Hey everone! I am new here and wanted to say hello. I decided to register here because it was the best collection of knowledgeable gamers imho. Now the reason I am posting here and not the welcome section is that I have secondary motives . I am interested in meeting a programmer and/or someone capable creating,l and modifying video game hardware. I have a project idea that I am currently kicking around and would just like to meet an individual or individuals that would maybe like to assist in its creation and eventually help me bring it to market. At the moment I don't want to go into to much detail as I am only in planning phases. So I jst want to take the time to meet everyone and learn what I can and maybe even offer some of my opinions on things. I'm loomking forward to being a member here. Ps. I am located in the US and would like any potential associates for slthis project to also be located in the US.
Welcome to the forums, you should be a little more specific on what you want to do. Without going into details, what would you be expecting from meeting a programmer or hardware modder? I'm reading your post and basically, to me it sounds like a person who would like to get free private consulting on computer programming and/or hardware engineering. I don't know if that was your intention or not but to me it sounds like that. Tell us about you, what do you do for a living, what are your favorite games, what gaming system do you like most?
No that was not my intention and I apologize. My goal here is to make retro console gaming affordable again. There are great consoles such as the Neo-Geo AES and TG-16 that many people still love today, yet they are prohibitivly expensive. My goal with this project is to create a cheaper way for gamers to play these games. Once I can assemble a team and draw out a solid design and business plan I will begin to seek funding via kickstarter and simmiliar websites. I will also be personally funding this project. About me? Lol ya I should have started there. Well I am a huge TG16 AND NEO FAN and I love nintendo. I have always had a great interest in the hardware aspe ct of video games sadly never having the space to do more then simple mods, however I did build an arcade cabinet a few years ago. I am a chef by trade, it pays the bills. Also I am aware that emulation is a cheap way to play games but I believe there is a large number of people who prefer the experience of a console
My biggest ambition with this is being granted the right to use the IP of companies such as SNK via royalties (or by whatever means neccesary). This way it will in essence be a somewhat official project which will appeal to many , many gamers.
You have an ambitious project here! First and foremost of this project is component identification and availability. Rebuild a console is somewhat hard because sometimes, hardware was designed and only produced for the developing company. I'm talking about logic ICs such has custom CPUs, DSP and controllers. These chips would need to be found and purchased. Then, if a reliable source cannot be found, you need would need to reverse-engineer the specific part and recreate it's behavior in a new design, either via a programmable device such as a FPGA or create a custom ASIC for mass production. This is one of many steps on the technical level that most be done and it's probably the longest and hardest one in my opinion. But the real concern here is if you plan on releasing such a device, what makes you think it'll be popular enough to attract enough interested people? The creators of Neo Geo (and every other companies) probably make market studies from time to time just to check if re-releasing such device would be profitable. If they don't find it's worth it, then you need to come up with a business strategy that will really attract the community's attention.
One of my thoughts was an emulqtor based console that played original cartridges/hu cards/ cds. Now I know the inherint problems going the emulation route, so I am not totally sold on that. Another thing I am doing is researching and dismanteling one of thevmany nes clones (ie the upcoming retron 5) and the nes on chip designs. As for profitability, I thought about that to. My thought is to make a small "hand made" batch to gauge interest and base future manufacturing decisions off that initial run. I feel that if I can vreak even and afford to pay the other team members than I will be content, although I would enjoy turning a profit. If companies such as SNK, and nec (they still around?) grant me the right to use a few of there long forgotten IPs then I think that would also greatly help. What are your other uoughts ? I love the feedback!
Emulating based consoles are basically already made- unless you wanted to beat the Ouya's $100 price tag and crappy controller. If it's just retro emulation, then you could make it a very simple board, like the Raspberry Pi and make it very cheap- then you could focus some more R&D into a good, functional controller. Like bennydiamond said, it is ambitious to make the consoles themselves- recreating those chips as a startup would be difficult. It's not my area of expertise so I won't say anymore, but good luck!
Like DefectX11 point out, going down the emulation lane is not really a viable project. Everybody can assemble a small ARM-based board, place Linux and an emulator and buy whatever USB controllers they prefer. I know I wouldn't purchase such device since I could replicate one myself. Unless you code from scratch one hell of an emulator that puts every other emus to shame and make it so it can only be run on your hardware.
Hmm, introduction and straight to the chase in one... efficient, I guess! You will come across several hurdles in your goal, certainly. Firstly, there is the legality - as you identified, you would need permission. Licensing is not cheap. Then there's the issue of cost - consoles such as the AES are very cheap nowadays and you wouldn't be able to make one for less than it costs to buy a second hand console. You need to manufacture in serious quantities to get prices down. One major hurdle - what do you bring to the table? Many people have come along with great intentions, but no clue how to put that into production. Effectively, they're getting everyone else to do the hard work, and getting the benefits for themselves. If you're someone like Peter Molyneux, Dave Perry or Steve Jobs, fair enough - you have industry experience and the right contacts to manage the project successfully. However, you'll probably find most programmers and techies won't work for free on such a project... and even if they were willing to work for a cut of the profits, they could just do it themselves and take all the profits! I would say that your first step would be to learn some programming and electronics yourself. Otherwise, you'll need to bring a serious amount of cash to the company yourself - not through a community fundraiser, or you'll have difficulty assembling a team. You also need managerial experience - preferably in the gaming, software and/or electronics industries. Not to say you won't succeed, but it is a major project. If it was feasible, it would probably have been done by now (look at the MegaDrive clones etc.) - but you never know! Certainly get yourself in a position where you can assure your team of your own experience and value, and that you'll be able to talk tech with them, then you might be able to progress.
@defectx thank you for your opinion! Can you tell me what you like or dislike about the OUYA controller? How would YOU design the perfect controller? @retro I see your point however I do have many years experience in owning and running electronics businesses (owned a small computer store for almost five years that did well) I am also capable of doing hardware related prototyping but I am positive there is someone better, the software I will admit that I am at a loss for. That however brings us to money I expect no person(s) involved with this to work for free, quite the contrary. They will be paid and will be offered stake in the business, gaining benefits that come with that. My role will be managment, networkikg, marketing, promotion and design etc. Again I am not trying to have someone do all the work for me while I take the glory, I am looking to assemble a team where we can all capitalize off of eachother in a sense. I have already worked out salaries in my initial budget estimate. It isn't a godly sum but it is incentive to make a commit to the project and future company. Once I get a team we will be flying out to talk with snk playmore and hudson that will be the first mission. Keep it coming guys! I want everyone's opinion on this, maybe we can actuall huild what the people want this time! What are your thoughts on exclusive games? I was thinking indie games obly but only allowing them If they meet a certain quality. Just a thought I am oj my phone, excuse typos etc plz
Sure - nothing personal, of course... but I'm sure you can understand that we get a lot of kids thinking they can run a dev company with no experience and such around here Your most valuable asset, whether gaining programmers, hardware designers or financial backing will be a solid business plan. Of course, that would also involve talking to your team and setting realistic targets. On the subject of Neo Geo, I assume you know it's already been done, right? You might find it difficult to get a licence, therefore. www.neogeox.com It is, certainly, an interesting approach to the task at hand.
