Forums > MobyGames > coin-op review
D Michael (222) on 4/19/2006 1:29 PM · Permalink · Report
I have several coin-op machines that I play religiously, and I figured I'd do a review for a couple of them. My favorite is SFA3. We don't have this platform available at moby do we? I was going to do the review and submit it under psx but figured that'd be too confusing because this version is extremely different from the original coin-op version.
nullnullnull (1463) on 4/19/2006 1:55 PM · Permalink · Report
We really want to add coin-op as a platform. If you can help us figure out how to represent coins ops you would be like a complete hero.
Corn Popper (69027) on 4/22/2006 6:53 AM · Permalink · Report
lol not that simple... it took months to get Mac in
Corn Popper (69027) on 4/22/2006 7:15 AM · Permalink · Report
you were asking.. can't it just be added like a console... yeah and it took us a long time to decide on Mac.. 1 system or 3
Игги Друге (46653) on 4/22/2006 12:39 PM · Permalink · Report
The suggestion was that coin-ops be added as one platform. Anything else would be suicide, actually. There are almost as many coin-op platforms as there are coin-op games, and for the end user, the actual hardware never mattered.
nullnullnull (1463) on 4/22/2006 1:07 PM · Permalink · Report
ok so we add as one system. what we would need are tech specs.
what boards were supported, video modes, sound, that sort of stuff
Terrence Bosky (5397) on 4/22/2006 2:42 PM · Permalink · Report
Can't we just pull the trigger on this?
(Sorry, I loved how often that phrase popped up during the Mac discussions.)
Terok Nor (41959) on 4/22/2006 2:50 PM · Permalink · Report
I don't know if video modes would be interesting. Basically every system has its own mode, I mean, we could list the resolution of each game, but what good would that do?
What could be interesting are CPUs, RAM, media (most games are only on ROM chips, but there are also CD, DVD, Laserdisc and Hard Drive-based games).
Sound standards like QSound or Dolby? (don't know if any arcade games support this).
Also controllers: joysticks, trackballs, lightguns, dance pads, etc.
Some other technical stuff like whether the game has a JAMMA compatible connector, whether it uses vector or raster hardware, etc.
Something about networked games.
Gameplay stuff like number of players would of course also apply.
D Michael (222) on 4/22/2006 3:18 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
or try it like this, consider it one platform (like we have DOS) but then create a section under tech specs where system requiresment (i.e. Z80, 68000) could be listed.
Just as you have the DOS system (redundant I know) not broken down into the hardware it's running on (386, 486, pentium) you can do the same with arcades, just consider the platform coin op and if someone wants to submit a game they can define more detailed information about the hardware in the tech specs.
edit; err, reading back what Terek Nor said.
nullnullnull (1463) on 4/22/2006 5:29 PM · Permalink · Report
yeah. we had the mac model pretty much locked in. the last few steps we relly just needed to take the jump. for coin-op we haven't even done the first steps. we could pull the trigger now, but i am pretty sure we would miss.
Terrence Bosky (5397) on 4/22/2006 6:52 PM · Permalink · Report
Since I don't know, do we intentionally not use other sites as models since MG is homegrown? I know there are sites out there that have done a good job documenting coin-ops, especially from a collector's POV.
nullnullnull (1463) on 4/22/2006 11:39 PM · Permalink · Report
I would use other resources as a reference I would not say lets go out and copy KLOV for instance. Also since KLOV is already out there if MobyGames is going to cover coin ops what are we going to offer the KLOV isn't?
Matt Neuteboom (976) on 4/23/2006 2:33 AM · Permalink · Report
He's got a good point, especially sicne KLOV has already gotten tons of stuff.
My best suggestion:
Add a option to review the coin-op version of games rather than add an entirely new genre. Like, instead of having to add an entirely new console, just make the option available to games that have the conversions. Don't add new game entries for non-ported games. Games like Pac-man had many ports, but was orignally coin-op so people deserve to play the coin-op version. But games like the Star Wars Arcade Game in the sit-down chair with the joysitck, thay never had a console conversion, so the option shouldn't be there.
It could work really, we wouldn't have to go back and re-edit every game entry since games that are submitted DO have a genre that says cion-op, so games that have this listed could have hte option.
I dunno, I don't program this site, and I don't know how to implement the feature. What does everyone think?
Servo (57070) on 4/24/2006 5:35 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Matt Neuteboom wrote--] But games like the Star Wars Arcade Game in the sit-down chair with the joysitck, thay never had a console conversion, so the option shouldn't be there.[/Q --end Matt Neuteboom wrote--] Actually there was a home console version of thishttp://www.mobygames.com/game/star-wars
I don't think the halfway approach would work; either we have coin-op information or we don't. Technically I don't see any reason this couldn't be implemented, but I think it would create more confusion/frustration, better to wait until coin-op can be implemented completely/properly.
Игги Друге (46653) on 4/24/2006 12:06 AM · Permalink · Report
Basically, there are Moby-like sites for most systems. They are usually more accurate and more comprehensive than Moby. What they don't have, though, is the all-platforms perspective. Only on Mobygames may I compare the Atari 2600 and PSX versions of a game.
Corn Popper (69027) on 4/24/2006 6:20 AM · Permalink · Report
well we want to be the most comprehensive of all platforms all in one site, so whatever you think is better on one site let's look into corporating it
Servo (57070) on 4/24/2006 5:48 PM · Permalink · Report
"I don't know if video modes would be interesting. Basically every system has its own mode, I mean, we could list the resolution of each game, but what good would that do?"
Yes and no; a lot of games used custom hardware/modes, but some games were based on more generic hardware, especially within the same company. I think we would want to list video resolution, actually, or at least the video chip used, or something.
"Sound standards like QSound or Dolby? (don't know if any arcade games support this). "
There are some (well, at least one) sound standards; I've seen advertised something like DQC or DCS or whatever sound system; I've no idea what that means, but the logo was there.
I suspect we end up with the specs being mostly a list of the types of chips/quantity used (ie. soundchip x 2, processor x 1, videochip x 1, etc or whatever). A daunting list for sure, the system will likely need to be modified to better support entering this in. And then add in sound channels, monitor type, monitor quantity, number players, control type, cabinet types (stand up/sit down), and probably more...
Matt Neuteboom (976) on 4/25/2006 1:58 AM · Permalink · Report
Basically I say no to this idea. Theres a lot of reasons this would be a bad idea to try and implement.
First of all, there is already another site that does an amazing job for thsi and thats the Killer List of Video Games. KLOV has a lot of comprehensive stuff that it would take MobyGames years or maybe even decades just to equal the ammount of stuff on their site. The number of arcade games in existence is absolutely mind-boggling. Also, you said that adding a new console to the list takes a while, especially when we don't have any specifics hammered out, it would take a lot of time just to add the group, let alone fill it. We have a lot of suggestions already in place. I know that the suggestions box for you guys is overflowing, so it would be best to stay away from this. There are more important matters to take care of first, and there are already other sites that are more comprehensive on arcade games than this site may ever be.
So i say lets not look into it. I would be nice to have it, but in reality we would be wasting a lot of time I think.
Corn Popper (69027) on 4/25/2006 4:29 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
read my reply above... just because others sites do it does not mean we're not...
Unicorn Lynx (181780) on 4/25/2006 1:27 PM · Permalink · Report
Well said, Rob!
Игги Друге (46653) on 4/25/2006 1:45 PM · Permalink · Report
You're basically saying what I said earlier in the thread; there are sites for platform X which are a lot more comprehensive than Mobygames. This is not unique for arcade games, but for all platforms. HOL is more comprehensive for Amiga games and is doing a great work. Lemon64 is more comprehensive for C64 games, World of Spectrum for Speccy games and so on. That's not the point. Mobygames is the only site that tries to do this for all platforms, and not just one. If arcade games were added, it would be possible to easily compare an arcade game to its ports, which is not as simple if they're relegated to their own sites.
My suggestion is that we treat coin-ops as one single platform, leaving technicalities out (at least to begin with). The arguments are two: firstly, an arcade game is basically a black box to the end user. You put in some coins and play, not knowing what is inside. Secondly, the variation is endless, so splitting it up would add roughly a thousand platforms to Mobygames. Similarly, making tech specs based on the current systems would turn into a jungle. Some are more easy than others, such as control method, but basically, it is too diverse to fit in.*
This is no argument against adding coin-ops as a (read: one) platform, it just means it has to be treated according to its premises.
- Extracting technical data from MAME should be quite easy, and might even be perfectly legal. That would make tech specs almost automatic.
Trixter (8952) on 4/26/2006 2:04 AM · Permalink · Report
Leaving tech specs out for now: I would agree if we're talking about specific arcade hardware types. I would not agree if we're talking about # of players, whether or not the controls were joystick/paddle/trakball/etc...
We've never been opposed to it; it's just obviously so significant that we need a significant amount of discussion on it (like Mac).
Trixter (8952) on 4/26/2006 2:00 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start D Michael wrote--]well I would imagine we could treat coin-op as a single platform. If it's coin-op, just call it that and don't break it down into further categories. Can't it just be added as another platform in the fashion that a console system is done? [/Q --end D Michael wrote--]
Ideally, yes, Coin-Op would be a single platform -- the hard part is how to work the technical attributes. Jamma would be an obvious attribute, but the rest...