MAMEWorld Forums - EmuChat - Re: A list of arcade-only romsets.

> Note that the 'ismechanical' filter only applies to screenless games e.g. mechanical
> reel slots, British style fruit machines, pinball machines and games which only use
> lights for output (including LEDs and 7-segment displays), but not video poker, video
> slot machines or mahjong, since these games normally use regular old arcade machine
> hardware, usually a generation or two behind the arcade games because it's cheaper to
> manufacture.
>
> I believe however that there is also a 'casino' filter (whether or not it's in MAME
> and/or the frontend in question)

It really should apply to games with inputs based on mechanical devices too, where there are actual moving parts. Games with moving cabinets (where the game can read the position to limit movement eg. AfterBurner) and force feedback wheels (that the game can set to a position and read back eg. GTI Club which even tests that on startup) really need tagging as mechanical too. Basically it should be used for 2-way cases, where a device is under the control of the system, but where there are external factors (device being used as a user controller input etc.) that mean it isn't in a guaranteed state.

I'd actually argue that the majority of the Fruit Machines should *not* carry the flag, as the 'mechanical' element is purely an output device. You could replace the logic on the PCB with a sub-board that processed the positional commands and digital display to show the reels and the game logic / behaviour would not change at all as it's unidirectional.

If we're talking single direction mechanical then even things like regular joysticks and coin mechs are 'mehcanical' and in that case you'd end up tagging everything.