Sbox Homemade Console 131
Anonymous Coward sent in: "I just ran across a very cool homemade emulation console. It emulates multiple machines, plays movies, plays mp3s, and uses Intel's new wireless gamepads to control everything. It's also cased in plexiglass and uses its own menuing software. The best I've seen yet!" His remote has a docking station.
Cartridges (Score:1)
Re:Cartridges (Score:2)
Re:Cartridges (Score:1)
Don't you know all the original cartridges are stored in a nuclear-safe safe, and he merely has them "backed up" onto roms either inside the machine or a network hop or two away :)
Thats what mine does anyway, no cool case though :(
Re:Cartridges (Score:1)
Re:that's the catch (Score:2)
Re:that's the catch (Score:1)
Oh, well, maybe he didn't mean it seriously
Re:Cartridges (Score:1)
Re:Even if he could plug them into it... (Score:1)
Re:windows? (Score:1)
Re:windows? (Score:2)
Geez...
...Sega? (Score:2, Informative)
And, a lot of the tools that people use, including the VCD player (at least the ones I've seen) were built to those specs off of VB.
::shrug:: Doesn't seem too impossible to me, considering the Xbox is supposed to run off of a modified NT kernel. I've also heard that the programming package for it is a modified PC game-creating engine that MS uses.
But, of course, I could be wrong. Heh.
Re:...Sega? (Score:1)
Not necessarily. It's possible for developers to use Windows CE as the OS for their games, but it's not forced. It makes it easy to port Windows games, but from what I've heard very few Dreamcast developers have chosen to use Windows CE.
Aparrently it's worth the effort to write your own OS.
Re:...Sega? (Score:2)
Uhm, actually CE runs on the Dreamcast, would be more accurate, and even then only if you want it to. The plan was that with DirectX and the Windows API available, more developers would port their PC games. Most (very nearly all) developers used the Kamui/Ninja libraries written by Sega, Hitachi and VideoLogic instead.
And, a lot of the tools that people use, including the VCD player (at least the ones I've seen) were built to those specs off of VB.
More likely Visual C++, since I don't think there is a cross-platform VB (DC uses Hitachi SH4 and ARM) AFAIK. The tools I use with my DC are GNU tools for the most part, anyway.
I'd pay for one of these things.... (Score:1)
Re:I'd pay for one of these things.... (Score:1)
Arcade cabs (Score:5, Informative)
In addition to the MAME front-end of the same name, the site features a nice collection of pics and links to converted and custom-built cabinets. IIRC, the Plastic Cactus site linked from this page has a set of measured drawings that might be useful, and there are probably others too.
There's also the very nice Build Your Own Arcade Machine site: http://plaza.powersurfr.com/kevin/arcade/ [powersurfr.com]
Both of these sites are geared toward creating cabinets for use with emulation, but if that's not what you're after I'm sure they could be adapted for true arcade hardware. I've been thinking of building something like an Sbox myself, someday when I magically become competent with power tools. ;-)
Re:Arcade cabs (Score:5, Informative)
Please, let's not give this guy the ad revenue.
Avoid arcadeathome.com at all cost. (Score:3, Informative)
For real info on building your own cabinet go to:
http://www.arcadecontrols.com/arcade.htm [arcadecontrols.com]
For the latest arcade ROMs go to :
http://mame.dk - This is the site the arcadeathome guy tried to eliminate from the face of the earth. [mame.dk]
I've always wanted to do this.... (Score:2, Interesting)
Ideas (Score:2, Interesting)
Wow. I'm thinking about building one of these more and more each day....
whoa, watch out for the law (Score:5, Funny)
This is like the box for copyright infringement. First it has all those old NES, SNES, Genisis, or arcade games that no one buys anymore, nor can find anywhere. It'll play those damn MP3's which, as we all know, just mentioning MP3's is illegal. Let's not forget that it plays movies, which are already illegal to watch in any other manner than what is already told to be correct. Lastly, let us not forget that it runs Windows in the unlicensed way; only the XBOX can have windows in console form.
Striker better quit while he's ahead.
(/satire)
Re:whoa, watch out for the law (Score:2, Insightful)
`lynx -dump | grep -A 10 -e "Funny"` just doesn't cut it... at least maybe slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=newest would make it easier... hey, I know I'm not the only one out there
This is also something else.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:This is also something else.... (Score:1)
Re:This is also something else.... (Score:1)
Re:This is also something else.... (Score:1)
Menu Pics (Score:1)
What's so great about this? (Score:1, Insightful)
Come to think of it, It's much like the xbox [xbox.com] Only with a worse video card, and more plexi.
No news here, people. move along.
What's WRONG with those controllers. (Score:1)
That can't be good for RSI.
Re:What's WRONG with those controllers. (Score:2, Insightful)
Just an opinion... (Score:2, Insightful)
... but doesn't this kind of glorify the piracy of ROMs? I mean - I know SOME people get them legit, but most, for sure - don't. Putting stuff like this up just kind of makes everyone think how cool the "emu" scene is, and away they go, downloading....
Just an opinion, though.
Re:Just an opinion... (Score:3, Interesting)
Personally, I wouldn't have any problem paying [a reasonable price] for ROMs, but the option simply isn't available. You see, owning a copyright on a non-confidential item gives the owner the right to require that I pay for my copy of the item. It does not give the owner the right to deny me access to the item if I want it. So, if Nintendo and Sega refuse to sell their old games, then they'll have to live with the fact that trading ROMs is protected by the first amendment. If they feel like dragging people into court for copyright infringement, all the accused have to say is "I would have paid for it, but I was denyed the opportunity to do so," and malicious intent becomes impossible to prove, and the case is moot. I know it's not quite that simple, but I don't see a rational counter argument.
Re:Just an opinion... (Score:2)
a fine line, maybe, but otherwise free speech wouldn't mean much of anything.
Re:Just an opinion... (Score:4, Insightful)
This is my beef with anyone who knocks down emulating classic systems: getting the darn games is nearly impossible because companies hoard them until they release a re-hash or a bundled emulator (like Namco Museum). If I could get ahold of legal roms, if they were being sold, than at least this kind of argument would be revelent, in much the same way the file-sharing debate is relevant to labels and artists. But Spy Hunter?!
IANAL, but I believe this kind of work can only become public domain after 75 years, if the original creator does not renew copyright. The problem is, that law was created before arcade and console games, which have a tendency to become obsolete much faster than, for example, The Fellowship Of The Ring. For printed literature this makes perfect sense, but surely there is a more reasonable way we can govern interactive gaming copyright issues.
Re:Just an opinion... (Score:2)
That would be Spy Hunter, currently in development for the Playstation 2. Old titles never die, they just get re-licensed.
Take a look at First Star [boulder-dash.com], known for pretty much one game* - Boulderdash, written in 1983, which they are still re-licensing on new platforms, and still fairly vigorously 'protecting' from clone-writers.
* OK, Spy vs Spy too.
Re:Just an opinion... (Score:1)
Actually yes it does. If I don't want to sell you something as along it is not discrimatory, ie I won't sell to gays or jews.
But the trading of said really doesn't mess with their income, they don't get any from these anymore anyways
Re:Just an opinion... (Score:2)
Yes, it does. I just passed up buying Final Fantasy II legit (the Japanese NES version fan translated into english), even though the local Walmart has plenty of older NES cartridges that have been magically translated into English.
Don't whine and moan about the emulation scene. Its not taking away revenues from the gaming machine, these are the same people who would be playing their old consoles if there was no emu scene. Not everyone loves FPSs and MMORPGs. If it makes people happy, and it has yet to be proven that emulation has reduced sales of computer games, then what's the problem?
Just my $.02
Re:Just an opinion... (Score:1)
Its not taking away revenues from the gaming machine,
So just because a book is out of print, you should be allowed to steal it from a used-book store?
these are the same people who would be playing their old consoles if there was no emu scene
I'm sure they owned one at one time... and I'm sure they would if they actually ever owned the rom... but the sad truth is that a) the console was probably sold when they were 13, and b) they probably dodn't actually own _THAT_ game anyways.
I have yet to meet someone who didn't download that ROM because "I didn't own it way back then... and that would be wrong."
Just another opinion, though.
Bring out yer dead... (Score:5, Funny)
That way, they'd have a small revenue stream from obsolete games that nobody would normally buy these days at all...
And then a lot of people that are forced to use Warez ROMs 'cos they can't get hold of the game for love nor money anywhere other than warez sites can rest easy knowing they've done their bit for society and progress, and the company that produced the game in the first place doesn't have so much to gripe about.
Despite all this blabbering on about the requirement for copy protect, I think most people just want to pay once for something they use, and don't mind paying a fair price for what they do use...
I for one would love a nice easy, high bandwith site I could drop onto, pay a couple of dollars for a bundle of ancient games, and just enjoy.
I do like the stuff this guy's done with the box tho..
Cheers,
Malk
Re:Bring out yer dead... (Score:2)
Basically, one could set up a company to do this. Partner with companies to sell their old inventory that is currently earning them $0 and split the profits. If I were a game company (and this can be for PC games as well as ROMs), I would have nothing to lose by partnering with such a company and maybe a few bucks to gain.
The basic idea is this: These companies have merchandise that they aren't selling. If it costs them nothing to sell it, why wouldn't they?
Re:Bring out yer dead... (Score:1, Interesting)
-tm
Re:Bring out yer dead... (Score:1)
Re:Bring out yer dead... (Score:5, Insightful)
Costs aren't always monentary.
Take for example Super Mario Brothers Advance. SMB Advance is essentially just SMB2 with some new stuff thrown in. It will now make for a really nice hand-held title, but do you honstly think Nintendo could resell the title as an N64 remake, or a Gamecube remake? It can sell as a handheld title, simply because at the moment not everybody has a handheld PDA that will effectively emulate the GBA.
Do you honestly think Nintenod could sell SMB1, SMB2, and SMB3 all on one disc as a collection for the Gamecube? No, probably not. Most likely not, due to the fact that a large percent of the market that still loves those games already has them illegally on their PCs.
If Nintendo COULD get away with doing it, it's only because there isn't a larger number of people pirating roms. The number of ROMZ pirates grows ever day. For the moment, it's still not nearly as mainstream as MP3 piracy. If we're lucky, it'll stay fairly obscure and won't draw any real legal attention.
Also one must consider that games aren't like music. People consume them like food and move on. Someone can very easily justify buying a CD when they already have the MP3s, just to have the physical medium. Video games, for whatever reason, haven't felt like "physical medium" since the first ROM image got pulled off of a Cartrige and uploaded to the 'net.
I still buy my video games. I still spend more money on video games than any other expense I have, and one could say that's almost obsessive. (I wonder sometimes myself). But I also know that not everybody buys their PC titles, fewer still buy old games, and even less go out looking for rare SNES, GENESIS, or N64 carts to add to their collections.
As much as I enjoy going to Classic Gaming [classicgaming.com] and snatching down a rom image or two, I fully understand why some companies such as Nintendo and Sega don't want their ROMS being distributed. I also understand why they make a good point in "some cases".
And that's just the thing. "Some Cases". Some games have much higher replay/resell/remarketability value than others. Some of the publishers are gone, others strive on today. But it's those few gems that could resurface as modern products that set the argument for Copyright holders keeping a tight grip on their titles. Nintendo is about to show exactly what they "want to do" with those old titles" when they re-release them on the GBA.
I was all over Super Mario All Stars when it came out on the SNES. Do you think such a thing is ever going to surface on the Gamecube with piracy all but having destroyed the marketability of older titles? Dream on.
I think THAT alone should answer the question "why wouldn't they"?
But then again ... (Score:2, Interesting)
I understand your point, but my big beef is ... I own quite a few old NES cartridges. There's no way on earth I'd be able to actually rip the contents off the ROM onto my computer. But I can download them easily from these "warez" sites.
If I want to play my old games on a new medium, basically, what other choice to I have? Even if NES did have some sort of "download service", I would have to pay again to download games that I already have paid for.
I honestly can't figure any easy way around it.
Dlugar
Re:But then again ... (Score:1)
...
I honestly can't figure any easy way around it.
I know.
I was very annoyed at Nintendo when they won their lawsuit against one company that was selling a cartridge backup device (I can't remember the name of it now) but I was looking into buying one when they suddenly became illegal. It was sad, but I do definately understand why they did it. Still, the devices exist, though they're used mostly for piracy.
Fair use. What's fair about a bunch of punk kids breaking the law and ruining a good thing for the rest of us?
Re:But then again ... (Score:1)
According to Nintendo, wrong. I was at their website yesterday, and it turns out that fair use doesn't apply to Nintendo games... no backups, no "archival" copies, no nothing. http://www.nintendo.com/corp/faqs/legal.html [nintendo.com]
I don't agree with everything they say there... there are perfectly legal ROMs: the ones people write themselves. I've been thinking a while about how cool it would be to write my own and put it on a cartridge (there's a HOWTO abou tit somewhere). Complete API set for you to develop on...
-Jason-
SMB wouldn't sell for other reasons... (Score:1)
I don't believe that SMB all-stars would be a big seller on the GameCube, simply because the technology has advanced and SMB isn't yet retro chic. (Try again in 10 years.) The market wants Final Fantasy 4D DeathMatch, not Mario Bangs a Koopa with lame FM sound effects.
Here, I can use bold too: Piracy doesn't enter into it. Don't accuse emulator authors and users without solid facts to back your statements up. It's not nice, and it's not fair.
Re:SMB wouldn't sell for other reasons... (Score:2)
I know many roms users. Almost none have the original games. Most don't have all of the games they have the roms for. Few I know have most of the games they have the roms for, and some of us still look for the carts for games we don't have (yet).
Those are the facts. Almost nobody who downloads roms has all of the original games. It's not nice, and it's not fair, but it is true. I've seen it, you've seen it, and you're only denying it to justify you own guilt.
If you are downloading roms, you are breaking the law. Note, I DID NOT SAY you were doing something "morally wrong". It's a fuzzy issue that I could take either side of.
Am I telling people not to download roms? No. I've downloaded Roms and I admit it. [slashdot.org] But if a copyright holder wishes to protect their investment, they have that right and I do respect it.
Emulation authors and users DO pirate. Some just have more justification for doing so than others. There are two types of emulation users. The first type is the punk who downloads 350 SNES games from a newsgroup flood just to say he has them all. Then there is the person who wants to relive the Adventures of Link, but his NES is packed away, broken, or he no longer owns a TV to plug it into. The first user certainly does not have the same justification for his actions as the second user.
Unfortunately the FACT IS there are more of the first user type than there are the second. And that is a BOLD FACED FACT.
Re:SMB wouldn't sell for other reasons... (Score:1)
The first type of user you mention is really no threat. Does he actually get anything other than a rise out of having pirated 350 SNES games? Not really. If he doesn't get anything from it, the publisher loses nothing. All he has are some bytes on his hard drive that mean jack shit because he doesn't do anything with them. Unfortunately this is true, the way the warez piracy scene works is you have to have an archive of a bunch of shit you'll never use in hopes you find someone who has what you want and you have what they want. Warez has become a black market commodity, only when you give it to someone, you still get to keep it. Thus why companies have a hard time combatting it.
Re:SMB wouldn't sell for other reasons... (Score:2)
Okay, I'm the first type, except I don't do it off a usenet feed. I like my collection to be complete. I know, I'm odd, I don't even play most of the games, other then to make sure they are working. I'm not a threat. Hell, its probably people like me that will be the reason why in 75 years (or forever, thanks Mr. Bono) that the roms will be in existance to be put in the public domain.
Have you ever thought that the emulation scene is PRESERVING the art? If it wasn't for the emulation scene, many of these games would be lost forever, and I know, its just a video game, and a lot of them are crappy, but I still wouldn't want to see anything that took many hours of work, and can be considered a working example of the state of the arcade/console/computer industry at X time to be lost. In a way, the emulation scene is a less-glorified version of medievil monks copying by hand important manuscripts which would otherwise be unknown to us. (Greek philosophy, Datsun 280 Zzzap, it all has the same cultural standing, y'know. *grin*)
The collector is beneficial. Unlike warez pirates, whose collectors only help spread a game that has legit copies easily available, the emulation scene (and the abandonware scene, by the same token), is spreading and preserving a product of our civilization that would otherwise be unavailable. Of all my games, I probably only play a half-dozen regularly. Before I got into emulation, as well as after, I bought a few games, and usually rented most from a cheap video store. (I am cheap though, if I buy, I'll wait until the price is reduced to $10-20, or else buy it used if I can't wait.)
Also, the emulation scene can and will pay money to increase their enjoyment of the gaming experience. Although only one company seems nice enough to release a rom-set, the emulation scene will pay money for faster computers, better vid cards, and toys like TV out, or arcade parts to build their own arcade machine. I don't think "cheap" can be used to describe the serious emu players. They need to put more money into hardware to play an older game just to support the overhead of emulation.
Just my $.02
P.S. Copyprotection is getting really annoying. Every new game I buy, it seems like I spend a few hours trying to search for a hack to play it CD-less. Why do every game company out there decide that I want to always have their CD in my one CD drive? I have the hard drive space, I don't mind a "full" option on install. Just gimme back my cd drive!
Re:SMB wouldn't sell for other reasons... (Score:2)
I tend to agree with that, too. If Copy Protection doesn't prevent the majority of the users from pirating games, and it just bothers the rest of us who buy the games.
Some Copy Protection isn't so bad. Single disc games that require the disc to play tend to annoy me less, since I tend to play the same game for days at a time thus I just leave the disc in my gaming system's drive. Multi-disc games are the worst offenders, though. Swapping discs is so 1980's.
I wish it weren't true, but it is. There are more pirates than there are legit owners. Nearly every user I know gets pissed when they ask if they can "burn a copy off of me" in reference to whatever newest game I just bought. Besides thinking they're all cheap bastards (they are), I find it annoying that they try to convince me that "those big companies" have "too much money".
All I can say is maybe. But not all of the game devs are monoliths that deserve to be stolen from.
Re:Bring out yer dead... (Score:1)
More than they'd ever see reselling roms.
no. (Score:2)
Re:Bring out yer dead... (Score:1)
They would probably rather we all destroy our old cartridges so that those games won't destract from their current offerings ever again.
The big question (Score:2, Funny)
Re:The big question (Score:1)
Re:The big question (Score:2, Informative)
Re:BLEEM!!!! (Score:1)
Except for the /. effect (wow it says 404, just like a lot of other links on /. !!), I'm not sure how this was moderated redundant... wtf??? (Yes, I checked the link. It worked when I submitted.)
Seriously though, wouldn't bleem (playstation on Windows) make the perfect addition to an emu box???
If you do this (Score:1, Informative)
I'm intrigued... (Score:1)
TiVO (Score:2, Interesting)
Intel Wireless Game Pads (Score:1)
I once had lunch with a marketing manager in the Intel consumer products division. (This was not her product!) I asked why they made them look like... before I said it, she interrupted, and said "I know, don't say it."
Quietness in homemade consoles (Score:1)
Re:Quietness in homemade consoles (Score:1)
And to those who'll bitch about a Mac not running Wintel apps - Virtual PC does a pretty good job. I bet you could get these older games to run in Virtual PC.
Re:Quietness in homemade consoles (Score:1)
Nuff said
Yeah if only this this and that... (Score:1)
his site is a bit slim on the specifics (to say the least!!).
someone mentioned "its like an xbox with a worse video card" you dont need a good video card to play nes/snes (just lots and lots of processing power.)
Another thing, why the 30 gig harddrive!!! All the roms/mp3s/movies you're gonna play are from CD, a 5 gig drive would work just as well.
Waiting for windows to boot everytime you want to play mario bros cant be fun either. Back when I used to use emulators they were all dos. Theres also no reason why you couldn't shell multiple emulator for the same system (depending on what flavor you like).
Anyhow, this guy is hardcore.
Re:Yeah if only this this and that... (Score:1)
There's something wrong with your setup then, cause I can emulate SNES with no problem on a K6-2 400/256megs ram. That's Zsnes/Win2k and Zsnes/FreeBSD. A P3 550 should be able to handle it fine unless you've got something like 32megs ram.
Orac (Score:1)
Probably a lot less irritating and a lot more useful than the original, too...
Re:Orac (Score:1)
Blakes 7 people... comeon.
Say what you want about startrek, but Blakes 7 had the best weapons.
...oh yeah, that box thing looks cool too.
Re:Orac (Score:1)
Blake's 7 had much better tech than any of the Star Treks:
....uh so what? (Score:1)
He built a clear case, put a computer in it, wrote a quick front-end to run the desired applications, and sent the output to a tv.
yay?
Dangerous case! (Score:1)
It's cool (Score:1)
Re:Can it emulate this? (Score:1)