20 replies to this topic

[lucifershalo]

Being a fan and collector of 8 bit cartridge console
I would love to have a MAME console
with illustrated label cartridge of MAME roms to play 80s arcade games.....

[SlowCoder]

lucifershalo, on Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:18 AM, said:

Being a fan and collector of 8 bit cartridge console I would love to have a MAME console with illustrated label cartridge of MAME roms to play 80s arcade games.....

I'm a little confused.  You'd like a console-based MAME machine that takes carts with individual arcade games?  Effectively, you want MAME on a chip, for instant boot, so you wouldn't have to wait for OS boot, I'm guessing.

[lucifershalo]

it is more the "pleasure" of collecting obscure 80s arcade games that have never been ported to home consoles

[lucifershalo]

I suppose it should be more realistic to "choose" one CPU and it will be able to play all the games the same hardware like Z80
right?

[eggomania]

It would be nice if all these companies such as Atari, Namco, Sega, etc. would allow their classic games to be put on one system and sell them to people who want to buy them.  I'm sure it can be done.  These companies would have a chance to make a little money instead of having people download ROMS on their MAME cabinets.  I know I would buy it.  There's still an interest in classic arcade games.

[GroovyBee]

With suitable hardware and software you could make such a thing from an embedded PC104 motherboard. However I'm not sure what the minimum requirements are for MAME to make a suggestion. You'd plug your 2600 Galaga cart in or any other 2600 cart. "Power on" (which just tells the PC104 to ID the cart. Once the cart had been recognised the system would load up Galaga in MAME and away you go.

[lucifershalo]

You have 2600 Galaga cart?????
You meant Galaxian
your idea is interesting...
and going one step further, Groovybee, would it be possible to have carts of games that dont exist on home consoles
like a cart with a "code" telling the MAME program to lauch the approriate game?

[lucifershalo]

Someone on a french forum had an interesting idea, put the PC with Mame into a console case and make the cart slot as a USB...
put USB key with the game rom inside a cart case and voila....
ok , it will be slow
and I am not at "making" a MAME console and programming it
but interesting....

[GroovyBee]

lucifershalo, on Wed Dec 14, 2011 1:58 PM, said:

You have 2600 Galaga cart?????

Nope! It was just an example.

Quote

your idea is interesting...
and going one step further, Groovybee, would it be possible to have carts of games that dont exist on home consoles
like a cart with a "code" telling the MAME program to lauch the approriate game?

You could use any old 2600 cart. Its just a "key" to load the game. You'd tell the console what key loads what game. That way you could have a Pacman cart loading up Street Fighter.

[lucifershalo]

ok, do you mean that the "key" to load MAME Anteater, can be put on an Eprom inside 2600 Pac Man
in that case , can you program those keys?

Or do you mean that for example
2600 Pac Man game can load MAME Anteater
2600 Imagic Demon Attack can load MAME SPace Cruiser+
etc

[GroovyBee]

lucifershalo, on Wed Dec 14, 2011 2:26 PM, said:

ok, The "key" will be burned onto a new Eprom, right?
can you "program" those keys?

No. Like this ...

Quote

Or do you mean that for example
2600 Pac Man can load MAME Anteater
2600 Imagic Demon Attack can load MAME SPace Cruiser
etc

You would insert the cart and then tell the console what game it needs to load when that cart is inserted again.

[lucifershalo]

Clever, but who can program that for me and overall who can build that for me

[GroovyBee]

It won't be cheap. PC104 are small but expensive. What is the minimum PC requirement for MAME?

[S1500]

lucifershalo, on Wed Dec 14, 2011 3:32 PM, said:

Clever, but who can program that for me and overall who can build that for me

It would be pointless since MAME cabinets exist.

[lucifershalo]

question asked on Mame forum
The requirements vary wildly depending on which games you are talking about. Some 80s games had analog sound/graphics hardware which is heavier on your CPU than a 90's game with three Motorola 68000 CPUs.

A 2 GHz Core 2 Duo should do fine I guess.

[GroovyBee]

What RAM and hard drive space are required?

[lucifershalo]

rom sizes are tiny
all the roms I have occupied 10 Gb

ram ...no idea

[Cynicaster]

There are too many variables to cite a definitive "minimum PC requirement" for MAME.

For what it's worth, the first PC I used in my cabinet was an 8 year-old HP, sub 2GHz single-core AMD upgraded to 2 GB RAM, with onboard video and running XP.  It was too underpowered to run Direct3D video mode, so I had to use DirectDraw, but I don't think that matters too much on CRT monitors (which I have in my cabinet).

It ran pretty much everything I wanted to play at full speed without a hitch, but I do prefer the older games for the most part.  The one game it struggled with that I actually care about was Tekken 2, which is my favorite arcade fighter.  It would play but it was choppy and slow due to the 3D.  I later replaced that PC with an $80 used one I bought off some kid in the local classifieds, and Tekken 2 runs like a champ now.  Honestly, I don't even remember what the specs are on the replacement PC but they're certainly nothing to write home about.  I probably could have talked the guy down to $50-$60 if I really really wanted to.

Edited by Cynicaster, Thu Dec 15, 2011 8:54 AM.

[sdamon]

I'd really love to see a commercial product like this, even though I've built my own MAME machine.  As Lucifershalo suggested earlier, it would be great to be able to collect a library of legal classic arcade games, especially those never ported to the consoles, or made available in recent compilations.   My ideal product would consist of multiple components:

1. A base console that accepts that carts and can use standard USB controllers.
2. Optional control panel with dual joysticks and arcade buttons.
3. Optional trackball, spinner and analog stick add-on's
4. Optional bartop sized cabinet with montior and marquee that attaches to the console and control panel components.
5. Optional base to set the bartop assembly on to create a near full-sized arcade game

This way, you could take it as far as you like (or as far as your budget will allow.)  The initial investment should be pretty low for a basic console that can play all the 70's, 80's, and early 90's games.  The real trick, of course, would be getting licensing from all the rights holders.  It's safe to say you'd never get Nintendo to buy into this, but just about every other company has licensed their games out to one modern project or another.  It would take a company with some means to get this off the ground and make it affordable. With most potential customers already being satisfied with the current options (classic console ports, modern console compilations, downloadable games, plug n plays, MAME cabinets) I doubt it will ever happen,  But for me, it's the dream project that I would most like to see happen.

[Cynicaster]

Yeah, I think classic arcade gaming is too much of a niche hobby to provide a market for such a commercial product.

Me, I'm completely content rocking a full set of ROM's on my DIY cabinet.

[Keatah]

I believe the OP was wanting some sort of console, whatever it may be made from. And the most important aspect of this, the cartridge.

You could get a shit laptop, and build a console around it. Output the video however you see fit. Wire up the controls via USB. Build a collection of cartridges on SD. Each game gets stored on an SD card. And you store all the SDs in a cigar box. Each SD gets a nice little postage stamp of a label. Or if SD isn't your style, just go and build them from old 2600 carts. or whatever.

Eitherway, this will need to be a homebrew project. whatever.