How to build an arcade, and which is the best system to invest into?

[Quantumman2010]

I am new to building arcades, and I want to know more. I have a classic Donkey Kong from 1981 Serial Number: 47547 Model Number: TKG4-UP-US, and I love this thing!

 

I want to build newer arcades using hyperspin and maybe start a local retrocade, but there are so many options out there and it can be overwhelming guys.

 

If you had 700.00 to investing to a machine what would you do?

 

 

[JayC]

Welcome!

 

Depends...if you have an old PC lying around you can probably use it for hyperspin and MAME and get a hell of a lot of arcade games running fine, then just build the cabinet and you're done. If you don't have an old PC, just buy a used one or a new cheap one with like a Intel G3258 and you'll be fine. I bought an old candy cab and converted it to an Hyperspin cab so that's an option if you know where to find a scrapped old arcade cab. 700 should be fine for a basic build.

[Quantumman2010]

Thank you very much for answering me so fast. Could I use an xbox since it is a microsoft based system?

[JayC]

I think there is an xbox arcade app, but not hyperspin as that's PC/Android only. But people are using an Nvidia Shield with Hyperspin so that might be an option since it's just 200$. But you can get a perfectly adequate PC for less than 200$ as well. 

[adamg]

You could go with a Raspberry Pie 3 with RetroPie installed.  It will run with an xbox controller.  It might be cheaper than getting a pc though you would have to run emulation station instead of HyperSpin.

 

Are you looking at building a cabinet or just something to hook to a tv?

[Quantumman2010]

I'm sold! Now what do you recommend for a coin mech?

[adamg]

I'm sold! Now what do you recommend for a coin mech?

 

Were you replying to me?  If so, I do not recommend a coin mech.  If you have to have one, then any of them work.  Ebay has some for about $25 if I remember correctly.

[wesfranks]

Hmmm. You're thinking of opening a local retrocade and using a coin mech to charge people to play? Not a good idea. Might get a knock on your door that you don't want to answer.

[adamg]

Hmmm. You're thinking of opening a local retrocade and using a coin mech to charge people to play? Not a good idea. Might get a knock on your door that you don't want to answer.

It is possibly alright as long as you have a cover charge instead of per game.  I know of several that work that way.  Not sure if it is legal but I know that is how they work.

[Hutty]

It is possibly alright as long as you have a cover charge instead of per game.  I know of several that work that way.  Not sure if it is legal but I know that is how they work.

 

Definitely not legal.  Most people look the other way when there is no money involved, but when you start charging for access to pirated materials it is a whole different story.  

[Quantumman2010]

Definitely not legal.  Most people look the other way when there is no money involved, but when you start charging for access to pirated materials it is a whole different story.  

Then how can hyperspin legally charge people for pirated material to us and not get a knock on their door?

 

I can buy Jamma boards and old arcade games and open an arcade and charge .25 per game and it is not an issue. Just like I can buy this Hyperspin Usb drive and do the same...or at least thought I could.

 

Looking or more info...

[Hutty]

Then how can hyperspin legally charge people for pirated material to us and not get a knock on their door?

I can buy Jamma boards and old arcade games and open an arcade and charge .25 per game and it is not an issue. Just like I can buy this Hyperspin Usb drive and do the same...or at least thought I could.

Looking or more info...

Hyperspin doesn't offer any roms. If you owned the actual arcade machine itself, then that is legal. If you see anywhere selling a preconfigured hard drive of Hyperspin roms, that is absolutely illegal and not endorsed by this site. You're likely to get a hard drive full of viruses and headaches.

[adamg]

Hyperspin doesn't offer any roms. If you owned the actual arcade machine itself, then that is legal. If you see anywhere selling a preconfigured hard drive of Hyperspin roms, that is absolutely illegal and not endorsed by this site. You're likely to get a hard drive full of viruses and headaches.

 

More to his point though, the pirated material here would be the art that you do have to pay for located behind the pay wall.  So his argument is that you have to pay for artwork that is trademarked and copyrighted by companies that have not been authorized.

 

Seems much like the way I described regarding how the arcades work.  You pay a cover fee and then can play all the games you want.  You are paying for access, not what is offered by that access.

[adamg]

Then how can hyperspin legally charge people for pirated material to us and not get a knock on their door?

 

I can buy Jamma boards and old arcade games and open an arcade and charge .25 per game and it is not an issue. Just like I can buy this Hyperspin Usb drive and do the same...or at least thought I could.

 

Looking or more info...

 

There is no HyperSpin drive to be clear.  If you buy one of those things you are not buying a product endorse or accepted here.  Just FYi.  If you have issues with something like that please try to get support from whoever you bought it from.

[THK]

Then how can hyperspin legally charge people for pirated material to us and not get a knock on their door?

 

We do not sell anything. Especially not illegal/legal-gray-area roms. We do not charge for HS or it's assets either technically. We charge for the Syncing/FTP services, the only real problem with this is the current downloads section where everything is available for free is kind of a mess since the new site. Still, not charging for anything illegal.

 

 

I can buy Jamma boards and old arcade games and open an arcade and charge .25 per game and it is not an issue. Just like I can buy this Hyperspin Usb drive and do the same...or at least thought I could.

 

This is kind of the gray area where wou might be alright. Aside from  the few legal roms, own a pcb for every game you emulate and charge for. I know there was at least one guy with a barcade that went this route, so no multi game/system HyperSPin setups you charge for.

 

The only real other option you have is to make the Arcade/HS machines free play only as the attraction to lure in costumers and charge them for drinks/food (maybe have a minimum drinks/hour like some places do that let you play pool for free)

[Hutty]

I'm not a lawyer, but the art probably falls more under fair use, charging the public for access to copywrited entertainment experiences without the appropriate license is different. Can't show an nfl game in your bar without a license, very similar. Of course, if you're just inviting friends over, it's different.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[THK]

More to his point though, the pirated material here would be the art that you do have to pay for located behind the pay wall.  So his argument is that you have to pay for artwork that is trademarked and copyrighted by companies that have not been authorized.

 

Seems much like the way I described regarding how the arcades work.  You pay a cover fee and then can play all the games you want.  You are paying for access, not what is offered by that access.

 

Like stated above, we do not charge for HS or it's assets either technically. We charge for the Syncing/FTP services, the only real problem with this is the current downloads section where everything is available for free is kind of a mess since the new site. All artwork has always become available in the dl section in the past, only it was often only uploaded after completed, whilst parts were already available through the other channels, especially with the ftp being mostly a WIP storage location in the past.

[badboo]

Hmmm this post turned out to be interesting. Never though of that question before.

[adamg]

Like stated above, we do not charge for HS or it's assets either technically. We charge for the Syncing/FTP services, the only real problem with this is the current downloads section where everything is available for free is kind of a mess since the new site. All artwork has always become available in the dl section in the past, only it was often only uploaded after completed, whilst parts were already available through the other channels, especially with the ftp being mostly a WIP storage location in the past.

 

Right.  That is exactly what I am saying.

 

The art (roms) are freely given inside the Download section (arcade), art (roms) that we do not own the rights to distribute. You can always go to google and download the art (roms) for free, then make your own themes (arcade) but it is much easier to pay a lifetime membership fee (cover charge) to access the art (roms) from HyperSync (the arcade).

 

Thus to say that charging at the door to play on HyperSpin machines is different seems a little underhanded.  The argument I am making is that offering a service to access the art is the same as offering a service to play roms.  You more than likely do not own either thefore it cannot be any different.  You are both offering services.  One is for ease of use and the other is access to machines.  Who knows what those machines have on them as long as you are not charging to use the machines aka not charging to show Mario or OSnic.

 

All in all, I really do not care.  Seems like the dude wants to buy a drive to setup an arcade.  Seems like they have it backwards already.

[wesfranks]

To my non-legal understanding, the site operators only have certain "publisher" obligations to ensure that activity here is kept within the boundaries. Those boundaries are very clear and available for users to read. http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/topic/790-site-rules/

 

We (the users) pretty much understand the rules and operate within those guidelines. The only deviations I see are mostly users providing troubleshooting support for unsupported emulators. Debatable terms like personal use, fair use, derivative works, etc. are occasionally discussed about artwork/videos and usually conclude the discussion in similar ways unless the more stringent constrictions of morality is brought up. Then you end up with likely hypocritical people (who are also likely engaging in unmoral behavior on a personal level) pointing fingers and trying to prove a point (that they likely do not really believe).

 

But post a direct link to roms or to a site that sells roms and you will be crushed by a moderator. I have seen it happen. As is possibly their obligation.

[Quantumman2010]

All in all, I really do not care.  Seems like the dude wants to buy a drive to setup an arcade.  Seems like they have it backwards already.

Your right that I did want to start a arcade business in my home town, and did my research, or at least I thought I did.

 

You mean to tell me that companies can sell roms, emulators, jamma boards, coin op's,joy sticks etc...and expect people not to get the impression that you can start an arcade business?

 

Please explain where I am backwards?

[THK]

To my non-legal understanding, the site operators only have certain "publisher" obligations to ensure that activity here is kept within the boundaries. Those boundaries are very clear and available for users to read. http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/topic/790-site-rules/

 

This is a bit out of date though. We since decided that no system is off limits here. The gamecube for example as well as maybe the Wii even aren't really current systems anymore, but more to the point, you should be able to launch anything. Just like having assets for the latest pc games, you can provide artwork assets etc. How anyone obtains the games launched through HS is their business.

 

Our standpoint is that you should buy games you like for current systems. If you want to make a home copy of it or obtain it elsewhere to be able to run/use what you bought in a manner it wasn't really intended to, great. It's legal in some places, illegal in a lot. But copyright laws are outdated and just plain stupid in most cases (like rights for music being upheld 70 years after the artists death, yeah that sure is making sure the artists gets compensated for his work..... just, really? This is just lobbied in place by record companies that run outdated business models. For old games of the past it's a similar discussion) We do however like to comply with the law and not host or facilitate any distribution of illegal content.

[wesfranks]

This is a bit out of date though. We since decided that no system is off limits here. The gamecube for example as well as maybe the Wii even aren't really current systems anymore, but more to the point, you should be able to launch anything. Just like having assets for the latest pc games, you can provide artwork assets etc. How anyone obtains the games launched through HS is their business.

 

Our standpoint is that you should buy games you like for current systems. If you want to make a home copy of it or obtain it elsewhere to be able to run/use what you bought in a manner it wasn't really intended to, great. It's legal in some places, illegal in a lot. But copyright laws are outdated and just plain stupid in most cases (like rights for music being upheld 70 years after the artists death, yeah that sure is making sure the artists gets compensated for his work..... just, really? This is just lobbied in place by record companies that run outdated business models. For old games of the past it's a similar discussion) We do however like to comply with the law and not host or facilitate any distribution of illegal content.

 

I know it is out of date. That's why I added the emulator support exception.

 

But I really want to know who plays these games around here. I personally just mess with settings and move files around- stuff like that. Don't have time for games.

[adamg]

Your right that I did want to start a arcade business in my home town, and did my research, or at least I thought I did.

 

You mean to tell me that companies can sell roms, emulators, jamma boards, coin op's,joy sticks etc...and expect people not to get the impression that you can start an arcade business?

 

Please explain where I am backwards?

 

There is nothing to buy here.  If there is a company that is selling roms ie software versions of what is housed in a chip somewhere then yeah that is illegal.  Emulators are self contained programs that the programmer can charge for as they are not responsible for what you do with them.  Jamma boards are legit as they are the real thing, joysticks, coin ops, etc are all sold to repair the real thing.

 

If your research pointed you to being able to put a coin mech on an arcade running mame then you have followed some very bad advice.  That is always illegal.  As to a MAME machine, they are pretty much always illegal.

 

Here is a link to a reddit thread that details everything as I understand it: https://www.reddit.com/r/MAME/comments/2h9bxj/mame_use_in_a_bar_if_i_dont_charge_for_use/

 

As to the backwards part, there is no Hyperspin drive.  Wherever you came up with that is not legit or allowed here.  Hyperspin is 2 zip files located in the downloads section.  They work in tandem with other software to create what you have seen on youtube or wherever.  In other words you have to set it up yourself, you do not buy it.

[adamg]

I know it is out of date. That's why I added the emulator support exception.

 

But I really want to know who plays these games around here. I personally just mess with settings and move files around- stuff like that. Don't have time for games.

HAHAHA so true man, so true.  I want that as a signature.