What do you guys think about multi-boards? 60-in-1, 412-in-1, etc.?

[javeryh]

I'm starting to plan my 2021 build and I'm leaning strongly to trying out a multi-board instead of a PC running MAME, which is all I've really ever done.  This will be a Christmas gift for my nephew in MA (I live in NJ) so I need something extremely easy to use that won't require troubleshooting.  Vertical games only with a 4-way and two buttons (plus P1 and P2 start).

If you were looking to throw together a cabinet quickly, is one of these JAMMA boards the way to go or is there something even easier (other than retropie, which I really, really hate)?

What are the pros and cons?

[pbj]

Oh boy, it’s this thread again.

You will never beat the price and convenience of a 60 in 1.

[Haze]

They're ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.

They're old MAME versions on hardware so bad it wasn't even capable of running old MAME versions properly.

If you like terrible sound (just *try* to play Gyruss on one of the 60-in-1 units) or broken visuals (Scramble literally has broken bullets for one orientation) then sure, but there's no quality to them at all.

All those cheap Chinese multi-board crap are exactly what you'd expect from cheap Chinese crap, even the supposedly high end ones.  You're paying a premium price for absolute garbage (and some of the more recent ones even have the cheek to integrate online stores, where you can buy extra, still unlicensed, still badly emulated games, which from what I'm told takes money from your PayPal then just downloads the extra ROM from the Internet Archive)

[Mike A]

A gift for someone else?

60 in 1 for sure.

You will never get a call for maintenance.

[Mike A]

They're ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.

They're old MAME versions on hardware so bad it wasn't even capable of running old MAME versions properly.

All those cheap Chinese multi-board crap are exactly what you'd expect from cheap Chinese crap, even the supposedly high end ones.  You're paying a premium price for absolute garbage (and some of the more recent ones even have the cheek to integrate online stores, where you can buy extra, still unlicensed, still badly emulated games, which from what I'm told takes money from your PayPal then just downloads the extra ROM from the Internet Archive)

So are you going to go to his nephew's house and fix it for him every time there is a problem?

[yotsuya]

It cracks me up when I see posts like this now. 10 years ago, when I joined this board, it was taboo to even mention them. :-)

Having said that, if you’re just building something for your nephew to goof around on, I’m with Mike. I built my nephews a MAME cab for Christmas one year, and they were always figuring some way to break a game or get out of the front end or something like that. Too much of a PITA.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wp34]

Check out the BitKit.  It is a FPGA so no emulation.  High Scores can be sent to a leaderboard in the cloud and you update it via Bluetooth.  Best part is the programmer (CraftyMech) is still very actively supporting it and new games/features are added regularly.  There is also a fun Facebook group for the BitKit that has semi-regular contests.

[javeryh]

Check out the BitKit.  It is a FPGA so no emulation.  High Scores can be sent to a leaderboard in the cloud and you update it via Bluetooth.  Best part is the programmer (CraftyMech) is still very actively supporting it and new games/features are added regularly.  There is also a fun Facebook group for the BitKit that has semi-regular contests.

I was looking at this and it seems really great - but no Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Donkey Kong, etc.  All of the popular games someone would expect to be able to play are not available.  The game list is pretty good though but geared more towards nerds like us rather than the general public.  I'm assuming the ability to add roms doesn't mean any rom you want but rather the ones that are officially supported.

[wp34]

I can't link to any information on the board due to Saint's rules but I would suggest you checkout the BitKit thread on KLOV for more information.  It supports more games than you realize including a couple you mentioned.  But you are correct you cannot load just any ROM on it.

[javeryh]

I can't link to any information on the board due to Saint's rules but I would suggest you checkout the BitKit thread on KLOV for more information.  It supports more games than you realize including a couple you mentioned.  But you are correct you cannot load just any ROM on it.

Hmmm... off to KLOV for some reading...

[Malenko]

used one in the build for my mom 7 years ago, its still chuggin along.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,138831.msg1435053.html

[Zeosstud]

A Mister would be maintenance free and has a pretty good selection of verticle games.. cool thing is he could just use a controller and plug it into a TV, like any TV.. so if you didn't want to build anything, you would not have to.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Gilrock]

I recently got a MiSTer and I wouldn't call it the most user friendly device.  I'm a software engineer but I wonder how it would work out as a gift to an non-techie.  The MiSter project believes in speed and accuracy and seems to care less about a decent user interface.

[Mike A]

A Mister?

It is a gift for a kid.

How much money do you think he is going to spend?

[Mike A]

Just buy the 60 in 1. It is perfect for your particular needs.

[Zeosstud]

I did not see a disclaimer about $$$ restrictions.. For arcade games you only need the DE10 nano and some memory.. Sure it's more than a 60n1, but it is also better, so there is that..

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Zeosstud]

I recently got a MiSTer and I wouldn't call it the most user friendly device.  I'm a software engineer but I wonder how it would work out as a gift to an non-techie.  The MiSter project believes in speed and accuracy and seems to care less about a decent user interface.

If I was setting one up as a gift for a non techie, I would have a button labeled Game List ( alt-f12 ) and a button for game select ( enter )..  if you set the .ini to autoboot the last game, I agree the interface is not fancy, but I would not call it unfriendly.. It was just an idea.. we have ruled out the Pi, and the 60n1 was already brought up so.. 

I agree with you, like 100%, it is not super user friendly, but I would suggest, once someone does all the leg work, you can remove the need for network connectivity and it has no real moving parts, so it is sort of hard to break.  Being able to plug into anything with an HDMI port makes things pretty easy.. Not having to mess with Jamma could be plus.. It certainly uses very little power, so the electric bill wont go up much.

Just a thought..

-Zeosstud

[Gilrock]

I recently got a MiSTer and I wouldn't call it the most user friendly device.  I'm a software engineer but I wonder how it would work out as a gift to an non-techie.  The MiSter project believes in speed and accuracy and seems to care less about a decent user interface.

If I was setting one up as a gift for a non techie, I would have a button labeled Game List ( alt-f12 ) and a button for game select ( enter )..  if you set the .ini to autoboot the last game, I agree the interface is not fancy, but I would not call it unfriendly.. It was just an idea.. we have ruled out the Pi, and the 60n1 was already brought up so.. 

I agree with you, like 100%, it is not super user friendly, but I would suggest, once someone does all the leg work, you can remove the need for network connectivity and it has no real moving parts, so it is sort of hard to break.  Being able to plug into anything with an HDMI port makes things pretty easy.. Not having to mess with Jamma could be plus.. It certainly uses very little power, so the electric bill wont go up much.

Just a thought..

-Zeosstud

Thanks I don't even know enough about it yet so those ideas are news to me.  I saw where someone 3D printed a case for the MiSter where you use a keyboard and it kinda looks like an Atari 800 so I'm going to attempt that.  That's actually the only games I got running so far was a few Atari 800 games I remember liking as a kid.  Shamus was one of them and Miner 2049er.  For that system what's a little confusing is it asks you to pick things like how much memory the system has and some games load as cassettes others as ROM cartridges just like the originals.  If I don't play it for a week I gotta relearn some of that.

[Gilrock]

This is the MiSter case I was planning to 3D print:

[javeryh]

used one in the build for my mom 7 years ago, its still chuggin along.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,138831.msg1435053.html

Now this is good info - thanks Malenko!

I don't really have a budget in mind - ease of use and durability are what I'm looking for so the 60-in-1 seems like the right call for this particular project.  Ideally, I'd like to keep the thing under $300 all in.  The guts will run me $50 plus a $35 monitor.  Materials around $100 most likely plus paint, glass, CPO, marquee, etc. will easily add to another $100.  Going to be tough.  But if I target $400 it will end up being $500 LOL.

[Zeosstud]

Best of luck with your build!!  Your a good Uncle!!

-Zeosstud

[Gilrock]

I agree the RetroPie can be a pain.  I did just make a bartop running RetroPie for a friend.  I put it in Kiosk mode to prevent the kids from causing too much damage.  No issues yet.  It was looking pretty sweet I created custom loading videos and had preview artwork and videos all setup.  I didn't put 3000 games on it just something like 65 Mame games, top 50 Neo-Geo games, 15 NES games, small number of Sega Genesis games, and I had Dragon's Lair I & II and Space Ace running.

[Zeosstud]

How does DL and the other Daphne games run on the Pi?  I am going to use one to rebuild one of my cabinets and was just curious.. If you get a chance you might try the Wii version of the Don Bluth Dragon's Lair Trilogy using Dolphin.. Stupid easy to setup and it looks great, has a few different settings and can be setup just like it was in the arcade.. I actually finally, after 53 years on the planet beat Dragons Lair using that setup, beat it on my phone and on one of my cabinets just for fun..

-Zeosstud

[Gilrock]

I really only know Dragon's Lair I and it seems to play fine as long as you have the input setup correctly.  On one of the bartops I put the joystick input on the easyget zero delay encoder where it showed joystick axes at the top instead of switch inputs and they were leaf switches and worked most of the time but caused issues in Dragon's Lair which does not like inadvertent inputs.  I switched them over to the button inputs and it ran great.  I've beat Dragon's Lair I on my Mame cab but its been awhile and would take me a bit to get all the patterns down again.  I didn't see any lag at all on the RetroPie using a Pi 3B+ in one cab and a Pi 4 in another.

[Zeosstud]

Great info, appreciate it.. I did not have the $$$ to beat it back in the day, it was the first game we saw in Rolla MO that cost more than a quarter to play!!  Not gonna lie, I was pretty happy with myself when I finally finished it.. :-) 

-Zeosstud

[javeryh]

I've been looking at all sorts of solutions and came across something called ArPiCade which looks like it uses a raspberry pi plus some JAMMA converter that attaches to the pins on the pi but there is also custom firmware for it that you flash to an SD card.  Not retropie - yuck.  The few videos I've watched on YouTube make the interface look clean and the settings menu can only be entered by using a keyboard (that I assume gets plugged into one of the pi's USB ports).  Do any of you have experience with this?

This seems like it would be a clean interface if you limit the games to 4-way; vertical; 2 buttons:

[alfonzotan]

Check out the BitKit.  It is a FPGA so no emulation.  High Scores can be sent to a leaderboard in the cloud and you update it via Bluetooth.  Best part is the programmer (CraftyMech) is still very actively supporting it and new games/features are added regularly.  There is also a fun Facebook group for the BitKit that has semi-regular contests.

I was looking at this and it seems really great - but no Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Donkey Kong, etc.  All of the popular games someone would expect to be able to play are not available.  The game list is pretty good though but geared more towards nerds like us rather than the general public.  I'm assuming the ability to add roms doesn't mean any rom you want but rather the ones that are officially supported.

Ms. Pac, many versions of Pac-Man and Crazy Kong are all in the current BitKit. Edit: and Galaga. Just added recently.

[pbj]

Pi is great until someone flips the power switch and it kills your image.

[Gilrock]

I keep a backup of my Pi images but I've never seen one get corrupted.

[javeryh]

It would be ideal to be able to use the Arpicade image without the need for the Raspberry JAMMA since I’ll be connecting to a VGA monitor but I doubt that’s an option.

Is there even such a thing as an image for the pi that just runs MAME (not Retropie) and has a “front end” like the pics I posted above?  I’m sure this is all going to lead me to the 60-in-1 but there are a lot of options out there apparently.

[KenToad]

I keep a backup of my Pi images but I've never seen one get corrupted.

Same here.

The problem with the pi is all the customization stuff. I finally got mine setup in a case with a fan, power button, shutdown script, all the nonsense hidden, games all tested, artwork added, but it was a huge PITA that I never want to do again.

However, the pi isn't great for MAME games. It's good for consoles, especially PC Engine/Turbografx (from what I read) and Playstation 1 (as long as you don't mind losing rumble). GBA also looks really good on a big screen through HDMI.

[Gilrock]

I agree RetroPie was a pain to get going but only a few days.  I’ve had just as many complaints when I need to upgrade a Mame setup after two years and forgetting everything.  I must pick games that work well on the Pi.  I mainly only like the games earlier than 1990.  But I don’t really build the cabs to actually play them...lol.

[javeryh]

The problem with the pi is all the customization stuff. I finally got mine setup in a case with a fan, power button, shutdown script, all the nonsense hidden, games all tested, artwork added, but it was a huge PITA that I never want to do again.

When you say "all the nonsense hidden" does this also include the "Retropie" menu?  That is the deal breaker for me.  What I wish you could do is boot straight to the "Arcade" game list and not be able to back out of it.  But I don't think it works that way.  The Retropie menu is confusing when all you have is Arcade games installed and is an easy way for guests to completely screw something up. 

The image I messed around with has no boot images/text and goes straight into the list of emulators (so 1 button power on -> blank screen -> system menu) but the Retropie settings menu is still there.  I wish there was a way to disable it completely but still get into it by pressing F4 or something.

[Zeosstud]

Have you had a look in the Pi section of the forum, thread about, dedicated Mame appliance.. That seems like it might be an option here..

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[javeryh]

Have you had a look in the Pi section of the forum, thread about, dedicated Mame appliance.. That seems like it might be an option here..

I did see it but haven't really looked into it in detail.  At first glance it looks like standard MAME GUI, which is great and all but not what I'd want to run on a cabinet.  If I can skin it that would be a game changer.

[KenToad]

The problem with the pi is all the customization stuff. I finally got mine setup in a case with a fan, power button, shutdown script, all the nonsense hidden, games all tested, artwork added, but it was a huge PITA that I never want to do again.

When you say "all the nonsense hidden" does this also include the "Retropie" menu?  That is the deal breaker for me.  What I wish you could do is boot straight to the "Arcade" game list and not be able to back out of it.  But I don't think it works that way.  The Retropie menu is confusing when all you have is Arcade games installed and is an easy way for guests to completely screw something up. 

The image I messed around with has no boot images/text and goes straight into the list of emulators (so 1 button power on -> blank screen -> system menu) but the Retropie settings menu is still there.  I wish there was a way to disable it completely but still get into it by pressing F4 or something.

Yeah, the nonsense is all that configurable stuff in the Retropie setup menus and text loading screens and booting into the most accessible list. Also, I should say, every Pi image that I've ever looked at was about 60% finished, mainly because the image creators copy each other's work and therefore each other's mistakes. It's annoying to see the same essential games, art, etc. either broken or missing in image after image.

I think you can make it as simple as a single list of arcade games with no ability to do anything but launch and exit games from the control panel, but it will take some config editing and probably messing around with scripts. Personally, I have a linux laptop to be able to manually edit the config files and gamelists, etc. within the opaque Pi folder structure. If you don't have something similar to edit linux files, you might have to access the Pi wirelessly through your PC or mess around with connecting a keyboard to the Pi (it's even difficult to use a keyboard, as the default is to use a British (IIRC) standard layout, so that several buttons will be wrong on your US keyboard until you figure out how to change that) and then struggle to navigate the Dos-esque interface that's built into the Pi.

If you can find a video tutorial that covers your exact preferred setup or a preconfigured image that looks like the 60 in 1 and you have a ton of spare time to clean out the crap, add what's missing, and simplify it even further, then maybe a Pi would be worth it. Otherwise, the 60 in 1 style board sounds like definitely the way to go. Even easier and possibly cheaper might be to get one of those mini consoles and just do a gamepad hack to interface it to arcade controls.

[pbj]

Yeah, you can do all that ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- or just get a $30 multiboard.

Your nephew or side piece or whatever will be bored with it in 2 weeks no matter what you do.  Keep it simple and cheap.

[yotsuya]

Yeah, you can do all that ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- or just get a $30 multiboard.

Keep it simple and cheap.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mike A]

If I said it once. I will say it a bunch more times.

pbj is usually right.

[Ond]

So the multi-board is the way to go for the level of effort vs the reward.  Good.  I have a question, what is the level of crap-ness of some hardware or software solution for a games machine that a kid WOULD tell the difference and care?  So long as stuff is moving around on the screen and going bleep bleep is it all good?