MAME. A good idea?

[VideoFever1982]

I've been contemplating on whether or not to build a MAME machine. I know someone that has one and based on some things I've read, it's illegal to own roms to these arcade games. Is this true??

[Osbo]

Do it, they are a lot of fun to play. The ROMs are kinda of a grey area...

[Foxsolo2000]

Mame was one of the best inventions to make itself known

[maximebeauvais]

I've been contemplating on whether or not to build a MAME machine. I know someone that has one and based on some things I've read, it's illegal to own roms to these arcade games. Is this true??

 

Is it illegal to copy CD, DVD or download music, movie, program????

 

Mame are so fun !!!!!

[VideoFever1982]

The roms seem to be a controversal thing.

[maximebeauvais]

I think that you need to have the original arcade in order to play a rom (same thing as music, movie...etc)

 

this is what I have heard but I could be wrong.

[VideoFever1982]

I think that you need to have the original arcade in order to play a rom (same thing as music, movie...etc)

 

this is what I have heard but I could be wrong.

I think your right.

[ProperRogue]

Technically , the Namco & Nintendo roms are the biggest issue , mostly in part because they're still very much in business. On a commercial level , these are considered a no-no! We even had a local arcade dealer in hot water because of the Namco games. But again , this is the commercial side.

 

However , for your own enjoyment , around the house ... it's not as if either one will come knocking on your door with lawsuit papers. So I agree with the others , build one ... build it correctly , and have fun with it.

[KIWASABI]

Yeah, unless you're trying to make money off of the MAME machine you won't have any legal issues (though it is technically illegal). Keep in mind though that even businesses sometimes have MAME machines, which I always think is just ludicrous. If I'm going to pay to play a game on an arcade machine than it better be playing with the original hardware dammit... /end rant

 

Anyway, let me give you a quick (non-legal) warning about MAME. What I've found with setups like these, whether they be emulators, modded consoles, etc where you have unlimited access to any game you want, is that since it's so trivial to acquire any particular game, you start to take it all for granted very quickly and you lose interest rather quickly. I've seen this happen with every single friend of mine who has owned a modded xbox; they played it a lot less than people who had a legit xbox with legit games. I've found that I play my Neo Geo machine a lot more than I'd probably play a MAME machine just because I can remember where I got each game, how much I paid for, how well the seller treated me, etc and that all adds up to make each game experience more special. This all seems very hokey but I do believe it to be true. I highly recommend a Neo Geo MVS arcade setup to anybody and everybody since the cartridges are only $20-60 for the most common (and best) games. MAME is kinda a headache to set up and, in the end, I think it means less than having the real hardware.

 

-Adam

 

Edit: What I was going for with this preaching session is that having every game ever gives you "rich kid syndrome" (aka spoiled brat syndrome) where you lose interest in everything quickly since you have everything and no one game seems very special. A rich kid is much less likely to care about any of his stuffed animals if he has a room filled with 100,000 of them. However, a kid growing up in poverty who receives his first teddy bear from his uncle when he's 3 is bound to cherish it for the rest of his life.

Edited January 13, 2009 by KIWASABI

[Osbo]

mmm I don't know about that, I've been playing miss pacman for a looooong time, but its a bit true.

[schuwalker]

A mame cabinet is a good idea if your limited in space but ihmo nothing beats the real cab with the beautiful artwork and or sideart......

[maximebeauvais]

A mame cabinet is a good idea if your limited in space but ihmo nothing beats the real cab with the beautiful artwork and or sideart......

 

I agree......I can't wait to finish my mame (marquee, sideart, controle panel...etc) I have my mame for over 3 years now but I never took the time and money to finish it with nice artwork !!!! One day, one day ......

[VideoFever1982]

Yeah, unless you're trying to make money off of the MAME machine you won't have any legal issues (though it is technically illegal). Keep in mind though that even businesses sometimes have MAME machines, which I always think is just ludicrous. If I'm going to pay to play a game on an arcade machine than it better be playing with the original hardware dammit... /end rant

 

Anyway, let me give you a quick (non-legal) warning about MAME. What I've found with setups like these, whether they be emulators, modded consoles, etc where you have unlimited access to any game you want, is that since it's so trivial to acquire any particular game, you start to take it all for granted very quickly and you lose interest rather quickly. I've seen this happen with every single friend of mine who has owned a modded xbox; they played it a lot less than people who had a legit xbox with legit games. I've found that I play my Neo Geo machine a lot more than I'd probably play a MAME machine just because I can remember where I got each game, how much I paid for, how well the seller treated me, etc and that all adds up to make each game experience more special. This all seems very hokey but I do believe it to be true. I highly recommend a Neo Geo MVS arcade setup to anybody and everybody since the cartridges are only $20-60 for the most common (and best) games. MAME is kinda a headache to set up and, in the end, I think it means less than having the real hardware.

 

-Adam

 

Edit: What I was going for with this preaching session is that having every game ever gives you "rich kid syndrome" (aka spoiled brat syndrome) where you lose interest in everything quickly since you have everything and no one game seems very special. A rich kid is much less likely to care about any of his stuffed animals if he has a room filled with 100,000 of them. However, a kid growing up in poverty who receives his first teddy bear from his uncle when he's 3 is bound to cherish it for the rest of his life.

I agree there. It doesn't mean as much as if you went out and actually bought it and have the memories of the effort and where you got it. I'm leaning more toward getting a few original games and i'll include a Neo-Geo as well since i like The King of Fighters series and Samurai Shodown. Ive been through the Mame thing before and it is a hassle and a headache to setup plus something tell me i won't get around to playing 6000+ games.

[Lord Helmet]

I've had a MAME cabinet for several years with hundreds of roms...I have yet to have the secret police bust down my door.

[VideoFever1982]

I've had a MAME cabinet for several years with hundreds of roms...I have yet to have the secret police bust down my door.

LOL. I guess it's always an option. I do have the hardware for it but i know i definitely want some real cabinets and an MVS. Anyone know what determines the framerate and speed of some of the games like Killer Instinct 2. I notice this and a few others run slow and the music skips and can't keep up. Is it the Hard Drives rpm or the video card memory?

[+remowilliams]

Anyone know what determines the framerate and speed of some of the games like Killer Instinct 2. I notice this and a few others run slow and the music skips and can't keep up. Is it the Hard Drives rpm or the video card memory?

Speed is mostly determined by CPU power. Emulation in general, and MAME specifically with more advanced games requires lots and lots of CPU power.

[VideoFever1982]

Anyone know what determines the framerate and speed of some of the games like Killer Instinct 2. I notice this and a few others run slow and the music skips and can't keep up. Is it the Hard Drives rpm or the video card memory?

Speed is mostly determined by CPU power. Emulation in general, and MAME specifically with more advanced games requires lots and lots of CPU power.

Ah, so what would you say is the ideal speed range minimum?

[S1500]

I love MAME. MAME is beautiful. MAME is immersion into early 1980s nostalgia. It is a trip to the arcade of the mind's eye.

 

The unseen, almost mytholigical copyright violation ghosts & other demons shall be kept away. For fear of your door being busted down for enjoying "Chiller" is the only manifestation of these "enforcers". Play well!

[maximebeauvais]

if you play old game (80') like pacman, space invader, digdug...etc a nice PII 266mhz will be ok (when I knew about mame in around 1997, I was playing mame on my old 486 computer or what is my pentium I....anyway, just to tell you that the PC that you will get depend on what kind of game you want to play.

 

however, if you play more recent game like mortal combat, you will need a PIV for sure.

 

at one point I had a PIII 900mhz and all moderm game were slow (mortal combat...etc)

[VideoFever1982]

if you play old game (80') like pacman, space invader, digdug...etc a nice PII 266mhz will be ok (when I knew about mame in around 1997, I was playing mame on my old 486 computer or what is my pentium I....anyway, just to tell you that the PC that you will get depend on what kind of game you want to play.

 

however, if you play more recent game like mortal combat, you will need a PIV for sure.

 

at one point I had a PIII 900mhz and all moderm game were slow (mortal combat...etc)

What i have for a possible mame project is a Pentium 4 2300 mhz. I also have an Athlon, Duron, and a Pentium D 3.8 capable board. 3 atx cases and one of them is the one with the Pac-Man power button on the front.

[maximebeauvais]

if you play old game (80') like pacman, space invader, digdug...etc a nice PII 266mhz will be ok (when I knew about mame in around 1997, I was playing mame on my old 486 computer or what is my pentium I....anyway, just to tell you that the PC that you will get depend on what kind of game you want to play.

 

however, if you play more recent game like mortal combat, you will need a PIV for sure.

 

at one point I had a PIII 900mhz and all moderm game were slow (mortal combat...etc)

What i have for a possible mame project is a Pentium 4 2300 mhz. I also have an Athlon, Duron, and a Pentium D 3.8 capable board. 3 atx cases and one of them is the one with the Pac-Man power button on the front.

 

I'm pretty sure that it will be perfect for your project !!!!

 

You should put mame on the PC that you want to use and just play a game to see if it will be slow or fast enough. just your keyboard to play !!!

 

Good luck

[Osbo]

http://www.ultimarc.com/

 

I got everything from this site. Crimp tool, connectors, cable, joystick, push-buttons, and the I-Pac controller with ps/2 cable. I was 150 bucks for everything IIRC.

[VideoFever1982]

http://www.ultimarc.com/

 

I got everything from this site. Crimp tool, connectors, cable, joystick, push-buttons, and the I-Pac controller with ps/2 cable. I was 150 bucks for everything IIRC.

I'll have to set some games to it and see how it goes. I bought an I-Pac from them about four years ago when i was working on a project then. Didn't have time to tend to it at the time so it ended up going to someone else. My second cabinet was sweet as hell but if never was finished. Only had new controls, 21" monitor and stereo sound ready.

[Derek]

I'd love to convert non-working cabinet to house MAME. But which version of MAME to go with? I still use a couple that are at least 7-8 years old, as it seems the each newer version recognized some ROMS, not others, used some sound samples, not others that previously worked.

 

As for this statement in one of your later posts: "Ive been through the Mame thing before and it is a hassle and a headache to setup plus something tell me i won't get around to playing 6000+ games."

 

You won't have to worry about ever having 6000 games as each version of MAME recognizes and will play some games, others that worked with the last version won't work with the very next version. Junior Pac Man is one that works with some older versions of MAME then suddenly it wouldn't work anymore, same ROM, and since you can't have two versions of MAME even sitting on your desktop, inactive, just links...I don't know how they sense each other, and why successive versions of MAME would be released to recognize more roms, but sencelessly now decide that the AStro Blaster rom that works with version, whatever, now is incomplete.?!? or perhaps a game will still work but not use the sound samples that you spent hours finding, which worked on the previous version of MAME. Frustrating... My point is, basically that you will never get bored as you will constantly be trying to find a version that will recognize your rom for Rally X, and Ms. Pac, and use the sound files for Berzerk and not tell you that your Super Cobra ROM is incomplete or a game will show up on the working ROM's list, yet not work a la Junior Pac Man which shows up a working using MAME 32b-036 yet does not work yet the same ROM works fine on the previous version. That is what is frustrating about MAME. Successive versions should recognize what has been previously achieved, not screw things up and have some new things work, but previous achievements be negated. But since the MAME site states something to the effect that preserving the ROM's for study, dissection, etc. is the purpose and the nice side effect is getting to play the classic games...Geez that seems backwards. But since each version recognizes some previous ROM's, not others...what good is that? How could the code be "studied" if it is no longer recognized or playable using the "newest" version of MAME.

 

Perhaps it is time I downloaded a current version of MAME and see if the old (2000) downloaded ROM's work with sound, or if MAME is still the same frustrating mess of some games work on different versions so you can never just click on your list of ROM's and just play a fun game of Ms. Pac, cuz your ROM may not work on this particular version/improvement of MAME.

 

Thus, you will never have 6000 ROMS to choose from as many won't work for no reason from one version of MAME to the next. Just my sour grapes with MAME, though when it co-operates and plays a ROM that you know is complete it is great nostalgic fun.

[VideoFever1982]

I'd love to convert non-working cabinet to house MAME. But which version of MAME to go with? I still use a couple that are at least 7-8 years old, as it seems the each newer version recognized some ROMS, not others, used some sound samples, not others that previously worked.

 

As for this statement in one of your later posts: "Ive been through the Mame thing before and it is a hassle and a headache to setup plus something tell me i won't get around to playing 6000+ games."

 

You won't have to worry about ever having 6000 games as each version of MAME recognizes and will play some games, others that worked with the last version won't work with the very next version. Junior Pac Man is one that works with some older versions of MAME then suddenly it wouldn't work anymore, same ROM, and since you can't have two versions of MAME even sitting on your desktop, inactive, just links...I don't know how they sense each other, and why successive versions of MAME would be released to recognize more roms, but sencelessly now decide that the AStro Blaster rom that works with version, whatever, now is incomplete.?!? or perhaps a game will still work but not use the sound samples that you spent hours finding, which worked on the previous version of MAME. Frustrating... My point is, basically that you will never get bored as you will constantly be trying to find a version that will recognize your rom for Rally X, and Ms. Pac, and use the sound files for Berzerk and not tell you that your Super Cobra ROM is incomplete or a game will show up on the working ROM's list, yet not work a la Junior Pac Man which shows up a working using MAME 32b-036 yet does not work yet the same ROM works fine on the previous version. That is what is frustrating about MAME. Successive versions should recognize what has been previously achieved, not screw things up and have some new things work, but previous achievements be negated. But since the MAME site states something to the effect that preserving the ROM's for study, dissection, etc. is the purpose and the nice side effect is getting to play the classic games...Geez that seems backwards. But since each version recognizes some previous ROM's, not others...what good is that? How could the code be "studied" if it is no longer recognized or playable using the "newest" version of MAME.

 

Perhaps it is time I downloaded a current version of MAME and see if the old (2000) downloaded ROM's work with sound, or if MAME is still the same frustrating mess of some games work on different versions so you can never just click on your list of ROM's and just play a fun game of Ms. Pac, cuz your ROM may not work on this particular version/improvement of MAME.

 

Thus, you will never have 6000 ROMS to choose from as many won't work for no reason from one version of MAME to the next. Just my sour grapes with MAME, though when it co-operates and plays a ROM that you know is complete it is great nostalgic fun.

It tells you at the bottom what is working. It'll show roughly give or take, 6000 and then in the working, something like 5200 or so. In the end, you still have a ton of games. Thing is, to come up with a nice cabinet. Still not sure what front end to use tho. I had Maximus last time but i really don't like it. I want something with a more vintage or nastalgic feel. Anybody has any ideas, bring em on!