Gaming Collections

[Whoamus]

Ran across this article on game collections, hardware and software. Thought some of you might find this interesting.

Game collections

[Bez]

Some serious stuff

[Fulysic]

Thank god my collections digital but do admire nice organized collection like this

[MadManCK]

I used to have Atari 2600 with all factory games and Colecovision with all factory games. But there were a lot of 3rd party games that were not always available. Especially as TV systems have different frequencies and formats. (PAL, Secam, NTSC, etc). So the offer in other parts of the World (US, Japan) was bigger.

I also had a Vectrex, Philips CDi and one of the first Pong for TV devices. Still have that one somewhere.

But these collections on those pics are just insane. You need a complete room for storage alone.
I'm working on my game room, but that is meant to actually PLAY games and not watch them rest on shelves.
You must be a real die-hard fan or über-collecor, to assemble a collection like that.

What i do know about early video games, is that they involved you, even if the graphics were basic and the posibilities limited.
A lot of modern games, even with all eyecandy and effects, can not even come close to those. Addictive and fun.
That's why they keep appealing to the older generation of gamers and also the curious young ones.

Right now we can get emulators for about every possible system around. I like MAME for example. And with MAME you can play the good old Arcade classics, that were the base for a lot of the TV Consoles games from the past. And the arcade games are 10x better in quality than those old consoles.
I still play those MAME games on occasion. And most ROM's are available somewhere.


Same goes for VpinMame where you can emulate the pinball machines. Still better than most pinbal games i have bought on Steam.

Some of my own collection has magically dissappeared, but i still have some golden oldies laying around.

[Whoamus]

Still have my MAME cabinet I never finished and had Pinmame installed on my regular PC. This was one of those projects where everything is functional and all I needed to do was finish the cabinet, but why if it works. It is over 10 years now since I built it but never finished the cosmetic touches. I have not kept up on emulators either since it works as is and have played all the games from my younger pub hangout days. Running on an old 486 with windows 3.1, has a back lit marque, an expensive (at the time) control panel with trackball, spinner knob, dual 8 way sticks with 7 buttons each and a 4 way stick with an additional 3 buttons. It operates well and I have over 1000 ROM's but never play with it anymore except at the holidays when family comes over. Just way too many newer things that I find more interesting. In fact after this holiday season I am giving it to my daughter. I did have fun with it for a long time back when I first put together, but now, other interests.

[MadManCK]

I use this X-Arcade. There was another version released later with a trackball. But i like my X-Arcade. It is very tough and has also twin buttons on each side, so you can use it for pinball as well



A friend of me built a cabinet as well. Even with lights in the buttons etc. It is custom airbrushed. Spent a fortune on it.

I had the choice to build one as well or a rig for my racing games. I picked racing as i do that a lot more than playing MAME.
Never say never though, and i still have some PC components left i can use for a dedicated rig. My MAME machine is a perspex PC case with some lights in it
It has a single core AMD in it, from the time when AMD kicked Intel's ass. You don't need more to run most Arcade emulators.

Anyway, my current collection is more digital than physical.
Maybe one day i will build a cabinet for MAME and Pinmame as well.

[Whoamus]

Uploaded a few fuzzy photos from my phone of the unfinished cab but you can get the idea. Lighting is bad and phone photos are an issue holding without shaking. Built out of 3/4" plywood and it is very heavy but I was smart enough to put the whole thing on caster wheels so it rolls. The marque is back lit but you can see the wood has started to warp. I worked in printing so I made the see through marque in a weekend using the graphics equipment there. I have all of the stuff to finish it. Molding for the edges, black vinyl to cover it all, plexi-glass for the screen cover, and lots of arcade stickers also made at work to place on the sides. But I will never finish it and not even sure my daughter and her husband would.

[MadManCK]

Awesome. Nice project.

It needs a sound system. 2 speakers and a sub

Maybe a nice project to finish on a rainy day. The graphics are very cool. Nice job on those.
And that control panel is just insane.

[Whoamus]

Awesome. Nice project.

It needs a sound system. 2 speakers and a sub

Maybe a nice project to finish on a rainy day. The graphics are very cool. Nice job on those.
And that control panel is just insane.

It does have sound with a sub underneath all from 15 years ago but the sound does crank up nicely. You can see the two side speakers sitting there.

It isn't anything I am interested in finishing anymore. Like I said I never play with it now, only at the holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas. All the grand kids are getting older and playing modern games. This was good for nostalgia and I enjoyed playing the first couple of years but then it has just become a dust collector. So many modern games and now you can play a lot of the old games right online in a browser here Internet Arcade.

Downsizing all of my stuff anyway and getting rid of lots of stuff. Looking at moving in a couple of years and if I can't sell it or give it away, in the trash with it. Give it to my daughter and maybe she and her husband will finish. Had my fun with it, time for it to go to someone else.

That panel cost big money back in the day but can buy similar for half of what I paid for it. At that time is was custom built and maybe by the same people who started X-arcade. I liked that you could play 2 player games or any game that needed a trackball or spinner knob.