Cheapest legal build?

[Biscuit]

I went to my first arcade auction recently, and some of the cabs were going dirt cheap.  I thought to myself, wouldn't it be cool to buy a handful of cabs and set them up to play several games and then give them to a youth group or something.  Assuming they had decent monitors or you could find cheap TVs to replace bad monitors with, what would be the cheapest legal setup?  Grab some lower spec PCs, load win98 on them?  Are there arcade collection CD's that I could run on them?  Aside from the 2-3 legal roms I read about in Saint's book, is there another collection of legal roms I could obtain and use with Mame?  Should I scrap the PC idea and go with something like a console?

PS - I'd use the search function but it seems to be down right now.   

[saint]

You could purchase a HotRod from HanaHo and get a set of legal CapCom ROMs. You *might* even be able to contact them to see if they're willing to donate something if you're setting something up for a youth group, though you'd probably have to provide some sort of verifiable proof...

[shardian]

Midway Arcade Treasures
Midway Arcade Deluxe Edition
Namco Museum
Atari Arcade Hits


Ebay is probably a good place to hit up.

[Biscuit]

Thanks for the prompt helpful responses!

Not to be overly thick, but could anyone give me an idea on how I should launch the games?  I assume I copy all the games onto the HD and use some sort of no CD hack.  I've read a bit on Mame front ends and how you can configure them to launch on startup, but what would I do in this case?

[shardian]

I did a quick read-thru on some reviews and some people said the discs had some sort of copy protection on them. Still, DAEMON tools may work with an iso file of the cd. There may also be some cd cracks out on the 'net somewhere that can help too.

Anyways, the discs will have a built in menu system. You could use a  front end to pick the cd you wish to load. Maybe make some custom art for each cd to show what games will be on the cd.

[Xam]

I'd be willing to donate the game disc that came with my X-Arcade.

It has Defender, Gauntlet, Joust, Rampage, Robotron, and Smash TV on it.
It also has its own basic launcher. You just gotta put the disc in when you want to play.

Let me know,
Xam

[Tahnok]

If you don't want to use a PC, you could just put one of those 5-in-1 plug & play sets in there (assuming you're using a TV). It's about the same amount of games as the disk Xam suggested. Plus, you won't have any problems with game selection (they have their own joystick controlled menus).

[Tiger-Heli]

Another quasi-legal option would be those 49-in-1 or 300-in-1 Jamma board that come up on E-bay and various other sites.

Also - this is a gray area, but I'm not sure what the legal consequences would be of having the games running under MAME itself, if the youth group were non-profit, the machine was set on free-play, and the machine was donated to the youth group . . .

For that matter . . .  I am not sure how much of an issue it would be even if it did violate the licenses.  I don't want to start trouble . . . And I know (suspect) it is a MAME license violation . . . And I won't publish the company name, but . . .

There is a local vendor selling the Hanaho Arcade PC.  It comes with a custom version of MAME and 15 or so Roms.  No problem.  However - the display machine is also set up with something like MAME32 0.59 and what looks to be a complete set of roms.

I didn't want to stir up trouble, so I didn't ask if the games were included or if they were removed when I bought it.  However, even if they were to be removed and the store said that they were only there to demonstrate what could be done on the machine, I suspect that is still a violation of the "non-commercial use" clause of the MAME license, as they are using MAME32 to sell the machine.

And I am just talking about MAME copyrights - (I didn't ask them if they have arcade boards for the 1,000 or so games, b/c frankly I am not convinced that owning the arcade board entitles you to use a copy of the rom from another same model arcade board that you obtained from a MAME set.)

[RayB]

Cheapest LEGAL set up is actual used boards (1 game per cabinet).

You mentioned Win98 and think about it, to be LEGAL you have to have a legit copy for each machine you install it on.

[Crowquill]

Cheapest LEGAL set up is actual used boards (1 game per cabinet).

You mentioned Win98 and think about it, to be LEGAL you have to have a legit copy for each machine you install it on.

But if you're like me you have a full retail version CD laying around whose license isn't being used on another computer. That's why I'm using 98 on my cocktail project.

[AlexC]

Just stick a TV in there and hack a 5 in 1 and be done with it 

[Chris]

Cheapest LEGAL set up is actual used boards (1 game per cabinet).

You mentioned Win98 and think about it, to be LEGAL you have to have a legit copy for each machine you install it on.

But if you're like me you have a full retail version CD laying around whose license isn't being used on another computer. That's why I'm using 98 on my cocktail project.

But a lot of these "lying around" copies are OEM versions that are only legal on the machine it was purchased with.

A FreeDOS cabinet would be cheaper because no Windows license to pay for, and if you're only running a small batch of ROMs there's really no reason to deal with Windows anyway.

--Chris

[ChadTower]

Heh, yeah, 98 CDs are really really really cheap now.  I have a stack of them I got from a former employer that was tossing them in the trash.  It's probably worth buying one for each project that has 98 running it.

[knave]

...Sigh...someones gotta dot...and suggest Linux...Don'cha want to compile your own kernel? LOL

I think a few cabs with the plug-and-play is the cheepest...and that is what you asked for.  1 TV, 1 hacked unit, and controls in the cheap cab.  No PC, no licensing...finito.

[Biscuit]

Thanks for everyone's responses and offers.  I think I'm going to check out the Jaxx hack information on this site when the search comes back up.  Next auction isn't until September, so I have some time to ruminate.

[grundle]

Linux is definitely the way to go.  You only have to get it set up once, then ghost the drive (as long as it's mostly the same hardware.)

I have my machine running Arch Linux (it's kinda minimalistic) and it boots up directly into Wahcade FE.  If I were to skip the GRUB bootloader (it is dual-boot to XP,) it would boot completely in around 20-30 seconds.  Athlon XP 1700+.  Much better than XP on the same machine.

[ManBearPig]

Is the OneStation considered legal? I am seriously considering building an arcade from one.

[shorthair]

I'd be willing to donate the game disc that came with my X-Arcade.

It has Defender, Gauntlet, Joust, Rampage, Robotron, and Smash TV on it.
It also has its own basic launcher. You just gotta put the disc in when you want to play.

Let me know,
Xam

Not true. This disc is not copy-protected.

[missioncontrol]

Thanks for everyone's responses and offers.  I think I'm going to check out the Jaxx hack information on this site when the search comes back up.  Next auction isn't until September, so I have some time to ruminate.

here, this is a good start... Mark completed this project hacking a few Jakks controllers for his son's cabinet...


http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=36591.0

[danny_galaga]

definitely go for the plug n plays. theres namco one, a capcom one with 1942 and (ghosts n goblins), ive seen a street fighter one too. theres three cabs with cool classics for everyone!

[Grasshopper]

I'm a big fan of the plug 'n' plays. It's truly remarkable what you get for your money, and I can't believe that people moan about the lack of authenticity.

That being said, I wouldn't use one for a cabinet unless I was building something very small like a bartop. Why? Well because second-hand PCs, more than capable of running MAME, are given away for free these days and very often a monitor is included. You just can't beat the flexibility of a PC, and the MAME versions of the games will be far more authentic.

If you're obsessed about legality then just buy one of the many compilation packs available.

[ChadTower]

While that's true, you also can't beat the incredible simplicity of the plug and play joysticks.  No setup, nothing, just decase the TV, plug the sucker in, and optionally hack in a better joystick.  I've talked to a lot of nonbuilder people about bartops and the complexity of the PC inside, mostly the software, usually scares them off.

[Grasshopper]

The complexity of the software shouldn't really be an issue if you're running one of the classic game compilation packs.

[lokki]

There are more than a two roms

http://www.mamedev.org/roms/

[ChadTower]

The complexity of the software shouldn't really be an issue if you're running one of the classic game compilation packs.

Then you're not taking advantage of any of the flexibility you mentioned.  You're just running one program with a limited selection again, like the joysticks, but with every disadvantage of a PC in hardware.

[shorthair]

I'm a big fan of the plug 'n' plays. It's truly remarkable what you get for your money, and I can't believe that people moan about the lack of authenticity.

Actually, what initially got me into all this retro-gaming stuff was I bought one of those sticks with Gyruss in it. I was stoked! I turn it on, start playing....things don't look right. The sounds don't sound right. What is this, some late 80s Nintendo version or something? No, no, no.

And here I am.

But to donate an cleveland steamer ? Those are a great idea. Keep the good stuff for yourself.

[danny_galaga]

While that's true, you also can't beat the incredible simplicity of the plug and play joysticks.  No setup, nothing, just decase the TV, plug the sucker in, and optionally hack in a better joystick.  I've talked to a lot of nonbuilder people about bartops and the complexity of the PC inside, mostly the software, usually scares them off.

exactly. if youre giving these cabs away, you dont want the foibles of a pc behind it all. it just needs to be switched on. as soon as the tv is on so is the games menu...

and you cant get much cheaper than a plug and play, a power supply for it, and a cheapo 51 cm telly. no adapters or tricky video cards or keyboard emulators....