The Polycade

[adder]

If you were wondering what Nolan Bushnell's kids have been up too...

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/783911081/the-polycade-retro-arcade-of-the-future

[voltz]

I'm not too sure I like the design as much.  It works for a simple profile, but I can't see it as anything I'd like to have sitting in my game room.

Also it's too much focus on old games.  I'd be willing to support something that had the more recent japanese titles.

[yotsuya]

I think it looks like ass, myself. But the fact it's got backers already shows some people just wanna play Galaga, by any means necessary, to Hell with all the extra stuff we do here.

[johnrt]

Man, that's ugly!

[yotsuya]

Oh, well, he probably designed it without any honest feedback from people. But then again, if he'd posted that here, he probably would have been told it's ok if it makes him happy.

[Dal1980]

I think it looks quite nice for a urinal, not sure where you pee though?! :0


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[vwalbridge]

I like the following:

- Fake temporary wood walls on the garage floor
- The plant in the corner makes it feel warm and welcoming
- The streak marks all over the screen

Yots is right though...I wish he would have posted it here so we can give him a gold star. Do what makes you happy! 

[yotsuya]

I like the following:

- Fake temporary wood walls on the garage floor
- The plant in the corner makes it feel warm and welcoming
- The streak marks all over the screen

Yots is right though...I wish he would have posted it here so we can give him a gold star. Do what makes you happy! 

I bet he didn't even have to ask his wife for permission to build it, either.

[harveybirdman]

All white profile sleek.....


Better ---fudgesicle--- it up with colored buttons...

[Slippyblade]

...he probably would have been told it's ok if it makes him happy.

It *IS* ok if it makes him happy.  That doesn't mean the rest of us can't think it's ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.

Aside from that, I'm very curious about copyright issues.  They state in the comment section that it's ok for use in commercial environments, but I find it extremely hard to believe that they've obtained all the needed legal ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow--- to actually make that the case.  The legal wrangling alone would be more than the 20k they were shooting for.

[voltz]

I wonder how much does a Viewlix cab really cost and why is it we can't have anyone stateside manufacturing them for public use?

It's always been an issue that arcade gaming is just "way too @#$%ing expensive", yet we still can't come up with a viable solution. 

[yotsuya]

...he probably would have been told it's ok if it makes him happy.

It *IS* ok if it makes him happy.  That doesn't mean the rest of us can't think it's ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.

Aside from that, I'm very curious about copyright issues.  They state in the comment section that it's ok for use in commercial environments, but I find it extremely hard to believe that they've obtained all the needed legal ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow--- to actually make that the case.  The legal wrangling alone would be more than the 20k they were shooting for.

Well, that very issue came up on KLOV. Someone mentioned the Kickstarter used the MAME logo, and someone actually contacted them and inquired about it. Yep, minutes later, the MAME logo came down. So I doubt there has been any licensing done.

And the issue isn't if a bad design makes someone happy, the issue is whether or not there is a problem if someone points out it's a bad design. Thinking it looks like ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- but not saying anything is different than offering feedback on how to polish the turd.

[Phreakwars]

I think it looks quite nice for a urinal, not sure where you pee though?! :0


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That was my first thought too... looks like a urinal.

And the price $1250 ??

Ugh... SERIOUSLY??? The last 2 bartops I did ran just a bit over $600 WITH graphics.

No thanks. With $1250, I could do MUCH MUCH better.

[keilmillerjr]

So much is wrong this this project.

I'd rather see it with a 4:3 lcd, 1 single joystick, and a donkey Kong style coin mech or Nova gem coin button.

Ps where is the marquee?

[mgb]

I can't believe people are backing this.

The machine looks like crap

It looks like this wasn't really thought out that well.
These things are going for $1250-$1350, They're supposedly gonna play a whole bunch of classic games.
he's using RaspberryPis for the brains with retropie

what software will be run.

Does he have rights to this software, let alone all those games

Daddy don't own Atari anymore

[voltz]

I can't believe people are backing this.

The machine looks like crap

It's always been proven time and time again that the masses will never agree with what "you" want, even when you know what's better to begin with.

I weep for the future.

[GSXRMovistar]

]That was my first thought too... looks like a urinal.

And the price $1250 ??

Ugh... SERIOUSLY??? The last 2 bartops I did ran just a bit over $600 WITH graphics.

No thanks. With $1250, I could do MUCH MUCH better.

Did the $600 cover all tools and labour?

[markc74]

I guess I'm the minority here but I kinda like it.

Yeah the controller looks crap and the dimensions are wrong -  I cant see where the speakers are either. But with a few tweaks this could look a fairly sleek modern style cab to me.

I wouldn't *buy* one. Not at that price anyway, but I could see myself building something like it if I ever had the time.

[Token]

Ordered one. Can't wait to play Ms. Pac-man on a Widescreen LCD screen 4 inches from my face. 

[keilmillerjr]

Does he have rights to this software, let alone all those games

If kickstarter found out, this project would be *kicked* in an instant.

[Slippyblade]

Well, I got a response in regards to my licensing question.

We are purchasing a license per game per Polycade. I can understand the confusion with my comment regarding commercial use. The Polycade itself is just an interface, and if you were to place a set of games to which you have a commercial license for, then it would be usable commercially.

So it looks like most of the cost of this urinal is licensing.

[vwalbridge]

Well, I got a response in regards to my licensing question.

We are purchasing a license per game per Polycade. I can understand the confusion with my comment regarding commercial use. The Polycade itself is just an interface, and if you were to place a set of games to which you have a commercial license for, then it would be usable commercially.

So it looks like most of the cost of this urinal is licensing.

Huh? I'll be damned. Didn't know Capcom and Nintendo were selling licences to use Street Fighter and Sonic the hedgehog games. (Nintendo does have exclusive rights to Sonic right?)

(According to them, both games come pre-loaded...among many others owned by dozens of companies)

What a nightmare. It would have been so much easier to just ship it without games.

[Token]

This is where I get interested. Not in this product, but the licensing of ROMs.

I mean, I know everyone here owns the original hardware and rips their own ROMS for use in MAME, but think of all the others out there who want to play classic games legally but have very limited options.

iTunes proved that making easily pirated material cheap and easy to buy could work. Could something similar be done for ROMs? I'm afraid the market just isn't large enough to make it worth the effort to negotiate with so many copyright holders.

[yotsuya]

I'm pretty sure the Kickstarter is full of crap when it comes to the licensing. If you owned the Pac-Man license, would you licence it out to that piece of crap when you're still making money on your own machines?

[Token]

Now Love Hultén's "Pixel Vision" is a Kickstarter I could get behind...

[BadMouth]

They are most likely doing what x-arcade does, including a copy of the commercially released pc ports, like Namco Museum and Midway Arcade Treasures.

[CheffoJeffo]

iTunes proved that making easily pirated material cheap and easy to buy could work. Could something similar be done for ROMs? I'm afraid the market just isn't large enough to make it worth the effort to negotiate with so many copyright holders.

Well, given that StarROMs was such success and iROMs never got off the ground, I would say not a chance in hell.

[Slippyblade]

Now Love Hultén's "Pixel Vision" is a Kickstarter I could get behind...

THAT guy!  Love his work.  Priced WAAAAAY outta my bracket though.

[mgb]

I still don't think he's gonna get the proper rights to all those roms.

and then you've got the software such as retropie, its free but like mame, I'd imagine you're not supposed to distribute it.

and what's he using to actually run the games, Mame or some derivative of it? 

[pbj]

Well, that very issue came up on KLOV. Someone mentioned the Kickstarter used the MAME logo, and someone actually contacted them and inquired about it. Yep, minutes later, the MAME logo came down. So I doubt there has been any licensing done.

God bless that noble KLOV warrior.

[Token]

So do they really have licenses for all these games? Did they get permission from ReotroPie and MAME devs to include their software?

From the MAME legal FAQ--

Q. If I obtain a license from an original manufacturer to distribute the ROMs can I use MAME to run them?
A. Generally, no, because it constitutes a commercial use of MAME. However, we have in the past made a couple of exceptions for this particular case. We will not consider making any further exceptions without proof that such a license has already been obtained.

Oh, and they met a stretch goal that BYOAC will love! 

[vwalbridge]

Here is the answer Slippyblade got:

Well, I got a response in regards to my licensing question.

We are purchasing a license per game per Polycade. I can understand the confusion with my comment regarding commercial use. The Polycade itself is just an interface, and if you were to place a set of games to which you have a commercial license for, then it would be usable commercially.

So it looks like most of the cost of this urinal is licensing.

Of course they have included a keyboard drawer. Buyers are going to need it to type an email back to the builder inquiring how to return their mistake.

[mgb]

Oh great, they added a keyboard drawer.
At $100,000 I really hope they add cup holders.

The 4 way stick looks an awful lot like a Happ style which leads me to wonder if it has true restriction or just a flipped actuator.


Either way, the licensing will kill this venture.

[monkeybomb]

I look like ass, myself. But the fact it's got backers already shows some people just wanna play Galaga, by any means necessary, to Hell with all the extra stuff we do here.

I would expect people with arcade cabinets to think this looks like ass, but there are a lot of rooms that that don't look quite right with a giant piece of 7 Eleven in the corner.  My wife and I used to live in a 1 bedroom apartment with panton chairs, acrylic cabinets, modern artwork and that kind of thing.  While this wall mounted game station isn't exactly what I would want, it would have fit in with that living room way better than the neo geo cabinet my wife let me add.  It created a clockwork orange meets shakeys pizza vibe that lots of people wouldn't be willing to deal with. Having said that, a 4:3 screen would definitely need for me to ever consider anything like this.

Regarding the license, a 14 game capcom cd was included with the HanaHo Hotrod and it included SFII. I think the disk used mame, but I can't find it to check. I believe the Arcade PC had far more licensed games and there are other examples like.  So this wouldn't be the first project to get capcom on board.

[harveybirdman]

but there are a lot of rooms that that don't look quite right with a giant piece of 7 Eleven in the corner. 

EVERY room looks better with a piece of 7 Eleven in the corner.

[Howard_Casto]

Or you can just cut out the middle man and live at 7 Eleven. 

[vwalbridge]

I guess we must all be arcading wrong...

over $105K pledged with 3 days to go.

[Rick]

Wait. $1250 US for that??! I guess there's a lot of money to be made banking on the Bushnell name these days. (Especially considering I sell a fully-functional bartop for way less than half of that amount.)

[mgb]

Wait. $1250 US for that??! I guess there's a lot of money to be made banking on the Bushnell name these days. (Especially considering I sell a fully-functional bartop for way less than half of that amount.)

But does yours come with a Nolan Bushnell signed cartridge?


Judging by people's comments on Kickstarter, the average joe is loving this thing.
Many people talking like its the first possible way to enjoy classic video games since the 80s.
I think it's the same crowd that loves Dave & Busters

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah, the first thing you need to realize is that most people are stupid and don't know anything about anything.  If you see a random stranger out in the crown I'd say there's a 90% chance he's a moron at worst and a solid C- student at best.  Anyway, my point is... we have specialized knowledge and experience in this field.  Most people don't, because they are lame and don't like cool things.  They aren't cool guys like us.