Forget XXX-in-1, Give me MAME!!!!

[GaryMcT]

Latency killed Mame (on Windows) and the 60-in-1 for me. There's only one ancient version of dos Mame (advmame i think) that does the right thing with vertical sync, resolutions, and refresh rates. You have to dig up ancient hardware to get it to work. Too much of a pain. I'll stick with real boards or fpga-based boards. If I want to try games that I don't have, I'll play a laggy version in name with a snes gamepad and expect that it will be laggy.

 

[Paul Olson]

Latency killed Mame (on Windows) and the 60-in-1 for me. There's only one ancient version of dos Mame (advmame i think) that does the right thing with vertical sync, resolutions, and refresh rates. You have to dig up ancient hardware to get it to work. Too much of a pain. I'll stick with real boards or fpga-based boards. If I want to try games that I don't have, I'll play a laggy version in name with a snes gamepad and expect that it will be laggy.

I hear the lag comments on here once in a while, but I have never experienced it. I have played a few of the games in MAME back to back with a dedicated cab, and they feel the same to me.

I have played Donkey Kong on both, and I have never noticed any. I would think that would be a game where any lag would be really noticeable. I am just curious I guess. If there really is lag, then it could probably fixed, but I just haven't seen it.

 

[TOK]

I hear the lag comments on here once in a while, but I have never experienced it. I have played a few of the games in MAME back to back with a dedicated cab, and they feel the same to me.

I have played Donkey Kong on both, and I have never noticed any. I would think that would be a game where any lag would be really noticeable. I am just curious I guess. If there really is lag, then it could probably fixed, but I just haven't seen it.

Same here. In fact, I'm running MAME on 3 different machines (vert, horizontal and bartop) and don't notice it. When I read a similar comment here months ago, I did a thread search to see if I could find a common denominator in the setups of the people saying it.

Well, I did find a common denominator... Gary was the one saying it in every MAME thread!

Seriously, my bartop is set up for Defender and Stargate, two games that will get you killed in half a second if the timing isn't perfect. My scores on them vs. dedicated hardware are the same. I also have a Circus Charlie here that I got from another KLOV'r. It feels exactly the same in MAME.

MAME was my gateway drug back into the hobby. I now have more dedicated games than MAME machines, but if I had to sell off games for any reason, the MAME cabs would be the last to go.

 

[thefader]

Because your dedicated cabinets are the only ones with collectibility and value. MAME machines are worth shit to anyone other than the builder.

 

[tigerstyle]

I'm working on building a mame bartop right now; and to be honest, its turning out to be annoying. There's a lot of frontend interfaces out there; the documentation is sometimes scarce, and let's not even get started on how ghetto-fabulous the interfaces look most of the time. You can download all sorts of themes but most of the time, they require tweaking.

Let's not get started about the usb interfaces stuff you gotta do to get everything running. Here is my personal rundown:

XXXX-1 setups:
Pros:
+ Plug in play, most of the time (except for kick harness stuff)
+ Run on a default jamma setup
+ Cheaper than a regular pc build
+ multikits that run on the original hardware usually provide perfect authentic experience

Cons:
- shoddy build quality which leads to problems
- no Q&a most of the time
- craptastic framerate in certain games on certain models

Mame Setup:
+ Unlimited performance
+ Unlimited selection of games
+ You chooe what you want and how you want it

- Can become an headache to configure due to no real documentation; forums can get annoying to dig around for infos. There's a lot of dead ends and shitty unsupported software that you have to wrestle with to get working
- If you factor in the price of the computer + various usb adapters + fans, its usually way more expensive than a typical xxxx-in-1 kit
- MAME emulation is not perfect and never will.


I also personnally thing that reselling cabs with rigged mame setups or multikits for 2-3x the 'normal' price is killing the hobby. It's a disgrace

 

[kencinder]

I can't see myself owning any more dedicated games, unless they have dedicated CONTROLS.

I am not basing my next home purchase on needing 400+ square feet for arcade games...

Couple of my fav machines, any games I like with dedicated controls (ie; Paperboy as an example), some pins and a MAME cab to cover everything that just has standard controls.

 

[Token420]

MAME machines are worth shit to anyone other than the builder.

Nah, let's not forget the casual player. I have only played a 60-1 one time and it was crap. Very disappointing playing experience. I built a MAME for me to enjoy but it gets the most play compared to the rest of my "real" collection.

 

[TOK]

Because your dedicated cabinets are the only ones with collectibility and value. MAME machines are worth shit to anyone other than the builder.

I guess if the MAME cabs are crappy the value is low, but 90% of the "real" games out there aren't worth much either. If they were, hackers wouldn't be converting them to xxx-in-1's and reselling.

 

[jehuie]

 

[nesjess]

Nah, let's not forget the casual player. I have only played a 60-1 one time and it was crap. Very disappointing playing experience. I built a MAME for me to enjoy but it gets the most play compared to the rest of my "real" collection.

Agreed. There's a reason why there's some guys in KLOV that build and sell multigames and MAME cabs for good cash. They still hold value to the average person and non-KLOVer who are clueless when it comes to the cost and value of arcade games. We all know that a $1500 Donkey Kong listed on ebay is not worth that much. But someone on the outside may look at that and say wow, why should I pay $1500 for one game when I can pay $700-1000 for a multigame with dozens/hundreds of games?

I know MAME is really taboo on KLOV and for a valid reason. MAME carries the negative connotation that you have to gut a perfectly good original cabinet to "MAME it" or BYOAC that is usually ugly. But if I get MAME running in a dedicated JAMMA cabinet without messing with the original wiring so that it can be easily switched back, then why not? It's just an added feature and practical for someone like me with limited real estate. I'll be installing a separate set of wiring and connectors to plug and play my netbook into my dedicated SFII:WW cabinet to run MAME. If I choose to do so, I can switch back to running JAMMA PCBs. It would just take a few minutes to switch the connectors.

Also, the quality and experience of MAME is highly dependent on how someone physically sets it up in a cabinet, what PC they are running and the aesthetic features of the frontend. My FE of choice is Hyperspin, hands down. Here's an old video I did of how Hyperspin runs. This is what I'll be running in my SFII:WW. Excuse my rambling. You can mute me if preferred.

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=158670

 

[Witchboard]

MAME is one of the reasons why I've started to focus on collecting games with specialized controls. Examples would be Vindicators, 720, Mad Planets, etc. You can make a two player 6 button cabinet and play a ton of games from MAME. The games I mentioned earlier are emulated in MAME fine, but they are more difficult to play without the dedicated controls.

IMO MAME is great for recovering games with faulty code and testing out new games you would have never known existed or at least only heard of. I will likely have a MAME setup or two eventually in my line up as well.

 

[GaryMcT]

Same here. In fact, I'm running MAME on 3 different machines (vert, horizontal and bartop) and don't notice it. When I read a similar comment here months ago, I did a thread search to see if I could find a common denominator in the setups of the people saying it.

Well, I did find a common denominator... Gary was the one saying it in every MAME thread!

Seriously, my bartop is set up for Defender and Stargate, two games that will get you killed in half a second if the timing isn't perfect. My scores on them vs. dedicated hardware are the same. I also have a Circus Charlie here that I got from another KLOV'r. It feels exactly the same in MAME.

MAME was my gateway drug back into the hobby. I now have more dedicated games than MAME machines, but if I had to sell off games for any reason, the MAME cabs would be the last to go.

I wish I were less sensitive to latency.

For me, Windows latency doesn't affect playability. It doesn't have bad input latency, just bad audio latency on Windiws. Fire a shot in Galaga and see if the audio doesn't seem delayed for the shot.

The 60-in-1 is worse because it has long input and audio latency. Move the joystick in Galaga and wait for the ship to move.

For the audio latency under Windows, there is a solution that I don't think has been implemented. There is an audio library/interface called ASIO that is used for music production software that is much lower latency than the usual stuff used in Windows. Would be good for someone to port Mame to use that.

 

[Token420]

For the audio latency under Windows, there is a solution that I don't think has been implemented.

I have rarely had sound issues if everything else is set up correctly. For example, I have a dedicated Gyruss and can play Gyruss on MAME. For the casual player, playability, audio and video are the same. For me, playing the dedicated cab is the only way to go because of the Monroe joystick, dual channel sound and the placement of the speakers.

 

[wmacmonagle]

well.. i built a mame gamebox (pc) it has 7000 in 1 and it cost me only $50 dollars to get this to run!.

it s p4 2.8 ghz with 120 gb hd. 1 gb ram..

it s all good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! with cheap ass videocard .. it s runing fine but may consider to replace video card to get better fps etc

I think a good dos mame setup with a nice front-end can be a lot of work.

XXXX in 1 IS MAME!

The cost of a XXXX in 1 or a gamebox 450 in 1 all setup in a nice package is hard to beat. Seriously a gamebox is only $190. You can't even build your own mame setup for less than that. Both can be modified to add your own roms

 

[Tonym]

are any of you mame guys running a spinner controll? tron, tempest, ect? id really like to be able to atleast add tron playability to my collection

 

[TOK]

are any of you mame guys running a spinner controll? tron, tempest, ect? id really like to be able to atleast add tron playability to my collection

Yes, I have one from GroovyGameGear.com. Its USB and was totally plug and play on an XP machine.

It gets a lot of use for Tempest, Major Havok, Arkanoid and Cameltry. My setup isn't so hot for Tron, since you need a top fire or trigger stick to really do any good at it. I just have standard bat-tops on that machine.

 

[LyonsArcade]

The thing with Mame is that it has to be configured properly. That's fine for somebody who likes tinkering with software, but to your average person, they'd much rather just have an On switch and not worry about what frame refresh rate they're running.

 

[Scotty]

The best part of owning a Mame Cab?? And I am sure even the hard core collectors will agree with this one....










You know Pole Position and Pole Position 2 will work when you turn it on!!!

 

[RonnyRage]

I'm working on building a mame bartop right now; and to be honest, its turning out to be annoying. There's a lot of frontend interfaces out there; the documentation is sometimes scarce, and let's not even get started on how ghetto-fabulous the interfaces look most of the time. You can download all sorts of themes but most of the time, they require tweaking.

Let's not get started about the usb interfaces stuff you gotta do to get everything running. Here is my personal rundown:

XXXX-1 setups:
Pros:
+ Plug in play, most of the time (except for kick harness stuff)
+ Run on a default jamma setup
+ Cheaper than a regular pc build
+ multikits that run on the original hardware usually provide perfect authentic experience

Cons:
- shoddy build quality which leads to problems
- no Q&a most of the time
- craptastic framerate in certain games on certain models

Mame Setup:
+ Unlimited performance
+ Unlimited selection of games
+ You chooe what you want and how you want it

- Can become an headache to configure due to no real documentation; forums can get annoying to dig around for infos. There's a lot of dead ends and shitty unsupported software that you have to wrestle with to get working
- If you factor in the price of the computer + various usb adapters + fans, its usually way more expensive than a typical xxxx-in-1 kit
- MAME emulation is not perfect and never will.


I also personnally thing that reselling cabs with rigged mame setups or multikits for 2-3x the 'normal' price is killing the hobby. It's a disgrace

well, programming front ends is pretty easy.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showt...php?p=70171900


I see no reason to hate on mame. I live in a house with 2 roomies and let me tell ya, the mame cab I just finished gets a shitload of play and a shitload of enjoyment.

a lot more than it did when it was just an dynamo with 1 game

just about everything i used in my machine (including the video converter board) was plug and play. My cabinet even still has the jamma harness in there.

 

[Paul Olson]

are any of you mame guys running a spinner controll? tron, tempest, ect? id really like to be able to atleast add tron playability to my collection

I have a Tron stick and spinner for my cab. Tron is one of those games I really like, but the price is just too high for me. I get my fix on MAME and all is good.