Author Topic: Watching people play your cab (Read 6480 times)

LeedsFan · « **on:** January 21, 2005, 05:00:40 am »

I invited a friend over last night to show him my cab. The idea was to play for an hour or so then go out for a few beers. We ended up playing all night!

VGC · « **Reply #1 on:** January 21, 2005, 05:15:03 am »

I had the same thing happen to me. I built a small one player cabinet and invited a friend who had never heard of MAME but like me grew up living near arcades over to be my "test player"

Once he started to play SEGA WONDERBOY he was hooked again, remembering where the power ups and bonus icons were hidden and reliving our miss spent youth..!

I got a huge amount of pleasure watching him enjoying the cabinet I built. I had to sell the cabinet to him in the end, he NEEDED it..!

DrewKaree · « **Reply #2 on:** January 21, 2005, 05:26:44 am »

Just make sure to build in a special feature.....if you find them starting to HOG the game whenever they come over, make a switch on top to shock them through the controls

Then you can tell them you need to "work on it a bit...test it out and see if you can re-create the problem and fix it so no one else gets hurt".

This will only work for a few times, though.....unless your buddies are like the guy in the Bud Light commercial with the shock collar

Seriously though, the best thing to me wasn't watching them play the games, it was having my buddy look at my Time Pilot and seeing his face light up when he realized it was an honest-to-goodness arcade machine! We played for a bit, but the look comes back even when not around the game....we were over at his brother's house and watching him describe it, the same thing happened.

I don't have my MAME set up in a cab, so when they play that, I think it'll be the exact same thing.

Dougmeister · « **Reply #3 on:** January 21, 2005, 08:36:15 am »

Yeah, I get more enjoyment from the reactions of people than I do from actually playing the games sometimes

Stingray · « **Reply #4 on:** January 21, 2005, 08:47:52 am »

Indeed. I really enjoy it when people who have never seen my cab visit. It's a positive reation every time.

-S

Thenasty · « **Reply #5 on:** January 21, 2005, 08:56:28 am »

everytime the cable guy comes over (when i have problems with my cable), he just go at it. It take him 2 min to figgle with the wire outside and 30-45 min to play. He even talk to me about making phony cable problems so he could come over (and play that is)..shhhhh don't tell anyone...

markb · « **Reply #6 on:** January 21, 2005, 09:24:47 am »

My sister is 28 and has never played a game in her life (in fact she positively hated them), a couple of months ago she and her husband came over and she spent 2 1/2 hours trying to complete Mad Dog Macree with my wife.

Also a son's friend who is autistic calls my machine the 'Big Computer' and now my friend has has to lie when he comes up here or his son gets upset. In the end I built him his own 'Little Computer' so he didn't get upset.

[/img]

Hoagie_one · « **Reply #7 on:** January 21, 2005, 09:28:30 am »

I built a 1 player bar top and my buddies used to fight over it while we were installing software for the lan party.

Sadly, the bartop is gone, and i havent finished the upright yet

Stingray · « **Reply #8 on:** January 21, 2005, 09:29:48 am »

Quote from: markb on January 21, 2005, 09:24:47 am

In the end I built him his own 'Little Computer' so he didn't get upset.

Good man!

-S

Gunstar Hero · « **Reply #9 on:** January 21, 2005, 01:32:46 pm »

Yes yes.

I play my MAME almost nightly and love it to death, but it's almost more enjoyable to watch my friends play it .

Kremmit · « **Reply #10 on:** January 22, 2005, 11:53:22 pm »

It's like that at my place, too. Even though I've not got a MAME machine running, the regular arcade machines get more play from my friends than from me. There's a sense of satisfaction you get from seeing guests enjoy themselves.

Raven.. · « **Reply #11 on:** January 23, 2005, 12:00:07 am »

I built my nephew one for Christmas (my infamous "NARCade"). My mom got pissed at me because all the boys spent the entire time in there playing on it instead of hanging out and doing holiday stuff. (My brother was trash talking while playing Hangtime.....it's funny because he is a high school coach

)

SirPoonga · « **Reply #12 on:** January 23, 2005, 12:41:42 am »

I've done that. Some friends came over. If it wasn't for their girlfriends we probably would have played games all night. we just started randomly picking games and played.

elpresidente · « **Reply #13 on:** January 23, 2005, 10:31:03 am »

This thread makes me want to get started on mine so bad. Half the reason I want a cab is to show my friends and family what can be done. I've explained it but I don't think truely understand just how awesome it's going to be. I fully expect the first time watching some of my buddies play will be real kick in the pants. What I'm looking forward to most is having my brother play Defender. He was never the video game freak that I was but he had Defender in his dorm lobby when he went through college and he was crazy for it.

SeaMonkey · « **Reply #14 on:** January 26, 2005, 03:17:03 pm »

My wife was against my Mame project. After all, she has just convinced me to get rid of my dedicated machines, why would we have one at all?

Then one day she says, "Does it have Lady Bug?"

I say "Sure" and fire it up. That woman is a Ninja.
Did you know you get bonuses for spelling words on that game?
Did you know the outer bevel is a timer showing you how long you have until the next enemy hatches?

Me either.

All these years, and I never knew.

On another note, I watched some kids at the local pizza joint abuse and rape an arcade machine that they didn't even have the decency to put a quarter in. They were just trying to tear stuff up.

Finally I got up and went over and said,
"Hey you little monkeys. That is somebody's property! Stop beating on it."

So the dad comes over and "swells" on me.
I replied with, "Well somebody has to be the parent here, and it doesn't look like you have the qualifications..."

moonpatrol 4 lyfe · « **Reply #15 on:** January 26, 2005, 03:38:01 pm »

Do not let your wife make you get rid of your cabs!

unless of course , you're donating the cabs to me.

-Bill

RetroJames · « **Reply #16 on:** January 26, 2005, 04:17:27 pm »

Quote from: SeaMonkey on January 26, 2005, 03:17:03 pm

So the dad comes over and "swells" on me.
I replied with, "Well somebody has to be the parent here, and it doesn't look like you have the qualifications..."

bwahhahaha - here in Georgia they would say, "So the dad comes over an "bows-up" on me." LOL

SeaMonkey · « **Reply #17 on:** January 26, 2005, 06:06:13 pm »

Quote from: moonpatrol 4 lyfe on January 26, 2005, 03:38:01 pm

Do not let your wife make you get rid of your cabs!

Witchboard · « **Reply #18 on:** January 26, 2005, 07:06:47 pm »

That's what I'm currently in the process of. Reclaiming some floor space from my wife. I moved her curio cabinets full of dolls into the bedroom to make room for my games in the TV room.

elvis · « **Reply #19 on:** January 26, 2005, 07:24:26 pm »

I had some mates return from a few years overseas for a bit of a burn-meat-and-drink-beers about a fortnight ago. Around 5:00PM they all got a tour of the house which ended downstairs in the games room.

4:00AM the last one left, after a night-long MAME bashing on the cab.

And yes, it is a great feeling to see others get such enjoyment out of something you've built. Great fun!

southpaw13 · « **Reply #20 on:** January 26, 2005, 09:21:34 pm »

I've been down the wife road. Here are a few tips:

1. Let her play her favorite game.
2. Pull up a website with one of the more expensive pre-builts and explain the amount of money you saved her.
3. Emulate some of the 'educational' games on SNES and let the kids 'learn something'.
4. Trade one of your first 'crappy' creations for a pinball and explain to her that you are getting a pin for free.
5. If all else fails, tell her that you will spend more time with her playing games or better yet, you will probably spend more time at home now...

Good Luck,
Southpaw

RayB · « **Reply #21 on:** January 26, 2005, 10:19:57 pm »

How about pointing out who pays the mortgage?

Witchboard · « **Reply #22 on:** January 26, 2005, 10:26:14 pm »

Don't get me wrong. My wife loves the idea of getting game cabinets. We just have to make room. Most of it is taken up by her stuff.

quarterback · « **Reply #23 on:** January 26, 2005, 11:04:15 pm »

Quote from: RayB on January 26, 2005, 10:19:57 pm

How about pointing out who pays the mortgage?

Your wife doesn't pay the mortgage? Dude, you got pwned!

Tritoch84 · « **Reply #24 on:** January 27, 2005, 12:11:25 am »

I liked to hear this one day....

RandomPerson:*walks in house for small party* So I was....*listens*.....DUDE IS THAT STREET FIGHTER? THAT IS SO STREET FIGHTER! *walks in game room* STREET FIGHTER!!!"

But be warned if you show your wife all the games....

Me: Lets play,,,uh, x-men or something.
Her: I MUST PLAY CHICKEN SHIFT *start annoying music*
Me: *sigh* .................*leaves room*

Oh well.

ALeX K · « **Reply #25 on:** January 27, 2005, 08:34:09 am »

I've got all this to look forward to, as i've been planning and designing my cab for several months, and am not far off beginning construction..... When i first started talking about this project, brothers, parents, girlfriend, friends all look at you with a slightly baffled expression, as if you just said something surreal and way off topic, and say ".......er.... thats nice, dear.... but why?!"

....now i have detailed drawings and 3d visuals of the cab design, and they have seen my test runs on a big 25inch tv (as opposed to a tiny laptop screen), and suddenly it hits home.... and they pause for a minute and smile a big smile... then they go "cooool..." as it dawns on them what this cab will actually mean... and it fills you with a real buzz inside...

and if this is but a small part of the feeling that will come when its done,

danny_galaga · « **Reply #26 on:** January 28, 2005, 05:20:42 am »

yep, sure can be satisfying watching other people playing your machine...

SOAPboy · « **Reply #27 on:** January 28, 2005, 05:49:47 am »

Quote from: SeaMonkey on January 26, 2005, 06:06:13 pm

Quote from: moonpatrol 4 lyfe on January 26, 2005, 03:38:01 pm
Do not let your wife make you get rid of your cabs!

Bones · « **Reply #28 on:** January 28, 2005, 06:00:29 am »

Quote from: danny_galaga on January 28, 2005, 05:20:42 am

yep, sure can be satisfying watching other people playing your machine...

Outstanding.

What happen to her hand?

SOAPboy · « **Reply #29 on:** January 28, 2005, 06:18:41 am »

Quote from: BrokenBones1 on January 28, 2005, 06:00:29 am

Quote from: danny_galaga on January 28, 2005, 05:20:42 am
yep, sure can be satisfying watching other people playing your machine...

Outstanding.

What happen to her hand?

Frantic game of Gyrus..

^_^

walls83 · « **Reply #30 on:** January 28, 2005, 11:22:49 am »

I love watching people play. The one thing that always happends is the "OVERWELMED WITH GAMES". It never fails the first or second time someone comes over there are so many games they want to play the cant figure out what they want to play first.

Minwah · « **Reply #31 on:** January 28, 2005, 11:46:37 am »

Quote from: walls83 on January 28, 2005, 11:22:49 am

so many games they want to play the cant figure out what they want to play first.

I still get that myself

vartech · « **Reply #32 on:** January 28, 2005, 12:24:26 pm »

Well my cab is owned by my kids My two year old loves Megaman and my six year old loves X-man vs Street fighter.

stevodevo · « **Reply #33 on:** January 28, 2005, 12:39:47 pm »

This is a cool thread! Makes me want to rush home and play my cab! I was building mine in my garage and the neighbourhood kid across the street came over with one of his buddies and asked what I was doing...after I told him he ran home and told his Dad I was making a video game! haha...

Yes, my girlfriend also was not too keen on the idea but after I got the control panel up and running on my PC (that evil "must play before building the whole thing" bug) and she started playing Puzzle-bobble 2 she couldn't stop!

My brother said I could build him one for his birthday...shur...

Thenasty · « **Reply #34 on:** January 28, 2005, 01:31:51 pm »

forgot who owned this but, it is nice watching her play with it

Gunstar Hero · « **Reply #35 on:** January 28, 2005, 02:03:35 pm »

Whaaaaaaaaaa?

When she came by to play MY cab she wasn't wearing a shirt with a "Pole Position" logo on it... or a shirt at all for that matter!

Awwwwwwwwwwwww jeah. Giggity!

I could make some AWESOME Pole Position jokes, but I'll resist.

DrewKaree · « **Reply #36 on:** January 28, 2005, 04:28:59 pm »

Quote from: BrokenBones1 on January 28, 2005, 06:00:29 am

Quote from: danny_galaga on January 28, 2005, 05:20:42 am
yep, sure can be satisfying watching other people playing your machine...

Outstanding.

What happen to her hand?

You can tell that's the chick danny likes. How? Cuz she's a 'lefty"

You can also tell the other chick is coming on to me and that she's hot for me. How? She's alive. Seriously, aren't they all hot for you like they are for me? I feel bad for you guys....I know, I know, if you admit it once, you'll never look at your woman the same, knowing she's got a hard-~~off~~on for me

Thenasty · « **Reply #37 on:** January 28, 2005, 04:39:35 pm »

Quote from: DrewKaree on January 28, 2005, 04:28:59 pm

knowing she's got a hard-~~off~~on for me

DrewKaree · « **Reply #38 on:** January 28, 2005, 04:52:46 pm »

Let's just say it isn't cold there, and I can tell the naughty bits are showing their approval. Of Me. Not danny's cock-tail. $:-\$

I'm guessing you're a bit lonely. I take that from the misunderstanding of a female hard-off.

Are you SURE your nickname isn't just truth in advertising?

spocktwin · « **Reply #39 on:** January 28, 2005, 10:08:56 pm »

Built mine in time for the holidays......I have 4 brothers and one sister (believe it or not she looks like the moon war girl) and all their kids went nuts on it. My wife got upset because they wouldn't leave it to eat dinner....she unplugged it to get them moving. Since them I have had about half of them to stay over night to play Uncle John's game......My brother is building his cabinet now (solid oak) the guy can do wood like Norm Abrams so it will be beautiful......I love this hobby oops life!!!

SNAAKE · « **Reply #40 on:** January 29, 2005, 01:12:25 am »

Heh you guys go nothin on us..we play fighters till we puke..I remember once it was like 15 hours straight

Gunstar Hero · « **Reply #41 on:** January 30, 2005, 01:05:10 pm »

15 hours? BAH! We used to literally play SF2 on the Genesis/SNES ALL the time (unless we had to be in school) and when my/my friends folks would kick us off of the TV we would drive to the nearest city and play the Champion Edition machine at a 24 hour gas station on the outskirts... and that went on for MONTHS. Your paltry 15 hours impress me not! I used to LIVE fighting games.

Avg day: Wake up after 4-5 hrs of sleep, SF2 for 45 minutes before school, then school, back home and more SF2 until sleep (or lack thereof) catches up with me (usually midnight -2am) and repeat.

On a weekend/holiday just remove the school and sleep.

Damn, good times.

Man if I had a MAME cab in high school I would have been some kind of geek LEGEND. KING of the GAMER NERDS. Bow before me players, for I have command of the ARCADE MACHINE OF POWER.

Tritoch84 · « **Reply #42 on:** January 30, 2005, 11:48:01 pm »

Sorry gunstar, I'm pretty sure SNAAAKE has you beat, everyone from shoryuken.com has grown up playing SF2!!! (me included).

I remember we would play from 10AM to 1AM, go to sleep, wake up, and hit it again.

And this was AFTER we couldn't afford to keep pumping quaters in the arcade machines!

Name all of kens cancels!!!

At least we all like SF!

mccoy178 · « **Reply #43 on:** January 31, 2005, 05:01:25 am »

I went over to a gentlemen in Columbus, OH's house this weekend. I have my cab built but I do not have the software ready yet, matter of fact, I have never seen a Mame in person, I just made the dang thing. Anyways, once he showed me MAMEWA, I literally almost ended up divorced yesterday. Once I had the opportunity to show her what it was, she was down, but I came home way late and way too hyper for her. I know that guy had to love the reaction I had. It is better than advertised. The store that I work at has some commercial models, but they can't compare to this. Anyways, I was ready to flip and I knew about this stuff. I can't imagine what my brother will do when he sees it up and running.(He and my old college buddies think I have way too much freetime to be building this, but they just don't know what they are in store for.)

Gunstar Hero · « **Reply #44 on:** January 31, 2005, 08:23:01 pm »

He may have me beat, but again, a 15 hour fighter marathon wouldn't have even phased me when I was in my teens/early 20's.

We ived a fighting game lifestyle. Of course, those were the golden days of fighters. Once SF2 got played out, we went to Shodown, dallied with MK, fiddled with Darkstalkers and I think the last one I really played in the arcade was X-Men COTA.

Yeah man, I wouldn't want to step to SNAAKE after seeing that video of him just WRECKING some dude with M.Bison. It was vicious!

LeedsFan · « **Reply #45 on:** February 01, 2005, 03:51:49 am »

Quote from: Gunstar Hero on January 31, 2005, 08:23:01 pm

He may have me beat, but again, a 15 hour fighter marathon wouldn't have even phased me when I was in my teens/early 20's.

SNAAKE · « **Reply #46 on:** February 01, 2005, 04:04:38 am »

^ Try alpha 2,capcom vs snk 3(not on mame),super street fighter 2 turbo,marvel vs capcom,etc

\

Quote from: Gunstar Hero on January 31, 2005, 08:23:01 pm

Yeah man, I wouldn't want to step to SNAAKE after seeing that video of him just WRECKING some dude with M.Bison. It was vicious!

Witchboard · « **Reply #47 on:** February 01, 2005, 08:28:31 am »

Quote from: LeedsFan on February 01, 2005, 03:51:49 am

I have never played a fighter style game, but now my cabinet is finished I'll give one a go. I missed out on the fighter games as they came out in my late teens, just as I discovered women!

LeedsFan · « **Reply #48 on:** February 01, 2005, 12:07:09 pm »

Quote from: Witchboard on February 01, 2005, 08:28:31 am

Quote from: LeedsFan on February 01, 2005, 03:51:49 am
I have never played a fighter style game, but now my cabinet is finished I'll give one a go. I missed out on the fighter games as they came out in my late teens, just as I discovered women!

Gunstar Hero · « **Reply #49 on:** February 01, 2005, 01:03:34 pm »

Leeds, you have to start with Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior. It's the prototype for everything that came later. From there, move on to the rest of the Street Fighter series (Champion, Super, Alpha.)

If you want to explore the fighter landscape more from there, Samurai Shodown is to me the NeoGeo's best fighter series, but Fatal Fury/Garou, King of Fighters and Last Blade are awesome too.

Finally, for a more viceral thrill, the Mortal Kombat series and Killer Instinct. The gameplay is a little less fluid, but they both have a great visual style and lots of violence.

Witchboard · « **Reply #50 on:** February 01, 2005, 01:08:53 pm »

Then you can pretty much play any fighter you want.

Gunstar Hero · « **Reply #51 on:** February 01, 2005, 01:20:55 pm »

Funny add on to earlier story...

I loved Samurai Shodown so much I traded off a big chunk of my SEGA Genesis/SEGA CD collection for a NeoGeo AES and bought a copy of Samurai Shodown out of the paper for $100.

It's a great series.

RayB · « **Reply #52 on:** February 01, 2005, 01:27:02 pm »

One of my personal favorites is Galaxy Fight by Sunsoft/Sun Electronics. It's a rather obscure Neo Geo fighter that was never popular. (It came out a little too late for its time to really compete). What I liked about it was that the background scrolls infinitely (it wraps around) and the two players can in theory get far apart from each other infinitely. Because of this, one of the strategies in this one is lots of running attacks (if you double-tap a direction, you start running).

It makes for a great 2-player game. Unfortunately, in 1 player mode the computer AI is rather "cheap". Don't set the difficulty too high.

skim36 · « **Reply #53 on:** February 01, 2005, 02:13:14 pm »

I have to agree...there is nothing as gratifying as watching your spouse play your machine. After giving me a really hard time about it for months..."that's not staying in my living room" and that sort of thing......she now plays it almost daily and we have contests for high scores! It makes it all worth the effort and I'm here to tell you all who are having second thoughts or haven't started because of the hard time the spousal unit administers.....do it. You will not regret it.

RayB · « **Reply #54 on:** February 01, 2005, 03:50:19 pm »

Yeah, don't let a spouse's lack of imagination spoil it for you.


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