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Thread: Home Arcades - MAME or real?

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    Ryu Hayabusa (Level 16) Raedon's Avatar
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    Default Home Arcades - MAME or real?

    I just bought my first house (1800 sq. ft. brick 3br 2bath 2 car on 2 acres) and even with just me living there (single) I still don't have much room for more then just a few arcade titles.

    Should I just MAME arcade a cabby or go with real games? I want a Tempest but that is the only classic I MUST have. My space limits me to about 4 standups without falling into the "horde collector" slot ... which may still happen.
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    Go for a 38-in-1 or 60-in-1. I've been happy with ours.

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    Ryu Hayabusa (Level 16) Raedon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by portnoyd View Post
    Go for a 38-in-1 or 60-in-1. I've been happy with ours.
    ? A what? I'm new to the Arcade scene.
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    Insert Coin (Level 0) animesuperj's Avatar
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    60 in 1 Board

    They're basically one board that contains 60 games, or 38 games. I've seen the 48's as well, and I believe they have higher numbers as well. They're nice because you can use computer parts in them (monitor, power supply), so it cuts down on the cost a bit. It also save a lot of space having all of them in one cabinet.

    I've looked into these as well, and need to get around to building one. Probably going to be my winter project.

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    Ryu Hayabusa (Level 16) Raedon's Avatar
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    googled it. Looks pretty sweet. They even have a 1069-in-1 board. But it still looks like I'll need to convert a cabby and I have several old PCs (a P4 and a couple of AMD XP 3000+ boards) that can run MAME. My thoughts were why buy equipment when I can just use some old PCs I have sitting in storage?
    Fear your thoughts because they become your words
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    Fear your actions because they become your habits
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    Therefore: Thinking and nurturing positive thoughts, at any point in your life, can change your destiny.

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    I've currently been putting in long hours to restore this, and put a multi board in it.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhanlen...7622516605766/

    The route I plan on going is the multiboard 48in1 for $75. It's a little easier than Mame, especially if you have a JAMMA Wired cabinet. Pull out the old board and swap one in.

    Any XXin1 board is basically a dedicated MAME mini computer. Most of the games are emulated pretty well. I only have room for 3 or 4 machines myself, so it makes sense to get an all in one solution.

    But MAME is updateable and configurable ways that multiboards are not. They make video cards so your computer outputs a signal that's compatible with most arcade monitors... or you can always take the easy approach and put in a TV or Computer Monitor. That way powering everything is a breeze-plug it all into a powerstrip and you're off.

    That said, very few multi boards are a substitute for a real machine. There's always subtle differences in controls and visuals, that for some are unacceptable. But be warned though, you'll need to be comfortable with repairing dedicated machines because they do break. Being able to solder is a paramount skill if you want to be able to own and maintain your machines.

    Anyway... if you only have room for 3 machines... I'd go MAME/multi on one, and get the other 2 dedicated. If your serious about branching out into this arm of the hobby I recommend signing up over at KLOV.com's message boards to begin learning about dedicated machines. And for MAME/Multi/DIY cabs BYOAC.com is the place to be.
    Last edited by TheDomesticInstitution; 10-27-2009 at 03:16 PM.

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    drowning in medals Ed Oscuro's Avatar
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    The SuperGun route has been an incredible pain in the butt (expensive to boot) but one cabinet should handle lots of games pretty well. I don't think I have anything a classic cab wouldn't handle just fine, and a Nichibutsu -> JAMMA adapter would work well for a couple games I'd like to pick up sometime.

    MAME is really pretty decent for many things, plus you don't need specialized equipment or need to fiddle around with things for long to get a decent picture out of even an LCD. I don't even think input lag is a significant problem, with most games, even for competitive play.

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    Pretzel (Level 4) Goblin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Raedon View Post
    googled it. Looks pretty sweet. They even have a 1069-in-1 board. But it still looks like I'll need to convert a cabby and I have several old PCs (a P4 and a couple of AMD XP 3000+ boards) that can run MAME. My thoughts were why buy equipment when I can just use some old PCs I have sitting in storage?
    I have to say that I have a 1069-in-1 and love it. Before I went that route I used an old PC, bought a J-PAC interface to attach to the JAMMA harness, and configured my own. The end result was less than impressive, I tried a number of frontends and none were what I wanted. Then I had to make sure I had compatible ROMs, it was all just a tremendous hassle. The 1069-in-1 is a dedicated computer, but it comes already set up. It took 5 minutes to install and then I was up for the rest of the night playing. That convenience was worth paying for. I have not had any problems with mine, nor have I noticed any games not playing correctly. Check around on some of the arcade forums as they can be bought new for less than some of the websites charge.

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    i'm with mame, but i'm having several problems with maximus arcade, the biggest one i have is the arcade monitor, it looks terrible awful
    if you can go with xx-in one you will save a lot of problems, i want one but i'm from argentina, and it can cost me a lot to buy it, usually, i have to pay 50% of tax

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    Strawberry (Level 2) cityside75's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Goblin View Post
    I have to say that I have a 1069-in-1 and love it. Before I went that route I used an old PC, bought a J-PAC interface to attach to the JAMMA harness, and configured my own. The end result was less than impressive, I tried a number of frontends and none were what I wanted. Then I had to make sure I had compatible ROMs, it was all just a tremendous hassle. The 1069-in-1 is a dedicated computer, but it comes already set up. It took 5 minutes to install and then I was up for the rest of the night playing. That convenience was worth paying for. I have not had any problems with mine, nor have I noticed any games not playing correctly. Check around on some of the arcade forums as they can be bought new for less than some of the websites charge.
    Seconded - I've had mine for about a year and love it. It is pretty much plug and play with a standard Jamma cabinet, but if you are the tinkering type it has a lot of hidden potential too. I found that mine played old games great, but newer games (Mortal Kombat games, NBA Jam, etc) were slow and choppy. I was able to replace the crappy Celeron processor with a P4 that got everything up to speed. If you really want to dig in, you can add additional roms to the system as well - I'm up to over 1100 games on mine now, but be warned, the process is very tricky. I found http://www.xxxx-in-1.com/ to be an invaluable tool.

    I'm in a similar position to OP, I have limited space for my arcade games. I'd suggest looking for dedicated cabs for the games that don't emulate well (vector games, special controls) and convert a cheap Jamma cab into a 1069-in-1 for everything else.

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    Ryu Hayabusa (Level 16) Raedon's Avatar
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    Hmm. Well I will say I've never seen a quality front-end for MAME that I liked. Guess I should do research into JAMMA before I go much farther with this though.
    Fear your thoughts because they become your words
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    Fear your actions because they become your habits
    Fear your habits because they become your character
    Fear your character because it becomes your destiny

    Therefore: Thinking and nurturing positive thoughts, at any point in your life, can change your destiny.

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    I just ordered a 60in1 board for my machine last night. In a week or so I should be able to spend some time with the unit and see how well it compares to the real thing. Maybe I'll post a thread about it or something.

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    I have a 60 in 1 as well, its my favorite machine. I overhauled an almost completely destroyed Ms. Pac cab for the project, put in a new monitor, replaced the glass overlay with a plexiglass one, new marquee, new control panel. Repainted the entire thing, added white T-molding, and installed a kick plate. Except for some rust on the coin door you would think she was brand new.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Raedon View Post
    Hmm. Well I will say I've never seen a quality front-end for MAME that I liked. Guess I should do research into JAMMA before I go much farther with this though.
    If you want a working JAMMA cabinet let me know, maybe we can meet somewhere in the middle. The market is shit right now, I tried selling a couple of working JAMMA games for $150 and got no reasonable offers.

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    drowning in medals Ed Oscuro's Avatar
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    Which games? $150 for JAMMA would net me some pretty awesome sought-after games. I would say maybe 2 or more common Sega JAMMA games, or one rarity. The market for JAMMA-era PCBs seems pretty decent - in fact I'm seeing some games going up in price (although once again anything with a decent run often goes for laughably low prices). Just like the pre-crash classics, a lot of JAMMA games simply aren't enough in demand to have their price go way up yet.
    Last edited by Ed Oscuro; 11-25-2009 at 09:10 PM.

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    If you have money and room to spare go with an arcade. If not, Mame or a xx in 1 board is the way to go. I love Maming older cabinets (not classics of course), it's a great hobby and I always want to do something new to make it better. Good luck with whatever way you go.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ed Oscuro View Post
    Which games? $150 for JAMMA would net me some pretty awesome sought-after games. I would say maybe 2 or more common Sega JAMMA games, or one rarity. The market for JAMMA-era PCBs seems pretty decent - in fact I'm seeing some games going up in price (although once again anything with a decent run often goes for laughably low prices). Just like the pre-crash classics, a lot of JAMMA games simply aren't enough in demand to have their price go way up yet.
    I put my Bucky O'Hare and Robocop cabinets up for $150 each and my Centipede for $300 and the best offer I got was, "Would you trade for an Internet-ready computer?", which usually means "PIII".

    On my local Craigslist, 48-in-1 cabs sell for anywhere from $600-$1,000, depending on what the cabinet looks like. The sad fact of the matter is, if I want to make any money I should convert all my dedicated machines to 48-in-1 machines and sell them that way. With Christmas approaching, it's probably not a bad idea.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flack View Post
    On my local Craigslist, 48-in-1 cabs sell for anywhere from $600-$1,000, depending on what the cabinet looks like. The sad fact of the matter is, if I want to make any money I should convert all my dedicated machines to 48-in-1 machines and sell them that way. With Christmas approaching, it's probably not a bad idea.

    I have a solid but hacked-to-fuck cab I plan on trying this with after I finish up my current project.

    It's a sad fact, but trying to restore converted cabs back to their original state is costly and time consuming. You'll never ever be able to recoup costs out of 90% of games. While I don't like it when people take a perfectly good cab and multi it, I'll never blame anyone for multi-ing an already converted machine for some money.

    I kinda went off on a tangent, oops. But I guess I just wanted to say that I'll be attempting this very thing for a profit sometime next year.

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    I am currently pretty new myself to arcade machines, but I will say that there is just something awesome about having the original board.

    The only problem that you will run into is when you have problems with your cab. That is what I am running into (hence the thread I made), and I feel like a chicken with my head cut off for some of this stuff since I fell very new to all of this.

    If you can find a good, efficient way to do this, go for any cab.

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    Quote Originally Posted by SegaAges View Post
    I am currently pretty new myself to arcade machines, but I will say that there is just something awesome about having the original board.
    I completely agree. A few weeks ago we had a big get-together at the house, and my current project was in the barn/garage. I had the multiboard version of 1943 and the original PCB. The machine got quite a bit of play, and 1943 was a popular choice for the party goers. Quite a few times we put the original board back in the machine, because it played better and had better sound than the emulated multi-board version. If space wasn't an issue, then I wouldn't have a multi-board.



    The only problem that you will run into is when you have problems with your cab. That is what I am running into (hence the thread I made), and I feel like a chicken with my head cut off for some of this stuff since I fell very new to all of this.
    The more I learn about this hobby, the more I'm beginning to understand this is just something you have to live with. As someone who owns and plays console games more than arcade machines, I'm used to having my games work right 95% of the time. So it's kind of hard for me to get over the fact, that machines do break, and some may never work 100%. Unless you are an experienced repair tech or have the money to pay someone to fix your machines when they act up, it's something you need to get used too.

    Reading this thread will hopefully make it a little easier to accept the reliability differences between arcade games and console games.

    http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=111817

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