Anybody ever thought of building their own console?

[Todd H]

How hard could it be?

[SirPeale]

I've thought about it, but $$$ got in the way.  Not that it would be *terribly* expensive, but I've got three kids to feed.

[Todd H]

I know what you mean.

[Shape D.]

I'm still working on convincing her a MAME cabinet is a good idea. 

Good luck with that, I'm having trouble convincing mine to let me build a one player cp. 

[Hoagie_one]

I'm currently in the planning stages of putting a computer inside of a SNES case...for emulation in teh livingroom and as a PVR

[SOAPboy]

I'm still working on convincing her a MAME cabinet is a good idea.

[lucindrea]

well if wherever you go on your honnymoon has a arcade nearby , spend some time their and just keep mumbling the phrase "this would be cheaper if we had a mame cabinet" 

of course odds are your going somewhere mushy like some island or somthing where their are no arcade games 

[mairsil]

Am I the only one whose wife doesn't mind the gaming addiction and actually joins in every once in a while? Hell, she loves making people scream in Area 51/Maximum Force. I'm lucky

What I would like to know, is if anyone has looked into fabricating some sort of embedded system for multi-console emulation. For instance, it shouldn't be too hard to find an appropriate FPGA soft processor core that could be used for say NES or SMS emulation, and add in sound/video output and controller input. Then, just take an old console and replace the contents. You could probably even get away with using USB keys as "cartridges" instead of needing a hard drive. Any thoughts?

[SOAPboy]

Am I the only one whose wife doesn't mind the gaming addiction and actually joins in every once in a while? Hell, she loves making people scream in Area 51/Maximum Force. I'm lucky

What I would like to know, is if anyone has looked into fabricating some sort of embedded system for multi-console emulation. For instance, it shouldn't be too hard to find an appropriate FPGA soft processor core that could be used for say NES or SMS emulation, and add in sound/video output and controller input. Then, just take an old console and replace the contents. You could probably even get away with using USB keys as "cartridges" instead of needing a hard drive. Any thoughts?

nah, my chick is cool with the whole blowing money on games.. the whole arcade machine was quite a shock for her tho..

[rchadd]

How hard could it be?

[pointdablame]

How hard could it be?  You put a micro motherboard into a game console-like case and make it look like a console, with only a power button, USB ports, and a cd tray in the front.  On the back all you would need would be a s-video out port.  When you plug it in you would get a menu that let you play games from almost any console, such as the NES, SNES, Genesis, 2600, N64, etc.  Using authentic controllers wouldn't be a problem, since there's a USB adapter for practically every old console system controller available.  Any comments?  Has this been tried already?

that sounds like a modchipped xbox to me

Heh, my thoughts exactly. It IS a modded xbox.  There are adapters, or DIY adapters for PSX controllers and all older controllers, plus it can play all the systems mentioned, play mp3s, videos.

I love the idea of an NESpc or similar to use as an emulation system, but an xbox is far cheaper, and works just as well, if not better.  It's practically an HTPC out of the box.

[NiteWalker]

Am I the only one whose wife doesn't mind the gaming addiction and actually joins in every once in a while? Hell, she loves making people scream in Area 51/Maximum Force. I'm lucky

Nope. My wife is just as addicted as me.  She's even making me build her a sanwa with pink buttons and stick.

[nipsmg]

I'm going to have to agree also, what you're talking about is a Modded Xbox, essentially.

Used xbox: $120, Modchip $30, Larger hard drive: $80.

Total cost: $230.