Anybody ever thought of this...

THEDJ

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First of all i must say I LOVE my classic arcade games, and 9 out of my 12 games in my basement arcade are CLASSICS...

BUT.....................

I got a deal from troy and picked up a HYDRO THUNDER SITDOWN- AND IT ROCKS- IT HAS GOT TO BE ONE OF THE BEST NEWERISH GAMES.


ANYWAYS.

I have only one, and no one to link it to. Which leads me to my thought.

I wonder if two linkable games could be linked via the internet- if both people were on at the same time......

HMMMMMMMMM

THOUGHTS?

Thanks
 
My thought would be of course.

If one can link a Scramble board to a JAMMA machine, an entire game to a switcher, a rotary phone to the rest of the world, a PC to an internet,

a PC to a ROM read/write,
a satellite to a missile


Twenty thousand guys younger than bachelors' degree could whip it out for you in less than a week.
 
Someone here was working on it, but I can't remember who at the moment. I think he said it should work, but it hasn't really been tested yet. Maybe we can test it out next month after CAX is over.

Hydro Thunder is one of my favorites, and I just picked up a pair a year ago. It may be newer, but I still consider it a classic.
 
For games that use ethernet yes it can be done as long as they are using tcp ip. You pretty much just need some kind of vpn link between sides. Your big problem would be setup though as most games have a master/save setup. One of you would have to configure your system as a secondary unit that would need to find the first to work. Speed might be an issue on some games as well as I don't think the netcode on games that used ethernet would be very optimized unless they had an online option.

Games that use other setups like optical cables(older sega games), serial cables or whatever else wouldn't work without some other parts.
 
...and I'll chime in behind myself to say this:

The future of "arcade" cabinetry is the ultimate future of video gaming itself: that artificial encasing of solid surroundment astride our living rooms, that little box, into which we'll delve and 'low our senses be astounded to exponential powers by degree unto diversion

Virtual Reality is going to require a cabinet.

And the internet.
 
Next thing someone needs to build (anyone but me) is enough simple:

Remember the Commodore 64? Remember how it came out of the box with all those hookup ports? How the thing's very body was surrounded (was all but skinned) by all manners of access? Like you could plug your (big ass) C-Band satellite dish into it AND run some coax out to your TV (and run the signal through BASIC). And like going to the 2nd biggest telescope in Texas in 1993 and finding that the whole damn thing was by a Commodore 64 driven?
This because of its access ports.

[No, you wouldn't remember this. But I do.]

Utilizing the advent of USB (an hellacious advancement) a grouping of guru geniuses should build a single box that will accept/transmit via every one of Old England's and all of Home Depot's once/now/and future things to a PC, and some (open source?) software to drive it. To drive it simply. Like a MAME for everything.

And then one could use a mouse and keyboard to make DirecTV honk the horn in his Buick.
 
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I just recently learned how to race alone, race in Invulnerable mode all the way through, and how to turn off the Auto-Catch-Up feature when you get too far ahead. Also learned how to get to the hidden Hydro Speedway. Already knew how to get the hidden boats and do the Super Start. Still haven't found all the shortcuts on the harder tracks.

Now that I finally have a working one (for a profit of $255), I guess I need to keep my eyes open for another for linking.

BTW - this is the only game allowed in the living room. Partly because it's my wife's Holy Grail, but mainly because it's too big to get into the gameroom or office without taking the jamb off (and we're renting)...
 
Aren't they hard coded to search for a specific host? Weren't the SF Rush machines hooked up to some sort of Atari network of some sort?
 
somebody was working on linking games via the net, cant remmember if it was cruisn or hydro.

Congrats on the pickup btw. if i ever get the chance, i will own one, its a kickass game man.
 
dogP did this for SF rush and I believe he said it would also work for hydro thunder. Problem with SF Rush was getting people together at the same time to actually link up and play.
 
Another question about Hydrothunder.
Linking 5 machines or more.

If you have more than 4 linked they will play, but they will not show who one 1st place through 4th or 5th at the end of the race.

That extra link after 4 makes it go a little funny.

You can still race and have fun, but you just do not know the position and if it came down to not a clear cut winner, you would have no way of knowing who wins.

Some day when my friend with the 5 Hydro gets some internet access going, will have to try a link up.

I think the telephone digit code device, on SF Rush? was only for downloading high scores.
 
Sounds like a GREAT idea! I don't own anything that can be linked, but it would be great for everyone who owns these, even if they already have a pair of games at home. I'm thinking like online games where you start a game with some # of slots and wait for people to join in. I do recall seeing some racing game in the 90s that had 8 linked together, that'd make for some great online competition.

Off Road Thunder is on my 'someday' list, it'd be nice to set one up in the basement and find some random online challengers. I think the only problem would be protecting against any possible cheating.
 
First of all i must say I LOVE my classic arcade games, and 9 out of my 12 games in my basement arcade are CLASSICS...

BUT.....................

I got a deal from troy and picked up a HYDRO THUNDER SITDOWN- AND IT ROCKS- IT HAS GOT TO BE ONE OF THE BEST NEWERISH GAMES.


ANYWAYS.

I have only one, and no one to link it to. Which leads me to my thought.

I wonder if two linkable games could be linked via the internet- if both people were on at the same time......

HMMMMMMMMM

THOUGHTS?

Thanks

Dunno about the linking thing, but Hydro Thunder rocks so hard. I love that game. Played the hell out of it when it was new, then played the hell out of the PlayStation (1) port. I'd love to have one (or two or three!) but I have nowhere at all to put one of those beasts.
 
I remember the Commodore 64 - I knew a guy named Rich who ran Club Midi software, and who did a Doctor Who theme song on the C64. He worked up artwork which showed the Tardis on the screen, and the light on the top would flash to the music.

Unfortunately, about 1 out of 3 C64's had a bad sound chip, so if you ran the software on the bad one, it sounded fine until the end, at which point in disintegrated into a noise that has been compared to "elephant wet dreams."

Yep, try to get THAT image out of your head. It's stuck with me for 30 years.

Good old Mr. DNA (or Aurelio Petrochemical, as he was also known).
 
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