When is it OK to MAME a cabinet?

RetroRomper · Post by **RetroRomper** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:12 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:I might get a Spy Hunter again. They become available. I will lament the fact that I won't be able to play it until I do, because the controls can not be emulated.

Wha? I recently spy hunter on a friend of a friend's MAME cabinet on a USB steering wheel without any issues. There might be a problem of authenticity and feel because Spy Hunter was a 270 degree wheel, but generally a USB wheel works fine from the few forum posts I've seen and my own first hand experience.

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Driving_Controls
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=10541.0
http://www.gamesforum.ca/archive/index. ... 57795.html

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 6:54 am

RetroRomper wrote:Wha? I recently spy hunter on a friend of a friend's MAME cabinet on a USB steering wheel without any issues. There might be a problem of authenticity and feel because Spy Hunter was a 270 degree wheel, but generally a USB wheel works fine from the few forum posts I've seen and my own first hand experience.

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Driving_Controls
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=10541.0
http://www.gamesforum.ca/archive/index. ... 57795.html

OK. If a dude has a steering wheel, shifter knob, pedal and then five buttons on the steering wheel I would consider that acceptable. I would consider that acceptable emulation.

RetroRomper · Post by **RetroRomper** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 7:29 am

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:OK. If a dude has a steering wheel, shifter knob, pedal and then five buttons on the steering wheel I would consider that acceptable. I would consider that acceptable emulation.

It sounds clunky for a MAME cab, but as the alternative is a full Spy Hunter / Pole Position unit, it isn't a horrible option. MAME even has dedicated presets for pedals, the steering wheel triggers and shifter.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 9:45 am

Usually what happens is that people try to awkwardly bolt a steering wheel onto an otherwise flat control panel. The results are usually quite poor.

Having a horizontal MAME cab, a vertical MAME cab and a driving MAME cab, though? I'll allow it.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 9:48 am

And, of course, you can always be a dipshit like me and get a 25" horizontal cab and cram a 19" vertical monitor in it.

RetroRomper · Post by **RetroRomper** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 9:53 am

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:Having a horizontal MAME cab, a vertical MAME cab and a driving MAME cab, though? I'll allow it.

Either within a converted cab of your favorite game from that style or just with a fresh batch of side art? That would be quite awesome.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 11:44 am

Well, if you convert a game into a MAME cabinet you should hang yourself, absolutely no exceptions IN THIS THREAD. Outside of this thread I am willing to listen to arguments.

UPDATE! Spy Hunter is gone. I will miss it. I did not miss taking the fucking massive thing up the goddamn stairs.

RetroRomper · Post by **RetroRomper** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 11:48 am

I'm curious about the animosity towards MAME, when converting a cab to a 98 in 1 or whatever is okay?

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 1:26 pm

Converting a machine to a 60-in-1 only involves replacing the mother board. It is pretty simple to convert back to original.

Converting a machine to MAME typically involves gutting it. Some people use an expensive adapter to run their PC through the original arcade monitor, but most don't. Typically, you're talking about removing the original monitor, the original power supply, the original PCB, and everything else and putting a PC in the carcass of an arcade machine.

There are people out there that will dislike you for converting a dedicated machine to a multicade. There are people out there that will quit talking to you over converting one to MAME.

Much of this is dependent on the condition of the original cabinet. The first cabinet I ever converted to MAME was a broken Bloxeed machine that was originally a Donkey Kong Jr. cabinet. Again, when I stuck a PC inside it, the thing was broken and contained no original parts. I posted pictures of my work online, and the first response I got was from someone calling me a "punk ass bitch" for not restoring the machine back to DK Jr.

It is considered to be in poor taste to take one of how ever many are left classic machines, especially one that's working, and converting it to a MAME machine. It's kind of like taking surviving 57 Chevys and making birdhouses out of them.

When I explained all of this to my dad he said, "it's your machine, do whatever the hell you want to it." So there's that, too.

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 4:57 pm

So it's OK to take a crappy game and MAME it out but not a 'classic' game. I don't understand the arcade restoration etiquette on this point. Isn't a classic game mostly in the hand of the beholder? I like me Teh Bosconian and I'd never want to convert one if I owned an original but I've never heard anyone call that a classic game. Is it OK to MAME a Bosconian?

THE
MANY QUESTIONS
AARDVARK

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 6:42 pm

I once bought a Double Play Baseball machine for $100. When I picked it up I discovered that it was in a converted Robotron cabinet. I would say the side art (which is painted on, using stencils) was an 8 or so out of 10.

I got this game as part of a five-game package with no intention of keeping it. The minute I began trying to sell it, people came out of woodwork to tell me, "DOOD, you should TOTALLY convert that back into a ROBOTRON!" And all I would have needed would have been a new control panel, and joysticks and buttons, and a Robotron PCB, and a marquee. ICJ can help me out here, but I'm thinking we're talking about $300-$400, somewhere around there.

And, here's a secret. I barely like Robotron, and I'm terrible at it. I'm not sure I've ever seen past level 4.

So then what I started telling people is, "hey, YOU should buy it and convert it into a Robotron!" And people were like, "nah, YOU should do it." And this went on and on and I found a lot of people that wanted ME to convert it to a Robotron, but nobody else who wanted to.

So eventually I sold it and people called me a fool and a dummy for not converting it to a Robotron.

I think I said this in Invading Spaces, but arcade collecting is the only hobby I know of where regardless of what you do, there are 100 people waiting around to tell you that you did it wrong.

But to answer your question, if you had a working Bosconian and converted it to a MAME cabinet, yes, people would come out of the internet woodwork to call you a cocksucker.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 6:52 pm

Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man, and Bosconian all use very similar cabinets. (Bosconian is slightly, slightly different, but they are interchangeable to the point that collectors have found original, factory released machines with swapped cabinets). A Bosconian machine is probably worth $100-$200, give or take. Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga machines regularly sell for $600-$800, and are probably both in the top 10 most popular machines.

As you can probably imagine, if you could take a Bosconian and quadruple your money by converting it to one of those other two machines, you might do it. Bosconian already had a lower production run than those other two games, and add to the fact that people have converted Bosconian machines into other games, and there may not be that many of those machines left around. I mean, there are "some", but not thousands.

So, yeah. Doing that to one of those machines would get people yelling at you.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 7:17 pm

I'm at the Ms. Pac Man. I'm at the Galaga.

I'm at the combination Ms. Pac Man and Galaga!

The reason you don't love Robotron is you never got to the fifth wave. The Mommy Wave.

Once you've walked through that magnificent arena of MILFs and destruction, you cannot help but love the game forever more!!

"I like Wave 15 myself." - Jerry Sandusky

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:46 pm

RetroRomper wrote:I'm curious about the animosity towards MAME, when converting a cab to a 98 in 1 or whatever is okay?

It isn't.

I see that Vark had a similar question, so I will take back what I said before about not allowing any christing mameing in the thread. I will give you Ice Cream Jonsey's official take on converting a cabinet to MAME.

(For our purposes, MAME and the 60-in-1 boards will be treated the same. I will use the word MAME to describe both.)

I. Thou shall not take a completely working classic arcade game and MAME it.

II. If thou happens upon a gutted arcade game or cabinet, thou can do whatever the fuck thou wants to it or with it.

III. If you have tried for months to sell a particular working game and fought the good fight as long as anyone could reasonably expect, thou can do whatever the fuck thou wants to it. If purists cry about it, then they can buy the goddamn themselves or shut up. Maybe craigslisters shouldn't be such annoying tire kickers next time.

IV. If thou has a working arcade game that was a conversion-only game like Arkanoid, then it's OK to convert it to whatever the hell you want. Fair's fair.

V. If thou is going to MAME a cabinet, have dignity in doing so.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:52 pm

AArdvark wrote:So it's OK to take a crappy game and MAME it out but not a 'classic' game.

Not really. For instance, arcade collectors consider Kangaroo to be a shitty arcade game, if not one of the worst. But converting a working Kangaroo to a MAME machine isn't cool, in my opinion.

It IS OK to take an empty cab and do whatever with it. As Flack said, some people gave him shit because he had an empty DK Jr. cab and turned it into a MAME box. Getting upset about that is fucking retarded. Flack had NO Donkey Kong parts. Maybe he didn't even like Donkey Kong Jr. I will never understand the people who gave him shit on that one. It's like they are just parroting stuff they read elsewhere without understanding the why.

I don't understand the arcade restoration etiquette on this point. Isn't a classic game mostly in the hand of the beholder? I like me Teh Bosconian and I'd never want to convert one if I owned an original but I've never heard anyone call that a classic game. Is it OK to MAME a Bosconian?

Nah. Bosconian's cool.

Now, one thing I will say is that a lot of people consider Gauntlet II to be the "end" of the classic arcade line. Some people think it ended earlier, some people might consider Mortal Kombat, but the point is that some people wouldn't give a shit if you took a perfectly working Tekken machine and MAMEd it. Because they don't have the nostalgia for it, since Tekken was a later game.

But it really isn't that difficult to get a hold of an empty, stripped cabinet if the desire is there.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:58 pm

Flack wrote:But to answer your question, if you had a working Bosconian and converted it to a MAME cabinet, yes, people would come out of the internet woodwork to call you a cocksucker.

Well what kind of cocksucker would do su-- HEY wait am I part of the problem???!!

Jizaboz · Post by **Jizaboz** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 6:05 pm

A Bosconian machine is probably worth $100-$200, give or take.

That's good to know. An older co-worker of mine actually obtained one of these through a guy who was pushing it out to the street for anyone to take.

Before inviting me to a party, he told me about having a Bosconian machine. I had never even heard of the game despite going to a lot of arcades growing up. He also says.. "I don't think it works any more but you can check it out." The exterior is in excellent shape and he maintains the marquee bulb and all despite his son writing a few high scores in sharpy on one side of the machine.

So while I'm there I can't wait to go to his basement and check it out. It turns on when I plug it in and makes some noise.. but the screen is completely garbled so I unplug it. Another beer or 4 and I announce "I'm gonna fix this machine." (Of course I had zero experience with this, I only drooled over watching arcade workers do it.) Open the coin box, reach in, and push on every chip and connection I can see or feel inside. Plug it back in.. I can make out shit! Barely. Also, there's still fuzzing, buzzing and video sync problems. So then I sip on another beer while I press more firmly on everything again (while the machine is still on, heh) while a redneck co-worker watches the screen until he yells "Yer the man!" I was pretty stoked about the whole situation, as lame as it sounds. Played the hell out of that game with those dudes that night, then went home to play the MAME version for more practice. I actually really like the game itself.

He's hinted at perhaps handing it over to me sometime... if he does it will be my first cabinet and I plan on keeping Bosconian on it, though I also want to build a MAME cabinet extremely bad one day.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 6:12 pm

I say, Jerry Sandusky prefers the fifteenth wave of Robotr--

Ah, the hell with all of ya.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 6:46 pm

After seeing those, you can hardly blame the guy for having forceble sex with underage boys.

One thing that Robb touched on (and not in an inappropriate, locker room manner) is that at arcade auctions, you can typically pick up broken machines for $5-$10. The Qix cabinet my friend was going to MAME was picked up outside an arcade, waiting for the trash. My other arcade friend sells empty cabinets for $25, but when push comes to shove, you can get them for free. It's easier to give them away than it is to break them up and cram them into a dumpster.

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 3:09 am

For some reason I always thought that MAME roms were the actual arcade code and not some ported or otherwise redone clone. Huh, tells you what I know about arcade stuff.

THE
UNDER FALSE PRESERVATIONS
AARDVARK