6 ms·

The Internet Arcade

123 points by cleverjake 12y ago

Rolpa 12y ago
As awesome as this may be, I don't expect it to stick around. I highly doubt the right holders in question will look the other way. :(
- anon4 12y ago
  Actually I honestly doubt anyone would bother. We're talking games and properties that aren't just old, they're part of brands that don't exist any more. Plus, if it is such a problem, ROM sites would all be dead by now.
  - joezydeco 12y ago
    Namco, Atari, Gottlieb/Mylstar, and Williams/Bally/Midway (now held by Warner, I think) actively enforce the rights on these old ROMs. Not as sure about Sega, Data East, Taito, and Konami.
    - empressplay 12y ago
      I can confirm this; I've seen them shut down MAME arcades relatively recently (and with good reason... MAME arcade machines that actually collect money are dodgy.)
- voltagex_ 12y ago
  Make a backup - https://archive.org/download/MAME_0.151_ROMs/MAME_0.151_ROMs_archive.torrent https://archive.org/download/MAME_0.151_ROMs/MAME_0.151_ROMs... https://archive.org/download/MESS-0.150.EXTRAs/MESS-0.150.EXTRAs_archive.torrent https://archive.org/download/MESS-0.150.EXTRAs/MESS-0.150.EX... https://archive.org/download/MESS-0.151.BIOS.ROMs/MESS-0.151.BIOS.ROMs_archive.torrent https://archive.org/download/MESS-0.151.BIOS.ROMs/MESS-0.151... (50+ GB total)
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
whizzkid 12y ago
Other than 100% CPU on Mac OSX, It was as exciting as when I first played Street Fighter II as a 9 years old kid.. What a legendary game!
scottcanoni 12y ago
I am a kid again. Where do I insert the quarter? :)
- adam12 12y ago
  There is an insert coin menu to the top left of the page. Press insert coin and then player 1 or player2.
- sprayk 12y ago
  You can send them a bunch of quarters via https://archive.org/donate/ https://archive.org/donate/
- damon_c 12y ago
  If you hit TAB it brings up a menu in which there is a list of all the keyboard possibilities.
- stefantalpalaru 12y ago
  5 - insert coin 1 - one player arrows - move around <ctrl>, <alt>, <space> - action buttons
hayksaakian 12y ago
thanks to US copyright law, it will be 70+ years before we can legally use this work
- njloof 12y ago
  As long as Disney and Mickey Mouse exist, that 70+ years will be extended ad infinitum.
- njharman 12y ago
  It's even more egregious than that. Works for hire (assume most arcade games qualify as) last 95 years after publication. Individual author copyright lasts till death + 70 years.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- cpncrunch 12y ago
  How has archive.org done it legally? I don't see any mention of copyright on their website, or on any of the news stories.
bobajeff 12y ago
This sounds great. Too bad I can't seem to play it on my phone. I would've been pleasantly surprised if it worked. Maybe one day we'll get there.
- textfiles 12y ago
  It can play on phones, but I don't overly recommend it.
- VanessaLette 12y ago
  Neither can I! I get a "Press SPACEBAR to begin" screen, but mindlessly tapping on my screen doesn't bring up a keyboard. I filed a bug against Android, but those jerks put a "WorkingAsIntended" status on it and said it's a "security" thing. WAAAH. My choice, Google. NOT yours.
camhenlin 12y ago
I love your website and have checked it out numerous times over the last several months! I've been working on getting a bunch of emulators (NES, SNES, GB, GBA, Master System, and GameGear) online as well, and set up to use on iPhones on my own website: https://pocketga.me/ https://pocketga.me/ I'm also doing online per-account game storage and state saving (not for all systems right now) which makes it pretty convenient to play around with on the go
- pronoiac 12y ago
  I suggest allowing people guest accounts. I'm curious, but I don't want to sign up.
  - camhenlin 12y ago
    Yeah I thought about that but it relies on people uploading their own games, so it wouldn't be very useful. I guess I could get in contact with some homebrewers but not sure if homebrewers games will generate much interest. Thanks for the suggestion though!
pronoiac 12y ago
I think I found the mystery game that taunted me at the pizza place when I was a kid. https://archive.org/details/arcade_fantasy https://archive.org/details/arcade_fantasy It ... it's not a good game.
vitd 12y ago
I'm curious if this is working for anyone with Safari? For any given game, I just get a blank white screen.

123 points by cleverjake 12y ago

Rolpa 12y ago

As awesome as this may be, I don't expect it to stick around. I highly doubt the right holders in question will look the other way. :(

anon4 12y ago
Actually I honestly doubt anyone would bother. We're talking games and properties that aren't just old, they're part of brands that don't exist any more. Plus, if it is such a problem, ROM sites would all be dead by now.
- joezydeco 12y ago
  Namco, Atari, Gottlieb/Mylstar, and Williams/Bally/Midway (now held by Warner, I think) actively enforce the rights on these old ROMs. Not as sure about Sega, Data East, Taito, and Konami.
  - empressplay 12y ago
    I can confirm this; I've seen them shut down MAME arcades relatively recently (and with good reason... MAME arcade machines that actually collect money are dodgy.)
voltagex_ 12y ago
Make a backup - https://archive.org/download/MAME_0.151_ROMs/MAME_0.151_ROMs_archive.torrent https://archive.org/download/MAME_0.151_ROMs/MAME_0.151_ROMs... https://archive.org/download/MESS-0.150.EXTRAs/MESS-0.150.EXTRAs_archive.torrent https://archive.org/download/MESS-0.150.EXTRAs/MESS-0.150.EX... https://archive.org/download/MESS-0.151.BIOS.ROMs/MESS-0.151.BIOS.ROMs_archive.torrent https://archive.org/download/MESS-0.151.BIOS.ROMs/MESS-0.151... (50+ GB total)

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

whizzkid 12y ago

Other than 100% CPU on Mac OSX, It was as exciting as when I first played Street Fighter II as a 9 years old kid.. What a legendary game!

scottcanoni 12y ago

I am a kid again. Where do I insert the quarter? :)

adam12 12y ago
There is an insert coin menu to the top left of the page. Press insert coin and then player 1 or player2.
sprayk 12y ago
You can send them a bunch of quarters via https://archive.org/donate/ https://archive.org/donate/
damon_c 12y ago
If you hit TAB it brings up a menu in which there is a list of all the keyboard possibilities.
stefantalpalaru 12y ago
5 - insert coin 1 - one player arrows - move around <ctrl>, <alt>, <space> - action buttons

hayksaakian 12y ago

thanks to US copyright law, it will be 70+ years before we can legally use this work

njloof 12y ago
As long as Disney and Mickey Mouse exist, that 70+ years will be extended ad infinitum.
njharman 12y ago
It's even more egregious than that. Works for hire (assume most arcade games qualify as) last 95 years after publication. Individual author copyright lasts till death + 70 years.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
cpncrunch 12y ago
How has archive.org done it legally? I don't see any mention of copyright on their website, or on any of the news stories.

bobajeff 12y ago

This sounds great. Too bad I can't seem to play it on my phone. I would've been pleasantly surprised if it worked. Maybe one day we'll get there.

textfiles 12y ago
It can play on phones, but I don't overly recommend it.
VanessaLette 12y ago
Neither can I! I get a "Press SPACEBAR to begin" screen, but mindlessly tapping on my screen doesn't bring up a keyboard. I filed a bug against Android, but those jerks put a "WorkingAsIntended" status on it and said it's a "security" thing. WAAAH. My choice, Google. NOT yours.

camhenlin 12y ago

I love your website and have checked it out numerous times over the last several months! I've been working on getting a bunch of emulators (NES, SNES, GB, GBA, Master System, and GameGear) online as well, and set up to use on iPhones on my own website: https://pocketga.me/ https://pocketga.me/ I'm also doing online per-account game storage and state saving (not for all systems right now) which makes it pretty convenient to play around with on the go

pronoiac 12y ago
I suggest allowing people guest accounts. I'm curious, but I don't want to sign up.
- camhenlin 12y ago
  Yeah I thought about that but it relies on people uploading their own games, so it wouldn't be very useful. I guess I could get in contact with some homebrewers but not sure if homebrewers games will generate much interest. Thanks for the suggestion though!

pronoiac 12y ago

I think I found the mystery game that taunted me at the pizza place when I was a kid. https://archive.org/details/arcade_fantasy https://archive.org/details/arcade_fantasy It ... it's not a good game.

vitd 12y ago

I'm curious if this is working for anyone with Safari? For any given game, I just get a blank white screen.