The Classic Video Game Players Thread

I'm toying with the idea of taking an old PC or even buying some low range PC parts and building an arcade machine that runs off some emulator. I'm just struggling to think how I would actually want this to look like or how I should set it up for optimal win.
At first I was thinking old school arcade cabinet but those are kinda huge and standing while playing isn't really comfortable. So I need to brainstorm a bit.

alexjg42 wrote:

I'm toying with the idea of taking an old PC or even buying some low range PC parts and building an arcade machine that runs off some emulator. I'm just struggling to think how I would actually want this to look like or how I should set it up for optimal win.
At first I was thinking old school arcade cabinet but those are kinda huge and standing while playing isn't really comfortable. So I need to brainstorm a bit.

Google "MAME cabinet", there are a whole bunch of different setups, plans and inspiration for you to feed off of.

EDIT:
Quick search results below.

This one has a pretty good shopping list for parts, but Austalian, so costs will vary.
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...
sh*t, now I want to build one if they're that cheap!

Blog on building a full cabinet
http://benchmark.mameworld.info/cab1/

Or, you know, JUST BUILD THE WHOLE DAMN THING OUT OF LEGO!
Seriously, as cool as it sounds
http://www.bigbenbricks.com/ben/lego...

m0nk3yboy wrote:
alexjg42 wrote:

I'm toying with the idea of taking an old PC or even buying some low range PC parts and building an arcade machine that runs off some emulator. I'm just struggling to think how I would actually want this to look like or how I should set it up for optimal win.
At first I was thinking old school arcade cabinet but those are kinda huge and standing while playing isn't really comfortable. So I need to brainstorm a bit.

Google "MAME cabinet", there are a whole bunch of different setups, plans and inspiration for you to feed off of.

EDIT:
Quick search results below.

This one has a pretty good shopping list for parts, but Austalian, so costs will vary.
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...
sh*t, now I want to build one if they're that cheap!

Blog on building a full cabinet
http://benchmark.mameworld.info/cab1/

Or, you know, JUST BUILD THE WHOLE DAMN THING OUT OF LEGO!
Seriously, as cool as it sounds
http://www.bigbenbricks.com/ben/lego...

OMG thank you! This has definitely sparked a whole lot more of motivation to do it

I have seen some links to Rasberry Pi powered mame cabinets over in the Rasberry Pi thread.

alexjg42 wrote:

OMG thank you! This has definitely sparked a whole lot more of motivation to do it

I am going with these plans (under the cabinet plans 2 section):
http://www.arcadecab.com/Projects/Projects.htm

You stated you don't want to stand so take a look at this. It has renewed my quest to build a MAME cabinet. I bought most of the parts over 10 years ago, but I never actually done more than a control panel.

This is based off a JAMMA board that cost over $300.00, but you don't need a computer because the board IS the computer. Then the cabinet would be able to take an actual arcade board with little to no modifications:

I went out last night and bought a 2 HP router and a variable speed control for about 70.00.
I already own the following items:

40 assorted buttons
4 Super competition Joysticks
2 Ultimate Joysticks
2 Rotary Joysticks
(Real) Ms Pac-Man / Galaga 30th anniversary Joystick
Happ 3" Trackball
1 & 2 player start buttons
3 (old) atari Light up Pushbuttons (from Tempest and Missle Command)
Actual control panel with spinner and joystick from Tron arcade game.
Spinner control
iPac
OptiPac
Druins Rotary Interface

I bought my self a Elgato Game Capture HD device to record gameplay of my older games. Currently I'm testing the streaming by making a horrible attempt to play Mega Man X on Twitch if anybody is interested.

breander wrote:

I bought my self a Elgato Game Capture HD device to record gameplay of my older games. Currently I'm testing the streaming by making a horrible attempt to play Mega Man X on Twitch if anybody is interested.

Oh to play that game for the first time. Can't say I didn't laugh at a few of those rookie mistakes as I jumped around. You should be using the dash button to dash, not double tapping forward. This will also help you gain distance while jumping off of a wall. I typically am always charging the gun and jumping on the wall, and have myself posed to hit dash+jump when needed. Also, Storm Eagle should be the 2nd target for reasons I'm not going to tell you about, then Flame Mammoth, and then Sting Chameleon (I think I got those names right).

mrtomaytohead wrote:

Also, Storm Eagle should be the 2nd target for reasons I'm not going to tell you about, then Flame Mammoth, and then Sting Chameleon (I think I got those names right).

See, you were all on board until you said "Sting Chameleon" as number four. Sir, you are mistaken!

But in all seriousness, I used to double-tap to dash since it was easier than trying to charge, jump, and hit a button for dash as well. Then I simply set one of the triggers to dash, and BOOM! everything was easier.

mrtomaytohead wrote:
breander wrote:

I bought my self a Elgato Game Capture HD device to record gameplay of my older games. Currently I'm testing the streaming by making a horrible attempt to play Mega Man X on Twitch if anybody is interested.

Oh to play that game for the first time. Can't say I didn't laugh at a few of those rookie mistakes as I jumped around. You should be using the dash button to dash, not double tapping forward. This will also help you gain distance while jumping off of a wall. I typically am always charging the gun and jumping on the wall, and have myself posed to hit dash+jump when needed. Also, Storm Eagle should be the 2nd target for reasons I'm not going to tell you about, then Flame Mammoth, and then Sting Chameleon (I think I got those names right).

Yeah I haven't played in forever and I don't think I ever actually finished the game. I just googled boss order and got the technical boss weakness to previous boss weapon order and went with it. I have since seen a few speed runs and seen the order they do and I may try it out tonight. I don't think I could ever come close to what those speed runners do.

After today's Nintendo Direct I decided "screw it" and started replaying Link to the Past.

The beginning feels a bit slow when you've played it a ton of times before. I honestly can't even recall the first time I played it very well, only marveling to see things like Link's Uncle having died trying to save the Princess (that's how you knew this game meant serious business!).

But there are a bunch of touches that I'm so used to now, that I only started to realize how revolutionary they were in the early 90's on such a system. Being able to knock the castle guards down the cliff in one shot. How all soldiers will instantly react if you tap your sword against a wall or similar surface. The fact that you CAN do that, and it will sound different against a wall you can bomb.

More so, how there's so much of the map you never have to visit. While I'm super familiar with some of the screens to the light world, there are others that are still fuzzy to me since I barely have accessed them. Yet the game manages to blend a lot of potential upgrades in your path. First four heart pieces? Lost Woods and Kakariko Village, next to each other. Sahasrahla tells you to go find something East of Lake Hylia? Stop by the...dam?...on your way and nab a heart piece. Oh, and get the Book of Medora. Not to mention the heart piece right by the Sanctuary, where you might have even loaded your game up, and then two in the desert. Got the gauntlets now? Good. Get Zora's flippers, then head into the waterfall to upgrade your boomerang and shield, then test one of them water ways that takes you right to another fairy that'll boost bombs and arrows if you keep giving her money, and then head north to get a bottle under the bridge before going south to teleport right outside the entrance to Death Mountain.

Granted, a lot of this is, again, stuff I remembered to look for (though some of those were fuzzy as I was playing). Still, there's so much going on in this world that's barely hinted at, and the game counts on you to explore. It's very different from Ocarina of Time, where Hyrule Field is just...there. From what I can gather, Wind Waker was the closest to returning to this level of exploration, but never quite cut it.

This game really was a huge jump in evolution from the original Zelda. It reminds me why I feel like it's such a great game.

Also: both the Uncle and Priest die, yet nothing about this game feels dark and gritty. Hell, not even the Dark World! Tone and art style do amazing things.

LttP is one of the five games that are basically tied for my favorite game of all time spot. I keep wanting to go back and play it again as well even though I have probably played through it around 10 times.

A Link Between Worlds looks pretty amazing too but I am not a fan of portables and especially not a fan of the size of the buttons and stuff on the 3DS's I have looked at (haven't looked at the XL yet though).

ccesarano wrote:
mrtomaytohead wrote:

Also, Storm Eagle should be the 2nd target for reasons I'm not going to tell you about, then Flame Mammoth, and then Sting Chameleon (I think I got those names right).

See, you were all on board until you said "Sting Chameleon" as number four. Sir, you are mistaken!

But in all seriousness, I used to double-tap to dash since it was easier than trying to charge, jump, and hit a button for dash as well. Then I simply set one of the triggers to dash, and BOOM! everything was easier.

That appears to be a "get upgrades first" order. You can certainly go for that but Mammoth and Chameleon stages are going to be significantly harder depending on the first stage you clear. Of course, you can just do a suicide run on each stage to get the upgrades and proceed "normally".

I was tidying up the wardrobe the other day. It's one of those built-in double sliding door wardrobes, so it can hold a lot of clutter. In the process of the clean-up I found my Nintendo DS Lite! I honestly forgot I owned one. I managed to find a couple of games, but I'm still missing Zelda: The Phantom Hour Glass, and Metroid Prime: Hunters. There's also F-ZERO: GP Legend which I can neither locate.

The best thing about the DS Lite is that it can play older Game Boy games. I have never played Zelda: A Link to the Past. Maybe now is the time to remedy this!

You mean Game Boy Advance games, yes? I don't recall the DS being able to play original Game Boy games, and A Link to the Past wasn't available on regular Game Boy anyway.

Speaking of ALttP, beat it on Monday. I remember feeling like that was one of the longer games on SNES, but I'd estimate it to be somewhere between 8-12 hours. I'm pretty sure a kid could wake up in the morning, start playing, and then be finished by dinner or bath time (assuming they knew what they were doing).

I'll have a more full write-up on Friday that I'll probably just link later, but if I recall BlindEvil had trouble once he reached Skull Woods. While I don't have photographic memory of a lot of the Dark World dungeons and found them to be a bit easier, that one is still rather difficult. In fact, the difficulty spikes quite a bit once you reach the Dark World. I can understand him being turned off by it, and can also imagine Blind the boss might have caused him to throw his controller in frustration. Let alone the ice dungeon, Turtle Rock, or Ganon's Tower (that last one I didn't even hit all the rooms, just figured "I got the map, compass, key, and armor, I'm just gonna go to the top").

I managed to get everything BUT four pieces of heart. All the armor, all the items, the gold sword, everything. All I was missing was a single heart container and its four pieces of heart. I have no clue where they could have been, either, which is interesting as I have another save file that has all the stuff.

In any case, started EarthBound yesterday. I used to grind the Hell out of that game when I was younger. I never really entered Onett until I was level 5. Never fought Frankie the shark boss until I was level 9. Never fought the Titanic Ant until I was level 12. But now I've been doing everything one level lower (well, I started to head to the Titanic Ant at level 10, then reached level 11 on the way), and it's interesting to note that the game seems to naturally mold you to the proper level. It seems you get poor stat increases half the time, then excellent boosts every so often. Plus, at some point the experience required takes a major jump, and it becomes inconvenient to try and grind.

So I imagine I'll be playing the game for less time overall as I won't be grinding as much as when I was a kid. I just don't have the patience for it anymore, but considering how the game handles stats and experience, I imagine I'll be right where it wants me to be.

ccesarano wrote:

You mean Game Boy Advance games, yes? I don't recall the DS being able to play original Game Boy games, and A Link to the Past wasn't available on regular Game Boy anyway.

You are correct.

I have saw the Game Boy Advance SP going for relatively cheap online. I was close to buying an SP way back when. I was in the store for a long time pondering between the SP and the GameCube. I eventually went with the GameCube, bundled with Metroid Prime, and Zelda: The Wind Waker. Portable gaming completely fell off the radar after that.

I am considering picking up an older Game Boy to experience the pre-advance titles I missed out on, such as Metal Gear Solid (Game Boy Color), Shantae (Game Boy Color), Metroid II: The Return of Samus (Game Boy), Metroid Fusion (Game Boy Advance) and too many more to remember. Does the SP play the original Game Boy games? I've saw mixed answers.

RnRClown wrote:

Does the SP play the original Game Boy games? I've saw mixed answers.

Mine does.

AUs_TBirD wrote:
RnRClown wrote:

Does the SP play the original Game Boy games? I've saw mixed answers.

Mine does.

I'm pretty sure the Micro is the only GBA model that won't play Game Boy (Color) games.

There are two models of the Game Boy Advance SP. There is the AGS-001 which is the model predominantly found in the UK. Then there is the AGS-101 which is widely found across the US. The 101 has a backlit screen. That would be lovely! But it is darn near impossible to find one within the UK without a £60.00 entry point. To import from the US can go above and beyond that. On the flip side of this coin there are listings (within the UK) for the older AGS-001 - which has a front/side lit screen - that fall between £15.00 and £35.00 which is a steal.

My heart says to go for the superior display. My head says to stay within budget. Let's see which prevails.

Or if you have a GameCube you could go for the GBA player add-on. I almost picked up a Super Gameboy adapter for my SNES while I was at Vintage Stock last weekend.

For those interested, I got a write-up of my thoughts on A Link to the Past. I'll probably do one on EarthBound once I've finished it (currently just got Paula, completed the Lilliput Steps, and snagged the Wad o' Bills from Everdred. Next up: freeing the Runaway Five and rockin' out to Threed).

Rykin wrote:

Or if you have a GameCube you could go for the GBA player add-on. I almost picked up a Super Gameboy adapter for my SNES while I was at Vintage Stock last weekend.

I had considered the idea. But the prospect of portable gaming on the go is one of the main draws in tandem with this retro revival.

I now have an SP inbound! £18.99 for one in perfect working order, with a charger included, was too good to turn down. It's the AGS-001 model, so no backlit screen. It's also the tribal edition, which isn't ideal, but the priority was for it to be in working order and a good condition. I will look to acquire the improved AGS-101 model in the not so distant future. That will likely involve importing from the US at three or four times the cost.

I am now looking up Metroid 2: The Return of Samus, and R-Type DX.

Thought people may enjoy seeing this. I'm visiting my parents with the family and found this SNES setup poster in the basement:
IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/gnmt4EA.jpg)

link to gallery with detail pics

clever id wrote:

Thought people may enjoy seeing this. I'm visiting my parents with the family and found this SNES setup poster in the basement:
IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/gnmt4EA.jpg)

link to gallery with detail pics

Maaaan, that brings back memories

There was a Zelda III? Or is that really Link To the Past?

That's definitely "A Link to the Past". Just didn't have an official title yet.

Thanks to DuckTales Remastered, I've decided to play through a list of games I either haven't beat - only a few -, some I have and want to relive, and others I had not heard of until much later after they were released... generations later, I mean. I wonder how many I can get through before year's end...

NES
Monsters in My Pocket
DuckTales 2
Darkwing Duck
Chip n' Dale's Rescue Rangers
Kickle Cubicle
Metal Storm
The Guardian Legend
Double Dragon 2
Double Dragon 3
Shadow of the Ninja
Journey to Silius
demon sword
spy hunter
legendary wings
Little Nemo
IronSword: Wizards & Warriors II
Wizards & Warriors
Bucky O'hare
Gremlins 2
Tiny Toons Adventures
Sunset Riders
Wild Guns

SNES
Maui Mallard
Donkey Kong Country 3
Zombies Ate My Neighbors
Sparkster
U.N. Squadron
Mickey Mania
Tiny Toons Buster Busts Loose
Uniracers
Blackthorne
Rock n' Roll Racing

Genesis
Rocket Knight Adventures
Dynamite Headdy
Tiny Toons
Quackshot
Story of Thor/Beyond Oasis
Ristar
Landstalker
Shining in the Darkness

Saturn
The Horde
Shining Wisdom
Enemy Zero
Herc's Adventures
Magic Knight Rayearth
Legend of Oasis/Story of Thor 2
Dragon Force

ccesarano wrote:

That's definitely "A Link to the Past". Just didn't have an official title yet. :D

Speaking of title changes for Nintendo games... I had a later version of that poster hung up in my last apartment and from it I learned Kirby's Dream Course (the mini-golf spinoff) wasn't originally a Kirby game.

I have two large carboard characters hanging in my kids room.

Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario riding Yoshi. Both are from Software Etc. store displays from the early 90's (when I worked there).

I also have a giant banner proclaiming Sonic Tuesday (when Sonic 2 came out). The funny thing is Electronics Boutique started selling it a day early, so we did too.

brokenclavicle wrote:

Thanks to DuckTales Remastered, I've decided to play through a list of games I either haven't beat - only a few -, some I have and want to relive, and others I had not heard of until much later after they were released... generations later, I mean. I wonder how many I can get through before year's end...

NES
Monsters in My Pocket
DuckTales 2
Darkwing Duck
Chip n' Dale's Rescue Rangers
Kickle Cubicle
Metal Storm
The Guardian Legend
Double Dragon 2
Double Dragon 3
Shadow of the Ninja
Journey to Silius
demon sword
spy hunter
legendary wings
Little Nemo
IronSword: Wizards & Warriors II
Wizards & Warriors
Bucky O'hare
Gremlins 2
Tiny Toons Adventures
Sunset Riders
Wild Guns

SNES
Maui Mallard
Donkey Kong Country 3
Zombies Ate My Neighbors
Sparkster
U.N. Squadron
Mickey Mania
Tiny Toons Buster Busts Loose
Uniracers
Blackthorne
Rock n' Roll Racing

Genesis
Rocket Knight Adventures
Dynamite Headdy
Tiny Toons
Quackshot
Story of Thor/Beyond Oasis
Ristar
Landstalker
Shining in the Darkness

Saturn
The Horde
Shining Wisdom
Enemy Zero
Herc's Adventures
Magic Knight Rayearth
Legend of Oasis/Story of Thor 2
Dragon Force

Good Luck! I have been recently streaming on my twitch attempts to finish some of my old retro games that I never did.

brokenclavicle wrote:

NES
Metal Storm
The Guardian Legend

IMO those should be your top priority. TGL holds up for sure as I played it again and finally beat it for the first time about 3 years ago. I don't know about Metal Storm holding up, but I loved that game back in the day. It was really tough. I think the controls might feel a bit stiff now, though.