The more photographs I see of the basement area - which is about as large as my 1st apartment - the more I appreciate it. Excellent setup you've got going there. It is more a subterranean-ultra-tech-superden/gym/office than a basement in my view ;-). Your gym is ready to go at all times without stuff cluttering it. Threshold for usage is super-low as your two daughters can be kept busy whilst you guys are working out. The need to keep an eye on younger kids is also something that can get in the way of a good work-out.
It definitely helps and is not a major problem as we've gotten them used to being down there with us while we work out at an obviously early age. They can even monkey around a bit with the stuff in small doses. As long as we make it "normal" for them, they will be less likely to do foolish things with it since it won't be something particularly tempting. Even the dog gets to come down there with us now (and luckily he's a breed that doesn't shed).
Mark Vergeer wrote:
Again, love your arcade cabinet. It is as good as a cab can get in my opinion. For me a standard arcade cab is far too low - even with a chair or stool in front of it I my vision always seems to be blocked by the top part of the cab above the screen. I am looking into creating one - actually making the cabinet myself and such - but the parts are a little tough to come by here in the Netherlands.
The only downside with the setup down there are the overhead, recessed lights, whose glare is picked up on the arcade machine's glass. It's sometimes better to just shut the lights off. Still, more often than not it's not a distraction.
I imagine someone of your height would have a particular problem with the mini pinball machine. I can comfortably stand - barely - at roughly 5'9"+, but someone of your height would probably have to sit. I would think even at your height the arcade machine would probably work though as it's very large and the monitor is rather oversized. It wold be an interesting experiment if you ever made it over this way!
By the way, I was informed I placed the invader upside down! Very bone-headed on me! I'll have to address that in the future.
Mark Vergeer wrote:
With older Mame operating computers - Pentium III/IV - it is wise to stick to the earlier Mame versions like below .117 or so. The higher you go the more cycle exact the experience becomes but the more raw computing power is needed to get it running at 100%. Core2Duo or similar AMD cpu's above 2.0Ghz are needed to have the latest versions run 100%.
It is definitely a more than capable system even now, but the limiting factor is not the processor, memory or anything else, it's the use of the ArcadeVGA card and the Wells Gardner arcade monitor. They only support up to 800x600 comfortably and very specific refresh rates. So while it's perfect for implementing the exact refresh rate that arcade Pac-Man does in MAME, it's not always good at running things like the aforementioned in the other thread Microsoft Pinball Arcade. It's better to have it that way in this case though as I'd rather have it be an arcade machine first and foremost and an "everything box" like a typical PC second. And luckily I can use it for Netflix streaming, Slingbox streaming, etc., and it works beautifully for all of that.
Xbox 360: Lactobacillus P | Wii: 8151 3435 8469 3138
Armchair arcade Editor | Pixellator | www.markvergeer.nl[/quote] Vintage Games book!
Xbox 360: billlog | Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
*************************** Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
The more photographs I see of the basement area - which is about as large as my 1st apartment - the more I appreciate it. Excellent setup you've got going there. It is more a subterranean-ultra-tech-superden/gym/office than a basement in my view ;-). Your gym is ready to go at all times without stuff cluttering it. Threshold for usage is super-low as your two daughters can be kept busy whilst you guys are working out. The need to keep an eye on younger kids is also something that can get in the way of a good work-out.
It definitely helps and is not a major problem as we've gotten them used to being down there with us while we work out at an obviously early age. They can even monkey around a bit with the stuff in small doses. As long as we make it "normal" for them, they will be less likely to do foolish things with it since it won't be something particularly tempting. Even the dog gets to come down there with us now (and luckily he's a breed that doesn't shed).
Again, love your arcade cabinet. It is as good as a cab can get in my opinion. For me a standard arcade cab is far too low - even with a chair or stool in front of it I my vision always seems to be blocked by the top part of the cab above the screen. I am looking into creating one - actually making the cabinet myself and such - but the parts are a little tough to come by here in the Netherlands.
The only downside with the setup down there are the overhead, recessed lights, whose glare is picked up on the arcade machine's glass. It's sometimes better to just shut the lights off. Still, more often than not it's not a distraction.
I imagine someone of your height would have a particular problem with the mini pinball machine. I can comfortably stand - barely - at roughly 5'9"+, but someone of your height would probably have to sit. I would think even at your height the arcade machine would probably work though as it's very large and the monitor is rather oversized. It wold be an interesting experiment if you ever made it over this way!
By the way, I was informed I placed the invader upside down! Very bone-headed on me! I'll have to address that in the future.
With older Mame operating computers - Pentium III/IV - it is wise to stick to the earlier Mame versions like below .117 or so. The higher you go the more cycle exact the experience becomes but the more raw computing power is needed to get it running at 100%. Core2Duo or similar AMD cpu's above 2.0Ghz are needed to have the latest versions run 100%.
It is definitely a more than capable system even now, but the limiting factor is not the processor, memory or anything else, it's the use of the ArcadeVGA card and the Wells Gardner arcade monitor. They only support up to 800x600 comfortably and very specific refresh rates. So while it's perfect for implementing the exact refresh rate that arcade Pac-Man does in MAME, it's not always good at running things like the aforementioned in the other thread Microsoft Pinball Arcade. It's better to have it that way in this case though as I'd rather have it be an arcade machine first and foremost and an "everything box" like a typical PC second. And luckily I can use it for Netflix streaming, Slingbox streaming, etc., and it works beautifully for all of that.
Xbox 360: Lactobacillus P | Wii: 8151 3435 8469 3138
Armchair arcade Editor | Pixellator | www.markvergeer.nl[/quote]
Vintage Games book!
Xbox 360: billlog | Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
***************************
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.