Author Topic: MameZach Blog Access (Read 7224 times)

pinzach · « **on:** March 30, 2012, 10:57:30 am »

Hey everyone. A couple of weeks ago, I took down my Classic Games/MAME blog as I no longer have time to dedicate to updating it and I hate when blogs sit idle, old and unattended.

But I got lots of messages and emails from folks who still wanted to go thru some of the content. So, while I still feel the same about leaving unattended and un-updated blogs up, I do realize that I took it down abruptly and without warning. So, I'm gonna make it available again for the next month ('til the end of April) so that those who give a crap can have a little more time to check out additional games and stuff. I appreciate all your feedback and if you find a new game you love because of it, please let me know!

As of May 1st, I'll be taking it down.

http://mamezach.blogspot.com/

vanrose72 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 30, 2012, 11:29:35 am »

That's sad news, pinzach. I really enjoyed reading your blog and discovering all of the odd yet fun games you covered in your posts.

I'm sorry you don't have more time to devote to it. Couldn't you post a message stating you're abandoning the blog, then just leave it out there for others to discover?

drventure · « **Reply #2 on:** March 30, 2012, 11:52:25 am »

Nuts, your ROBOTS.TXT file has prevented the wayback machine from archiving the site too.

lordnacho · « **Reply #3 on:** March 30, 2012, 12:23:15 pm »

I'd like to see a pro's/con's list of why you are removing it.

ChrisK · « **Reply #4 on:** March 30, 2012, 04:17:12 pm »

Well,

Pro: He wants to
Con: Not relevant

Thanks for putting it back up temporarily for us, Zach!

lordnacho · « **Reply #5 on:** March 30, 2012, 04:32:31 pm »

That's not how pro/con lists work

pinzach · « **Reply #6 on:** March 30, 2012, 04:47:56 pm »

ChrisK->Thanx for the support.

The only con that matters is what I wrote in the first post on the thread. I personally don't like when you search/find/go to sites that are static and get old. If you aren't still actively updating, then it's old news. I understand that the content is based on old stuff to start with, but I just don't want to add to the gazillions of dormant, unmanaged sites out there in the world. So, in order to practice what I preach, once folks have had some time to check out what they want... it's going down.

lordnacho · « **Reply #7 on:** March 30, 2012, 05:02:21 pm »

Are you going to burn books next?

Woodshop Flunky · « **Reply #8 on:** March 30, 2012, 05:31:52 pm »

I had seen you site early this year, and really liked it. I thought I'd add some new games to my son's machine... then I procrastinated for a few months.

Anyhow, I'm glad you put it back up for a while longer... This time, I'll be taking notes on the games I want to add.

drventure · « **Reply #9 on:** March 30, 2012, 05:47:28 pm »

Quote from: pinzach on March 30, 2012, 04:47:56 pm

The only con that matters is what I wrote in the first post on the thread. I personally don't like when you search/find/go to sites that are static and get old. If you aren't still actively updating, then it's old news. I understand that the content is based on old stuff to start with, but I just don't want to add to the gazillions of dormant, unmanaged sites out there in the world. So, in order to practice what I preach, once folks have had some time to check out what they want... it's going down.

Hey Zach

Just thought I'd weigh in a bit. I can understand what you're saying, and in the end, really, it's your site, so you have every right to do with it as you wish.

I would, however, throw out that I hit dozens of "old" sites every day, researching information on how to do something in, say, VB6, for some maint work I might need to do on a coding project, or info on setting up Mala to run multiple emulators, written by UncleT back 4-5 years ago. One of the great things about the internet for me is the archive of information available.

On the other hand, if it's costing you money to keep it up and you don't want to pay for it, that I can totally understand.

Regardless of what way you go, it was a nice site, and introduced me (and my daughter) to several games I'd never seen before.

popsicle · « **Reply #10 on:** March 30, 2012, 08:01:02 pm »

Would it be possible for someone else to take what you have created and continue with their own reviews/polls/etc. in a similar fashion? I really liked reading the games of the day and the in depth reviews (esp. related to how they play with various mame controls and # of players)

Anyway, thanks for the great site! I know a lot of us here tuned in regularly.

pinzach · « **Reply #11 on:** March 31, 2012, 09:56:14 am »

I don't care who downloads the entire site somehow for personal use, but someone else putting it up publicly and adding to it from there like some sort of Frankenblog would be a little weird.

I can try to re-evaluate any other options for legacy purposes, but since I hate when sites just sit there and grow old, I don't want to be a hypocrite and have mine do the same.

pinzach · « **Reply #12 on:** March 31, 2012, 09:59:35 am »

What would be great would be if everyone who reads the blog adding their two (or three or more) cents to all the Games of the Day posts by commenting on the post on the blog. I'd be very interested in games you tried that you hadn't before and if you agree with my assessment ("that dude knows his games") or disagree ("that dude is bat-crap crazy"). Either way, your comments are a welcome and encouraged addition to each GOTD post.

ChrisK · « **Reply #13 on:** March 31, 2012, 10:48:25 am »

Well, maybe the answer is to reevaluate your dislike for dead blogs? It's clear to see that people find value in YOUR dead blog, and Blogspot is willing to host it in perpetuity, so the only real harm it does is that it annoys you.

I don't want to try to persuade you to change your opinion on dead web sites, but I consider blogs the same as any other incrementally-updated document. Imagine if everybody had to turn in their National Geographic magazines when someday the magazine shuts down. The world would lose a lot of great old journalism. For another example, I know someone who has pieced together the complete history of an old rifle based on letters between various people, government inventory records, patents, and even census records. His work would be impossible without these historical records.

I'm not saying your game reviews are some sort of Rosetta Stone of arcade gaming that must be preserved for the good of mankind, but it is a part of the history of our community as any forum thread, and to me it would be a shame if it disappeared because the Internet is otherwise cluttered.

I just found your blog about five posts before it shut down; I've fooled around with emulation but only really got serious this past winter when I got my first cab running. That, and a horrible case of Skyrim means I haven't gotten a chance to play most of the games on your list yet. But I will definitely try to now!

SteveR · « **Reply #14 on:** March 31, 2012, 10:59:18 am »

I'd rather have old information than no information at all. Thank you for putting the site back up for now though.

stalemate · « **Reply #15 on:** March 31, 2012, 11:16:06 am »

Zach, I just wanted to chime in that I love your blog and I've found the following games that I love because of it:

Cyvern
Varth
Ninja Baseball Bat Man

And my cabinet has only been finished for about a month. I have been intending to keep getting game ideas from your blog, even the older posts.

I completely respect your decision to remove it, but does anyone know how I can easily archive a local copy?

drventure · « **Reply #16 on:** March 31, 2012, 05:45:25 pm »

Just in case anyone's interested, an app called WinHTTrack can scarf entire websites for local (offline/archival) use.

pinzach · « **Reply #17 on:** March 31, 2012, 08:27:04 pm »

With all the nice sentiment, I'd be a boob if I didn't try to figure a way to leave the blog up that I'm happy with. (not that I'm not a boob anyway).

Lots of good thoughts, I appreciate it. And thanks for the info on the site downloader, drventure.

Ironically, I kind of miss it in the couple of weeks I haven't done it and if I figure out a way to leave it up that I'm comfortable with, I could still occasionally add to it without the self-imposed daily pressure of the GOTD.

Louis Tully · « **Reply #18 on:** March 31, 2012, 08:46:39 pm »

Well Fed Games · « **Reply #19 on:** March 31, 2012, 08:57:15 pm »

Quote from: Louis Tully on March 31, 2012, 08:46:39 pm

Quote from: pinzach on March 31, 2012, 08:27:04 pm
Ironically, I kind of miss it in the couple of weeks I haven't done it and if I figure out a way to leave it up that I'm comfortable with, I could still occasionally add to it without the self-imposed daily pressure of the GOTD.

We'd dig a Game Of The Week, Game Of The Month or a Game Of The Whenever The Hell You Feel Like Getting Around To It. It was/is a cool site. Keep it rollin' and update when you feel like it.

Agreed. I spent hours and hours trawling through MAWS when it was still up and I am amazed you point out so many cool games I never heard of! Keep it up at whatever rate feels good for you, we will enjoy reading it whenever!

drventure · « **Reply #20 on:** March 31, 2012, 10:41:18 pm »

Quote from: Louis Tully on March 31, 2012, 08:46:39 pm

We'd dig a Game Of The Week, Game Of The Month or a Game Of The Whenever The Hell You Feel Like Getting Around To It. It was/is a cool site. Keep it rollin' and update when you feel like it.

+1!

One possible alternative is to rearrange it into something like a Wiki, were people can just contribute to it.

Of course, if you haven't got a lot of time now, I'm guessing that'd be pretty much out too

The thing is, positioning anything as a "{blank} of the day/week/month/etc" automatically imposes the pressure of a deadline, and given that this is all just fun stuff anyway, that might have been too much.

Besides, Game of the day doesn't have to mean every day, It could just as easily mean "Game of today, when I had a few minutes to write something up!"

drventure · « **Reply #21 on:** March 31, 2012, 10:42:49 pm »

BTW, did you ever write up Atari Quantum?

Just ran across it at the texas pinball fest. very strange game, pretty hard and definitely unique. I'd never see it before.

Rando · « **Reply #22 on:** March 31, 2012, 11:59:46 pm »

Quote from: pinzach on March 30, 2012, 04:47:56 pm

The only con that matters is what I wrote in the first post on the thread. I personally don't like when you search/find/go to sites that are static and get old. If you aren't still actively updating, then it's old news.

When I initially got bit by the MAME bug about a year ago and caught wind that was even possible, the first site that I stumbled across that explained how to create a MAME cabinet was several years old. But the content was enought to get me excited that this was even a reality. That site led to others, to here, and then yours.

Old static site but still had good relevant information. Your game of the Day/week/whatever is still valid after you post it, and can still serve a purpose.

Luck!

Raitsa · « **Reply #23 on:** April 01, 2012, 02:09:58 am »

Sad to see one of the most interesting MAME sites to die

pinzach · « **Reply #24 on:** April 01, 2012, 02:25:49 am »

Quote from: drventure on March 31, 2012, 10:42:49 pm

BTW, did you ever write up Atari Quantum?

Just ran across it at the texas pinball fest. very strange game, pretty hard and definitely unique. I'd never see it before.

My all-time grail game. Took me many years to find a nice one, but finally got a dedicated one about 5 years ago. Played it in the original test location at University of Illinois in '81 (U of I was awesome then for games, it was the biggest college near Chicago). Totally simple controls (just a trackball) and fascinating. Haven't made it a GOTD (was saving it) but listed as part of my hof for games for nerds here...

http://mamezach.blogspot.com/2011/12/games-for-nerds-hall-of-fame.html

pinzach · « **Reply #25 on:** April 05, 2012, 08:51:01 pm »

Okay, I relent. After all the good suggestions and nice words about the blog I have decided to leave it up (indefinitely). I realized that what folks said about the info not really ever getting antiquated because the games were already old to begin with and will be around forever was true. Time to admit I was wrong about taking it down being the better choice.

In fact, now that I have decided to leave it up AND the pressure I felt to do a post daily is removed, I have the freedom to add things in the future when I have the time. It was very fun to do and I miss adding to it. And, to that point, I actually made a post today (about a cool site, not a GOTD).

So, it'll stay and I'll add to it from time to time (including new GOTDs) - check in when you think about it.

By the way, if you click to "follow" the blog, you get notified when there is a new post so you don't have to check it to see if there's something new.

http://mamezach.blogspot.com/

Woodshop Flunky · « **Reply #26 on:** April 05, 2012, 09:21:24 pm »

Awesome news, and much thanks!

Vigo · « **Reply #27 on:** April 05, 2012, 10:16:12 pm »

ChrisK · « **Reply #28 on:** April 05, 2012, 10:55:39 pm »

Hooray!

Thanks for turning me on to Rohga: Armor Force, by the way. I never saw that one in the arcades but it's a lot of fun.

wp34 · « **Reply #29 on:** April 05, 2012, 11:13:45 pm »

Glad to hear your keeping the site up. I planned on using your BLOG to identify new (to me) games once my cabinet is done.

lordnacho · « **Reply #30 on:** April 05, 2012, 11:34:51 pm »

Added to my RSS reader

pinzach · « **Reply #31 on:** April 08, 2012, 06:40:22 pm »

And today is the first GOTD of the post-ruckus era. Nice to be posting again even if it's only haphazard.

http://mamezach.blogspot.com/

ChrisK · « **Reply #32 on:** April 09, 2012, 10:31:05 pm »

And a fun one it was! It took me a while to realize you could fall down the hole without dying (Super Mario Brothers has so twisted my reality!), but doing so made some of the levels even more fun.

Nice find! This is what I like most about your blog; trying out games I've never heard of but that at least someone else has vouched for.

dekar24k · « **Reply #33 on:** April 10, 2012, 02:27:00 am »

Thanks a lot for keeping the blog up. It's a great blog that has introduced me to quite a few MAME games I would otherwise never have played. Great job!

Le Chuck · « **Reply #34 on:** April 10, 2012, 05:47:42 pm »

Ditto, good decision. Thanks for keeping it alive.

opt2not · « **Reply #35 on:** April 10, 2012, 05:58:06 pm »

Quote from: pinzach on April 05, 2012, 08:51:01 pm

In fact, now that I have decided to leave it up AND the pressure I felt to do a post daily is removed, I have the freedom to add things in the future when I have the time. It was very fun to do and I miss adding to it. And, to that point, I actually made a post today (about a cool site, not a GOTD).

Glad you're keeping it up. And not posting daily is perfect really, 'cause it gives us enough time to fully trying out your GOTD before seeing the next one you review.

wp34 · « **Reply #36 on:** September 12, 2012, 12:11:14 am »

I've been reading through Zach's blog tonight and am getting a lot of good ideas for games to try. Just thought I would give this a thread a bump for those that may have missed it.

ChrisK · « **Reply #37 on:** September 12, 2012, 08:55:18 am »

My cab has been sitting unused for a couple months while we do home renovations, but I've got a big backlog of new games to try thanks to Zach's blog! I'm really tempted to fire the cab up for Last Mission. It seems like quite the in-depth shooter.

Haze · « **Reply #38 on:** September 12, 2012, 10:36:05 am »

I'm surprised more people don't leave comments, it makes the blog look rather lonely, although the radio of people who 'consume' rather than 'create' seems to be heading even more towards the 'consume' end up the spectrum with the various tablets and other iDevices where actually leaving a comment becomes significant effort due to the crappy input methods. It's a shame.

Le Chuck · « **Reply #39 on:** September 12, 2012, 10:41:40 am »

I leave my arcade related comments on this forum. A lot of folks are like that which is why Zach had such a public backlash whenever he tried to close the site.

drventure · « **Reply #40 on:** September 12, 2012, 11:14:47 am »

Quote from: Haze on September 12, 2012, 10:36:05 am

it makes the blog look rather lonely, although the radio of people who 'consume' rather than 'create' seems to be heading even more towards the 'consume' end up the spectrum with the various tablets and other iDevices where actually leaving a comment becomes significant effort due to the crappy input methods. It's a shame.

Amen to that. And I completely agree with your assessment of phone and *pad devices. But comments are often what keeps bloggers and such motivated. Definitely a shame.

selfie · « **Reply #41 on:** September 12, 2012, 06:24:00 pm »

Just adding my thanks to Zach for a great blog.

Well Fed Games · « **Reply #42 on:** September 12, 2012, 07:19:28 pm »

Yeah, no matter how much time I spend trawling through MAME I end up finding a new game to play via MameZach.

the_gamer · « **Reply #43 on:** September 13, 2012, 02:52:31 am »

So this is becoming the thanks to Zach thread.

I must join here. Great blog and I'm always happy to go there and read it from time to time, great work Zach!

xefned · « **Reply #44 on:** September 27, 2012, 06:53:13 am »

As a newcomer to the arcade world, I'm glad you left it up. I've stumbled upon it twice after you decided to take it down, and then decided to leave it up.


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