Jolt Country

from a news article:

Meanwhile, Microsoft's brand new "Game Room" is not quite as compelling visually, but that's kinda the point.

Players get to create their own 1970s or 1980s style arcade on either the PC or XBox 360 complete with large, arcade style games which, when players walk up to them with their avatar, it allows them to play classics from years past from developers including Atari, Intellivision and Konami. Players also get to decorate their game room by adding everything from stools to lava lamps.

The whole atmosphere is supposed to mimic an actual arcade, complete with the ambient sounds of all the game music mixing and people walking all around. And since this is online, often time those avatar people are real people whom players can walk right up to and challenge one-on-one. The game room download itself is free and players can play each title once as a 10 minute demo for free. After that, players pay 50 cents for a single play of a game, $3 for unlimited play in either your XBox or PC arcade, $5 if you want access to it in both. At launch there were about 30 or so titles available, though Microsoft says it plans to add nearly a dozen new ones each week until it becomes the largest collection of retro titles on any one console.

Anybody with MAME already has the largest collection of titles in one system, and it's already free, so WTF!
hell, look at Walrustitty's Xbox. He's got titles that were never released in the U.S., plus different versions of the same game by different developers. Why would anyone want to build a virtual arcade? But I suppose there are people who would buy into this just because it's there.


THE
ANYTHING FOR MONEY
AARDVARK

Well, you can get a Polybius for it.

I don't know, the money is so cheap I can see setting one up virtually.

Maybe if I could recreate my actual arcade on the thing? I'm certain it doesn't have cocktail games, though, nor the corresponding set of dishes and glassware that goes on the cocktail game.

Not that I would ever do it, but I can see why other people would.

First of all, technically, MAME ROMs are illegal. I know everybody has them, everybody uses them, and nobody really pursues the matter, but technically, they are. So if you were wanting to do something public and really wanted to pay attention to the letter of the law, I could see going with this.

Also, setting up MAME is kind of complicated -- maybe not for you or me, but for the average person that doesn't know that much about computers, it can seen complicated. On the Xbox, everything is already done for you. Just pick a game and play ... no worrying about resolutions or joysticks or anything like that. For that matter, I would say the "average" person (I'm not one) plays computer games at a computer and Xbox on their television, so a lot of people would be willing to pay just to play the games in their living room vs. their computer room.

Another draw is the online play. We're at a point now where gamers demand and expect it. The ability to approach a stranger (virtual or real) and kick their ass at a game of Karate Champ is what arcades were all about.

Ultimately I think it boils down to complexity and laziness. I don't know if you have ever set up MAME on an old Xbox but it's a pain in the ass (at least mine was; I spent a day trying to figure out how to FTP into it and get things working correctly). 10 years ago I was willing to jump through a dozen hoops and risk getting viruses and screwing up my machine to avoid paying $20 for a program; now, I just pay it because it's so much easier. That's the ultimate demographic for this, I think -- casual gamers with a touch of nostalgia that just don't want to "fool with" getting MAME up and running.

Does it cost me money to set the arcade up? I should investigate this, but I haven't finished Braid yet. I can understand it costing money to have games there and play them (meaning: no, I can't, but I can) but I really just want the arcade and the out-of-order Polybius. For a grand total of zero dollars.

Didn't the Polybius work at some point? What was that monster video I saw on Youtube? Is the completion of Braid going to be another when- I-get-my-tennis-shoe-thing?