Standalone Console Emulator

[darkmanx]

Anyone know of something not too big that would be able to fit the guts inside for a standalone console emulator? I am thinking of making one to use for nes,snes,genesis, etc.. But i really dont know what i would put it in. Suggestions? Has anyone done this before?

[eightbit]

 
What do you mean put inside? Are you talking about building a box with the console in it with controls on it?

[rampy]

Anyone know of something not too big that would be able to fit the guts inside for a standalone console emulator? I am thinking of making one to use for nes,snes,genesis, etc.. But i really dont know what i would put it in. Suggestions? Has anyone done this before?

I saw somewhere approx 6 months ago.. someone put a micro atx type mobo/chip into a gutted NES box... is taht what you mean?

rampy

[darkmanx]

yeah, sort of what rampy said. i was thinking a dreamcast but they are too small.. i wish i could buy an empty xbox case, they are huge lol.

[hyiu]

?!?!.... I don't quite follow you...

so... you want to make a Mame box... that is like... (for example) a dreamcast ?? or a ps2 ??....

but a mame box is a pc itself.... so... are you looking for a small pc case ??.....

I'm confused....  

[eightbit]

Are you going for the size or the look? You can buy or build a book PC. Some of these are smaller than consoles.

[darkmanx]

actually that looks pretty decent. i could always paint it to suit my taste. how powerful are they? and around what price? (links welcome =D    )

[eightbit]

You can buy them all over the place, most of the major manufactures are selling them. You can even build them from scratch if you want. They use a micro atx motherboard. They come in every speed, price range and flavor. They aren't very upgradable, mostly because there isn't room. I'm running one in my Jukebox that was made by Acer. I've seen smaller ones where they dump the floppy and use a slimline laptop Cd-rom.

Heres one- http://www.krex.com/PPmain.asp?ItemCode=1269&Action=Mostrar&msk=PD

Its only a 266mhz but its only $140.


I've never purchased from that vendor or heard of that brand of PC, I'm just providing an example. I recomend researching it further before purchaseing. A 266mhz is going to be a little slow for a lot of Mame roms.

[darkmanx]

yeah id say i would want at least in the 500mhz range.

[Silverwind]

that wouldn't be a bad Idea.. to snag a larger console and hack the insides for your own console emulator..

especially since some emulators like NES/Sega master system/atari don't require nearly as much muscle as MAME (for newer games at least)

then again.. catch 22.. your old hardware isn't small enough.. heheeh

Maybe a sega genesis with segaCD attached would have enough space... you could gut the sega CD and put a slim CD-ROM in it.. and use the rest to store some of your components..  same with the attached genesis.. you COULD use it to store components or just leave it atop for decoration.. heheh

[Silverwind]

an interesting idea is maybe some sort of LAPTOP hack.. since they generally are fairly small.. older laptops might have enough juice for the job.. and could be cheaper?

just gut the components and insert them into a gutted console... might be some sort of alternative?

[eightbit]

Actually for $140 all you get is the mobo with integrated lan, sound, video, modem, floppy drive and what you see in the box.

Its not a 266mhz, 200/266mhz is the bus speed. Memory, CPU, cd, all that other stuff are optional components.

Still not a bad price though.

[Jakobud]

www.mini-itx.com

This is a project site for people using VIA's EPIA mobos. They are mini-itx mobos and on that site there are some people who have put them in Nintendos, Playstations, Saturns, etc...

[Wolf]

If you want to customize a really pretty and small PC, the Dell Optiplex SX260 is quite sweet.  These suckers are small, and there are a ton of options you can choose from.  However, about the cheapest I saw there was about $680 bucks (good spec though, p4 1.7ghz, etc), so if you are on a tight budget you may want to look elsewhere.  These do look quite stylish though, and are black!  We got a few in the office and I couldn't help but admire the looks.

http://www.dell.com/us/en/bsd/products/model_optix_optix_sx260.htm



-Wolf

[Wolf]

I stand corrected.  Looks like Dell currently has a deal where you can get one of the SX260's for $499 after a mail-in rebate.

BTW, here are the dimensions:
Height: 9.72" (24.7cm)
Width: 3.35" (8.5cm)
Depth: 9.53" (24.2cm)

Quite a bit smaller then my Xbox.

-Wolf

[The Man]

Just found this little baby ...  Only problem I can see is it doesn't have s-video, so you would need a converter.

http://www.littlepc.com/pdf/LPC-301-USA-PRICE.pdf

Game On!
TM

[eightbit]

Wow, $900... You could build a pretty killer PC for that kind of $'s.

[Merce]

I'm in the process of spec-ing something like this out, because I've come to the realization that I don't have the space or money req for a full cab.

Instead of a full cab I'm gonna put together a small computer as a MAME console basically.  Have it hook up to the TV and use game pads as controllers.  I plan on using front USB ports like joystick ports, but I can throw a hub on there for 4 player, or a light gun, or even a trackball.

For my money, you can't beat the VIA EPIA M9000.  17cm x 17cm, 933mhz, and quality sound and video outs onboard.  Add a small PSU and a quiet HD and your in business.  I'm gonna fab up a slick acrylic case for it and load it up like any other MAME computer.

That's my plan anyway.  Unfortunately, my monitor blew out over the weekend, so these plans are on hold for a couple months.

[The Man]

Wow, $900... You could build a pretty killer PC for that kind of $'s.

No question about it.  But one that small would be killer.  I have one connected to my big screen TV and it was about $900 for it.  I would like having this little pc sitting next to my big screen than the big tower I have now.

[eightbit]

That's my plan anyway.  Unfortunately, my monitor blew out over the weekend, so these plans are on hold for a couple months.

$30 will get you a video card that can output to a tv. You don't need a PC monitor to play Mame.

[Merce]

$30 will get you a video card that can output to a tv. You don't need a PC monitor to play Mame.

I have a PC I play MAME on now (or will as soon as the new monitor comes in).  I'm gonna build a stand alone console to play MAME on my TV.  Just a smoke-tinted acrylic box with a power cord and TV-out cable coming out of the back and a couple gamepads coming out of the front.

It can be done cheaper, but if I go mini-itx, I can probably get it to fit in under 10" x 10" x 4".

[The Man]

$30 will get you a video card that can output to a tv. You don't need a PC monitor to play Mame.

I don't have a problem getting a new video card, but I'm not sure it would fit in that little sucker.  I don't have all the specs on it, but it sure is small.  I don't even see an option for video upgrade for it.

[eightbit]

$30 will get you a video card that can output to a tv. You don't need a PC monitor to play Mame.

I don't have a problem getting a new video card, but I'm not sure it would fit in that little sucker.  I don't have all the specs on it, but it sure is small.  I don't even see an option for video upgrade for it.

I was replying to Merce, he said his monitor blew and now he had to put his plans on hold. If he swapped out his video card he could keep mameing on his tv.

On that micro-mini-sub sized-baby PC your probably right about not being able to upgrade the video. That is one dense PC. Though for that cost you could get a decent laptop. A little bigger but way more flexible.

I work with Compaq (HP now) servers and they keep getting thinner. The servers were bought 3 years ago were 3 foot tall and rack mounted. Now in the same rack width I can get more horsepower for a whole lot less money in a server that is 2"s  thick. They actually have a 4" thick 8 xeon processor server being released soon. The server that it is replacing was twice that tall.

[neoreal]

There's always this bad boy:



It should be out any day now and I'll be getting one myself. It uses the NForce2 chipset and has integrated 6 channel sound and a Geforce4 MX with S-video out. It also has an 8X AGP slot and a single PCI slot, so throw a video capture card in there and you can use this as an HTPC as well. It should run about $360. All you will need to provide is a CPU, RAM (two chips to take advantage of dual DDR), hard drive, a floppy drive, and a DVD or CD-RW drive.

http://www.shuttleonline.com/specs2.asp?pro_id=163