Acmlm's Board - I2 Archive - General Emulation - Suggestions/info for home-made arcade unit?
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Private Adamant
Posts: 369/551 |
Originally posted by Alexa
Also, yes, I've seen the Namco ones. They're official, all right, which is why you'll find them for 30 bucks with five games.
Keitaro
Posts: 870/1342 |
the ones around here have 1 game on 'em  I envy you (not that I was planning to pick one up or anything, I'm just saying  ) |
tuna
Posts: 38/2 |
Yeah, I also saw a 700000 in one (I'd like to start collecting these lame pirates, heh) that was GBA-shaped.
Also, yes, I've seen the Namco ones. They're official, all right, which is why you'll find them for 30 bucks with five games. |
Keitaro
Posts: 869/1342 |
oh, I know what you meant by that. The 12000-in-1. No no, this is an official unit, theres even comercials for it. Theres no retarded n64/ps1 controllers with nes games on it like those damn hongkong pirates. |
tuna
Posts: 25/2 |
Originally posted by Keitaro
You ever heardof those things...that you plug into your TV and it lets you play Pac-Man, DigDug, and some other oldschool games? Those definately were not made by Namco yet they obviously got the rights to do so
I wouldn't be too sure. I've got one of the 12000-in-one (more like 20 ) and it's got tons of random games from all sorts of companies (SMB1, Tennis, Pinball, Pac-man, Digdug, Araknoid, BPS Tetris, Paperboy, and some sort of japanese "Go" game, or whatever) and last I heard Nintendo was going after those companies. 
Though I feel it is of interest that a friend of my mother's paid about 2000-5000$ for a Arcade PC (it's a PC in an arcade cabinet, complete with two joysticks + 7 buttons per, and two start buttons and a trackball (with two buttons for it as a mouse)) and it has literal shitloads of MAME ROM's, a program froM Capcom for their arcade games, and a few PLAY GOLF games (that are eh.)
I'm pretty sure that's legal, otherwise why would they be selling something so risky?
And it has a working keyboard/mouse and coinbox, too.  |
Keikonium
Posts: 854/-2459 |
I think that this is a really cool idea. If you do get it to work and everything, would it be possible to include a router so you can send new games to the machine from your computer? I dont know exactly how you want all this to work, but if that would be possible it would be AWESOME! |
Keitaro
Posts: 857/1342 |
You ever heardof those things...that you plug into your TV and it lets you play Pac-Man, DigDug, and some other oldschool games? Those definately were not made by Namco yet they obviously got the rights to do so (...hell i even saw comeercials for it, they are being made by JackPacific or something). So even if Nintendo dosnt necessarily liscense you THEIR games, you could indirectly get some games from old school companies who may have just happened to develope games for the NES, even though Nintendo had no part in it. I smell loophole |
Colin
Posts: 5286/11302 |
Super Systems are extremely rare - I don't even think they have proper emulation in MAME yet.
The PC-10 was the most common out of them all, and you could play two different machines and have two different game selections.  |
JDavis
Posts: 309/815 |
dan speaks truthfully. Nintendo's made two arcade systems to run NES games (Playchoice 10, VS Unisystem), one for SNES (Nintendo Super System), and one for Gamecube (Nintendo Triforce). Triforce's only game currently is the rare F-Zero AX, but the upcoming Starfox game from Namco is also supposed to have an arcade version using the Triforce hardware. Super Systems are about just as rare. |
dan
Posts: 253/782 |
Originally posted by Karadur
I remember quite a while ago, we were out at an amusement park (I think it was Canada's Wonderland) for a day, and I promptly suggested we head to the building with arcade games in it I know for a fact there was a machine that you could play Super Mario World on  The thought didn't cross my mind then, but now that I think about it, I'm sure that wasn't very legal.
Also, at a restaurant we went to once (I think it was in London), they had an smaller arcade machine set up in the front area that had Mario 1 on it. That probably wasn't legal either 
Actually, Nintendo did actually put SNES games in an arcade, so it may have been that which you saw. (I remember seeing a unit which you could play Super Tennis on, a long time ago) Also, the SMB could have been the original arcade version or the PlayChoice machine. |
Private Adamant
Posts: 360/551 |
Hre's your answer: http://www.starroms.com/
It's a rom site, but you don't simply DOWNLOAD the roms, you BUY them. I'm not sure whether you'd be allowed to charge money to let people play them, though. The FAQ says you're not allowed to sell them or give them away, but doesn't mentoin anything else. Try sending them a mail or something. |
Karadur
Posts: 157/1192 |
Originally posted by HyperHacker
And as far as remakes go, wouldn't there still be issues since I didn't actually invent the game? (Especially since I'm thinking of exact remakes of some games, such as Bubble Bobble. I'd be using the same graphics, sound etc.)
I don't think there'd be a really big problem as long as you gave proper credit to whatever company designed the graphics, sound, or whatever else you use from the game. There still might be small things with that, but nothing as big as if you were to use a ROM and Emulator It sounds like you're going to be using games that are quite old as well, so that might be a plus for you
I hope that first link is for somewhere in Canada, 'cause I tried looking for one that was for Canada, but most of the stuff turned up were links to books on how to build your own arcade machine, some page on Yahoo, etc
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HyperLamer
Posts: 2145/8210 |
Yes, I had intended to allow the player to select a game. I haven't got a reply yet. And as far as remakes go, wouldn't there still be issues since I didn't actually invent the game? (Especially since I'm thinking of exact remakes of some games, such as Bubble Bobble. I'd be using the same graphics, sound etc.)
And thanks for the link.  |
Karadur
Posts: 156/1192 |
Yep. You could remake games yourself as well. Completely forgot about that That way you don't have to worry about getting permission either. There's no negatives I can think of if you do that
Have you actually gotten a reply back from Nintendo yet? Even if you didn't, I can just imagine what they'll say right now
One other thing that came to mind was this: how are the games going to work? Is there just going to be some selection screen where you choose the game you want to play, pay, and have fun, or is there only going to be one game on the machine at a time? I know you've probably already thought about it, but I think the 'all in one' system would work better.
Giving people only one choice to make would kind of decrease the attractiveness of the thing, but then again, if you do that, you could have special games depending on what time of year it is or something. Now that I think about it, that could be done with the first idea as well. I need to stop contradicting myself
As far as what you asked in your first post about what it would take to get your machine into a public place, I just took a look, and I found this for starters. That's for North Wiltshire (wherever the heck that is ), but I assume it wouldn't change too much, if at all for other places. |
HyperLamer
Posts: 2144/8210 |
Originally posted by Karadur
When you say remakes of classic games, I'm assuming you're talking about actual programs people have made, that are meant to be played on a computer.
Well, basically yes, but I really meant re-making games like Tetris, Pong, and maybe some old Nintendo games myself. As for using other people's programs, I do intend to ask permission first, of course.
And I asked Nintendo about the licensing thing. As if we can't guess their response but it can't hurt much to ask. |
alte Hexe
Posts: 1748/5458 |
Well, if you do get licensing or permission from authors...Let me tell you one thing...I'll gladly pay for one of these units. |
Karadur
Posts: 149/1192 |
Originally posted by HyperHacker
I have seen an arcade game set up with a SNES and some games that appeared to be hacked for arcade use
I remember quite a while ago, we were out at an amusement park (I think it was Canada's Wonderland) for a day, and I promptly suggested we head to the building with arcade games in it I know for a fact there was a machine that you could play Super Mario World on The thought didn't cross my mind then, but now that I think about it, I'm sure that wasn't very legal.
Also, at a restaurant we went to once (I think it was in London), they had an smaller arcade machine set up in the front area that had Mario 1 on it. That probably wasn't legal either
Like what Disch said, I can see you needing some kind of licence for it as well. Problem is, if you do decide to use ROMs for NES, SNES, or whatever other system you might think of using, the owner of the arcade wouldn't allow you to have it there when they found out. Even being in a small nowhere town in Ontario, as you put it, there's no definite guarantee that nothing bad will happen. When you say remakes of classic games, I'm assuming you're talking about actual programs people have made, that are meant to be played on a computer.
The only problem I can see with that is getting permission from the people that wrote the programs. If they're freely available as freeware downloads on the internet, I don't think they'd like you doing that; they don't get any money from the program, so I doubt they'd like someone else having that benefit.
That basically leaves the question of what sort of games you're going to put on it. You could take your chances and use ROMs, but sooner or later you'd probably get caught. You also could seek permission from the author of a remix of an old game, and there's no telling whether that'd go good or bad. If you ask me, that'd probably be the safer of the two choices
One other thing from your first post that caught my eye:
Originally posted by HyperHacker
Another fun idea I thought of is to have a disk drive on the unit, where people could put a floppy disk to save/load save files from.
That sounds like a neat idea, but as most everyone knows, floppies aren't known to hold up for a very long time. Especially in that case, if someone just sticks it in their pocket and walks home or something. I suppose all you'd have to do is just let them know of that somehow, and that they can't blame you if their disk screws up.
In all, it sounds like a really neat idea, but unless things work out really well for you, getting this thing into an arcade might be a bit tricky. |
Dish
Posts: 201/596 |
1) You shouldn't charge to use free software. This is a hair above being as lowdown as those people that sell SNES roms bundled with ZSNES on a CD over eBay. If you're going to charge for something like this... it should be something you wrote from yourself or have gotten permission from the software authors to do so.
2) I think you need a liscence for this kind of thing. If you're going to try to get it into arcades, they'll definatly want to see some paperwork ensuring everything's on the up-and-up.
3) If the games are pirated, you probably will get snagged. I don't know about a fine or anything, but you probably will be confronted about it and possibly even have it forcefully removed from wherever you're planning on putting it.
Something like this is cool for your own personal use (and many people do it and have something like it in their own home)... but marketing it is a bad idea. |
HyperLamer
Posts: 2142/8210 |
Yeah, that's what I was worried about. (I have seen an arcade game set up with a SNES and some games that appeared to be hacked for arcade use, but I dunno how legal it was or if it even used a real SNES. ) What about remakes of classic games such as Pong and Tetris, are those legal? |
dan
Posts: 246/782 |
Originally posted by HyperHacker
As far as games go, this is the tricky part. If I just used an emulator with old Nintendo games (NES, SNES, maybe Gameboy) am I likely to get in trouble? (Keep in mind this is a small nowhere town in Ontario. ) If I write my own games, well that'd take a while and they probably wouldn't be as good.
Well, you'd be charging money for their games. Which you have technically pirated. So yeah, there's a chance that you'll get caught, and there's a chance that you'll be bled dry/go to jail. Remember, people actually report pirates to Nintendo. All it takes is one disgruntled customer to land you in the shit. |
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