1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:14,560 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: and now the tech aren't you. It's time for a 5 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: text stuff Ted bits and uh. I was listening to 6 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:30,040 Speaker 1: a recent episode of the Besties. That's a podcast that's 7 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: about video games, which has no connection to my show 8 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: or the I Heart network. I just enjoy listening to it, 9 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: And in this particular episode, one of the hosts, Russ 10 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: frush Dick, was chiding another one of the hosts, Chris Plant, 11 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: after Plant had talked about the coin operated arcade days, 12 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: and the reason that Russ was giving his buddy a 13 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:55,320 Speaker 1: bit of a hard time was that both Russ and 14 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: Chris are a little too young to have spent a 15 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: ton of time in arcades up. So essentially, Russ was saying, 16 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: as if you are old enough to remember those days, well, friends, 17 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: I am not as young as Russ and Chris are, 18 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: and I spent a lot of time in video game 19 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 1: arcades as a kid. And that actually got me to 20 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:21,919 Speaker 1: thinking about maime cabinets, because I've I've actually thought about 21 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:26,479 Speaker 1: making one myself. But I've kind of I've been holding 22 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:32,959 Speaker 1: back on it, largely because there's some philosophical challenges that 23 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: I face that I have not yet reconciled. Anyway, I thought, 24 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,960 Speaker 1: why not do a text of tidbits on MAME. I've 25 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: talked about MAME in the past, but I thought it 26 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:45,720 Speaker 1: might be good to kind of run down this because 27 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: folks who are my age, they might have a nostalgic 28 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: love of certain classic arcade games, but anyone who has 29 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: even casually looked into the the hobby of collecting arcade games, nos, 30 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: it could be really hard to find some of those 31 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 1: classic titles. Some of them are prohibitively expensive. And then 32 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,799 Speaker 1: on top of that, you have to think about things 33 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 1: like maintenance and repair, because these are systems that you know, 34 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: they have physical moving parts, and those things do break 35 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: down over time. So we're gonna take a quick look 36 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:23,959 Speaker 1: at all of that in today's episode. Well, first, let's 37 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,960 Speaker 1: talk about what old arcade machines had inside them, what 38 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: made them special. The brains of your typical arcade machine 39 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:35,919 Speaker 1: was a circuit board, kind of like a mother board 40 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: in a PC, and various logic circuits would be incorporated 41 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 1: into these boards and these would be specific to whatever 42 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: title you were talking about. So you can think of 43 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:49,959 Speaker 1: it in a way as the games are being hard 44 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:55,640 Speaker 1: coded onto circuit boards to work a specific way, and 45 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:58,960 Speaker 1: that's why Pacman is different from Donkey Kong, which is 46 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: different from Galagha and so on and so forth. Now, 47 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: these circuit boards were coupled with a primitive version of BIOS, 48 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:14,399 Speaker 1: that's basic input output system. So BIOS meant that there 49 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:19,240 Speaker 1: was a means for the circuit board to interoperate with 50 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 1: the input systems of the game, so the controls the game. 51 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:28,360 Speaker 1: This involves everything from a joystick, maybe a button or 52 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: more than one button. Typically you would also talk about 53 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: a coin slot so that the machine detects when someone 54 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: has inserted a coin, that kind of stuff. So all 55 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: of those are inputs and the BIOS would be handling 56 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: those signals and sending them on to the the circuit 57 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: board to have the correct output. Right. The game's output 58 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: was mostly shown to the player through a monitor. That's 59 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: that was typically a CRT or cathode ray tube monitor. 60 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: These are those really big monitors, big heavy monitors, you 61 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: know CRT televisions. Maybe you still have one, or maybe 62 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: you used to own one. Um, these are those big, 63 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: heavy things that have a tube inside of them. By 64 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 1: the way, those televisions and the CRT monitors that were 65 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: in arcade machines, they're also equipped with powerful capacitors. Okay, 66 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: these capacitors can hold on to a really strong electric charge. 67 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:31,360 Speaker 1: When I say really strong, I mean one that's strong 68 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: enough to kill you. And I say this because it 69 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: is always good to remember that even an arcade machine 70 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: or an old CRT television that's been sitting in storage 71 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: for years could still potentially have plenty of juice stored 72 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: in those capacitors. And if you accidentally cause those capacitors 73 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: to discharge, then you could be in serious danger. So 74 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: I say that because I mean I was a kid once. 75 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,919 Speaker 1: I remember, like you'd come across a bunch of old, 76 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: abandoned stuff, and as a kid, my number one inclination 77 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:14,760 Speaker 1: was let's break it right because it's just sitting there. Um. 78 00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: But when it comes to things like televisions and monitors 79 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,240 Speaker 1: and stuff, that comes with a real danger to it. 80 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: So I just wanted to point that out. Anyway, Over time, 81 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 1: arcade machine companies got a little more sophisticated, and they 82 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 1: created a standardized control boards at least for their own output, right. 83 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,359 Speaker 1: It wasn't like it was standardized across the industry, but 84 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: like neo, GEO created its own kind of circuit board 85 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: design so that it wasn't making a new kind for 86 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: every single title. And into these you could plug a 87 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:51,279 Speaker 1: wrong chip ROM or r O M that stands for 88 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: read only memory, and as that name suggests, it's a 89 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: type of computer memory that allows a device like a computer, 90 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:03,039 Speaker 1: to a pulled data from the chip, but it doesn't 91 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 1: allow the device to write new data to the chip. 92 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:09,919 Speaker 1: You can essentially consult the chip, but you can't change 93 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 1: anything on it. And we usually put stuff on ROM 94 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: chips that's necessary for basic computer functionality, like running through 95 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: the basic startup steps. You don't want that to get changed, 96 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 1: so you end up hard coding it into ROM, and 97 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 1: then it's effectively set in metaphorical stone. Now, in the 98 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:35,239 Speaker 1: case of arcade machines, the game itself would be stored 99 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: on the ROM chip. So the important thing for the 100 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:42,720 Speaker 1: purposes of our discussion about MAIM is that the games 101 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: we're on these physical chips, So we're not talking about 102 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 1: software in the traditional sense. We're talking about hardware, hard 103 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:55,359 Speaker 1: coded chips. You can't just plug and play. So the 104 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 1: big downside to the industry using hard coded ROMs is 105 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: that there was no easy way to port the experience 106 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: of playing these arcade games onto some sort of home system. Right. 107 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: You couldn't just unless you went out and purchased an 108 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:13,800 Speaker 1: arcade cabinet. And some people did. I mean they had 109 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: the money for it. I didn't, so I never did this. 110 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: But they would go out and they buy a copy 111 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 1: of the arcade machine and then they could play the 112 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: arcade game at home. That was really the only way 113 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 1: to do the actual arcade game, because you could not 114 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: just buy a wrong chip and then plug it into 115 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 1: a computer and play. So instead you had to rely 116 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: on a port of an arcade game. Porting essentially just 117 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: meant that the person in charge of the port had 118 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: to build effects simile of the arcade game that could 119 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: be played on some home system, whether it was a 120 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: computer or a video game console. More often than not, 121 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 1: they would actually pay someone else to do it, right, 122 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: They would pay someone else to go through and and 123 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 1: essentially recreate the game. So programmers of ports are often 124 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: trying to reinvent the wheel to an extent. They're aiming 125 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: to create the same game playing experience, but that doesn't 126 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: necessarily mean they're gonna follow follow the exact same path 127 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: as the original game designers did. When they're making a port, 128 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 1: they're saying, all right, well, what makes this game what 129 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 1: it is? What? How can we create that same output? Uh? 130 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: And it might mean that the port is actually, from 131 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 1: a program level drastically different from the original code. This 132 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 1: also meant that your experience when playing those ports could 133 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: vary drastically. You might luck out. It might be that 134 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:46,520 Speaker 1: the port feels more or less the same as you 135 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 1: remembered from the arcade. I mean, obviously it'll feel a 136 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:51,360 Speaker 1: little different if you're playing it on you know, a 137 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: video game console or your PC and you're using a 138 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,680 Speaker 1: game pad. Game pads feel different from arcade controls. But 139 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:01,439 Speaker 1: otherwise it might feel like it's pretty accurate it or 140 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:03,360 Speaker 1: you might not be so lucky, and it might be 141 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:07,520 Speaker 1: that the port is practically unrecognizable when compared to the 142 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: original title. So one early port that became infamous in 143 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:16,240 Speaker 1: the classic video game console days was the pac Man 144 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: Port for the Atari twenty so Atari owners like myself 145 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:24,480 Speaker 1: were eager to have the opportunity to play the simple 146 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 1: and yet compelling game of pac Man at home now 147 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:32,760 Speaker 1: in the arcade, pac Man's graphics, while not like super sophisticated, 148 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 1: look nice like the ghosts look nice, the maze look nice. 149 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 1: Pac Man looked nice. Everything was The sprites were good, 150 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: things moved on a good clip. You had fun sound 151 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: effects and music too. It really was the combination of 152 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:49,680 Speaker 1: all of these different elements that made pac Man such 153 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:53,080 Speaker 1: a fun game to play in the arcade. But the 154 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 1: Atari twenty port was, by contrast, ugly playing. The game 155 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 1: was unwieldy, it didn't sound good at all. The ghosts 156 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:06,200 Speaker 1: flickered in the Atari port because the Atari wasn't able 157 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:10,040 Speaker 1: to handle a a solid pac Man and four solid 158 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:16,439 Speaker 1: ghosts moving around simultaneously. In fact, the ghosts collectively had 159 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:21,319 Speaker 1: to share a single sprite, a sprite being a graphical 160 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 1: element that can actually move uh compared to the play 161 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:29,160 Speaker 1: field of a game. And so the way the game 162 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:32,559 Speaker 1: compensated for the fact that it couldn't support four simultaneous 163 00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 1: ghosts on screening, it would only display one at a time, 164 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 1: and that would alternate between the four of them, so 165 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: like you would see a ghost for a frame and 166 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 1: then the next frame you would see Ghost number two, 167 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: and in the next frame you'd see Ghost number three, 168 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:50,160 Speaker 1: and in the next frame you see Ghost number four, 169 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: and then the next one it would go back to 170 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 1: ghost number one. So you're getting twenty four frames a second, 171 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 1: you know, essentially really more like thirty frames a second. 172 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:03,839 Speaker 1: So they were flickering pretty fast, so you could see them, 173 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 1: but they had that flicker and it was distracting. It 174 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:11,440 Speaker 1: didn't look at all like the original arcade machine. The 175 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:13,080 Speaker 1: only way you could have avoided that is if you 176 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:16,080 Speaker 1: had only had one ghost, you would have one solid 177 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 1: pac Man and one solid Ghost, because the ghost wouldn't 178 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 1: have to share that sprite with you know, it's fellow ghosts. Now, 179 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:25,439 Speaker 1: this gets more complicated, but we're not here to talk 180 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:30,080 Speaker 1: about the Atari's limitations really, but the point being that 181 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:33,760 Speaker 1: while pac Man for the Atari wasn't very good, in fact, 182 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:36,640 Speaker 1: I would say it was pretty bad, Atari sold more 183 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:41,760 Speaker 1: than seven million copies of it. Now, unfortunately, Atari manufactured 184 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:46,240 Speaker 1: twelve million copies, so while they sold seven million, that 185 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: meant five million were sitting around unsold. Uh So, even 186 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 1: though pac Man was the best selling Atari cartridge in 187 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:57,640 Speaker 1: the company's history, it didn't perform to what the company 188 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 1: was expecting, and ultimately would become one of many massive 189 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 1: mistakes that would lead to the Great Video game Crash 190 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 1: of anyway, that's an example of a really bad part. 191 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:13,840 Speaker 1: But even a good part of a game often doesn't 192 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:17,360 Speaker 1: feel quite the same as the original arcade cabinet, and 193 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:20,360 Speaker 1: a lot of different factors can contribute to that, including 194 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:25,000 Speaker 1: the brightness and color contrast of the display, the responsiveness 195 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:28,560 Speaker 1: of the controllers, even the style of controllers can really 196 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:31,959 Speaker 1: make a big difference. Playing Galiga on an arcade cabinet 197 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:36,079 Speaker 1: just feels different than playing it with a game controller, 198 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:38,200 Speaker 1: even with a really faithful part of the game. I've 199 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:41,840 Speaker 1: got a version of Galagha on Xbox right. That was 200 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:45,959 Speaker 1: one of the games that I I purchased, and from 201 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: a gameplay perspective, everything except the controls is perfect. Like 202 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: it looks and sounds and behaves exactly the way the 203 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:00,600 Speaker 1: arcade machine behaved. But because I'm playing on a game 204 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:04,280 Speaker 1: pad like a game controller as opposed to the classic 205 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 1: joystick and button combo of the arcade, it's still not 206 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 1: the same. Now, arcades had a fairly brief time in 207 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:13,360 Speaker 1: the spotlight here in the United States. It was a 208 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:15,480 Speaker 1: little different. In other places in the world, like Japan, 209 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:20,280 Speaker 1: the arcade culture was healthier for much longer and still 210 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,319 Speaker 1: exists over there. But here in the United States, Uh, 211 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:26,600 Speaker 1: the the heyday of the arcade is long in the past, 212 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:29,840 Speaker 1: and a lot of different factors led to most arcades 213 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 1: closing down. When we come back, we'll talk a bit 214 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:45,080 Speaker 1: about those factors. Okay, just before the break, I talked 215 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:49,320 Speaker 1: about how arcades started to close down in the United States. Well, 216 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 1: there were a lot of different reasons for that. One 217 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: of the reasons was the rise of the home video 218 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:59,719 Speaker 1: game system. Now, that did have a big blip in 219 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,720 Speaker 1: ten three with the collapse of the industry, that also 220 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 1: affected the arcade industry as well. It wasn't just the 221 00:14:06,559 --> 00:14:10,280 Speaker 1: home video game market. But then you know, the system 222 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: Nintendo Entertainment System came in really turned things around here 223 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:18,200 Speaker 1: in the United States, and uh, the home video game 224 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: market recovered and then flourished on a level that it 225 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 1: hadn't even approached back in the first age of home 226 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:31,240 Speaker 1: video game systems. But that was just one factor that 227 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: led to arcades losing relevance. Another was that in order 228 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 1: to keep an arcade interesting, owners had to add new 229 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: games fairly regularly, right, people would get tired of playing 230 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: the same games, But buying a new game to feature 231 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:52,440 Speaker 1: in your arcade was expensive. So as arcade attendance was 232 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:56,000 Speaker 1: on the decline, keeping things going would eat into revenues 233 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 1: more and more. Right, if you didn't add new games, 234 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:01,800 Speaker 1: you would lose even more players over time. If you 235 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 1: were buying new games, you were spending a good amount 236 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 1: of your revenue just to try and hold on to 237 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 1: the customers you already have. You weren't really seeing a 238 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 1: lot of places get new customers, so it was it 239 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:20,680 Speaker 1: was essentially treading water, and ultimately it would lead to 240 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 1: a situation where it just became impossible to be profitable 241 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: and run an arcade, and most of them shut down. 242 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,080 Speaker 1: There are still arcades out there. I don't mean to 243 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 1: suggest that they're all gone, but they aren't nearly as 244 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:38,880 Speaker 1: popular or as numerous as they were back in the 245 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:41,920 Speaker 1: glory days of the eighties and even into the nineties, 246 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:45,280 Speaker 1: because there was like an arcade renaissance in the nineties, 247 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 1: largely helped by the emergence of a little game known 248 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: as Street Fighter too. Anyway, this also meant that those 249 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: classic arcade games were in danger of being lost to time. 250 00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:59,600 Speaker 1: We had the various ports, right, Like a lot of 251 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:04,000 Speaker 1: these game teams had ports on different home consoles, but 252 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:07,040 Speaker 1: the original versions of the games were still sitting on 253 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:11,000 Speaker 1: these ron chips inside arcade cabinets, and the world was 254 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: moving on. That also included other technologies as well, like 255 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:19,320 Speaker 1: the CRT For example, it became far more common for 256 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: companies that were in the business of making monitors and 257 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:27,920 Speaker 1: displays to switch to manufacturing displays that use LED technology, 258 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 1: for example, and one by one the companies that were 259 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:36,120 Speaker 1: making CRT s shut down those manufacturing lines. So today, 260 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:39,000 Speaker 1: if you hunt down a classic arcade machine, you can 261 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 1: still find them and you can still purchase them. But 262 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 1: when you do it, you also know that if your 263 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 1: monitor breaks, if that CRT set goes bad, it could 264 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: be really tricky to find a way to repair or 265 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: replace it. It's just it's getting harder and harder to 266 00:16:55,040 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 1: find parts or replacement monitors. So there we have the 267 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:04,240 Speaker 1: stage set. Right, We've got a technology that is in 268 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:08,480 Speaker 1: danger of going entirely obsolete, and if it does, it 269 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:12,399 Speaker 1: takes with it hundreds thousands of games, some of which 270 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: are real classics that lots of people love, but now 271 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 1: let's talk about Nicola Salmoria. He is a programmer from 272 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 1: Italy and Nicola became interested in this idea of using 273 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:31,560 Speaker 1: software to mimic or emulate the hardware of arcade machines. 274 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:36,600 Speaker 1: That's what an emulator does. An emulator is able to 275 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:42,000 Speaker 1: mimic something else so that you can get a particular output. 276 00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:44,639 Speaker 1: It doesn't have to be video games. A lot of 277 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 1: people just equate emulator with the world of video games. 278 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,440 Speaker 1: An emulator really is just a way to use software 279 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:57,000 Speaker 1: two replicate what hardware would do when you no longer 280 00:17:57,040 --> 00:18:01,960 Speaker 1: have access to the hardware. So the the way that 281 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: this worked, I mean you couldn't just plug a RAM 282 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:07,199 Speaker 1: chip into a circuit board and then you're able to 283 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 1: play the game. Right, even if you went out and 284 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:13,480 Speaker 1: you bought a RAM chip of a classic arcade game, 285 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:16,119 Speaker 1: you don't really have an easy way of playing it 286 00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:18,199 Speaker 1: because you don't have the rest of the circuitry that 287 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:20,960 Speaker 1: that RAM chip interacts with in order for the game 288 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:25,480 Speaker 1: to work. However, if you were able to create software 289 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:30,359 Speaker 1: that could mimic how that particular arcade machine worked, and 290 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:34,000 Speaker 1: then if you were able to make a copy of 291 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,400 Speaker 1: the code that was stored on the RAM. This is 292 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 1: called creating an image. If you were to create an 293 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:43,399 Speaker 1: image of the data that was stored on that RAM, 294 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:46,199 Speaker 1: you might then be able to create what amounts to 295 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:52,119 Speaker 1: a virtual arcade machine. The software is handling everything that 296 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:55,119 Speaker 1: the hardware would have handled, and as far as the 297 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:59,639 Speaker 1: code on the RAM is concerned, it's in a an official, 298 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:04,159 Speaker 1: you know, legitimate arcade machine and it will create the 299 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:06,840 Speaker 1: output that you need. You also have to build all 300 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:11,720 Speaker 1: the the systems that will allow that output to have 301 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:15,199 Speaker 1: a meaningful expression, right because I'll put has to go 302 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:18,679 Speaker 1: to something like a display and speakers. So there's a 303 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:20,760 Speaker 1: there are a lot of steps here. It's not just 304 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:25,879 Speaker 1: to make the the WROM work. It's so that the 305 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:30,480 Speaker 1: modern technology we're using to access the code that's on 306 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:34,560 Speaker 1: the ROM can interoperate with it. So this is really complicated. 307 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 1: It's not just oh, I found a way to create 308 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:41,280 Speaker 1: code that makes this ROM chip think that it's in 309 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:45,199 Speaker 1: a Donkey Kong machine. No, it has to involve the 310 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,960 Speaker 1: support for the various controls you're using, Like are you 311 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 1: using a game pad versus a classic joystick and button combo? 312 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:58,040 Speaker 1: These are really tricky things and that's kind of what 313 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:01,959 Speaker 1: Nicola was really tackling in those early days. This is, 314 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:06,199 Speaker 1: by the way, is around nine six UH. So the 315 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:09,359 Speaker 1: software would serve as sort of an abstract layer representing 316 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:13,359 Speaker 1: all the circuitry of an arcade machine. And Nicola first 317 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 1: focused on pac Man games, a bunch of games that 318 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 1: were in the pac Man family of games, and in fact, 319 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 1: he originally called the name of his project multi Pack. 320 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:28,560 Speaker 1: But he saw that there was a need to create 321 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:31,560 Speaker 1: a means to preserve arcade games in general, not just 322 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:36,160 Speaker 1: pac Man games, but all arcade games. They all had 323 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:40,080 Speaker 1: a risk of going obsolete and just being lost to time. 324 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:45,080 Speaker 1: So he started to develop his software so that it 325 00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:49,359 Speaker 1: could essentially trick the ROM code of different types of 326 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:52,120 Speaker 1: games into thinking it was in a physical arcade machine, 327 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 1: and uh began to expand well beyond the pac Man games, 328 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:01,960 Speaker 1: and in that stage he this project was only working 329 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:06,280 Speaker 1: for the ms DOS platform, So in other words, the software, 330 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:11,399 Speaker 1: the emulator software he was designing, was only compatible with 331 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: MS DOS machines, so we're not even talking about Windows 332 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 1: at this particular stage, though that would follow, and as 333 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:21,800 Speaker 1: he was adding more and more support for early arcade titles, 334 00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:25,919 Speaker 1: he decided multipack just isn't an accurate descriptor anymore, and 335 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:28,159 Speaker 1: he gave it a new name. This name was the 336 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:33,119 Speaker 1: Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator or MAINE. These days we just 337 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:36,639 Speaker 1: call it MAIN. We don't even suggest that you should 338 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:39,879 Speaker 1: break it out as if it were an acronym. And 339 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: that's because it it now encompasses way more than just 340 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:47,639 Speaker 1: arcade machines. But I'll get to that now. So Maria 341 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:49,959 Speaker 1: didn't tackle all of this on his own. He actually 342 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:53,760 Speaker 1: made his project an open source project. Now that means 343 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:56,000 Speaker 1: that other people were free to look at what he 344 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:59,720 Speaker 1: was doing, to look at his code, and to contribute 345 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 1: to the project, to build onto it. That meant that 346 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,400 Speaker 1: with more people you could focus on adding emulation support 347 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:10,280 Speaker 1: for more titles. Uh. And in fact, that's one way 348 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: you can look at the progress of MAME, and it's 349 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:17,000 Speaker 1: to see how many number, how many supported titles rather 350 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:23,920 Speaker 1: would be involved from version to version, because like lots 351 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:28,920 Speaker 1: of software, you look at MAME as generations of software 352 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:32,199 Speaker 1: and and different You know, what's the latest version of 353 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:35,840 Speaker 1: MAME um And that's one way you can look at 354 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 1: the history of MAME. But there are lots of other 355 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:42,000 Speaker 1: ones too. And again, it wasn't just title support that 356 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:46,439 Speaker 1: was important. It was also important to add to the 357 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:49,760 Speaker 1: support from various control systems that required a lot of 358 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:52,280 Speaker 1: work from the main community as well, and then support 359 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: for the various operating systems, because obviously it didn't just 360 00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:01,600 Speaker 1: stick to MS. DOSS is compatible with lots of operating 361 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:05,440 Speaker 1: systems out there now. So when you really boil it down, 362 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:08,879 Speaker 1: the goal of MAINE is to create as many ways 363 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:12,760 Speaker 1: for modern systems to recreate the experience of playing specific 364 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:17,320 Speaker 1: games from the past as possible. And that includes folks 365 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:20,919 Speaker 1: who want to build their own main arcade cabinets, which 366 00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 1: might include classic style joysticks and buttons, or it could 367 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 1: include someone who just wants to be able to play 368 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:31,119 Speaker 1: classic games on their PC using a game pad as 369 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:35,199 Speaker 1: their controller, or one of a hundred other systems. Now 370 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:37,359 Speaker 1: we're gonna take another quick break, but when we come back, 371 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:43,200 Speaker 1: I'll talk a bit about the complications of MAINE, because 372 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,040 Speaker 1: it it does get complicated. We're not talking about the 373 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,960 Speaker 1: technology side, but the business side. I'll explain more when 374 00:23:50,960 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 1: we come back. Okay, let's talk about business a bit here. 375 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:06,000 Speaker 1: First of all, Main itself is free software, and there 376 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:08,920 Speaker 1: are a lot of different flavors of MAIN if you're 377 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:12,200 Speaker 1: familiar with Linux, you know that there are all these 378 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:17,119 Speaker 1: different distributions or distros of Linux where all the distros 379 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:23,160 Speaker 1: are using Lenox as the foundation, but they have different 380 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:25,840 Speaker 1: user interfaces. Well, the same thing is true with Maine. 381 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:28,920 Speaker 1: You can really just think of Name as the underlying 382 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:34,399 Speaker 1: guts of emulation UM and it's not really user friendly. 383 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:38,080 Speaker 1: It's not really easy to navigate. And just like pure MAIN, 384 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:40,720 Speaker 1: so the versions you typically find out there in the 385 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:44,000 Speaker 1: wild have different user interface systems built into them to 386 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 1: make it easier to navigate Name. And here's the other 387 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:54,359 Speaker 1: important bit maime itself. The emulator doesn't include games. It 388 00:24:54,560 --> 00:25:00,000 Speaker 1: is supportive of thousands of games, but it doesn't act 389 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,560 Speaker 1: actually include the games themselves. It's kind of like if 390 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,160 Speaker 1: you were to go out and just by a video 391 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 1: game console and there are no games included on the console. Well, 392 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:12,639 Speaker 1: you've got a device that can play games, but you 393 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:14,119 Speaker 1: don't have any games to run on it. You have 394 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:16,679 Speaker 1: to go out and then get games for it. The 395 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:20,320 Speaker 1: same is true for Main, So to get games you 396 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:25,760 Speaker 1: have to get hold of ROM images, and technically the 397 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:29,199 Speaker 1: only legal way to do that is to either you know, 398 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:34,240 Speaker 1: get official permission from whatever entity holds the intellectual property 399 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:37,720 Speaker 1: of that specific ROM, or you have to purchase a 400 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:43,159 Speaker 1: copy of the ROM so you can do this. For example, 401 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:45,880 Speaker 1: let's say, yeah, you went out and you bought an 402 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:49,320 Speaker 1: arcade machine of Donkey Kong. You found a classic Donkey 403 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 1: Kong arcade machine. Maybe it's being sold for a song, 404 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:57,439 Speaker 1: like like fifty bucks, and it's because the person selling 405 00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: it knows that the game is not playable in its 406 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:02,919 Speaker 1: cur and state. So the arcade machine still has the 407 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,080 Speaker 1: original RAM in it, like that's in the arcade cabinet, 408 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:10,560 Speaker 1: but it is unplayable for whatever reason. Maybe the monitors busted, 409 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:14,199 Speaker 1: maybe the circuit board is damaged. Whatever it is, You 410 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,119 Speaker 1: do have the wrong it's in there, but you can't 411 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:22,040 Speaker 1: play it. Well, then you could presumably download a RAM 412 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:26,400 Speaker 1: image of that game and use an emulator and play 413 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:32,600 Speaker 1: Donkey Kong with no penalty. Uh, because you own a 414 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 1: copy of it and you are allowed to make backup 415 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:41,080 Speaker 1: copies of your legally purchased media. That's well established, at 416 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,160 Speaker 1: least here in the United States. It is that if 417 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:47,439 Speaker 1: you purchase a copy of something, you can make a 418 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 1: backup copy for your own personal use, and that's fine. 419 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:56,399 Speaker 1: That is an exemption to copyright law. It's one of 420 00:26:56,400 --> 00:27:00,560 Speaker 1: the few, but you can do it. However, let's say 421 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,520 Speaker 1: you don't own a copy of Donkey Kong. You didn't 422 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 1: go out and find a version of the Arcade Machine 423 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:08,640 Speaker 1: with the RAM in there, and let's say that there's 424 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:12,000 Speaker 1: nowhere you can go to buy a license to use 425 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:15,080 Speaker 1: the ROM. Well, technically, if you then go on and 426 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:19,439 Speaker 1: download a RAM image of Donkey Kong, you're violating copyright. 427 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:23,840 Speaker 1: So while you could download the main software for free 428 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:28,640 Speaker 1: and Maime is total legit and totally legal, downloading the 429 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,640 Speaker 1: ROMs that you will need in order to actually make 430 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:36,920 Speaker 1: use of Maime is a different story. Now, this does 431 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:40,920 Speaker 1: not mean that the Internet isn't positively teeming with ROM 432 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:45,520 Speaker 1: images out there. There are tons of them. There are 433 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:52,640 Speaker 1: groups of of enthusiasts who have collected thousands of games 434 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:56,240 Speaker 1: and made an image where all those games are on 435 00:27:56,280 --> 00:28:00,639 Speaker 1: that image and when paired with Maime software are It 436 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:03,840 Speaker 1: means you can actually play all of those games. And 437 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:07,000 Speaker 1: making these images is not easy. It requires a lot 438 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,640 Speaker 1: of work. A lot of ROMs have copy protection on them, 439 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:15,200 Speaker 1: which usually requires someone to find a way around that protection. 440 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:20,520 Speaker 1: You're also usually talking about physically taking a ROM chip 441 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:23,840 Speaker 1: apart so that you can actually make an image of 442 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:27,480 Speaker 1: the code that's hard coded on the chip. So it's 443 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:32,119 Speaker 1: really tricky stuff. Um. Also, by the way, if you 444 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:34,480 Speaker 1: have to get around copy protection, that creates a new 445 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:37,280 Speaker 1: problem as well, because while it is totally legal for 446 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:40,000 Speaker 1: you to make backup copies of stuff for your own purposes, 447 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:43,600 Speaker 1: it's actually illegal here in the US to try and 448 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:47,400 Speaker 1: defeat copy protection mechanisms. That puts you into real paradox, 449 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:51,120 Speaker 1: right because you're like, well, I'm allowed to make a 450 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:54,080 Speaker 1: backup copy of something I own, of media I own. 451 00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:57,840 Speaker 1: That's fine. If I bought a copy of you know, 452 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:01,240 Speaker 1: this game, then I can make a backup. That's my 453 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 1: legal right. However, if there is copy protection on the 454 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 1: game itself, I am not legally allowed to bypass that 455 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:13,640 Speaker 1: copy protection. So while I while I can legally make 456 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:15,960 Speaker 1: a copy, it would be illegal for me to do 457 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:17,600 Speaker 1: it because I would have to get around the copy 458 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:22,200 Speaker 1: protection first. Fun times, it's like saying, Uh, you can't 459 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:24,640 Speaker 1: come into the building unless you fill out a form. Well, 460 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,880 Speaker 1: where's the form, Oh, it's inside the building. It's It's 461 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:32,160 Speaker 1: one of those situations. Anyway. There's also the matter that 462 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:34,280 Speaker 1: a lot of the older arcade games are kind of 463 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 1: just sort of fading away, and so ROM images really 464 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:39,880 Speaker 1: are a means of preserving those games. Like, if you 465 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:43,640 Speaker 1: do not make those images, eventually that hardware is going 466 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:46,720 Speaker 1: to deteriorate to the point where it might be irretrievable 467 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:51,240 Speaker 1: and we just lose it. So in some cases, uh, 468 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:54,080 Speaker 1: you know, this is this is really about preservation. However, 469 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:57,320 Speaker 1: you still aren't supposed to distribute it or you know, 470 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:00,480 Speaker 1: play it or whatever unless you've got the permission first. 471 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: And in a lot of cases, even determining who the 472 00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:06,200 Speaker 1: heck owns the copyright for a specific game can be 473 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,560 Speaker 1: difficult or sometimes even impossible, meaning that even the most 474 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: well intentioned person isn't necessarily going to be able to 475 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:16,560 Speaker 1: find a strictly legal means of preserving the game. Now, 476 00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:18,880 Speaker 1: there are a lot of companies out there that are 477 00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:23,040 Speaker 1: in the business of building out main arcade cabinets, or 478 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:26,400 Speaker 1: they design main kits. Sometimes they just put together a 479 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:29,720 Speaker 1: main ROM image file containing tens of thousands of games 480 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:32,440 Speaker 1: on it. There are tons of them out there. If 481 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,440 Speaker 1: you were to do a search, many of them would 482 00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:38,880 Speaker 1: pop up. And that even gets more complex because MESS, 483 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:44,560 Speaker 1: the multi emulator supersystem merged with MAME about seven years 484 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 1: ago now, I think so MESS is an emulator that 485 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:51,000 Speaker 1: focuses on video game consoles and older computer systems. It 486 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 1: is similar to MAME, but instead of arcade machines, you're 487 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: talking about more than nine hundred different video game systems 488 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:02,959 Speaker 1: and older computer systems, and so it's designed so that 489 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,600 Speaker 1: you can run games that were built for those systems 490 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:11,080 Speaker 1: as well. That means that MAIM now supports even more games, 491 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:14,840 Speaker 1: not just classic arcade games, but classic console and computer games. 492 00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:18,360 Speaker 1: So for the companies that are offering raw images or 493 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:22,360 Speaker 1: built out systems that include these games in them, they're 494 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:25,360 Speaker 1: kind of operating outside the law. Not kind of, they 495 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:28,720 Speaker 1: are operating outside the law. Now, whether the big companies 496 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:30,200 Speaker 1: that own a lot of the I P s are 497 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:35,080 Speaker 1: going to come after these various vendors and merchants, that's 498 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:38,360 Speaker 1: that's really the question. Uh. If they do, then you 499 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:41,560 Speaker 1: can bet that that particular vendor is gonna get shut down. 500 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:44,920 Speaker 1: I don't think it will ever go away entirely, but 501 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:48,080 Speaker 1: that is a possibility. So when you see these ads 502 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:52,520 Speaker 1: for a main machine that has seventy games on it 503 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:56,360 Speaker 1: or whatever, you have to remember that the people selling 504 00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:00,680 Speaker 1: that probably don't have the right too in include those 505 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 1: games on that machine. In fact, most of the time, 506 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:05,920 Speaker 1: uh in my experience, when I was looking through these, 507 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:09,160 Speaker 1: it was impossible to find a list of the games 508 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,440 Speaker 1: that were supported. And I think that's largely so that 509 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:19,400 Speaker 1: the vendors can try and quietly skirt any imperial entanglements. 510 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:23,440 Speaker 1: As obi Wan might say, uh so, if you go 511 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:25,840 Speaker 1: out and buy a main cabinet stacked with games, you're 512 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:29,600 Speaker 1: technically engaging in IP theft, unless, of course, the company 513 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:33,640 Speaker 1: that made the cabinet actually does have licenses for all 514 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:36,360 Speaker 1: of the games that are included on that machine. I 515 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:40,160 Speaker 1: suspect that that's not the case, because getting those licenses 516 00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:44,880 Speaker 1: would be incredibly complicated and expensive. My guess is that 517 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:49,640 Speaker 1: if you had an arcade machine that legit had all 518 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:54,480 Speaker 1: seventy thousand games covered in licenses, it would be prohibitively expensive. 519 00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:56,920 Speaker 1: You would not be able to afford it. Um that 520 00:32:57,000 --> 00:32:59,120 Speaker 1: won't stop people from doing it. And like I said, 521 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:01,720 Speaker 1: like I've thought about making a main machine. I really 522 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:04,520 Speaker 1: would love to have like an arcade machine just for 523 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:08,040 Speaker 1: nostalgia's sake, but settling on just one title would be 524 00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:09,880 Speaker 1: really hard for me because I've got a lot of 525 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:13,760 Speaker 1: arcade titles that I truly loved playing, and I worried 526 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:17,120 Speaker 1: that if I got a single arcade machine, I would 527 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:20,880 Speaker 1: grow so tired of it so quickly that I would 528 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:22,720 Speaker 1: then be looking at every time I looked at I 529 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:25,040 Speaker 1: just think, like, I spent so much money on something 530 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:28,040 Speaker 1: that's just taking up space. So part of my brain 531 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:30,120 Speaker 1: is saying, well, if you're gonna do that, then you 532 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:33,880 Speaker 1: want to have as many different titles at your disposal 533 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: as possible. However, doing that is knowing that you're skirting 534 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:42,440 Speaker 1: I p law and uh, and that actually does bug me, 535 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:45,800 Speaker 1: not because I'm afraid of getting caught, but rather I 536 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:51,720 Speaker 1: really do feel that the folks responsible for making these 537 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:56,880 Speaker 1: these titles deserve not just credit, but compensation for it. 538 00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:00,560 Speaker 1: It's just that in most cases, there's no clear means 539 00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:04,800 Speaker 1: of providing that. There's no clear means of actually buying 540 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:08,319 Speaker 1: these things legitimately. There are some the Arcade one up 541 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:15,040 Speaker 1: replicas are licensed replicas, so that's different, but that's still 542 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:17,640 Speaker 1: just a tiny fraction of all the games that were 543 00:34:17,640 --> 00:34:21,719 Speaker 1: out there, so it is a bit of a complicated topic. Anyway, 544 00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:24,880 Speaker 1: That's a rundown on the topic of mame without getting 545 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:28,800 Speaker 1: too technical in it. Uh, and yeah, it really is fascinating. 546 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:31,000 Speaker 1: I've played around with it once in the past where 547 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:35,279 Speaker 1: I even downloaded a few ROMs temporarily. I did not 548 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:37,399 Speaker 1: keep them. I didn't even keep them for a full 549 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:40,759 Speaker 1: day and tried it out. But um, when I did it, 550 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:44,319 Speaker 1: the emulation of the games I was specifically playing was 551 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:49,520 Speaker 1: somewhat lacking, so the performance was terrible, which was weird, 552 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:52,200 Speaker 1: or I thought it was weird because the computer system 553 00:34:52,200 --> 00:34:54,839 Speaker 1: I was running it on was far more powerful than 554 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:59,360 Speaker 1: those old arcade machines, but the emulation of those titles 555 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:03,239 Speaker 1: was the issue, right, That's why the performance wasn't as 556 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:07,560 Speaker 1: good as the original arcade version was. Uh, and that 557 00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:10,160 Speaker 1: can still be the case, Like really, That's the other 558 00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:13,600 Speaker 1: thing about emulators is in some cases you might have 559 00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:18,040 Speaker 1: an emulator for a specific title that just isn't as 560 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:22,279 Speaker 1: good as other emulators are, and that gets really complicated. 561 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:24,880 Speaker 1: But maybe I'll do another episode about maims in the 562 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:27,680 Speaker 1: future and go into more detail. I just thought it'd 563 00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:30,160 Speaker 1: be fun to do a little tidbits episode about them today. 564 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:32,680 Speaker 1: If you have suggestions for topics, I should cover in 565 00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:37,439 Speaker 1: future episodes of tech Stuff. Maybe topics like what it's 566 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:42,040 Speaker 1: like when the lawn people show up in the justice 567 00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:45,160 Speaker 1: you're trying to close on episode, or maybe the tech 568 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:48,319 Speaker 1: that you use in order to calm down when your 569 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:51,000 Speaker 1: dog is barking in the background. Uh, let me know. 570 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:53,360 Speaker 1: You can reach out on Twitter. The handle for the 571 00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:56,680 Speaker 1: show is text Stuff H s W and I'll talk 572 00:35:56,719 --> 00:36:03,239 Speaker 1: to you again really soon. Yea, yeah, I love my dog. 573 00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:13,879 Speaker 1: Text Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. For more 574 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:17,360 Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, 575 00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:20,640 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.