Hamfighter

k_rollo, touching base one more time… I’ve got two SER5’s in my cart right now. 32/1TB for $399 and a President’s Day sale 32/500mb for $305. First thought? Also don’t mind spending more for a completely different PC that you might recommend as a favorite upgrade! Having fun looking, but makes/models/specs all start running together Thinking maybe I have “Good” and “Better” in my cart. Is there a “Best”?

Hey that’s great…I won’t waste the brain power (or money)! Thanks again Of course not finding a 32GB/1TB on Amazon at the moment.

k_rollo, I think the mini you recommended seems to be the way to. IF, I were considering an upgrade, what might your next one or two models be that you’d recommend? Sorry to punish you for being such an excellent resource!

Also, your review is great and so helpful! So I plan on hitting all the major 80s-90s arcades, and consoles up through PS3/Switch/360 (seems like 360 is about on par with PS3, so assuming it should work). I like your recommendation of 32GB. Do you feel 1TB SSD internal is sufficient and 2 TB SSD external? Would a larger external non-SSD HD gum up with works? Any particular brand of drive you’ve preferred? Finally, do you think there’s any reason on these games to push beyond the SER5 Max? Thanks again…really feeling better about the whole thing with the good guidance!

Thanks, k_rollo, I’ve had that exact one in my cart. I’ve been worried whether it was too underpowered having watched so many videos on the Ryzen 7000 & 8000 series, but the price sure is right.

I really appreciate the info!

I’ve toyed with Launchbox for a lot of years off and on. I love it, but by no means any expert! I have an ancient HP slimline PC (used to be my Windows Media Center hub!) that I’ve satisfactorily run my old school arcade favorites with my X-Arcade TankStick. I’m ready to try to do it up right! Nothing extreme, but all the old school arcade stuff, consoles from Atari through perhaps 360/PS3/Switch. (Assuming XBone and PS4 may be cost prohibitive for a sufficient pc?) Looking for the most bang for the buck in a mini PC. I think about a gaming pc someday, but for now just something snappy for LB/BB. These days, I have my Tankstick I bought new on an Xtension pedestal I picked up on Craigslist, an ancient 4-player CRT converted arcade machine with XP and a pentium at best that will hardly even boot I got for free (also Craigslist), and the spark for this fire, an X-Gaming Arcade2TV I picked up from FB Marketplace that I always coveted (but not for $2,000!). I’d like to get all three up and going, so will really need 3 PCs ultimately, but figure I’ll start with one. Anything that’s just a slam-dunk easy buy I should pick up? Watching a lot of YouTube and Googling, and it’s sounding like Ryzen based may be the way to go? Thank you for any suggestions!!! *Followup question… I’m assuming I can’t realistically buy a large enough internal SSD for all those games. What’s the best mix of internal vs external storage?

I’d like to upgrade my old (old) HP slimline and Sony Vaio with something off the shelf that’ll run Big Box with a large arcade collection and consoles up through maybe 360/PS3 era. Any y’all notice as good bang for the buck that’ll run smoothly?

I don't know how I missed seeing your reply a year ago! I wound up continuing to slum it with just CoinOpsX, but still just not the same at Launch/Big. Seems like USB would be the easiest way to connect the ALU controls to a PC, but maybe wrong. Is it pretty simple to just assign both sticks, the spinner, trackball and all the buttons within Launchbox? Just did another google search for the first time in a year, and still not coming up with any good tutorials on using the Legends Ultimate with Launchbox. Thanks again

I think I suggested this a while back, but oh how great it would be if Launchbox purchased OpenEmu! I run both. Of course, Launchbox is way more powerful, but I use OpenEmu for a quick game on the Mac. If the Launchbox folks could purchase OpenEmu and Launchboxify it, it would seriously be the best of all worlds!

As I fired up my ALU for the first time in weeks to play the built in Frontline, I thought again about how to do it! So no, nothing yet. I would want it to be purely native (not run through the ALU system at all. I was thinking today to perhaps built a duplicate controller to the same dimensions as the controller/computer portion of the ALU to simply drop in. That way, reversible. I really think the ALU has pretty much nailed the controls you want (joysticks, spinners, trackball). I have a Tron stick on the right, and I would want a “firable” spinner like Frontline or Tron on the left. Would also have to figure out how to connect the built in monitor to a PC. May not be worth the effort though. I’ve never built a controller from scratch, but that’s what I’m thinking. What are y’all thinking?

Long time Launcboxer with my Tankstick. Recently bought a Legends Ultimate, and, for what it is, it's great. For my needs, its the perfect size, screen, controls etc. BUT - it's no Launchbox! Has anyone converted their Legends Ultimate to a Launchbox, and how did you do it? Thanks!!!

Running MAME 0.219 along with 0.219 ROMs and LB 10.14, and have things going pretty well! The high scores are a lot of fun, and most are working, but I can't get high scores for Front Line. Anything special it might need? Thanks!

Just a quick update...having great success! I'll post a few generic questions, but having fun...thanks again!

Thanks...I tried, but gonna try again!

Well, I've tried the directions in the forums, a few YouTube videos, Retroarch, MAME, MAME disguised as MESS, etc. and can't get Colecovision up and going. Anyway have a roughly 2020 step-by-step tutorial that works these days? #nonproductive_quarantine

That worked perfectly, Neil...thanks so much! Is this the correct area for asking these type of questions, or is there a sub-forum for mame rom specific questions? Any guesses on the Kung-Fu Master sound problem?

Is there a forum area I could be pointed to that addresses questions for specific ROMs? Here's two questions I currently have that I'd like to post in the correct area: MAME 0.219 ROMs 1) Root Beer Tapper - I have Tapper, and it works perfectly. When you right click on the game, several options appear as to which version to play. I would like to default to "Play (Root Beer) Version" without having to right-click each time. Is there a way to set that default? 2) Kung-Fu Master - Plays correctly, but the sound echos with each sound. Any way to fix this problem? Thanks so much...been working for a couple of days now, and having mostly great success!!!

Oh and Jason, want you to know that back when I was deciding which frontend to ultimately embrace, it was your About: Company page that sealed the deal. Much respect.

The YouTube videos are great. Of course, they're usually a generation or two behind the current version, but I think I can make it all apply. In the midst of all this, I downloaded the latest Launchbox a few minutes ago...keep em coming! Hope I've made it surer clear that I don't intend any of this to be the slightest bit derogatory. Just a bunch of questions and comments from a super fan

On the upside, I'm having a great time while I learn!

You know, the answer to all of this is me being slightly less ignorant. I see a lot of how-to videos in my future. Once I get the pc/tankstick up and going, I'll be ready to move in to the carcass of a 4-player arcade cabinet I bought on craigslist that's waiting in the basement.

I 100% agree that Launchbox is vastly more powerful and configurable than Emu. I think, perhaps, what is comforting with Emu is that I really only have enough knowledge to be dangerous with ROMs. I love the emulator scene more than all the consoles (and I think I have about all of them). In fact, my ultimate goal is to have Launchbox up and running on my new Atari in the living room if and when it ever gets here Anyhow, without an in-depth understanding of all the inner workings of emulators and Launchbox, it was particularly easy for a hobbyist as myself to simply drop the roms into Emu and have everything just instantly work, including all the different emulators. In fact, I literally paused an ETAPrime YouTube video about setting up a new rom set within Launchbox to reply to this post since mine is currently somewhat piecemeal. I downloaded a giant 70gb 0.219 romset, drug it into Emu, and bam, it all works. Of course, controller configuration for arcade games in Emu is virtually non-existent since you can't configure individual games. Like I said, I'm working to significantly upgrade my Launcbox roms with this set, but it's taking going step by step via video to hopefully get it all up and running. Once it is going, I know it will be amazing, and I'll work on getting my Tankstick and Xbox controller configured, but it'll take me a while. I am in no way bashing Launchbox!!! If anything, I'm only bashing myself and my lack of in-depth comprehension. I never stood a chance with MAME prior to Launchbox, and failed at most every attempt for years and years. I purchased my lifetime membership and always love playing with Launchbox and BigBox. So, long answer to a simple question...I'd like to be able to drop a rom set and not worry about having to download emulators and pointing Launchbox to the right emulator and ROMs. Ultimately, I'd love to be an expert like so many others here, but I just haven't been able to put enough time into it yet. Ultimately, I think Jason and his company are phenomenal, and I so respect everything he's done! I'm just playing catch-up!

Thanks, Jason...totally understand! The idea of my favorite toy fixing my second favorite sounded good in my head Emu is not near the pony of Launchbox, but good for something to play with on the Mac. I even bought Parallels just to have Launchbox on my desk. While your program works perfectly, Parallels is just it's own can of worms. On a side note, have successfully converted several Hyperspinners! Thanks again...enjoy every new version!

Is there any discussion of Unbroken acquiring OpenEmu? I have my arcade PC, but play with OpenEmu on my iMac all the time as well. They have done great things with everything except Arcade games (which has been in beta forever). I have to say, for the other systems, their setup simplicity is right up there with Launchbox. Would be amazing to combine the strengths of both companies!