How to recapture that "just discovered mame" spirit?

[menace]

I've been doing this mame thing for a few years now and have built 4 uprights and 3 minicades with various other things in between.  I'm sorry to say i'm kind of bored of the whole thing now--it seems so routine now, get cab, get parts, assemble, play test, sell,donate etc.

Any suggestions on how to get the fire back?  I can remember checking the mailbox everyday for buttons or reading the boards for various tidbits for hours.  Now i check the monitor forum to see what Ken L has come up with and the "everything else" to see if Mr. curmudgeon and drewkaree have finally decided to end their threads with a fight to the death using boxing gloves dipped in broken glass

[Bones]

Maybe somehow combine your fading Mame interest with drugs, chicks & violence....

I really dunno, same as anything I suppose, time can kill enthusiasm if it's not fuelled with new stuff.

[Sephroth57]

yeah itd be cool if they released new games like they were supposed to like, a year ago

[SirPeale]

My suggestion would be to get into actual arcade games, the real hardware.

[Hoagie_one]

this might be fun

[tommy]

<<<<  or, i have to agree with peale, Mame is fake arcade games start getting into the real stuff.

[Shape D.]

that, and try moving into other arcade like things. Pinball, jukeboxes, whack-a-mole, ect.....

hey I never thought of that until now BYO whack-a-mole could be sweet.

[GGKoul]

Find someone to play MAME with.  Thats really the only time I play my Mame cab.

[ChadTower]

The real hardware is the way to go, maybe pinball if you're not into PCB repair... the real hardware is so much more fun and interesting (and legal).

[mr.Curmudgeon]

Now i check the monitor forum to see what Ken L has come up with and the "everything else" to see if Mr. curmudgeon and drewkaree have finally decided to end their threads with a fight to the death using boxing gloves dipped in broken glass

lol. The closest we've ever come is our most recent Dance War in early April. Next time though...it's to the DEATH!!

[mr.Curmudgeon]

Seriously though, if you're interested in getting back into the "spirit" of MAME, I'd say organize a BYOAC Canadian member get-together. Where in Canada are you located? There has to be more than just yourself.

We New England MAME'rs (MAMEiacs?) get together a couple times a year at a huge classic arcade, then hang out and BS afterward. Drinking is sometimes involved and everyone is mutually interested in gaming, with the possible exception of the wives that get dragged into it!

I'm sure most everyone thought it'd be a big group of freaks. Turns out I'm the only one!
Even so, it's great fun and I'd bet you could get something similar happening in your area.


mrC

[GGKoul]

Seriously though, if you're interested in getting back into the "spirit" of MAME, I'd say organize a BYOAC Canadian member get-together. Where in Canada are you located? There has to be more than just yourself.

We New England MAME'rs (MAMEiacs?) get together a couple times a year at a huge classic arcade, then hang out and BS afterward. Drinking is sometimes involved and everyone is mutually interested in gaming, with the possible exception of the wives that get dragged into it!

I'm sure most everyone thought it'd be a big group of freaks. Turns out I'm the only one!
Even so, it's great fun and I'd bet you could get something similar happening in your area.


mrC

Look up.. GTA Ontario meet..

[GGKoul]

The real hardware is the way to go, maybe pinball if you're not into PCB repair... the real hardware is so much more fun and interesting (and legal).

Menace's brother owns/runs/works/ at an Arcade place.

[SirPoonga]

Any suggestions on how to get the fire back?

[FractalWalk]

Try different styles.  Rotating panel, Showcase, cocktail, cabaret, bartop . . .

[monkeybomb]

A lot of my enthusiasm comes from sharing with my friends and my brother.  I'm just starting so I don't know where you're coming from, but here's my plan (dream).

I really want a game room.  I want my favorite games fully restored but (gulp, don't kill me) MAMED.  I want to play all the beat em ups on a double dragon cabinet, spinner games on arkanoid and fighters on a SFII world warrior cab.  All CP's in their original format with no damaging extra buttons.  If that means I can't play a few games - oh well.

I am going to my first auction saturday and I can barely sleep at night.  But if I didn't  have anyone to share it with I don't think it would be worthwhile.

I my enthusiasm sparks nothing, then try playing the porn games and masturbating, who knows unless you give it a shot.   

[Sephroth57]

i hardly play my MAME machine by myself anymore, it gets most use when theres a couple guys over we can play Marvel vs Capcom till our fingers get sore

[MameMaster!]

....um, everyone forgot about the ol' Star Trek Memory Wipe. They do it all the time!....then MAME will be new once again!

...or as others have said here get into the "real stuff".

I would LOVE to do a restoration like that Missle Command that was posted here recently or something similar to a project like that.

Personally I have 2 more Arcade related projects in the planning stages and I've been gathering parts. For me 1/2 the thrill is in the "chase" for parts and the time it takes to plan/build stuff.

Oh yeah, I also bought a supergun recently off of Gozer....it's really cool to handle and use the actual Jamma boards.....and it's a blast to play real MVS Neo carts on my 36" TV!

....expensive but tons o' fun!

MameMaster!
PS- If you're really board send me any parts you don't want anymore!

[Trenchbroom]

And here's an extreme idea that works:  have a child.  Hopefully not producing one just so you can play Mame of course.

"Timmy, our two hour gaming session is over.  NOW GET BACK IN THE HOLE!"

....

{ahem}

Sorry.  Anyway, I built my cabinet so that me and my college buddies could play.  They moved, and it sat for a few years hardly touched.  Now my son is six and he's really getting into Dad's favorite Schmups.  Good stuff.

[Daniel270]

My suggestion would be to get into actual arcade games, the real hardware.

That's my next step... I'm already happy with my MAME^TM cab, even tho it's nowhere near my idea of "finished"....

[RayB]

Build an Adults-Only MAME cab with nothing but the "mature" games on it (which ironically tend to be really IMMATURE games, but that's besides the point).

I think the fire will return once you start designing your artwork... 

[Dire Radiant]

Just think of all the research you'd have to do on that!

[Kremmit]

I get the feeling back when I show my games to somebody for the first time.  I'm sure it'll be the same once I've got a working MAME to show off, too.

[danny_galaga]

move to a different state (or 4 or 5 in the US to make the same distance  ) with nothing but a backpack full of clothes. i can tell you now that i'm already missing my cab after 2 weeks. months down the track i wont remember what its like. when i go visit my 'baby' in a year or so i'm sure it'll be like new! people will have to show ME how to operate it!

[DrewKaree]

move to a different state (or 4 or 5 in the US to make the same distance  ) with nothing but a backpack full of clothes.

Man, the lengths you're willing to go to just because you've turned off all the women in your area! 

[Crazy Cooter]

Sounds like you're burned out on MAME but not building.  Try this:

Go find a PC game you like and scratch build your own cabinet design with your own artwork.  Pretty much think like you're in the eighties and start with a blank piece of paper.  No MAME, just that one game.

WORMS comes to mind as an excellent candidate, but I've never played the PC version.  That would make a nice cabinet with some great sideart potential.  Use a SNES if you don't like the PC version.  I spent many many hours playing this game tournament style with my old roomies.

By the time that's finished, MAME will have advanced a few releases and will be new again.

[danny_galaga]

move to a different state (or 4 or 5 in the US to make the same distance

[rchadd]

i'm thinking about getting into repairing non working game boards

you can pick them up for fraction of working boards price on ebay

can't be too hard to fix them, can it?

and learn some electronics skills as well.

[AmericanDemon]

WORMS comes to mind as an excellent candidate, but I've never played the PC version.  That would make a nice cabinet with some great sideart potential.  Use a SNES if you don't like the PC version.  I spent many many hours playing this game tournament style with my old roomies.

No doubt.  I will be putting this into my cabinet without a doubt.  It uses your mouse and the keys on it only.  So it makes it a good candidate for play.  A worms themed cabinet would be very intriguing.....