MAMEWorld Forums - News - New shooting game being developed for the Neogeo

> > > >
> > >
> >
> http://www.ngdevdirect.com/product_info....a8d218220f84497
> > >
> > > I always wondered why the Mame Devs never get together and make something like
> this
> > > on classic hardware like Sega Y board hardware or similar. I assume nobody has
> the
> > > time.
> > >
> > > All that programming talent would make interesting use of the old hardware I'm
> > sure.
> > >
> > > I fantasies about porting/recoding a cool SNES/Mega drive shooter to this
> powerful
> > > hardware. In essence making a deluxe version of the game that the SNES hardware
> > would
> > > just not be capable of.
> > >
> > > Then again, I don't really have a clue about any of that stuff ha.
> >
> > I'm not saying that they can't do it. A few in particular are talented enough, but
> > remember that the MAME team emulates the hardware that games run on, they barely
> mess
> > with the software end. So their ability to reverse-engineer hardware has nothing to
> > do with their ability to make a game, which is software.
> >
> > To give a more basic analogy a team of people working at a dvd player factory
> aren't
> > going to be good at making films just because they understand the player that they
> > run on.
>
> You are absolutely correct.
>
> That said, from my knowledge at least five "big name" MAMEDEV work or have worked in
> the videogame industry. Just not on arcade games, though.
>
> - Stiletto

Yeah I wanted to make sure not to insult those guys in particular, they are more than capable, it's just one thing has nothing to do with the other.

The being said, there is another reason I didn't mention. Why would you code something for crappy, outdated, arcade hardware? I mean yeah there is the novelty of the act, but even the arcade industry itself has moved on. Most new arcade games run on stuff like the Taito Type X (or whatever variant they are on now). These aren't arcade boards at all, rather they are just pcs running windows with some rudimentary protection in place.

There is a reason for that. You can build a medium range pc and get more functionality and raw horsepower than any solid-state "chip based" arcade pcb from the past. I mean it's nice to be able to code in ancient variants of assembly and "programming languages" that are maybe one step above it, but it's just easier to do high level programming and concentrate on the gameplay and content, rather than trying to force functionality on a very specific piece of hardware.

And I/O is infinatley easier as well. Need to hook up controls? Just use the usb port... you can use off-the-shelf chips if you want. Ditto for output boards that control solenoids and lights and what-not. You don't need to hire a team of hardware engineers to build you a board, because a pc is plug-n-play.

so if the mame devs ever did want to make a game, I would much rather see them make one for pc-based arcade hardware rather than some antiquated pos board that limits what they can do. And no I'm not bashign the neogeo or anything, all old hardware is equally outdated.