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MAME Emulating a Sonic the Hedgehog Popcorn Machine (polygon.com)

Posted by timothy on from the all-things-to-all-hedgehogs dept.

New submitter AmericaCounterweight writes: Polygon is reporting that the MAME development team has unearthed and emulated one of the most obscure pieces of Sonic heritage: a popcorn machine. MAME developer David Haywood reports that contributors "purchased the PCB for another novelty Sonic item, this time a SegaSonic Popcorn Shop, a popcorn dispenser machine with a video display. It runs on the Sega C2 board (Genesis type hardware)." This follows news from earlier this year that the MAME team would be switching to a true Open Source license for the project and concentrating on more than just arcade games. MAME project coordinator Miodrag Milanovic also recently appeared at the BalCCon2k15 event to speak about MAME, the current direction of the project, and software preservation.

20 of 33 comments (clear)

  1. I appreciate the mame guys by GoodNewsJimDotCom · · Score: 1

    Back in th

    --
    God spoke to me
    1. Re: I appreciate the mame guys by GoodNewsJimDotCom · · Score: 2

      Sorry for half comment, mobile device some how posted. I appreciate the mame guys because back in the day you'd go to the arcade and come back another day and your favorite game would be gone! Those machines break and if no one fixes them, they're done for. Mame preserves the games.

      --
      God spoke to me
    2. Re: I appreciate the mame guys by timrod · · Score: 3, Informative

      Actually in some cases, there were arcade boards that had planned obsolesence built into them. All of the Capcom Play System boards (CPS1, CPS2, CPS3) had various forms of what was known as a "suicide battery". In some boards this was a battery powering a RAM chip that contained a decryption table for the game. Once the battery died, the RAM would lose the decryption tables and make it impossible for the board to work. Others had a "suicide battery" that powered the game's graphics hardware, and needed a hardware-level fix (beyond just replacing the battery) to get the game working again. Sega also had their own suicide battery system for some of their hardware, but Capcom was the biggest offender.

      MAME bypasses all of this suicide hardware, and from what I recall some of the people on the MAME project worked on some of the software-level fixes necessary to get the older boards working again.

    3. Re: I appreciate the mame guys by netsavior · · Score: 1

      I opened up a CPS2 machine once, and the guy who had it before me had parallel wired up about 3 of those 3.6v batteries to the ramboard. there was a brittle sticky note on the inside of the plastic cover that said "Don't touch this battery solder in a new one"

      I admire the guy's genius of a hack, not sure if it actually worked, but that shitty Capcom trick removed any residual guilt I may have had about MAME.

    4. Re: I appreciate the mame guys by KGIII · · Score: 1

      I bought a Super Street Fighter II Turbo stand-up (and an older PacMan) and both sit in my basement collecting dust. I've been meaning to turn them both into MAME boxes for years now. *sighs* So many forgotten and half-done projects.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  2. FTFA by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 2

    "That game, not the actual popcorn-making, is what's supported on MAME."

    Nothing to see here, move along :(

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    Summation 2
    1. Re:FTFA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Nothing to see here, move along :(

      Something to see, nothing to taste.

  3. Curry? by Dan+East · · Score: 1

    a 1993 vending machine which dispenses popcorn in one of three flavors—salted, butter or curry.

    I've never heard of curry flavored popcorn before.

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    Better known as 318230.
    1. Re:Curry? by donkwich · · Score: 2

      Curry flavored snacks is very much a Japanese thing, Google image search "japan curry flavored snack" for more examples. They love curry over there.

    2. Re:Curry? by jonathan.e.bell · · Score: 1

      Oh wow. If you have not had it before, I highly recommend it. A dash of salt, curry, and cayenne pepper on homemade popcorn is amazing. It's really not hard to do on the stove top.

    3. Re:Curry? by slashdice · · Score: 1

      And then do a Google image search for "tubgirl" for another Japanese thing. Bet you're no longer hungry for popcorn!

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      Copyright (c) 1990 - 2014 Dice. All rights reserved. Use of this comment is subject to certain Terms and Conditions.
    4. Re:Curry? by donkwich · · Score: 2

      If anything it just makes me crave a Fanta.

    5. Re:Curry? by rsmither · · Score: 1

      Also a very common flavor in Indian snacks. I imagine it is very common across much of Asia.

  4. Sonic, He Can Really Move by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Sonic, he can pop corn faster than the speed of light.

  5. On "concentrating on more than just arcade games." by Red_Chaos1 · · Score: 1

    "This follows news from earlier this year that the MAME team would be switching to a true Open Source license for the project and concentrating on more than just arcade games."

    This somewhat confuses me. M.A.M.E. stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. While the concession stand was part of the arcade (depending on what one you went to), most wouldn't consider those machines "arcade machines." This popcorn machine has a game in it though, so I can see that. I suppose even the redemption games and such might get a pass. So what else would they focus on besides arcade games with the name of the emulator being all about that specifically? Will they start emulating the coin changers? Hot dog rollers? Cotton candy spinner?

  6. Re:On "concentrating on more than just arcade game by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

    And the word "concentrate" is used in the opposite sense of what concentrate actually means.

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    Circumcision is child abuse.
  7. Re:On "concentrating on more than just arcade game by MrLogic17 · · Score: 1

    Sure, why not? What does the arcade community lose by preserving related devices?

    I'm all for the Google approach - more data is better. Pile on the devices!

  8. Aw yeah by Vyse+of+Arcadia · · Score: 1

    Now this is news for nerds.

  9. pinmame needs to get the redemption games by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    pinmame needs to get the redemption games that are missing dumps. Some of the 90's ones even used pinball hardware.

    Others are very to easy to emu if the roms are dumped and you can use something like Visual pinball for the coin rolling parts.

    There are other PC based games from the 90's that need to be dumped and put in to mame.

    lasertron redemption I think mostly pc based hardware games are needed. Some one on YouTube with one had to a be ass when asked for the roms / software and state the copyright BS. Well mame is about saving the games and I think that even pinball maybe dead right now if not for the visual pinball and pinmame comeing out in the late 90's / early 00's

  10. Mame? by 0xdeaddead · · Score: 1

    I always love their abusive rants to me and others who dare touch any other emulator.

    If some project needed a code of conduct, it is mame