Get ready for the great flood !

[spidermonkey]

Congratulations Saint ! I'm sure it'll be a hit. . Man are we gonna get flooded with nebies around here.  Ah thats alright.. We'll learn em good we will !

[saint]

Thanks!  We'll see how many permament members we get. The link on UserFriendly.org doubled our traffic but only for a day or two.  I'm pretty curious to see what the effect of this will be!

[SirPoonga]

It's on mameworld's news forum, so that will hit the main page soon.  See an increase then.  Then someone will have to show it on /. after that.....

[Stingray]

I can't imagine that anyone who buys the book would be clueless on these things. Actually going out and getting a book is a sign that the person is pretty serious about that topic.

-S

[Howard_Casto]

I can't imagine that anyone who buys the book would be clueless on these things. Actually going out and getting a book is a sign that the person is pretty serious about that topic.

-S

Or 35 year old men going through a mid-life crisis, or nerdy kids with way too much time on their hands.  

Don't worry, we'll make sure they buy the book and THEN I'll run the annoying ones off.  

[greven grevs]

I am actually really excited about the coming flood of people that the book will bring. Granted there will be new and annoying people but there will also be people with great new ideas. Also by taking the book into the "mainstream" maybe we will see growth in companies that support our hobby. Granted I love my IPAC but what if there were more companies with similiar products? Could mean price drops , compition is healthy for the consumer. Just my 2 cents.

Now , back to studying for my promotion test!

[DarkKobold]

The fact that they have (hopefully) read the book, means they are more informed than the typical "n00b." I think that there will be plenty of people who have may never thought of building a mame machine, but after a book store encounter, they catch the "itch."

I need to get some powder to get rid of my "itch."

j/k

[jr76]

Congrats! I will be buying the book for sure! I don't see any problems with you making a profit...if it weren't for your time and effort with this site...many of us would be lost in the dark. By far the best forum (for content, timely answers, and attitude of people in general) that I have come across. I can only imagine how great the book will be!

[teef two]

Hey Howard I'm 35 an I haven't had my mid-life crisis yet!

Still, I can feel it creeping up on me. Any day now I'll be wanting to get back on a motorbike again.

I think the 35 year old remark might, in all seriousness, be a major part of the market for a book like this. Certainly all those of us who grew in in the late seventies/early eighties  were the first generation to really get into electronic games. We are also now likely to be the ones who can most afford the hobby. All we have to do is convince our wives of the necessity of such a project.

Perhaps Saint should consider a companion volume entitled "How to persuade your wife to let you build an arcade machine!"

[saint]

Heh  Unfortunately, I don't know enough to write that book! It would be really short.

Page 1: Beg.
Page 2: Turn to page 1.

Hey Howard I'm 35 an I haven't had my mid-life crisis yet!

Still, I can feel it creeping up on me. Any day now I'll be wanting to get back on a motorbike again.

I think the 35 year old remark might, in all seriousness, be a major part of the market for a book like this. Certainly all those of us who grew in in the late seventies/early eighties  were the first generation to really get into electronic games. We are also now likely to be the ones who can most afford the hobby. All we have to do is convince our wives of the necessity of such a project.

Perhaps Saint should consider a companion volume entitled "How to persuade your wife to let you build an arcade machine!"

[colopioneers]

Man are we gonna get flooded with nebies around here.  Ah thats alright.. We'll learn em good we will !

colopioneers <--------------- Newbie turned full member, complete with newly finished cabinet!!!  

Thank God for all of you wonderful, wonderful, people!!!!!  Especially you, saint, for making all this information available.  Make all the money you can!!!

[Generic Eric]

Goodie!

Now we can say RTFM.  lol haha

j/k I don't reply like that.

[SirPoonga]

Goodie!

Now we can say RTFM.  lol haha

j/k I don't reply like that.

don't let HC see that

[pointdablame]

<snip>

Don't worry, we'll make sure they buy the book and THEN I'll run the annoying ones off.  

I doubt any of us are worried Howard. We're sure you'll run most of 'em off anyway.  

[MameMaster!]

Hey Howard I'm 35 an I haven't had my mid-life crisis yet!

Still, I can feel it creeping up on me. Any day now I'll be wanting to get back on a motorbike again.

I think the 35 year old remark might, in all seriousness, be a major part of the market for a book like this. Certainly all those of us who grew in in the late seventies/early eighties  were the first generation to really get into electronic games. We are also now likely to be the ones who can most afford the hobby. All we have to do is convince our wives of the necessity of such a project.

Perhaps Saint should consider a companion volume entitled "How to persuade your wife to let you build an arcade machine!"

....I'm right there with you brother. I'm 35 and in the same boat!

I agree about the $$'s needed for this hobby. Thankfully I've pretty much purchased anything I've wanted for my cabs....having a few bucks really helps this money hungry hobby in a big way!

MameMaster!

[spocktwin]

   Went an picked up the book at Barnes & Noble and I am about 1/2 through it and I think it is fantastic.  I am a 44 year old noob who has lurked here without registering for months.  I promise not to annoy but I recently purchased a pac man cabinet (the owner of the arcade company had never heard of mame)  I am going to convert the cabinet for my kids to play the old games.  Please don't flame me about changing this piece of history, its my money and I don't have the time to build the entire enclosure from scratch.  Great Job Saint, I have turned on others here at work to you, your site and now the book!!

[SirPeale]

Just don't bolt on a four player panel and you're okay with me.

[spocktwin]

no worry there I plan on keeping the parts and not destructively modifying the cabinet.  Not a fan of the huge honking 4 player control panels.....but I can't say enough about this site.  Getting a chance to relive my younger years is almost getting to be too much!!1

[halonut]

So I take my 13 month old son with me to the bookstore.  I'm there to buy HIM a book we can read together.  

We've read through 3 chapters already, and he's just not getting it.  When I show him the pictures, he gazes at me with the same blank look I get from his mother.  

Saint, for the next revision, is it possible to include a chapter that helps other family members cope w/ your new obsession?  When asked when I'm coming to bed, I can just refer them to page 542 or something.   Is there counseling?  A prayer they can utter?  Free coupons for professional advice?

You've started a new hobby craze for me!  I should say thanks, but ... my son probably wants his daddy back.    (And before any of you flame me for that statement,...don't worry, my little buddy and I are as close as ever.)

Kind regards,

Halonut.

[ChadTower]

Involve him!  My kids know about the cabinets, they know how to get the coin bucket out, the doors open, they know how to get the control panel off.  They're 5 and 2, BTW.  Hell, just this morning my son asked me why our POW (a Dynamo cab) sometimes works with quarters and sometimes they get stuck.  Then he asked me why the vf2 machine is on freeplay (yes, he said freeplay) and we use quarters for the others.  When I told him it's on freeplay because it only accepts tokens and we don't have many, his response:  "oh, we should go to Chuck E Cheese and get some, they have lots of them there".  This is a 5 year old.

It's never too early, so long as you make sure they stay safe.  My two year old has no problem putting in quarters to play, and then opening the coin door to retrieve them from the bucket when he runs out.

[jonm]

I knew absolutely nothing about this stuff.  About 1 week ago, I downloaded mame, 10.5 gigs of roms, and bought the book.  The book is really good!  Its great to learn the differences and pros and cons of the different hardware (leaf switches vs microswitches and so on.)  I will admit that I work in the computer industry so the electronic parts (like the keyboard emulator) already made sense to me.  Anyway thanks for a great book! I got it for a bargain on amazon ($17.99!)  I'm already laying out paper versions of a control panel,  and yes I do want a 4-player version (mainly because my buddies and I love the old 4 player Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game).  I'm thinking of setting up player 1 and 2 in the center with 6 buttons and players 3 and 4 on the outside edges with 4 buttons.

[GameOver]

I wouldn't say it's a mid-life crisis, HC, us old timers were playing these games before you could say 'Space Invaders'!  This was just the next logical step - get married, house with white picket fence, 3 kids, a dog, and a....full size 2 player upright mame cabinet with a 24" screen! 

Say hello to my old friend....

[Shape D.]

Wow!!!!! youre friends with a guy who owns an atari shirt!! Sweet!!

[tetsujin]

Heh   Unfortunately, I don't know enough to write that book! It would be really short.

Page 1: Beg.
Page 2: Turn to page 1.

Heh, a little different with my girlfriend.  She was the one who had the initiative to suggest we go ahead and build a cabinet.

The book's great stuff.  We were tossing around ideas and I happened upon the book in B&N.  It's very helpful!  But as a result of reading it I now have a burning desire to own a real vector graphics machine.  :|

[RTSDaddy2]

I'll start with the back end of my thoughts first...while a newbie, I am grateful to all here that have helped us.  Though this is our first cabinet, I hope to be able to give back to this community as time goes on. 

Now the beginning. About a year and a half ago, I saw these beautiful home made cabs start turning up online.  I thought three things:

1) man, that's a beautiful cabinet!
2) I always wanted one, never thought of building it though, &
3) how do you do it?

I'm not a handyman / woodworker. Looked at some of the plans and - esp with wiring - thought "that's way out of my league."   Then Saint wrote the book around this hobby, and once we read it, my wife and I agreed this was something we could do together (yes, I AM a lucky man - her idea as much as it is mine).  She has helped me conceptualize it from pieces all the way to marquee and side art.

Yesterday when I was in Dad's shop applying the second coat of paint to a side, and puttying over some holes I'd missed, I realized again what a true labor of love these cabinets are.  Done properly, they are (to me) free-standing pieces of art...and are as beautiful outside as anywhere else.

A post that was a bit longer than I meant it to be, but I guess I wanted folk to know that I didn't sign on just to be here and gone!

RTSDaddy2

[saint]

Sweet! Posts like these make my day

I'll start with the back end of my thoughts first...while a newbie, I am grateful to all here that have helped us.  Though this is our first cabinet, I hope to be able to give back to this community as time goes on. 

Now the beginning. About a year and a half ago, I saw these beautiful home made cabs start turning up online.  I thought three things:

1) man, that's a beautiful cabinet!
2) I always wanted one, never thought of building it though, &
3) how do you do it?

I'm not a handyman / woodworker. Looked at some of the plans and - esp with wiring - thought "that's way out of my league."   Then Saint wrote the book around this hobby, and once we read it, my wife and I agreed this was something we could do together (yes, I AM a lucky man - her idea as much as it is mine).  She has helped me conceptualize it from pieces all the way to marquee and side art.

Yesterday when I was in Dad's shop applying the second coat of paint to a side, and puttying over some holes I'd missed, I realized again what a true labor of love these cabinets are.  Done properly, they are (to me) free-standing pieces of art...and are as beautiful outside as anywhere else.

A post that was a bit longer than I meant it to be, but I guess I wanted folk to know that I didn't sign on just to be here and gone!

RTSDaddy2