Re: OT: Brian Lewis comments. Thoughts? (LONG)

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: Hi, : firstly note that the comments on the site are not meant to offend anybody. : I just figured I'd give an explanation as to why I stopped AOS. : Ignoring disagreements with what I've said - the main point that should be taken from it is that I do not use AOS anymore myself. As such it's very hard to keep maintaining it. : Ignoring motivation issues the quality of it would suffer as it would never be really tested. : other points: : Why did I start the PC2JAMMA/ArcadeOS project ? : Because it hadn't been done before, I had a week off work and somebody suggested it to me. : It's was immensely enjoyable to create AOS, the circtuits, PC2JAMMA design etc. : At the time I *also* sat there and compared it to my real cabinets and boards - and thought 'this is identical' : So I continued to work hard on the project. : There was cabMAME - again something new and interesting to do,first ever ATI SVGA arcade monitor driver, getting the arcade mode in RAINE, getting onto MAMEDEV to put the arcade modes in the official release, then finally VAntAGE. : However, I found I was playing the emulator cab less and less, and the other 'real' cabinets much more. : The interest seem to be in creating the projects - rather than using them :) : After a while, the only use it got was when people came round to visit - even then the 'regulars' also started using the machine less : (I hold arcade parties, and the emulator machine : was always the least used machine there) : Forget accurate emulation or moral issues for a moment, : here's another way of looking at it - : Say your running a game in your MAME cab on which : the emulation is perfect : say Galaxian (btw - the sound is slightly off in MAME ;)) : Now, next to it you've got either a Galaxian board sat in cabinet, or an original Galaxians cab. : Playing the emulation cabinet - you're going to hit escape after a couple of goes, maybe even a couple of lives - 'cause you've got a 1000 other : games to play (I do it - everybody I've seen using a MAME cab does it) : On the other machine - you'll play it again and again, you'll learn patterns - you'll enjoy and appreciate the game more. : You can disagree, but this is what I've seen happen with everybody that has used an emulation cab next/compared to a 'real' cab : As for filling up your house with a 1000 cabs - : I don't have a 1000 cabs - I don't even have a 1000 boards. : I'd be hard pressed to name a 100 games I'd really want to play over and over again. : by 'I'd really want' I mean - something I'd pay money for. : How many people really 'want' all the games in their MAME cabinets ? : If it was a choice between removing the game or paying a small fee for it, how many games would be in the cabinet then ? : Only the ones you really want/play - is that really over 1000 ? over 2000 ? : Anyway, : what I do have is a collection of most of my favourite games - : Some are old and emulated fairly accurately - : Some are 'new' (i.e. 94-97) and not emulated at all. : Some are emulated badly and slowly. : but all of them run perfectly round my house :) : best regards : Brian : ----- : : : Brian Lewis made these, somewhat ironic, comments along with his final version of ArcadeOS. : : "If you're not pursuaded by the moral argument, that if you're going to play these games you should really own them, then I urge you to at least look into comparing the real thing with your emulation cabinet Accurate sound, correct aspect ratio, correct colours, smooth scrolling, no load time, correct speed, no input problems. : : There is a difference." : : I have a ton of respect for Brian and his work. Not many people do anything for free these days, let alone the amount of work it must have taken to create ArcadeOS. : : That being said, the only original cabinet I own, along with my MAME cab, is a Dig Dug that I picked up for $150 a few years ago. I have fired them up side by side and I honestly cannot see a difference. I realize that some games are more accurately emulated than others, but is the difference great enough to purchase 1000 original boards? : : I just do not understand why he would make those comments. If he felt that way, why did he even start the ArcadeOS project?

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