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Proposed Set-Top MAME Emulation Console

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the wouldnt'-that-be-fun dept.

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.

3 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. New system would make sure coders get $$$. by Viewsonic · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Unlike stealing a bunch of ROMs are you are doing on your XBox.

    1. Re:New system would make sure coders get $$$. by glesga_kiss · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Argh! Piracy is not stealing, not that old argument again. If it were stealing, the courts would have decided long ago that there are no need for anti-piracy laws, because the anti-thieving laws already cover it.

      And as you can't buy these ROMs anywhere, how are you depriving someone of any income? Even if you were paying for them, who would the money go to? Not the original developers, I can tell you that much!

      Can you say "victimless crime"? No one is hurt, so frankly I couldn't care less. I base my life around what is morally correct, not what is on the lawbooks.

  2. Re:Charge something nominal for ROMs? by orbital3 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Someone give me an affordable, *legal* way to play those good old games I miss from the past, please. (emphasis mine)

    I agree with this completely, and this is the big reason I very rarely buy those compilation packs of old games. When someone's trying to sell me a collection of 10 old Atari games for $30 and there's only maybe 3 of the 10 I actually care about, that's not very good value for my money. Those old games were fun, but not so much that I'd want to spend $10 on each one... that adds up pretty quick when there's 10 games you want. There just isn't that much gameplay in those old games considering you can go pick up two-year-old PS2 games for $20 that give you ALOT more playtime. I'd easily drop $200 on a legit MAME romset. With 2045 unique games (3596 including clones), that comes out to about $0.10 each. Yeah, there's probably quite a few of those (maybe even most) that I wouldn't care a bit about, but I'm still getting alot better value than what's available now. And that's better for all of them because they'd at least be getting _something_ from me, while right now, they're not getting a penny.