M.A.M.E. Arcade Project
Recently, I did some research on old arcade units. I've always been fascinated with arcades and classic video games. Since classic arcade and console games are experiencing a renaissance I thought it would be a cool idea to buy an old unit on the cheap, clean it up and put it in the apartment.
That's when I found out about M.A.M.E.
MAME, or Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, is public software which allows a personal computer to play the raw game files that were installed on the original arcade hardware. Essentially you can program your computer, with some special hardware modifications, to play just about every classic arcade game ever made on the original arcade CGA monitors. The software is available for Windows, OSX and Linux. While I'm normally an OSX loyalist and regard windows as the inadequate piece of crap that it is, I opted to go with a Windows XP based system because the file and hardware support resources are much better.
I have broken this projects into two parts. The first part is the rebuilding of an existing unit. The second part is creating an entirely new system with a customized body and assembly. I purchased a half-working 'Major League Baseball' system by Sega for 25 bucks. After reviewing the condition of the system and cleaning out the evil army of arachnids that had established a basecamp, I began to carefully remove the internal circuit boards and power source while making sure to clearly label each wiring group so I could analyze the assembly.
My friend Dan gave me his old heap of a PC that was chock full of spy/ad/poison-ware. After completely wiping the harddrive I downloaded and installed the MAME software and have begun prepping the system to work with the existing arcade monitor.
The difficult part with this first system is the monitor. A special videocard (AVGA) is required to communicate the video information to the CGA monitor with a specific signal. I'm hoping the existing monitor is still in working order as I don't want to spend money on two brand new arcade displays which can cost anywhere from three to seven hundred dollars. This project is proving itself to be a formidable one and I am really enjoying its complexity.
That's when I found out about M.A.M.E.
MAME, or Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, is public software which allows a personal computer to play the raw game files that were installed on the original arcade hardware. Essentially you can program your computer, with some special hardware modifications, to play just about every classic arcade game ever made on the original arcade CGA monitors. The software is available for Windows, OSX and Linux. While I'm normally an OSX loyalist and regard windows as the inadequate piece of crap that it is, I opted to go with a Windows XP based system because the file and hardware support resources are much better.
I have broken this projects into two parts. The first part is the rebuilding of an existing unit. The second part is creating an entirely new system with a customized body and assembly. I purchased a half-working 'Major League Baseball' system by Sega for 25 bucks. After reviewing the condition of the system and cleaning out the evil army of arachnids that had established a basecamp, I began to carefully remove the internal circuit boards and power source while making sure to clearly label each wiring group so I could analyze the assembly.
My friend Dan gave me his old heap of a PC that was chock full of spy/ad/poison-ware. After completely wiping the harddrive I downloaded and installed the MAME software and have begun prepping the system to work with the existing arcade monitor.
The difficult part with this first system is the monitor. A special videocard (AVGA) is required to communicate the video information to the CGA monitor with a specific signal. I'm hoping the existing monitor is still in working order as I don't want to spend money on two brand new arcade displays which can cost anywhere from three to seven hundred dollars. This project is proving itself to be a formidable one and I am really enjoying its complexity.
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