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The principles (sp?) of that community wish to run it in almost a cult-like scientologist manner, with total control over the distribution of tables, executables, and all other files needed. They also clamp down on any sort of dissent on the forums. It's the most pathetic thing I've ever seen. Years ago, Vintage Gaming wanted to distribute some of the files needed for vpinball, and they raised a HUGE stink about it. It was so laughingly pathetic, but there wasn't jack shit they could do but whine whine whine.

Thankfully, we have usenet and torrents, where I can leech all I want, without having to submit myself to the cult, their asshole "leaders", and that fucking forum.

The only thing I can think of to differentiate yourself from the majors right now is to stock imports and the means to play them. In this way you will have things that the big chains mostly don't have. When I was contracting in Virginia I loved to drive out to this one non-chain store that carried imports. Ideas can be had from NCS and Lik Sang. Get a few Messiah NEX systems, and some old NES games for them to appeal to the nostalgic market.

There was one rap group that used a Beats of Rage mod to advertise themselves, though I have no idea how that worked out for them.

The biggest problem though is getting people actually to the store. If you could get people to come once a week, for some kind of competitive game night, they might buy or at least come back.

I thought this article about Animenation was interesting:

Right hobby, right time

Of course, they built their online business first and the retail store came later.

Just goto VGN and get your roms, who needs this tard!

Wha? you mean Marat isn't running a totally successful business?

sorry. I couldn't even say that one with a straight face.

I'm not too worried. the image is already copyrighted by Oscar Controls, and has been in commercial use for ages, as MAMEworld.net uses it for all their banner advertising. not to mention all the people contacting the USPTO on the MAMEdev's behalf.

if I were a MAMEdev, I'd be contacting the Electronic Frontier Foundation about this.

maybe a certain Site Admin or two should start a campaign to email the USPTO to make sure this never goes through.

Everything is here.

The default settings in Internet Explorer are one of the biggest causes of spyware insertion. The problem is that spyware on a page causes IE to come up with a message window that says "Would you like to install FREE toolbar from foo.bar?" and then at the bottom it says something about a security certificate.

Well, as you all know, anyone can go to Verisign and buy a certificate for authentication purposes, but most people take certificates to mean that it's certified safe software. For the uninformed user, there's little difference between this and the latest Macromedia Flash plug-in.

Even worse, there are a lot of sites that cause Internet Explorer to go into a loop with the plug-in. By that I mean:

1. Plugin for "FREE SphyWhere Inc. ToolBar Search!" presents itself to user.
2. User presses "No" button or the close window button to avoid installation.
3. IE comes back with a dialog that says "You MUST install free toolbar to gain access!" and then has to click the "Ok" button or the close window button on THAT dialog.
4. Process repeats itself at Step 1 and continues in perpetuity unless the user is fast enough to be able to close the actual browser window before the plugin pops up, or until the user consents, or unless the user shuts down Internet Explorer.

This occurs primarily on porn sites, but it will occur many times on legitimate sites (e.g. VG-Network, formerly Dave's Video Game Classics for classic games and one of the music lyric sites (can't remember which off the top of my head).

The root of the problem here is that - surprise - Microsoft has continued to let websites exploit this peculiarity in its browser. The end result is that users get frustrated and either inadvertently or out of frustration simply allow the spyware to be installed. Even worse, if the user is dumb enough to have "Low" set on their security settings due to their own inability or unwillingness to learn about basic browser functionality, all this spyware will get installed automatically. Some users I believe continually complain about their computer being slow to the point where they're prompted to upgrade unnecessarily because of spyware they don't know that they have.

So...on every fresh Windows install I do, I do it behind a NAT router to begin with, install all service packs and security updates and drivers, then put a software firewall on the computer, then an antivirus app with Trojan detection, and finally a spyware removal app. Then I instruct people to go to Windows Update every day, their virus update every day, and Spyware check every week.

Isn't spyware fun?

Was BAR NONE the best 8 bit computer. All you Atari or Apple users know its true too! VGN --- the BEST emulation related resource on the net!

As someone that visits that site rather infrequently, I can tell you that Wraggster's newsposts are always like that. The whole purpose of a newspost is to get a bit of info, if you are interested, you get more information, if not, you read the next newspost or go on about your business. You read it, you understand it, you shouldn't gripe about it.

BTW, wraggs posted the exact same newspost over at vg-network

Built in winter 1999-2000 and since parted out:

Video Invasion caberet

Yeah, it's pretty ugly, but I got to test the incredible I-Pac control panel interface. The I-Pac in my cab is the prototype for the 6-input model.

Since (sort of) getting out of the coin-op amusements business, I've been giving away free cabinets for MAME projects as I get them in, in the hopes that old, dead, "undesirable" machines get a second life as a living, breathing MAME machine.

Theres an XBOX emulator out now that plays Halo on the PC at VGN!

Funny with all this MAME talk that Dave's Classics (now Vintage Gaming Network) is still alive and kicking everyone else's ass in the emu scene. http://www.vg-network.com. Even the narcers like fatila, gridull and emulimted couldn't kill it off no matter how hard they tried!

A lot of sites (like the once really cool but now really pathetic Vintage Gaming Network) now block downloads or forum access or other features if you block popups.

there never was a DirectX 4.

Odd, then, that you can find help, support and training for it, software that requires it, and even bugs in it then.

Oh what I wouldn't give for every issue of Electronic Games Magazine. The publication was the magazine to read from 1981-85. It offered reviews, strategy guides, and more, for arcade and home games in the golden age of video gaming. Here is a Website with all of the magazines covers, and blurbs about each issue. Today, issues of Electronic Games are coveted, and fetch a pretty decent penny on Ebay. Loomis

I interviewed some classic game designers, including Al Alcorn, the engineer who worked on the coinop Pong for Atari (then Syzygy). You can read those here.

I also maintain former Atari coinop designer Owen Rubin's (Space Duel, Major Havoc) website. Yeah, I know the tables are screwed up on the pages in anything but IE. Call it my lack of knowing REAL html :)

Actually, the site has now moved to Vintage Gaming Network. You can view the new page here.

Actually, the site has now moved to Vintage Gaming Network. You can view the new page here.

Children with learning disabilities in upstate New York, where playing videogames is proving valuable in helping youngsters to overcome the life-stunting, and often embarassing, handicap of dyslexia

also

Videogames may be hazardous to our nation's youth, says United States Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop. Admitting that he has absolutely no scientific evidence whatsoever to support this brazien statement, Dr. Kopp adds the good news that many young people in this country are already addicted to the games "body and soul". And, no, he has no proof to support that allegation, either.

Some people find some things irrelevant, others find those same things funny and history repeats itself...

I recall Nintendo and Sega using similar arguments to go after sites distributing console emulators.

True. That's why you can't find any console emulators anywhere anymore.

get into emulation! a good site to start out with is VintageGaming Network. Enjoy! =)

Sorry.... damn typos.

The site is arcadehistory.com. The interview is here.

...visit my site at arcadehistory.com. Read in particular the interview with Al Alcorn, Atari employee #1.

As was posted earlier by Demigod2k (or was it 99?), Computer Space (from Nutting & Associates)is generally known as the first coin-operated video arcade game. CS was a stand-alone version of Spacewar! It is also known as the first coin-operated video game flop; it sold less than 2,000 units. Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney took the royalties from CS and formed Syzygy, which later became Atari (the original name was taken). Al Alcorn was hired and given the task of designing a tennis game. Nolan lied to Al and told him they had a contract with GE to create the game, when in actuality it was an exercise to see how Al could handle the job (the idea was to create a racing game afterwords). They put the game on location, and it did so well that the coin mechanism got jammed with quarters.

And so launched the gaming industry as we know it...

Take your pick of 4 different ones from either www.zophar.net or www.vg-network.com.

-Legion