Best front end for little kids?

[Droler]

I have a precocious 4 year old who loves MAME - anybody set up a machine with an easy front end for their kids?

Gets a little overwhelming to be called back in every 5 minutes to change the game for him, although he can run the games once he's in them.

What's your favorite easy to use FE for kids?

[jardine]

Can you child read ok??? you just need to put a guide somewhere on the machine where he/she can see it, that clearly displays what does what.

In truth you should have one anyway as it will greatly help any friends that come over and start bashing away. Will help with how to find and use load, exit, pause, credit buttons etc.... And not to mention the much dreaded fear of how the hell to scroll through games.

[squicker]

I had a pc setup with AtomicFe for the kids to use, and they had no problems with it at all.

Just make a theme with a picture list rather than text, they tend to look at screen shots rather than read then names.

[Flake]

I think you cant get any easier than Maximus arcade.  This is what I use.  Scrolling through the menu is a simple matter of moving the P1 joystick up and down or side to side to scroll through faster.  Plus I have screenshots and emumovies playing in the screen section of the frontend display so you can easily get a good preview of each game.

To select a game you press one of the trackball buttons, to exit a game you press the exit button.  Now I dont have the buttons labeled but they are not hard to remember.  My daughter isnt old enough to play yet but my wife can use it pretty easily and she is about as friendly with computers are most 4 yr. olds these days.

[Bloodwyn]

I agree with squicker. Get a frontend that displayes the games in a picture list.

I have had kids come over from ages 4+ and they can pick the game they remember from the picture.
Mala and Atomic can both do what you want pretty easy.

For my kids, I use Mala with Led Blinky. The most helpful thing is to have video snapshots and marquee image lists (along with flashing buttons hehe).

Bloodwyn

[CathalDublin]

Most my friends although being in their mid to late twenties could be described as little kids and are able to use mala ok

[Ginsu Victim]

The best thing to do is just find a front end and set it up. Let your kid play and see what they get into or mess up.

I invited my friends over and they brought their kids. I spent the whole night changing things in the frontend that I thought they couldn't get into. Now it's perfect. (Mamewah)

[Popcorrin]

I think advance menu would be a great front end for little kids.  It can display a bunch of screenshots on the screen at a time, making it easy for a kid to pick a game that appeals to him or her and it's super easy to navigate.

It's one of the few frontends that allow multiple screenshots to be displayed simultaneously.

[Space Fractal]

I think I should create some kid modes to the MAME section too, since MultiFE is available to show snaps in tableview, but by now there is a bit to much text and a bit to much navigation. I'm are aware of that.

[Droler]

Thank you all for the great replies.

He's 4 so he doesn't read but I think a simple list of his favorite games with video might be the way to go.

Excellent suggestions - thanks again!

[Dazz]

When it comes out HyperSpin is excellent for kids....  My kids love it.   However, Maximus also has a permanent home on my cabinet right now as it is really easy for my kids to navigate and get to their games.  My 6 year old son even has his own favorites list and he knows how to add games from the main list to his.  You really can't get any easier...

[studmuff]

When it comes out HyperSpin is excellent for kids....  My kids love it.   However, Maximus also has a permanent home on my cabinet right now as it is really easy for my kids to navigate and get to their games.  My 6 year old son even has his own favorites list and he knows how to add games from the main list to his.  You really can't get any easier...

He Dazz, when is hyperspin coming out?

[jardine]

Last i heard it was about 2-3 weeks away and looking like it will be free....like everyone else in this place, i can't wait

[Dazz]

When it comes out HyperSpin is excellent for kids....  My kids love it.   However, Maximus also has a permanent home on my cabinet right now as it is really easy for my kids to navigate and get to their games.  My 6 year old son even has his own favorites list and he knows how to add games from the main list to his.  You really can't get any easier...

He Dazz, when is hyperspin coming out?

Right now we are looking at an Aug 6th public beta and it will be free of course.  Our beta testers will be getting a new beta release on Monday for testing.  If all goes well that will be the release that goes out as a public beta.

[Droler]

First - on Hyperspin - I would definitely try that one out on my kids.

Second - Maximus is beautiful as well, looks great, but...

I installed ATOMICFE and it works fine for now. Looks good, the kids have it figured out and it was easy to set up.

I will settle on one FE for everyone eventually (I still just use MAMEUI) but the suggestions here were a big help and thanks again!