s the other thing people sometimes miss.

You can buy a complete machine, but you can also buy parts.

You can buy buttons. You can buy precut wood templates. You can buy other components and build the damn thing yourself.

Interviewer: And if someone doesn’t know how?

BG: That’s what the free resources are for.

Interviewer: Tell us about the hacktorials.

BG: Hacktorials are basically my way of saying, “Here’s how you actually do this.”

They’re guides for Raspberry Pi builds, emulator configurations, hardware modifications, custom front-ends, and other projects.

I don’t want to write some giant technical manual where someone gets halfway through it and wants to throw the Raspberry Pi through a window.

I want the information to be useful.

Interviewer: So Raspberry Pi is a major part of Sudo Grizzly Gents?

BG: Yeah. A lot of the gaming machines use Raspberry Pi.

There’s a lot you can do with one when you configure it properly.

Interviewer: Original hardware or emulation?

BG: Emulation.

And again, we’re not hiding the software behind some bullshit paywall. We provide the full emulator downloads for free.

Interviewer: That’s another unusual part of the operation. You’re selling machines while giving away the software side.

BG: Because the software isn’t the whole point.

I want people learning how the systems work, experimenting, modifying things, building their own setups.

If somebody wants to buy a finished machine because they don’t want to deal with any of that, great.

If somebody wants to spend a weekend building their own, great.

Both are legitimate.

Interviewer: What kind of systems can people build?

BG: Multiple systems. That’s one of the advantages of the Raspberry Pi approach.

You can build a setup around different classic gaming platforms instead of being locked into one system.

Interviewer: Sudo Grizzly Gents also sells trading cards. How did that fit into the picture?

BG: It’s another part of the nostalgia side.

We have Pokémon singles, sealed packs, graded slabs, vintage holos, and other cards. The selection rotates.

It’s another collectible side of the brand.

Interviewer: And then there’s merchandise.

BG: Yeah. Shirts, apparel, and other stuff through the Sudo Grizzly Gents Store.

The whole aesthetic is influenced by retro technology and synthwave.

Interviewer: Why synthwave?

BG: Because I like the feeling of it.

That whole era of computers, arcades, neon, technology, old-school gaming — there’s something about it.

Sudo Grizzly Gents isn’t supposed to feel like a sterile electronics company.

It’s supposed to have personality.

Interviewer: Would you describe it as a technology company, a gaming company, or a maker business?

BG: Honestly, all three and none of them.

It’s a workshop.

It’s a gaming company.

It’s an electronics project.

It’s a community.

It’s a store.

It’s an archive.

I don’t think it needs to fit perfectly into one category.

Interviewer: Is there a physical storefront?

BG: No. It’s online.

Interviewer: What about the members Archive?

BG: That’s where we can go deeper.

The public side has the free resources — plans, templates, emulator downloads, things like that.

The members Archive is for deeper content and community material.

Interviewer: So there’s a distinction between what everyone gets and what members get.

BG: Right.

But I’m not interested in taking useful information and putting every damn thing behind a subscription.

There’s still going to be a lot available for free.

Interviewer: What about someone who just wants to buy parts?

BG: They’re welcome.

You don’t have to buy a $900 cabinet to be part of this.

If you need buttons, buy buttons.

If you need precut wood, buy precut wood.

If you want the plans, download them.

If you want to build everything yourself, go for it.

Interviewer: What if someone buys the parts and gets stuck?

BG: Ask.

One advantage of being a small operation is that the person who built the thing actually knows what the hell it is.

Interviewer: Do you offer repairs and upgrades?

BG: Sometimes.

It depends on what I’m working on and what the schedule looks like. I’m not pretending we’re some giant repair center.

We’re small.

That’s the whole point.

Interviewer: Do you ship the completed machines?

BG: Yes.

They’re built to ship, and the details are worked out with the order.

Interviewer: International shipping?

BG: Case by case.

A fight stick is obviously a different situation than shipping a giant cabinet halfway around the world.

Interviewer: What about payment plans?

BG: For larger custom pieces, people can ask when ordering. It depends on the project.

Interviewer: You’ve mentioned several times that Sudo Grizzly Gents is intentionally small. Why is that so important to you?

BG: Because I don’t want growth to destroy the reason I started it.

Once you’re trying to make thousands of things, you’re making decisions based on volume.

I don’t want to make decisions based on volume.

I want to make something cool.

Interviewer: So you’re not chasing the biggest possible customer base?

BG: No.

I’d rather have a smaller group of people who actually give a shit about what we’re doing.

Interviewer: What’s the philosophy behind the yearly caps?

BG: Keep it special.

If I say there are only 55 two-player sticks in a year, then there are only 55.

If there are roughly 20 cabinets, there are roughly 20.

I’m not going to suddenly make 5,000 because somebody thinks that’s what a business is supposed to do.

Interviewer: That’s a pretty old-school philosophy.

BG: Maybe.

But I like old-school.

Interviewer: If someone is completely new to this world, where should they start?

BG: Download the free stuff.

Seriously.

Get the plans. Get the paper templates. Get the emulator downloads. Read the hacktorials.

If you want to build something, start there.

If you don’t want to cut wood yourself, buy the precut templates.

If you need buttons, we sell those.

If you want the finished machine, we build those too.

There’s a path for everybody.

Interviewer: And if someone just wants the merch?

BG: Buy a shirt. I’m not going to make you pass a fucking arcade-building exam first.

Interviewer: Fair enough.

BG: Exactly.

Interviewer: Last question. If you had to explain Sudo Grizzly Gents to somebody in one sentence, what would you say?

BG: It’s a small, handmade retro-gaming and electronics operation where I build limited-run hardware, sell the physical parts for people who want to build their own, and give away enough of the knowledge and software to make sure people can actually do it.

Interviewer: And you’re comfortable keeping it small?

BG: Absolutely.

I don’t need a warehouse full of identical machines.

I’d rather build something somebody actually remembers owning.