Main > Main Forum

a possibly insane idea

Pages: (1/4) > >>

Spacejack:

Okay, I've had this notion floating around my head for a couple of days.  Please excuse me if it's been covered before.  What if you duplicated an old piece of game hardware on a breadboard and plugged in real game ROMS?

It seems like this could be done... what would be the legal status of such a machine?  Could you even get the ROMS separately from the rest of the hardware, perhaps off of a board that died, or a replacement kit?  (I know you could burn eproms off of existing ones, but I was kind of wondering if you could legally run the thing as an amusement if you were using legit ROMs).

It certainly seems a scratch-built classic game would be a cool thing, even if it was limited to the typical mamecab home usage.  Anyway, just a weird thought.

Fozzy The Bear:


--- Quote from: Spacejack on March 29, 2008, 04:51:06 am ---Okay, I've had this notion floating around my head for a couple of days.  Please excuse me if it's been covered before.  What if you duplicated an old piece of game hardware on a breadboard and plugged in real game ROMS?
--- End quote ---

Not unless you have a complete circuit diagram and all of the now out of production chips and custom chips that would be on it.


--- Quote from: Spacejack on March 29, 2008, 04:51:06 am ---I was kind of wondering if you could legally run the thing as an amusement if you were using legit ROMs).
--- End quote ---

No!  because you're still running the software on illegitimate hardware.... It'd be no different to those illegal multi game boards.  Think about it this way: It'd be like plugging a legitimate Nintendo cartrige into an illegitimate console.


--- Quote from: Spacejack on March 29, 2008, 04:51:06 am ---It certainly seems a scratch-built classic game would be a cool thing, even if it was limited to the typical mamecab home usage.  Anyway, just a weird thought.

--- End quote ---

That's exactly what you would be limited to.... but if you want to take it on as a personal project then go for it. I don't think it would be easy to achieve but it's not totally impossible to do either.... Personally I think you'd be better off buying a working board off e-bay. It'd be a damned sight quicker.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

brandon:

build a PONG :)

Spacejack:

Fozzy:

Are the boardsets ALL that weird?  I thought if I went old enough I could find something with fairly common components.  The whole idea sorta came to me when I was looking at an Invaders board on ebay and didn't see many chips on it.  I'm probably misunderstanding at least three things.

I don't know if it's worth doing at all... it just sorta popped into my head that since these things are already in boxes the size of refrigerators, might as well go ahead and build a gigantic board to go in there (or down the back)...

Well, like I said, possibly insane.  Of course it would be easier to just get a board...  and then I could use it commercially too...  it was just a crazy thought.

grbgemen:

it would definitely be very cool if it worked. 

Pages: (1/4) > >>

Go to full version