Is retro computing cool enough for Cyber Cafés?

[Delta]

I like the idea of the Atari 2600   Haven't planned on getting consoles yet but if I do i'll surely keep the same "new meets retro" spirit.

A pile of floppies beside an amiga or a C=64 isnt my kind of idea for sure that's why I must have a practical solution like  a harddrive or a card reader.  

Emulators are tempting but it just isn't the same as the real thing.   I still even have my old CBM1701 monitor and plan to use it

[Speelgoedmannetje]

I'd make it a total 80's corner, if I were you. Otherwise it'll be overlooked by many.

[taunusand]

I really like your idea :-)
If there were such a place in little Denmark, I would sergently visit it. Several times  :-D

[leirbag28]

@Delta

I too have had this idea....for a long time....I hope to open a Cafe here in New York as well.


With Amigas!    here is what I recommend. Make or buy yourself  2 or 3 Arcade Cabinets and put Amigas in each one. Pinball Fantasies (CD32 version....runs on an A1200 as well) and another with pinball illusions or SlamTilt (CD32 versions where possible). With Slam Tilt get yourself a PC keyboard adaptor (so that you wont mess up the Amiga keyboard)  and attache Joystick Buttons to the keyboard equivalents on the PC keyboard thats now attached to your Amiga. (it is to control the launch of the ball and flippers etc...) for the CD32 versions of the games you can attach larger arcade buttons to the CD32 pads circuit board (it is possible to do this without totally damaging the CD32 pad)


I once made a fully functioning Pinball Fantasies that accepted Quarters and ran very well.

This way no one can mess with the Amiga OS and delete stuff.

Also you can have 2 fully loaded A1200's with 68030's and 128mb of ram each for internet use....particularly AmIRC with Kuang 11 and all sorts of hacks..............dedicate it as soley an IRC-ing machine that way it shines.

add USB ports to each one so tha no one complains that you cant transfer stuff..........also add Compact Flash Drivers and leave a Compact Flash adaptor attached.

Fun fun fun!

[Speelgoedmannetje]

spirantho wrote:
Sounds like a great idea to me!

But be warned, don't use emulators - for one thing, you lose all the nostalgia factor when using an emulator - a C64 just becomes a blue box in a window,

There IS a fullscreen option in almost every emulator, you know. And I know there is one in VICE. Added to that, using original joysticks (with a joystick-to-pc interface), tv-out of the pc, and it'll be quite useable I think. :-)

[A6000]

I have to agree, emulation is not the same as using the real thing.

You could set up a PC as a fileserver, downloading software to the retro computers via their serial port, or even their cassette port, provided they can accept a fast load speed.
At the start of each day the PC would also have to download a terminal program and menu.

[TjLaZer]

This is what I recommend!!!

Get a cheap Amiga 2000 computer with C=1084S monitor, a nice big HD and maybe a 030 card with 8Mb or more RAM.  Then buy boxed original games of popular titles, get the Whdload version installed on the HD and you are set!!  You could also display the box next to the Amigas or on the wall, etc!!!!

You'll need KS 2.x or 3.1 of course but that's easy.

[Delta]

WHDLoad is probably the best software for that kind of project.  Right now I only have an A500 but I'll look around for another model also.  2-3 retro stations will be enough for a start then we'll see.

The customers I have currently in my other store (hobby shop) aren't a bunch of savages that want to corrupt all my computers so I guess the new customers will also behave in a civilized manner so I'm not worried about having the retro machines configured simply.  

The PCs on the other hand will be managed by a software designed for cyber cafés which will leave me plenty of time for the rest.  

[TjLaZer]

If you decide to go the PC route you should get this!!

http://gbamiga.elowar.com/

else get somehing like this!


http://igame.amigahellas.gr  (site down at the moment)

[Delta]

This is great stuff. thanks!

I just had a tought about the Minimig too (well bolted on the table) It could be a nice way to play classic games whitout any moving parts.  

[leirbag28]

@TjLaZer

THats great stuff!

But you can do the same thing using SCALA and a Larger menu with larger fonts to execute the Games!  You can Put SCALA MM400 in your startup Sequence so that it goes straight into SCALA instantly without booting Workbench, and then have it execute WHDload games from a Menu that you creat yourself..............and different pages for different Games!

Ive done it before to execute my favorite games like SlamTIlt and Ruff N Tumble right at bootup. its kind of like that RainBoot thing, because you can also make your own Boot Intros.

[motorollin]

Delta wrote:
I just had a tought about the Minimig too (well bolted on the table) It could be a nice way to play classic games whitout any moving parts.  

Or put a MiniMig in to a dead Amiga. Who would know ;-)

--
moto

[Daedalus]

I think it's a brilliant idea! If there was one in Dublin I would surely be a regular. I'm just racking my brain now trying to think of anyone I know who's involved in an internet café so I could suggest the idea...

[freqmax]

The catch is proberbly the copyright farce..

[odin]

Then again, who would sue for old Amiga games?

[Delta]

I will defintely check if the copyright holders of each game can be reached and ask permission but if they are nowhere to be found I wonder why it should bug them anyways...  

Who would sue for ols stuff like this...plus in another country...  

Big companies like EA or Activision don't ask very big amounts to licence their games so I would laugh really loud if I had to pay at all for a game that is 20 years old or more...