How Did Everyone Get Into This Hobby... and Get it Past Your Wives? haha

[genesim]

Javeryh,

I agree with that.   I knew a guy that collected Spiderman comics and action figures and his wife asked why he does that...and he said it is better then collecting heads! 

Men have to have their vices or we will get into trouble.   Women will never completely understand us in that capacity...that is why we learn "yes honey".   But hey, steady sex makes it all worth it.   If you can include her, thats even better. 

[CheffoJeffo]

I know plenty of women

 


 

[ChadTower]

50% of the species, man!  All you have to do to meet women is leave the house.

Now, stopping them from pepper spraying you, that takes practice.

[Ginsu Victim]

Same strategy as a few of you.
Had to buy a house first. (We were in an apartment with no room)
Bought a house in November '07 and I started showing her overpriced cabinets.
An empty cabinet turned up in Feb for $50 and she was cool with it.
She even gave me her craft room to turn into a game room. (I already have my computer room, so I was lucky to get this)
She's been cool about the fact that I'm way over budget on this machine, but she loves games and always wants to play together, so this will be great when finished.
It was easy for me to buy sideart because I'd shown her the regular price at MameMarquees, then some bargain bin art came up and she was fine with it.
She also helped pick the marquee.

[TheShanMan]

At least we aren't spending money restoring cars

Speak for yourself!

[AndyWarne]

I remember in 1978 the first time I saw a Space Invaders machine and being completely hooked. Just poured coins into the thing and mastered the "all or nothing" method where you hover in a gap and wait until they reach the last row. That very last hit I reckon involves more skill than any other move in any game since, and you only get one chance if you are using the "Nagoya" method (as the author of the game refers to it as).
I wrote a version of SI for one of the first home computers, the Ohio Scientific Superboard, which was bundled with the board by one of the dealers.
Shortly after that, Galaxian came along and then all the other games which ran on the same hardware, and ROM copying was born! I hooked up with a guy who did board repairs and bought some stuff from him including a Moon Cresta table top which practically filled my apartment.
Then added a Galaxian table and I could not move in there!
I got hold of most of the ROMs for Galaxian hardware-based games. I still have some of them actually including a couple which have never appeared in Mame. Must do something about that.
Looking through the box, there are Pisces, Spiders Web, Donkey Kong (hope no-one from Nintendo reading!), Pool, a set marked "T" ?? plus a lot of unlabelled ones.
I really wanted an Invaders table top though and did manage to acquire one by the back door. An operator I knew had bought a load of machines including a Taito game called Lupin 3 which was total rubbish. Fortunately it ran on Space Invaders hardware except for the sound board, which I replaced with a repaired one, and I was all set! So I still have that table which I have owned from new.
For nostalgia value I still have a Galaxian schematic on my workshop wall in one long sheet. An amazing design, I never did work out how those stars in the background worked....
Andy

[RikaKazak]

my wife is glad I started this hobby...she thinks it's a good stress reliever (I'm a professional poker player, so as you can guess, high stress)

also...I play a ton on pokerstars...and they're paying for everything...so costing me nothing

[DeLuSioNal29]

Here's another argument to help those who are facing the "wifey" not buying in:

My wife and I once passed a golf store and I suggested that we go inside so that I can buy a set of golf clubs.  She looked at me and said, "Why?  You don't play golf."  In which I replied, "Exactly."

In other words, there are people who love sports, spend tons of money on tickets, etc.  There are others who hang out at bars and spend money (nothing wrong with that by the way...).  There are others who like to golf and buy expensive golf clubs, etc, etc.  So my point in the golf store thing was that MY hobby is arcade games.  And if you budget yourself properly, it can be way cheaper than season tickets to football games.

~ DeLuSioNaL

[Extreme8]

At least we aren't spending money restoring cars or something REALLY expensive or blowing it all on beer or at the strip club.  There are worse things than building arcade machines at home.

I didn't know those things are mutually exclusive...

Anyway, I overheard a conversation at work about MAME 6 or 7 years ago. Did some internet searching and discovered BYOAC.
My parents owned a roller skating rink in the late '70's and had games supplied by the local operator. I fell in love with Radar Scope (we also had a Fire truck, Gorf,  & Space invaders) and decided that some day I would have one.
Now I do!!
My wife is pretty much OK with my silly hobbies-- as long as she has no idea what they cost. A couple of consulting jobs here and there, send a paypal payment to Randy or Andy and it's all done.

[RoninEditor]

Here's another argument to help those who are facing the "wifey" not buying in:

My wife and I once passed a golf store and I suggested that we go inside so that I can buy a set of golf clubs.  She looked at me and said, "Why?  You don't play golf."  In which I replied, "Exactly."

In other words, there are people who love sports, spend tons of money on tickets, etc.  There are others who hang out at bars and spend money (nothing wrong with that by the way...).  There are others who like to golf and buy expensive golf clubs, etc, etc.  So my point in the golf store thing was that MY hobby is arcade games.  And if you budget yourself properly, it can be way cheaper than season tickets to football games.

Same strategy as a few of you.
Had to buy a house first. (We were in an apartment with no room)
Bought a house in November '07 and I started showing her overpriced cabinets.
An empty cabinet turned up in Feb for $50 and she was cool with it.
She even gave me her craft room to turn into a game room. (I already have my computer room, so I was lucky to get this)
She's been cool about the fact that I'm way over budget on this machine, but she loves games and always wants to play together, so this will be great when finished.
It was easy for me to buy sideart because I'd shown her the regular price at MameMarquees, then some bargain bin art came up and she was fine with it.
She also helped pick the marquee.

EXACTLY!  #1, I don't golf but I play a lot of sports, fortunately, "free ones," except for snowboarding.  I'd already been riding 15 years before I met my wife so she knew to give up on that avenue.  But you're exactly right, the "what we COULD be spending our money on" is perfect.  My wife didn't give me too much static but I reminded her (after I told her the bill for all of my parts, haha) that I'm not out rebuilding motorcycles like some people, or playing $150/round golf... I reminded her that this was something I've always wanted since I was a kid and now I have the means to have it.

#2 - the room.  It's not my only reason for us buying our new house but we're going to have five bedroom, one of which will be my "guy room/office."  When I edit projects at home (vs. on the lot), I need a creative environment... so I want my Avid against one wall, a foosball table in one area, and my cabinet in the back corner for when I need to 'zone out'.  She's, right now, not having that, saying it needs to be in the garage - um, no.  So that's my hold-up right now, the space.  But I'm just working in the angle of office right now... but it'll happen

The trump card?  Don't complain when wifey wants to buy $100 shoes, the leverage will come in handy later... especially when she has a wall rack of shoes (literally) seven feet hugh.  When you need it, add up ALL of those shoes

[Ginsu Victim]

^You said you have an Avid?

Combine that with your user name and the words "on the lot" and I can put two and two together.

So what sorts of things are you working on?

[ids]

I know plenty of women for whom anything other than sitting in the same room with them while they watch American Idol is cause for a fight.  I have no idea how men can stay married to them.  She'll have no hobby, no life, no friends - and if he has any of them, it is a problem for her, since it is taking away from "her time".

Oh, I see you've met my wife! 

She was somewhat supportive at first, thinking I had a project/hobby that wouldn't cost too much (I may have rounded down on the estimate by quite a bit).  I even got her playing some games with a prototype CP.  I think what ruined it was not watching enough Idol, cause I've been so busy play-testing my CP.

But to address the original question:

First of all, I'm old enough to have played all these games when they first came out.  I don't recall when I first discovered Mame itself (late 90's?), or the idea of building a cab (years ago).  I've been planning a cab for some years, but didn't really have a place to put one.  We moved a while ago, lots more room, so I started getting more serious, and kept talking it up to the warden.  The first thing I ordered were some buttons - that told her I was serious, and she seemed to accept it was going to happen (if I didn't lose interest).  Well, still interested, and lots more $$ spent.  It is happening.  Slowly, but...

In retrospect, it seems like destiny - I've always gravitated to various controls (I have quite a collection of PC controllers of various flavours).  Building a real arcade CP ties in the love for the classics with the love of a good control.  And to get it past her, I just do what I want, and take heat for it later.  Once the cab is built, we'll fight about where to put it.  I think some people stay together because of the kids 

[RandyT]

And to get it past her, I just do what I want, and take heat for it later.  Once the cab is built, we'll fight about where to put it.  I think some people stay together because of the kids 

Build a step stool for the kids, teach them to play, demonstrate to wife how cabinet provides fun and quality time spent with kids (making sure to very subtly throw in a little guilt for her not participating in aforementioned quality time) and she'll be avoiding the issue at least until the kids get old enough to start avoiding you  .

RandyT

[RoninEditor]

^You said you have an Avid?

Combine that with your user name and the words "on the lot" and I can put two and two together.

So what sorts of things are you working on?

(Ginsu... I work in house for a studio in 'Hollywood' as an editor but I freelance edit and direct as well.  I've edited a variety of tv shows but no films yet, directed music videos for groups like Justin Timberlake, Ludacris, Pop Evil, etc., and, I hate reality but I created a show that's in its second season called "The Block," which is on G4... which is how I got addicted to the idea of building a cab, after I did a prommercial for Extremetech for their books, which included Project Arcade.

If you're bored, here's a recent video I directed: )

[MazzMn]

I've known about Mame and building arcades for several years...but a combination of things finally rationalized it for us:
- broken laptop...screen didn't work...she got a new laptop, I got the guts for my cab
- christmas vacation and I wanted an excuse to spend time with my dad, so we worked on the carpentry together.
- built an oak cocktail instead of a larger, flashier, costlier, upright. With wheels it is easily moved out of the way.
- worked on cost to keep it less than a new playstation 3
- I'm in a local computer club and we always need presentations for our monthly meetings...so I introduced the hobby to others.

Such a good experience I already want to start another one

[Ginsu Victim]

If you're bored, here's a recent video I directed: )

Had to watch that with the sound off. NOT my kind of band.
However, no sound meant I could concentrate on YOUR work, which was quite well done.
Good work.

[dgordon86]

My wife helped me build mine...and swears she will never do it again.  But I must say, I couldn't have done it without her.  BLESS HER!

Same here, my girlfriend is helping me out BIG TIME.  I'm only 21 and I don't want to think about marriage, but if someone can dedicate hours upon hours to helping, hearing me ---smurfette---, all while I throw fits.. boy, shes a-ok in my book!

[ids]

And to get it past her, I just do what I want, and take heat for it later.  Once the cab is built, we'll fight about where to put it.  I think some people stay together because of the kids 

Build a step stool for the kids, teach them to play, demonstrate to wife how cabinet provides fun and quality time spent with kids (making sure to very subtly throw in a little guilt for her not participating in aforementioned quality time) and she'll be avoiding the issue at least until the kids get old enough to start avoiding you  .

RandyT

Wise words, no doubt, for those with small children.  Mine are much older than that (18&12).  And the wif doesn't understand how gaming together can be quality time, so again, I do what I want and take hear for it later 

[severdhed]

mine started about 12 years ago..i was 16 and i dreamed of having an arcade machine in my house.  of course i was in high school, made about $40/week and lived with my parents..so i had to settle for my TV sitting on top of my clothes dresser.  I pulled the top drawer out a little, put a board on top of it, and sat my SNES arcade stick on it and played Mortal Kombat 2 for hours.   

Jump ahead about 8 years, i was reading a game review online and i stumbled across a review of the x-arcade joystick.  About a week later, i bought a two player x-arcade stick and all of the console adapters.  I really wanted it for playing fighting games on my ps2, dreamcast, and xbox.  After some serious Soul Calibur 2 sessions with my friends...i eventually put the x-arcade back in it's box and didn't use it a whole lot for a while. 

Jump ahead a few years, My girlfriend and I decide to move in together...we end up renting a house with a finished basement...so naturally i hooked up my game consoles and set it up as a theater room with my DLP projector.  then one day i am browsing the internet, just wasting time and i decided to play around with MAME.  i had used it many times before, but only with a keyboard, or usb gamepad.  then i remembered my x-arcade unit that was just sitting in the attic collecting dust.  i quickly hooked it up, fired up some Mortal Kombat and was hooked.  after about an hour, i had managed to piece together a MAME pc out of parts i had lying around and set it up in the basement.  i put the monitor on the bar and put the controller on a little stand that i had.  and it was then that i realized that the dream i had of owning my own arcade machine could finally be a reality.   I told my girlfriend what i was planning on doing, and she wasn't real thrilled.  anyway, one day while she was at work, i called around and found an empty cabinet for $20.  i went and picked it up..it had a coin door, marquee light, 3 buttons and a trackball in it. 

i think she was a bit suprised when i told her i bought it, but she was OK with it.  about a month later i asked her to marry me and now she is my wife.  she would get annoyed sometimes when i was workign on it alot, but she understood that it was my hobby and it made me very happy.  This was before we had any children.  I often talked about a second cabinet but she always told me that one was enough.  Well, I finished it up shortly before our son was born...and i named it Zak-Man after our son, Zakary.  I wasn't thinking about it at the time, but that was the smartest thing i could have done.  We are planning on having at least one more child sometime in the next 2 years.  So naturally if i have an arcade machine named after one child, i can't not have one named after the other child.  So even though I have to wait a while, i will get my second cabinet eventually.

[Fozzy The Bear]

I can honestly say I've never had a real problem with my other half..... She's kind of easy going about things, except when I leave arcade parts around the house for her to fall over  It kind of goes like this.....

Me: I'd really like to buy another machine....
Domestic Authorities: Where are you going to put it...
Me: Ermmm I'll work something out 
Domestic Authorities: Hmmm.. Have you fixed the car exhaust, cleaned out the spare room, painted the windows, fixed the broken latch on the kitchen cabinet, put the bin out, made that DVD for my mother, repaired my computer, sold all that junk on e-bay, taken the dog for a walk, cleaned the kitchen, fixed the blinds in the conservatory, cleaned the BBQ out for this weekend..... etc etc etc....
Me: Yes sweetheart, it's all in hand I'll be getting to that soon 
Domestic Authorities: You said that last time 
Me: Ahhh!! Yes but... ermmm... but... ermmm.. It's all in hand.

One big bunch of flowers and some chocs and a girly DVD later..
The new cabinet arrives and gets put somewhere 

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[AndyWarne]

Luckily 'er indoors likes to play on the cabinet just as much as I do, which is good... She loves Galaga..

She is less enthusiastic about the pinball machine, which takes up more space than the cab, but I did (very generously I thought) let her buy a full-size pool table, which rather dwarfs everything else.

But all in all the space allocation for shoe/handbag/clothes-which-she-never-wears storage outweighs everything and I let that go...

Andy

[Antix]

I just decided that I wanted a cabinet... no one told me I was supposed to ask the wife!!

But she didn't seem to mind when I went and picked it up, and then converted it for Mame... and then spent a while playing a myriad of games... and am now looking for a SF2 World Warrior PCB as the mame version doesn't quite function as well as I had hoped. I am also looking at Pinball machines, but don't quite have the cash at this stage.... one day though... one day!!!

Or maybe a dedicated SF2 machine and a mame machine.....

[knave]

I just decided that I wanted a cabinet... no one told me I was supposed to ask the wife!!

But she didn't seem to mind when I went and picked it up, and then converted it for Mame... and then spent a while playing a myriad of games... and am now looking for a SF2 World Warrior PCB as the mame version doesn't quite function as well as I had hoped. I am also looking at Pinball machines, but don't quite have the cash at this stage.... one day though... one day!!!

Or maybe a dedicated SF2 machine and a mame machine.....

Hehe, I picked up an old Jamma cab to Mame, threw a SF2:WW PCB in it and it's still like that.