Main > Everything Else
Look at me, I, I mean WE are a real company!
fredster:
How's looking anyway? Does anybody know of anybody that has gotten busted for doing this?
The only way somebody will spank you with this is if you go big time. One or two machines won't matter. What would matter is if somebody made and sold or put into commercial operation a lot of these machines.
Namco might, IT might if somebody stole GT 2004 like that. But most of the other companies are dead.
If Nintendo got upset over the emulators they'd hammer, but not like file sharing. They don't have the money to go after a group like that.
saint:
I think one of the big picture things missing is simple respect for the devs' wishes. Their reasons for their position isn't the issue really. There isn't a legal issue at play here regarding the MAME software. ROMs of course are self-obvious. But, if the MAME devs don't wish their software distributed, I think out of respect for what they do one should abide by it. If not out of simple respect, then bear in mind that they could simply decide to pull the project.
1UP. I don't think it's that big of a deal to point out to customers where to get MAME. You can pre-install other software for them, either freeware/shareware or commercially purchased software. That gives them something to test and play with. Loading up additional software they can do as they choose. It's possible to play a bunch of fun stuff that's arcade oriented without delving into emulation. The software forum post on games worth playing would be where I'd look as to what to load up on the cabinet. I really think MAME will be 100% a non issue. Those who know MAME will get it if they want it. Those who don't won't shun the cabinet just because it doesn't come preloaded with MAME.
When do I get my review unit <grin>?
Good luck and cheers!
--- saint
1UP:
--- Quote from: patrickl on November 18, 2004, 04:55:21 pm ---Perhaps I'm missing something r maybe my license is old, but where in the MAME license does it mention that you cannot put MAME on a cab that you sell? It says you cannot sell MAME and that you cannot reuse the source code in a commercial product. I saw no mention of charging for the media or about pre-installed or not.
--- End quote ---
That's the way I read it, but I guess selling a cabinet with Mame on it is equivalent to selling Mame. According to at least one dev.
--- Quote ---The way I see it, you can distribute MAME on a CD or DVD right? You're just not allowed to charge money for MAME, but charging a nominal fee for the media on which MAME is distributed is pretty standard practice. In this case the media just happens to be a cab and not a DVD.
--- End quote ---
I think this is the key. Like paige said above, I think it's only wise to put everything on separate discs for customer backup purposes. If the only charge for the service is the cost of the media, and if I will provide the CD without a cabinet purchase, I don't see how they could possibly argue that I was selling Mame.
BUT, no matter how I argue, no matter how I rephrase, I can not get the devs to tell me that it is OK to put Mame on the HD. Try it yourself, you won't get very far before the hate begins.
shmokes:
I liked the idea of the flat shipping charge for everything you ship. $300 to ship a full-size cabinet. $300 to ship a free CD-R with MAME on it. :P
Of course you might run into problems if you plan to sell anything else on your site, such as replacement parts or upgrades.
It seems to me that the best thing to do is like Paige said. Have an installation disc. Most products that you buy have installation discs, so it won't seem strange to the customer. You can pre-install everything else, but the installation disc has to be run before it will work. Then make the disc available to anybody who wants it. Advertise that anybody can order the disc in the "support" section of your site. Non-customers are NEVER going to track down your site to have a disc sent out that can be downloaded in no time at all from dozens of sources on the internet. Even if someone actually WANTED a disc rather than downloading it, they are unlikely to find your site.
1UP:
--- Quote from: saint on November 18, 2004, 05:27:57 pm ---I think one of the big picture things missing is simple respect for the devs' wishes.
--- End quote ---
Absolutely, and that's why I've been so tortured by this. I really don't want to just "go ahead and do it" like I've been told so many times. I want to keep a good public image, and getting a black eye in the Mame community won't help my image at all. My purpose is to try to find a way that makes my customers happy, while keeping the developers happy (or at least not pissed at me) as well.
--- Quote ---1UP. I don't think it's that big of a deal to point out to customers where to get MAME. You can pre-install other software for them, either freeware/shareware or commercially purchased software. That gives them something to test and play with.
--- End quote ---
The problem comes when I start to market outside of the BYOAC/Mame community. Most of my customers are not going to come from these boards, and many will not be tech-savvy enough to set up home networking on their cabs. The vast majority will want something that is plug and play. The best way for me to do this is to have a system with an FE that loads up automatically, and that runs everything without having to exit out to Windows. This pretty much means that it will be running emulators, although it may be possible to run arcade classics compilations from the FE. I have considered this option. I could even ship with an XBox and an arcade classics CD so there is no OS at all.
--- Quote ---When do I get my review unit <grin>?
--- End quote ---
Sometime after I get mine. ;)
BTW, the cabinets are looking great! I think people are going to be surprised by the level of quality in the cabs. I am finishing the graphics for the exterior this week, and the look is going to be way above what is currently on the market. There are just a few technical and legal issues to sort out before "we" begin selling.