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Mame - Good or Bad for the Arcade Biz ?
FractalWalk:
--- Quote from: tommy on February 20, 2005, 01:11:33 pm --- no young person is going to buy a mrs pacman machine when he or she can get a mame machine with mrs pac and many others on it
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No young person is going to buy a cab even if MAME didn't exist.
RayB:
This debate could go on forever. There are no concrete statistics out there about costs and popularity changes and what influenced those changes. Some people say that the reason classic arcade machines sell for less on Ebay now is because the internet bubble of the late 90's burst and now you have less people squandering cash on "toys" like this. Others will argue it's because of MAME.
We also don't know how many units these classic collections for consoles would sell if MAME didn't exist. Maybe there would be a big difference, maybe a negligible difference. There's no way to know.
tommy:
(No young person is going to buy a cab even if MAME didn't exist) you have mixed up my words i never stated this (fractalwalk)
Gunstar Hero:
"no young person is going to buy a mrs pacman machine when he or she can get a mame machine with mrs pac and many others on it "
Your words Tommy.
MAME keeps a vital part of the arcade alive... it's history. How many classic cars are just GONE or hopelessly out of reach of car enthuiasts? Most of them. Thanks to MAME tho, we arcade enthusiasts can enjoy classic games forever. And don't forget, when MAME was created, Namco/Midway hadn't sold a Ms. Pac-Man machine in a decade.
Arcade games are expensive because they're meant to be sold to a handful of businesses that use them to make money. Home console games are cheaper because they're meant to be sold to millions of home users. MAME skillfully avoids stepping on their toes by not emulating new games and not being sold.
As far as MAME goes, I think me playing a game that hasn't been made for 5 years or more isn't exactly killing the arcade market. The fact that now old school parts are selling for bucks would be an indicator to me how MAME is keeping the enthusiast market alive in fact!
Honestly, I'd blame ebay for dropping values. I think ebay revitalized the arcade secondary market. Games that were impossible to find were suddely available for a couple clicks and the price of shipping. Sure prices dropped, but that's BETTER for collectors I think. But bad for people who think that 20 year old monitor, circuit board and cabinet are wirth $1500.00... except to a sucker.
SirPoonga:
--- Quote from: tommy on February 20, 2005, 01:35:33 pm ---You have a piont there sirpoonga,but thats why i bought an arcade cab id rather play an arcade version of the game then a console version,the graphics are better in my opinion,also the arcade makers have no restrictions on how there game could look, console game makers have to conform to the consoles limitations
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If you like pretty pictures. Gameplay is what makes games good. There the console world rules as the games aren't meant to take your quarters away but to keep you in front of the TV. You can get further in a game in it's console version than arcade version.
Arcade games do have to conform to the limits of modern technology, which is generally not that much better than the current console system at the time. The graphics aren't that much different in my opinion.
Plus you are only one person. You don't represent the majority. The majority of the gamers out there will take the console version of a game over the arcade version.
It still doesn't mean mame destroyed the arcades. The arcades were on their way down before mame even existed. Reason I have already given.
edit: point number 2 that I can't believe I didn't think of. Go to any modern day arcade. Tell me what percentage of the games in there are in mame? Very small percentage. Therefore mame is not influencing people in general to not goto the arcades. People aren;t staying at home to play mame arcades games instead of going to the arcade to play them because the games in mame are generally not in the arcades. Except maybe for a few of the all time classics like ms pacman and frogger, the majority of the games in today's arcades can not currently be emulated in mame. Look at how many people ask when Naomi is going to be emulated in mame everyday at mame.net....
gain, it;s the video game consoles and computer games that keep people form going to the arcade. Manufactures usually bring out some type of arcade port to one of the platforms. That's also why many of the games in the current arcades are games that are tough to play on consoles. Most of the games in Gameworks or Jillians are lightgun games or full cockpit racing sims. They have some hardware that just isn't going to give you the same gaming experience as playing the game at home.
--- Quote ---I dont agree, i think mame has killed the original arcade machine, no young person is going to buy a mrs pacman machine when he or she can get a mame machine with mrs pac and many others on it ,that alone is proof enough , if mame was not invented he would have to pick his fav game and buy it
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Back to your statement. No, most people will not pay $500 for an arcade game when they can play it on mame. But you are talking about buying it for home use. If they could buy it for home use that would still keep them from going to the arcades.