Ideas for an Xbox 1 Mame Project

[Jammin0]

 Just went to my local 2nd hand store and ended up buying an xbox for $5.  I had one 5 or 6 years back that I had modded but my building skills have come a long way since then so I thought it would be pretty cool to wire up some arcade controls for it.  Scored a mod chip online for $13, kind of funny that it cost more than the console but still way cheaper than what I paid 5 years ago.

I'm thinking about mounting a 32" LCD in the garage and then building a 4 player control panel in a pedestal that can be semi mobile.

Any ideas/advice for my first build.  I've been perusing the forum for a couple of weeks now and I am happy to see such a wide variety of work being done here.  My project is definitely not a purist arcade project but I think it will be tons of fun and last for years and years of gaming.

[Howard_Casto]

Well first off, xboxes can now be soft-modded.  I think you need a copy of mech assault or something.  The cost would probably end up being about the same, but there's no soldering and the xbox would still be stock. 

Secondly remember that the xbox can only do component out.  While technically that's still hd, the picture can be a bit blurrier and you have to check your lcd to make sture it supports it seeing as how hdmi is the new standard. 

Also I would suggest that before you spend a bunch of money on building a cabinet, you get the software the way you like.  Emulators on teh xbox are kind of basic, they can look ugly ect.... you might find that after spending a bunch on the cabinet you might want to put something more worthwhile in it. 

[SNAAKE]

coinops epic r9 is the newest mame for xbox

its more of a nice frontend that supports other emulators too. fbaxxx has arcade scanlines and screen size adjustment too. soldering a chip is easy. but softmod is even easier. I dont have any guide but you can google something or check www.xbox-scene.com forums. as HC said, make sure your tv has component in. you'll need to hack a pair of xbox controllers too(easy straight forward).


personally I think a jailbroken ps3 is a better investment. why settle for less when you can have it all. emulators for old games and new games like sf4/marvel3/whatever.

[Howard_Casto]

personally I think a jailbroken ps3 is a better investment. why settle for less when you can have it all. emulators for old games and new games like sf4/marvel3/whatever.

There you go.... or a jtaged 360. 

The point I was trying to get across was that with controls you are going to have about 100 bucks in the thing or more and 2-300 bucks in the tv.  That doesn't even cover the cost of the cabinet and misc stuff.  So the 150-200 bucks you would spend on a better console or a pc isn't much of the total build cost.  That 5 dollar xbox is a deal if you are going to use it as-is, but once you start modifying it into something else it becomes a money pit. 

To use a car analogy you are putting a 4 cylinder dodge omni engine in a corvette. 

[SNAAKE]

jtag is better actually. especially if you are into vertical/horizontal shooters. raiden games alone sealed the deal for me. scored a jasper recently and never letting it go.

 but since jtags are so hard to find I didnt even bother mentioning it..

finding a jailbroken ps3 is probably much easier. check local craigslist or something.

[Jammin0]

Thanks for all the tips guys.  Actually the xbox is now modded and up and running.  I am familiar with it because I had one so long ago.  I actually softmodded one once for my little brother but honestly the mod chip was cheaper this go and personally I think it is way easier to install a bigger hard drive with the mod chip, less to go wrong too.

I thought about a 360 but I really think it will cost a ton more, here's the breakdown

xbox                                    xbox 360
$18 (after modchip)               $150 (around that modded?)
8 controllers ($50-80)             8 controllers ($240)                  - I want to have 4 additional wireless controls for dual stick games
TV same either way
Cabinet same either way
control panel same either way

By not building the display into the cabinet I can convince the wife to let us get it and mount it for the workout/gameroom.  I don't know, maybe I'm crazy but if I remember right xbmc runs in 1080p and the emulators for older arcade games don't really matter, for that reason I might try and get a 720p LCD or even an older 480 plasma so that it doesn't look as grainy.

It just seems like I can save $200-300 by going the xbox1 route.  Sure the 360 or PS3 would maintain the play-ability of the current gen consoles but that's not really what I'm going for, I've had both a 360 and a PS3 at one point and sold them because they didn't get used.  I'm kind of going for the nostalgic retro gaming because I want to expose my 5 year old to that instead of some of the newer games.

I run a side business doing vinyl cutting so I think I can get off cheap on my cabinet graphics.  You guys still think I'm crazy for resurrecting an old xbox?

[ark_ader]

No. I have 5 now and they are all soft modded running either 500GB or 250 GB HDD.

Every time I see one cheap I buy it and store it for parts.

The Xbox1 is more valuable than a PS3 or Xbox360 to a person on a limited budget.

With today's economics sounds like you made a sensible purchase and informed modification. 

[SNAAKE]

xbox1 is good for your purpose then.

I was saying how a ps3 in a better investment in general. and you have support for blurays and "obtained"(lol) hd movies.

[ark_ader]

xbox1 is good for your purpose then.

I was saying how a ps3 in a better investment in general. and you have support for blurays and "obtained"(lol) hd movies.

I haven't jumped to the BR or HD movie route.

We have HD sets and I do like some of the quality of HD, but I can stick to 576 to 600 which the Xbox1 can handle, and it looks very good on a 32-50 inch display.

Anything higher and its a platform changer, even on the the LG LCDTV has blur on anything higher of 720 when playing encoded files.  I can playback 720 on the Xbox1 but I have to mess with it to work and it still freezes mid way.

As the UK law has changed to legally copy and store my extensive DVD collection onto Hard Disc, I can keep my collection at the same resolution, thus reducing the cost of storage, and providing more content on the existing platform.

With these benefits, even the PS3 or the Xbox360 cannot compete.  Besides under current laws modding a PS3 or Xbox360 is not legal unless you live down under.  Xbox1 is a dead platform. 

[Howard_Casto]

I haven't jumped to the BR or HD movie route.

Dear god!  Where is the cave that you are living in?  Did Osama used to hide there?


It's 2011.  HD movies game out around 2001.  It's time to make the jump. 

[ark_ader]

I haven't jumped to the BR or HD movie route.

Dear god!  Where is the cave that you are living in?  Did Osama used to hide there?


It's 2011.  HD movies game out around 2001.  It's time to make the jump. 

No thanks I do not need to pay again for movies I own on yet another platform.  Did that with VHS, Laserdisc, VCD ,DVD, and UMD.

Osama was Bingo'ed in a house in Pakistan.  Which underground dwelling have you been in Howard to have missed that?

Oh!  You coders don't go outside much do you?....silly me!

While you are lost again in the pseudo code psychosis  - how about an update for your VP wrapper, please Mr Casto?

[Jammin0]

coinops epic r9 is the newest mame for xbox

I notice that there is a Coinops 2, is that the final release / newer than epic r9?

[ChadTower]

I haven't jumped to the BR or HD movie route.

Dear god!  Where is the cave that you are living in?  Did Osama used to hide there?

Same here.  I mostly stream divx rips upscaled to 720p via XBMC.

[Howard_Casto]

I haven't jumped to the BR or HD movie route.

Dear god!  Where is the cave that you are living in?  Did Osama used to hide there?


It's 2011.  HD movies game out around 2001.  It's time to make the jump. 

No thanks I do not need to pay again for movies I own on yet another platform.  Did that with VHS, Laserdisc, VCD ,DVD, and UMD.

Osama was Bingo'ed in a house in Pakistan.  Which underground dwelling have you been in Howard to have missed that?

Oh!  You coders don't go outside much do you?....silly me!

While you are lost again in the pseudo code psychosis  - how about an update for your VP wrapper, please Mr Casto?

Do you have a learning disability or are you just a bad reader in general? .... note the tense "USED TO HIDE"  not "IS HIDING". 

You have gaul to insult me and then request a piece of software?!?  I might take the version I have off the site just for spite!!!

Or argument holds no weight... it's like saying "Hell no I'm not upgrading to the snes, when the nes is the same... i'm not buying all my games over again."

The thing is the NES is NOT the same as the SNES nor is crappy standard def movie the same as HD.  You do have a hd set right?  So you'll want to watch movies in widescreen format right?  Well letterboxed dvds cut the resolution from 640x480 down to something crazy low like 640x256. It just looks terrible!  Once you go hd you don't go back.  Should you be replacing your entire SD collection with hd?  Probably not.  Should you have been buying all of your NEW films in HD?  Hell yes!  Bluray and hd digital downloads have been out for YEARS now.   

Even if you don't buy hd, your xbox media is in digital format and therefore you should be "aquiring" hd files.

[ChadTower]

Even if you don't buy hd, your xbox media is in digital format and therefore you should be "aquiring" hd files.

The Xbox won't consistently play anything encoded at 720p or higher.  It drops a lot of frames even on the most efficient rip to 720p.  About the best you get consistently working well is something encoded in the 480p range and upscaled to 720p.  Upscaling to 1080i has the same issues, just not enough memory to work consistently well.

This is from several years of experience using several of them over many iterations of the XBMC software.

Speaking for myself I haven't bothered to upgrade because I watch mostly low budget horror movies or older movies that have nothing to do with 1080p.  I really don't care if Terror at Blood Fart Lake has a 1080p version to view on my Freecycled Wega RPTV.

[ark_ader]

I haven't jumped to the BR or HD movie route.

Dear god!  Where is the cave that you are living in?  Did Osama used to hide there?


It's 2011.  HD movies game out around 2001.  It's time to make the jump. 

No thanks I do not need to pay again for movies I own on yet another platform.  Did that with VHS, Laserdisc, VCD ,DVD, and UMD.

Osama was Bingo'ed in a house in Pakistan.  Which underground dwelling have you been in Howard to have missed that?

Oh!  You coders don't go outside much do you?....silly me!

While you are lost again in the pseudo code psychosis  - how about an update for your VP wrapper, please Mr Casto?

Do you have a learning disability or are you just a bad reader in general? .... note the tense "USED TO HIDE"  not "IS HIDING". 

You have gaul to insult me and then request a piece of software?!?  I might take the version I have off the site just for spite!!!

Or argument holds no weight... it's like saying "Hell no I'm not upgrading to the snes, when the nes is the same... i'm not buying all my games over again."

The thing is the NES is NOT the same as the SNES nor is crappy standard def movie the same as HD.  You do have a hd set right?  So you'll want to watch movies in widescreen format right?  Well letterboxed dvds cut the resolution from 640x480 down to something crazy low like 640x256. It just looks terrible!  Once you go hd you don't go back.  Should you be replacing your entire SD collection with hd?  Probably not.  Should you have been buying all of your NEW films in HD?  Hell yes!  Bluray and hd digital downloads have been out for YEARS now.   

Even if you don't buy hd, your xbox media is in digital format and therefore you should be "aquiring" hd files.

Do you have a learning disability or are you just a bad speller?  I have gaul?  I have gall, maybe?   

Gaul (Latin: Gallia, French: Gaule) was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg...

 

I'm rich! - thanks Howard, I'll just get into my DeLorean and travel back to the Roman Times.... 



I'm sorry Howard I fail to see where SNES and HD movies play a part in this discussion.  Are you inferring that Dragon's Lair for the SNES is anyway identical to maybe the arcade version, or maybe other similar themed versions Digital Leisure sells?

Or argument holds no weight... it's like saying "Hell no I'm not upgrading to the snes, when the nes is the same... i'm not buying all my games over again."

Does that make any sense?  I'm not referring to the bad spelling or diction (again) but which titles would I buy that are SNES & NES revisions?  Correct me if I am wrong here Howard, but didn't the SNES have some backward compatibility with the NES?  I'm sure it was documented, but why would I buy titles for the SNES that were out for the NES (if there was any in quantity).  I can see a comparison between PS2 and Xbox, not the SNES and the NES.

In actuality I did own a NES and SNES and I had bought carts for both, each had its qualities.  Like when I had the PS3 and The Xbox 360 both had near identical titles but I preferred the Xbox 360 over the PS3 and got rid of it.  That would be a better comparison.

I digress.... 

I am of near middle age, and my eyesight is not the best in the world.  Also my ears are not in the dog's high performance range (I blame my MP3 player) so HD 7.1 THX sound is also wasted on me.  There is no point.  You could kick it out in mono and I wouldn't notice.  Most of the time I have to watch the film twice as I fall asleep half way through.

I cannot see the difference in up scaled DVDs on the HDTV, and the BR on the PS3 (which I parted out months ago as I was not buying BR movies or games).  Thus I use 576-600 resolution when I rip my DVDs.  The Xbox1 plays it, the TV displays it, my family likes it, and the storage is cheaper for it.   The xbox1 does not play HD content or we would not be having this discussion. 

Get your facts right, Mr. Casto and your spelling.

The VP wrapper doesn't work, if you want to act like a child and not update it, I don't mind.  If you want some attention then build you console whatever, or write a better wrapper for VP.  Just don't come in here and throwing ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow--- comments up, in the hope of making them stick. 

I did originally ask you nicely for a new wrapper, did I not? 





Disclaimer: If you find any spelling mistakes blame Firefox.

[ark_ader]

This is kind of a random question, but does CoinOps Epic R9 throw up error messages, nag screens, or game information? 

I ask because I'm running a customized version of Donkey Kong that chokes up a lot of emulators with warning screens.

No nags and its all gravy baby! 

[ark_ader]

Hrm.. how about vertically oriented menus?

Had a fiddle about with the settings, and I am glad you asked that - as I didn't think it would do it.

Now I'm upset that it does, as I play 90% vertical games on the Xbox, so either I get a switch box for my portrait monitor or I have to get a pivot stand.

So yes it displays games vertical displays and the interface does this too.

Not wanting to incite Howard, but CoinOPS also does 720p resolution.......

This version is CoinOPS2 Epic.  I've replaced the background music to Arcade Ambiance, and most of the arcade anthems in my collection.

Just need a dedicated [vertical] cab for it.  Could I make a stable console cabinet 15 inches wide?

[ChadTower]

Rom checksum verification in mame?

[ChadTower]

Might not be that hard.  It all depends on whether or not you need to sign it to run on the Xbox.

[ark_ader]

The developer for CoinOPs is a really nice guy - ask him.  You might need to register on the site first.

http://www.1emulation.com/forums/index.php?showuser=23431

[ark_ader]

That sucks.

You can post a question on his blog: http://coinops.blogspot.com/p/britneyspairs-support.html

I think he is working on a XBMC version of CoinOPS and that should be the ultimate FE for that platform.  

[ark_ader]

Can you get XBMC rotated to a vertical display?  I didn't see that as an option anywhere...

Not yet but you can always ask for that to be implemented. 

I would have to hard wire the CRT to do that.

Just upgraded Coinops2 Epic to R6.  Mint.

Lots of added games and so many new cool features - some of the issues I had are now resolved. 

[danny_galaga]

Or argument holds no weight... it's like saying "Hell no I'm not upgrading to the snes, when the nes is the same... i'm not buying all my games over again."

I don't understand this line of reasoning. He is saying he doesn't feel the need to get the same movies all over again on yet another format. The SAME movies. Going from NES to SNES doesn't imply all you get is the same games but in higher definition 

[ark_ader]

Or argument holds no weight... it's like saying "Hell no I'm not upgrading to the snes, when the nes is the same... i'm not buying all my games over again."

I don't understand this line of reasoning. He is saying he doesn't feel the need to get the same movies all over again on yet another format. The SAME movies. Going from NES to SNES doesn't imply all you get is the same games but in higher definition 

Yeah I was kinda mean with Howard on this same point.

[sharpfork]

I am in the midst of moving to an xbox for my MAME setup too and I can share a few thoughts:

* If you are looking to play mostly older games, the Xbox is a great choice as far as an inexpensive brain
* use component cables
* If you are going to mount a LCD for it, make it so you can rotate it 90degres for "TATE"/ vertical games
** If you aren't sure on the TV yet, you can pick up 480i TV on Cragislist for ~$15 these days.  I just got a 27" with a digital tuner that pics up Digital over the Air TV for $10.  The Cabinet is going to be in our guest room and will double as an XBMC media viewer and OTA TV.
* coinops 2 which has been mentioned in the thread is what I am using.
** blog:  http://coinops.blogspot.com
** latest forum after a bit of drama: http://www.emulab.it/forum/index.php#c6
** if you are wondering where to get it, check out the IRC link on the blog.

I'm not sure if it the fact that the heyday for Xbox 1 hardware mods was a while back or if I'm just stupid; but, hacking the controllers was the most difficult part of the process for me and I've solders quite a bit.  I kept finding incorrect or incomplete info saying "but the gamestop controller" "buy the madcatz" controller.  I've settled on the old "duke" xbox controllers after being burned with things like multiple grounds or having to scrap leads on a PCB to solder onto.  If anyone can point to a nice clear tutorial that shows which controllers to use and how to scrape the pads for soldering and all that, please post it.

 

[Jammin0]

I just did a madcatz controller.  Had common ground.  Buttons had a clear sticker over the top that once pealed off I had clean contacts.  Middle pin on the trigger buttons and top two pins on the click button for the trigger.  The d-pad was all ready to solder to as well.  I am pulling apart another couple of various controllers in the next week or so.  My guess is that they all have common ground and clear contacts.  I read some other stuff too but I think it was mostly about xbox 360.  For cleaning contacts I just touch ever so lightly with the dremel and a sanding attachment.

[sharpfork]

I had 3 madcats/gamestop controllers end up being mulitground so I moved to the big fat "Duke" MS controllers.  I'm going to add two USB ports using two of the memory card slot things for a trackball and usb spinner.