Help the MAME Devs!?

[RitchieTheBrit]

Just a quick idea I had last night...

What if a group of the coders here grouped in and made the definitive frontend?  I'm talking self install routines, batch files to hide window (registry hacks, etc), a built in jukebox, and anything else that can be thought of.  Make it fully customisable, and sell it! 

The user could receive free update and bug fixes, and the proceeds could be passed on to the MAME Devs for development and resources!

The reason I'm thinking of this is because it would make it a lot less intimidating for newbies, make life easier for the likes of me (kinda' intermediate) and encourage more home built cabinets.  I think that this would help the community hugely, garnering new interest, and thus keeping alive the spirit and heritage of gaming! 

Just curious what everybody thinks!

[SirPoonga]

Not possible, everyone has their own tastes, there is no ultimate FE.

I like simple like game launcher.

[pointdablame]

I have to agree with SirP... you'll never have a "definitive FE"  There is no such thing.  For the same reasons Windows isnt the "definitive" OS and Cadillac isn't the "definitive" car, or whatever else you'd like to say.  It's all preference.

There have been a few FE's who have tried to implement easier setups, and I think that's a great idea.  Perhaps a standard install for newbies, and advanced options for those not afraid to mess around with settings.

I doubt you'll ever see "THE ONE" when it comes to FEs though.  And with all of the free options, you wouldn't see any "proceeds" to go to the devs.  Plus, a lot of the devs don't even care about people trying to accurately play these games (us), so they won't care much at all.