How many (dedicated) games do you own? and...On what do you play MAME??

[bottlejunkie]

3 dedicated 1 conversion

operation wolf-dedicated
super pac-man-dedicated
Playchoice 10-dedicated
arkanoid-stargate cab

also a pin that has been broke for 6 months cause i cant F@#$%&G figure out how to fix it!!!

 

[Dr. Morbis]

I've got 7 dedicated, 3 conversions.

As for MAME, my Neo 29 Candy Cab is currently rigged up as a MAME, but you'd never know it to look at it; without turning it on, it just looks like a stock Candy Cab, and that's the way I think MAME works best for those of us with a lot of classic-era dedicated games: covert and discreet.

I'm definitely against butchering pre-1990 cabs for the sake of MAME, but on the other hand, how someone in our hobby could live entirely without MAME in any form whatsoever, certainly boggles the mind. At least put it on your PC's hard drive so it'll be there if you ever need it...

 

[cpu.slave]

Yes, these are original cabinets running a PC/monitor/MAME setup, that boots directly to the game. Some have VGA monitors, some have CGA monitors.
-snip-
In all cases, the cabinets look exactly like original dedicated machines. No extra controls or buttons were added to any of the control panels.

I'm interested in how you set this up (what flavor of mame, dos or win, interface, cpu speed, etc.) - obviously a completely different topic. I've got some empty cabs that I wouldn't mind going this route with...

Back on topic-

When I was young and in the arcades, I would be the guy heading for the pins or the driving games if no pins were available. Even now, pins are my main interest, owned 3 before I even bought my first dedicated driver. Third cab I picked up was a molested and converted centipede from a fellow klov'er specifically for a mame project. After setting this up, I picked up some projects that I had interest in. With the post from Artisan2084 above, I'm now having new ideas about these...

Gameroom Count as of now-

3 dedicated drivers (Rush the Rock x2, Roadblasters)
1 EM Rifle Game (1 f'in part away from fully functional!)
1 60-1 cocktail (scramble - would need pretty much everything but the tube and harness to restore)
1 Multi-taito in a gutted & stripped Double Dragon Cab I picked up for free off of cragslist
1 Mame in former centipede (see above)
8 set up and functional pins, 2 more that I'm in the process of repairing.

Storage\projects
6 pins awaiting space\parts or both.
5 empty, converted or generic cabs that will most likely be multi'ed or mame'd
4 dedicated machines awaiting space and cosmetic work (would love to get the PPII Cockpit back in the gameroom)
Plenty of spare parts for these and other projects.

Some of you might think I'm a bastard, but as a hobby everyone is going to have differing views about what it means to them. While I would love to have row after row of dedicated classics, space and priorities limit that. So I'm the guy who finds cheap unwanted, molested cabs - put's in a lot of time, money, and energy into making them representations of their past lives- and install a multi or mame to play. After awhile I'll find them new homes and start the process again. Perhaps I'm not 'restoring' these games, but they have come a long way from what they were and I can't seriously believe I kept these from being fully restored by a die-hard collector. If so, I'll await the flood of WTB posts so I can find some of these cabs new homes without putting any additional work into them...

Mame to me is a way to try out some games I never played in the wild as well as play some that I do remember but don't enough to justify owning a dedicated. The multi's are essentially the same, for the handful of times per year I actually play bubble-bobble, ms. pac, qix, etc. they make sense. Sure, they might not always be '100%' but they are close enough for me to enjoy since I don't have a basement the size of a super-walmart or the cash to fill it with every dedicated cab I would possibly want to play on the rare occasion.

So now I await the torch and pitchfork mob to run me out of here and demand that I surrender all the cabs in my possession... or the preservation police to issue an order that I cease and desist...

 

[jehuie]

A handful of vector cabs, a few more dedicated games, an ArcadeSD multigame in progress, a pin a mame rig in a 4-player cab. Oh, and a mame screen saver that cycles randomly through game attract modes.

The vectors are for myself because I love them and I don't know why but I do so I have them. The multi game and mame are primarily for guests because it has a nearly endless variety of things to play. The ArcadeSD will be for older guests who remember the classic vertical 80's games but are a bit intimidated by the mame setup being surrounded by all their kids.

I play them all of course. But I've decided that my focus is on guests rather than my own personal collecting interest. But the vectors are the exception to that rule. They are primarily for me!

 

[cleverlyj]

7 dedicated cabs. i do occasionally use mame on my pc to check out a game if there's something for sale that i am not familiar with, but aside from that, mame will never go anywhere near my gameroom.

 

[p1899m]

no MAME for me. DOn't have a current count but around 70-80 dedicated games. Some are projects but I have parts for all and they are just in que for restoration.

 

[modessitt]

I think I have about 30 dedicated cabs. No cab has MAME. I do have it on my bench PC for reference. Most recently played Battle Lane Vol 5 to see what it was like since I have two boardsets of it but haven't built an adapter yet. The last game I played on it "for fun" was Arkanoid...

 

[Paul Olson]

I am enjoying all of the "I wouldn't disgrace my game room with MAME" posts. It is nice for us vid guys to be able to be elitist snobs like the pin guys for once.

On a side note, if you want to have some fun, bring up home version pins while talking with your pin friends. I think it actually causes them physical pain just to think about it. lol

 

[jawhn]

I bought an empty Pole Position II cab and put mame in it. Love it.

Other than that, I have 13 working dedicated games in my house. Actually, wait. 12. One of them is a JAMMA 60-n-1.

Working at the moment:

MAME PPII
Joust
Rampage
Donkey Kong
Tron
Space Wars (Hells yeah!)
Pac-Man (With Shilmover's multipac board)
Championship Sprint
Defender
Ikari Warriors
Karate Champ
Dynamo HS-1 JAMMA cab with 60-n-1
Cabaret Missile Command
Warzaid

 

[Braido]

Dedicated I have:

Battlezone
Gravitar
Space Duel
Red Baron
Lunar Lander
Asteroids
Asteroids Deluxe
Armor Attack
Star Castle
Stunt Cycle
Zaxxon
Bagman
Track & Field
Defender
Robotron
Stargate
Sinistar
BurgerTime
Frogger
Monaco GP
Galaga
Ms. Pacman
Donkey Kong Jr.
Popeye
GORF
Tron
Gauntlet
Omega Race
Dragons Lair
Scramble
Tempest
Wizard of Wor
Dig Dug
Centipede
Crystal Castle


Coney Island EM rifle game
Revenge From Mars pin2000


Donkey kong - multi with DK2
Pacman - muti 4game
Space invaders - 8-1 multi
Q*Bert - new multi on the way
Star Wars - with new ESB multi
Missile Command - multi super missile attack

 

[Braido]

Dedicated I have:

Battlezone
Gravitar
Space Duel
Red Baron
Lunar Lander
Asteroids
Asteroids Deluxe
Armor Attack
Star Castle
Stunt Cycle
Zaxxon
Bagman
Track & Field
Defender
Robotron
Stargate
Sinistar
BurgerTime
Frogger
Monaco GP
Galaga
Ms. Pacman
Donkey Kong Jr.
Popeye
GORF
Tron
Gauntlet
Omega Race
Dragons Lair
Scramble
Tempest
Wizard of Wor
Dig Dug
Centipede
Crystal Castle


Coney Island EM rifle game
Revenge From Mars pin2000


Donkey kong - multi with DK2
Pacman - muti 4game
Space invaders - 8-1 multi
Q*Bert - new multi on the way
Star Wars - with new ESB multi
Missile Command - multi super missile attack

I have an Arcade In The Box it runs MAME - the only game I ever play on it is Mr. Do! And I play that a ton!!!

 

[GaryMcT]

I have 22 dedicated games including the Dig Dug that wolfeel dropped off tonight. Most are working to some degree. I'm spending most of my hobby time one getting them all working, although I like playing them more than working on them. It bugs me enough for them to not be working that I usually opt for working on them when any are broken.

Two of the machines are Double Dragon machines that I use to swap in the 30 or so jamma boards and classic boards with jamma adapters to play games that I don't have dedicated boards for. One Double Dragon is for home and one is a project to bring into work to get a lot of games in a small space. DD is good for this sort of thing since the monitor is easily rotatable and there is a drawer in the front to easily swap boards. If the DD for work doesn't get enough use, I'll bring it home and have a vertical and horizontal DD.

I use multi games where I can as long as I can't tell the difference between the multigame and the original. I use multi games for Williams games (JROK sysfpga) to play Joust and Robotron in the DD. I use another one as a backup board set for my flaky ass Defender. . This board is a virtually identical circuit to the original. My most-played game is Robotron via JROK in a Double Dragon with the correct Robotron-style Wico sticks. I'll get a dedicated Robotron at some point!

Other multi games that I use are mods/add-ons for the original hardware. I use those for Asteroids Deluxe (Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe, and to a lesser extent Lunar Lander), Neo Geo (138-in-1 cartridge), Pac-Man (Souza 4n1, soon to be Barry's awesone mutipac), Star Wars/ESB for my Star Wars, and Berzerk/Frenzy for Berzerk (need to install!)

Here's my collection (minus the JROK boards):

http://www.arcade-museum.com/members/member_detail.php?member_id=409497

I'm moving towards running out of space in the garage soon. I've stopped getting new machines for a while (except for two that I already committed to: Dig Dug and another) since we are putting a lot of money into building out our daylight basement for my folks to live in. I need a chance to get caught up on fixing machines too so I can play them and throw parties! I'll eventually build an arcade barn if I can legally do it with zoning once I can afford it. It'll be at least 36'x48'.

I don't have any pins yet, but I need to get some for my wife at some point.

I play Mame on the PC occasionally with a 360 controller or fight stick to check out games that I might like and look at memory maps, etc. Latency and video problems drive me mad, so I usually try to get the real board when possible. Looking forward to trying out Clay's latest to see how that works for me.

 

[hucklebuck73]

All these are dedicated:

Monaco GP cockpit
Juno First
Minis--Pac man, Galaga, Space Encounters
Gyruss (This is interesting though cause you can see the wood grain sprayed over, might be an early cab) Who knows.

All these aren't:

Nintendo VS (SMB)
Galaga 88 (I think Dragon Spirit)

I used to play MAME on my laptop, but now I only use it to play a game I'm not familiar with.

 

[SeaWolf]

I have 70+ dedicated games the only mame I have is on a laptop to play when I travel or to try a game I have never played for possible purchase
Ted

 

[SanTe]

27 dedicated uprights, no pins. My Qix has a 60-in-1 in it though, but it includes Qix and the cabinet is all original otherwise, so I still think it counts.

Don't play MAME as much anymore but I do keep a WolfMAME Plus 0.106 install on my PC that I can use to submit scores to Twin Galaxies if I so choose, although I haven't bothered with that in quite a while. About three years ago I embarked on a project to put together a Golden Era MAME ROM set, with all available artwork, that included all of the best games from 1976 to 1989 or so, including some cherry picked games from 1990 to 2003 that embodied the classic arcade gaming spirit. The goal was to include all the usual suspects you'd remember from that era and most of the decent games that you don't, while leaving out the garbage. I still work on it from time to time, and document its current status and my progress here:

Golden Era MAME ROM set - Need your input!
http://www.classicarcadegaming.com/forums/index.php/topic,1366

 

[blkdog7]

I have a bunch of dedicated machines in my basement and a tastefully MAME'd Ms. Pac upstairs. I play it a lot. I like not having to turn the entire arcade on to get some quick gaming in. I mostly play Ms. Pac and Galaga on my MAME cab. MAME rocks. But it'll never beat a dedicated. However, playing MS. PAC on MAME in an original cabinet is just as good if you ask me. And, I get the added bonus of about 2,000 more games if I am so inclined.

 

[OregonPacman]

4 dedicated, 1 conversion, 1 MAME (in progress). After 10 years of playing MAME on my PC, I decided to build a MAME cabinet to play games I don't have a dedicated machine for. The donor cabinet is a non-working touch screen standup (about cabaret size). It will be for horizontal games only. If it goes well, I would like to do a vertical one at some point. If it weren't for the cabinet being free and basically crappy but in good condition, I wouldn't be doing this. At this point, its doing to see if I can. I've got a working monitor and PC installed and going. I've got software and can run games but being a touch screen, there is no real control panel. I'm going to have to fabricate something but I am sort of stuck on that point.

 

[mikenj73]

I'm 37, which means I grew up in the arcade era. Therefore, I can appreciate the classics just like everyone else on here. I have a few games in my collection, but most of which are projects. However, I also have a MAME project I'm working on. It WAS a Qbert cab before I got it. For some reason, one of the previous owners converted into a Sega M.V.P. (I have no idea why). They cut up the control panel, painted the cab a flat black, and slapped a giant "SEGA" sticker on each side. They didnt even put a new marquee on it, just a black painted piece of plexiglas. Now, here's the question I ask all of you: Since this cab has already been defaced to the point where it is unrecognizeable as a Qbert, is it now ok to make a MAME cab out of it?

 

[vicjw66]

Have a mame cocktail cab with different controls on 3 sides. Haven't fired it up in a few years. The dedicated cabs I own are the only way to go. Mame is good for only checking out a game, and even then is not a very good indicator of playability.

 

[YieArKade]

I have 23 dedicated cabs and play MAME on the PC.