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Arcadeworx - completed machines?


Zoltrix

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Hi all,

 

I had a quick question about he completed machines you can purchase from Arcadeworx (http://www.arcadeworx.com.au/product/completed-4-player-upright/). What do they run on? The website doesn't seem to go into much detail. Are they using a game board? Or a PC setup of some kind?

 

I've emailed them a couple of days ago, but no response yet.

 

Cheers,

Zolt

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Generally speaking, PCs are more powerful and run emulation software with fewer hiccups. They're also more configurable, which is both a good and bad thing pending if you like to tinker. The good aspect is you can fine tune things to how you want, the bad aspect is it requires work on the end users behalf.

 

Those all in 1 jamma boards such as the Pandora's box etc are great as they're cheap and plug n play, however they're not so great when it comes to performance and quality of emulation.

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Thanks heaps for the advice mate, that is what I had been reading when doing some research, etc. I don't mind tinkering with computer stuff. Have had a RetroPie setup in the past, etc. And have run various emulators on Windows before.

 

Not good on the handyman side of things. So was thinking a pre-built cabinet would be the way to go, then I could configure the rest myself.

 

At this stage I'm thinking one of the cabinets that allows you to slot a tank stick in, so I don't have to wire up buttons, etc. Is there any downsides to that kind of setup?

 

Cheers,

Zolt

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Personally, I'd rather have ArcadeWorx fabricate an empty control panel, with hole cutouts for buttons and sticks and use whichever brand of buttons / sticks you prefer.

 

But to rewind a little bit, I'd rather find a complete traditional cab wired from jamma and go from there. Grab a few original hardware multis and away you go.

 

Downside is it may not be easy to find a suitable cab for sale.

 

Depends on your preferences really. Are you an avid gamer, do you want the authentic arcade experience? If so, you will be better off with an original cab, CRT monitor and genuine jamma game boards. More headache but much more reward.

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Are you an avid gamer, do you want the authentic arcade experience?

Yep good question. Bit of both I guess. Would love the authentic arcade experience, but would also like a machine that could do lots of different things. MAME, other console emulators as well, etc.

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Well a PC setup is quite involved, potentially the most costly but it yields the best results. Aside from software configuration, you'll need to sort out controls via a USB encoder. For video, either a 15K compatible video card for CRT or just use a VGA monitor. Then tons of software config.

 

Another option is an Rpi. Not cheap once you purchase all required components and not as powerful as a PC, will still require configuration etc. I think the only benefit is size, it's quite compact. Could go the cheaper route, USB encoder and HDMI output, or grab an Rpi to jamma interface which will take care of video, controls etc, pretty much everything. They're sold on these forums.

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sort out controls via a USB encoder.

That would be if you didn't got a tankstick, is that correct?

 

or grab an Rpi to jamma interface which will take care of video, controls etc, pretty much everything. They're sold on these forums.

What does this do?

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Console games are meant to be played on a couch, with a console. Console arcade ports are generally (almost always) worse than their arcade counterparts. If you want to play console game, emulate them to a TV with a controller, or better yet, stock up on original consoles :)

 

Arcadeworx have a great rep around here, unlike some of the other cab builders. I am 90% sure they used to configure PCs for builds, so maybe contact them and ask if they still configure PC MAME builds. If you don't want to do it yourself, getting a properly configured, recent MAME build with a nice frontend is the best possible option.

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I've never seen anyone play a lot of the console games on a "mame" cab. I have two machines that all up can play around 60,000 games and I only play arcade in them.

 

Brad

 

I play a fair bit of console on my mame cab :) There are some console games that work brilliantly with Arcade controls, even if it's not the way they are 'meant' to be played.

 

Sega Megadrive games especially work well with Arcade controls as the original controller didn't have shoulder buttons (unlike the snes controller) so most of the best Megadrive games play great with just three buttons. Some games are more playable, feel better with Arcade controls.

 

Speedball 2, Lotus Turbo Challenge, NHL95, all see a lot of play on my mame cab. also enjoy IK+ (c64 version) with Arcade controls, and Bruce Lee, Ghosts and Goblins. Anything NES related is great, minimal controls in that era.

 

any game that doesn't rely on shoulder buttons and is playable with 3 buttons or less is great with Arcade controls. So Megadrive, SMS, NES, C64, Amiga, all play great on a cab. (if you like the retro-computers you'll also need a little palm-size KB connected to your cab to cope with their myriad of KB presses needed at times...)

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