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Proposed Set-Top MAME Emulation Console
BRock97 writes "An interesting post over at MAMEWorld discusses the possibility of the folks at HanaHo Games (the creators of the ArcadePC and the HotRod joystick) creating a set-top system that would run the MAME emulator and allow the user to play their collection of ROMS on a TV. From what has been posted, it sounds like the unit would be comparable to an XBox (with x86 inards), run an embedded OS (sounds like it would be Linux), and the company would fully support end user hacking of the unit (i.e. boot a DivX player). They would like to hit a target price of $200-$300 and would bundle as many ROMS as they have the right to. The company is requesting feedback." I tend to think MAME is best played in a cabinet (guess thats why I built one ;) but would love to see a mame set top box, but a custom box seems harder than simply using a dreamcast or x-box to do it. Course if they can do this with permission of the original ROM makers, this could be awesome.
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Subject New Idea.. need opinions! Reply to this message
Posted by borg357
Posted on 01/07/03 02:28 PM
Hello Everyone! Some of you know me, some may not. My name is Richard and I work at a company called HanaHo Games (www.hanaho.com), where I'm a product developer. Over the years, we've created some kewl emulation products like the HotRod Joystick and the ArcadePC among other things..
I wanta drop the ball on something here, and I need some honest opinions. Over the years at HanaHo, we've gained allot of experience in creating our own embedded PCB's for use in Coin-op markets, and we also have experience in marketing, as well as some really good contacts with various partnerships in the real coin-op business.
What would you guys think about a console based gaming system (embedded hardware unit) for use for emulation? This would be an incredibly ambitious project, as we would be facing some huge obstacles! But I've been kicking this idea around for a while now.. and here's some details:
A stand alone game system, that's about the size of an X-box or PS2. It would have the ability to plug in USB game pads, HotRod, X-arcade, Slickstick, or home made joystick keyboard hacks. It would also be able to plug in to a TV or a VGA monitor, as well as direct sound output, and Network support built in. The base system, would simply boot up (within seconds), and play MAME. There would be an optional hard drive, but contain a DVD-ROM player for the games to load.
With our experience in embedded products, I feel that we could launch such a project, as an alternative to "hacking" an x-box or ps2 to play MAME. Emulation would be the main purpose for this console unit, however, it would be very similar to the way the X-Box works, in fact, given today's chip prices, we might even be able to create something even more powerful than an X-Box.
The OS would be embedded into the boot-up of the console, and we would have to reply on a team of people, working with, and creating a MAME version for this unit.
The target price I'm shooting for would be $200-300, and we would of course bundle this with as many ROMS as we can get the rights too.
There would also be some added bonuses here too.. First off, creating our own game system would solve a lot of ROM licensing issues, and also create and help legitimize MAME, while still keeping MAME as a grass roots movement. The only way this major gamble would work is to have the support of the MAME community. We know very well, that the market is now saturated with consoles and titles by some heavy hitters, but we're NOT after the same market of newer games. In fact, while microsoft is busy sueing everyone offering mod chips, we would fully embrace hacks in our system. This system, unlike X-Box or GameCube, or PS2 would be very very useful in "home-brew" arcade units, as well as the engine in our own line of cabinets we sell. It might even be a significant cost savings as a PC is actually a bit of an overkill for a MAME machine.
Take a moment.. think about it. tell me what you think..
Thanks
--
-Richard Ragon/Senior HanaHo Evangelist
http://www.HanaHo.com - HanaHo Games, Inc.
Hope this helps.
$300 is far too much money for something like this. Put it this way, over here in the UK we can buy a console that looks suspiciously like an old N64 controller which plugs straight into the TV. It holds a large amount of NES games on it. (I haven't checked the number, but there's loads.)
The price? 30 quid. That's roughly $50.
Sure, some geekier-than-thou types would get a stiffy from being able to plug Linux into their telly, but the average person won't care whether or not they get their Retro gaming fix from the NES or Arcade versions of games.
HanaHo is no fledgling company when it comes to the emulation community. They have successfully licensed a number of games in the past, and turned it into a profitable enough business.
Check out www.hanaho.com.
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I just saw this mame cocktail cabinet at a Tampa distributor. Scroll down to the bottom of this page;
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http://www.homegameroom.com/catalog/newvideo.ht
I don't think that would be much of a problem if they legally bought the rights to distribute the roms. The MAME developers put that in there as a guard against being accused of copyright violations and piracy. Take away the threat of piracy lawsuits, and I imagine they'd be perfectly willing to allow MAME to be shipped in this sort of system.
Not only is this true, but they have shipped a "MAME-Dev blessed" version of MAME in the past with a CD of Capcom ROMs. This came with their HotRod PC arcade joystick. I don't know if you can still get it this way or not, but I have one.
Hanaho has been legally distributing quite a lot of roms, with full permission of the copyright holders, for some time now.
:)
See: Capcom, for one. There are also quite a few arcade roms that have been put into the public domain over the years.
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