Important update: Stuff works fine on this computer, so a lot of the symptoms (slow Genesis emulation, etc) do not always happen as I had first feared.[/eol]
I've been fooling around with this a bit (since I'm getting it free for a while, yay!) and it's pretty awesome on the whole.
However, PC titles work way better than the arcade and console games, for the most part.
Capcom (MAME, apparently) games and Genesis titles are working really badly on my computer (I'm sending them a note on that one with the included tool for reporting problems), with lots of stuttering. Didn't prevent me from netting a 1943 highscore just shy of 100K just now, but it probably didn't help either.
On the whole the system seems pretty good, but implementation is scattershot. Capcom titles are blurry (bad, bad, bad), as is Centipede (Atari '80) which also feels floaty with the mouse control. Not quite up to the standards of the Shockwave.com verison I played a number of years ago. The Konami CV & Contra Collector's Ed is also on GameTap, and that's a bit of a piece of work as well...
Anyways, instead of rambling on - has anybody used this? Or if you're wondering what (edit: I have no idea what was supposed to go here. Insert monty python animator heart attack sequence if you wish)
GameTap
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dave4shmups
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Re: GameTap
Thanks for the input on this service, it's much needed, as there are online ads for it on virtually every game site, and in gaming mags.Ed Oscuro wrote:I've been fooling around with this a bit (since I'm getting it free for a while, yay!) and it's pretty awesome on the whole.
However, PC titles work way better than the arcade and console games, for the most part.
Capcom (MAME, apparently) games and Genesis titles are working really badly on my computer (I'm sending them a note on that one with the included tool for reporting problems), with lots of stuttering. Didn't prevent me from netting a 1943 highscore just shy of 100K just now, but it probably didn't help either.
On the whole the system seems pretty good, but implementation is scattershot. Capcom titles are blurry (bad, bad, bad), as is Centipede (Atari '80) which also feels floaty with the mouse control. Not quite up to the standards of the Shockwave.com verison I played a number of years ago. The Konami CV & Contra Collector's Ed is also on GameTap, and that's a bit of a piece of work as well...
Anyways, instead of rambling on - has anybody used this? Or if you're wondering what
So, have you just used a mouse, or have you used any type of PC game controller?
NICE score on 1943; that's one tough nut to crack!
"Farewell to false pretension
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
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dave4shmups
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How much do they charge for Neo Geo games? Are their prices pretty reasonable, generally speaking?J-Manic wrote:I have Gametap. I've been playing alot of great shmups for the first time, such as Blazing Star and others for the Neo Geo, and so on. I really need to get a PC controller though. Playing with the keyboard is a pain.
"Farewell to false pretension
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
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Ed Oscuro
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To answer the few questions:
A flat fee lets you get all the games you can download. I think it's $20 a month (or free, if you're like me, although that's on a limited basis).
I have it installed on my "better" PC (to explain quickly, one PC has shit integrated graphics and a 2.7 GHz Celeron, while this PC has a reasonably good video card - GeForce 6800, but no USB 2.0), but I've yet to try it out with my Xbox 360 controller. I assume it would work though.
Sound on many games seems off - 'blurry' is the best word I can think of to describe it. Last Resort's sound isn't very crisp, much different from MAME. I wouldn't get it for the Neo games.
Different games have different controls, since many of these ports were available previously.
Again, there is a major downside to using it for some titles apparently running MAME; who knows how up-to-date the binaries are (the Hanaho disc I got a while ago is .36 - ancient, though it seems to be a sort of cut-off-date for compatibility), and the default options are in place, whether you like them or not. No cheats, no key configs, and blurry, hardware stretched graphics.
An odd issue has struck me while playing Serious Sam 1st Encounter - my PC would play the game fine for about 30 seconds, and then shut down the entire PC, and my UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) needed to be unplugged/plugged back in! No idea what was causing that, although I've changed the number of peripherals plugged into that UPS's battery backed and non-backed (but surge protected) spots, and that is leaving the UPS cooler. Still, there isn't any indication why the software would cause such a problem - I've also got Prince of Persia installed and that causes no problems.
Final wrinkle: You have a tool to submit logs to GameTap with. I did that, but clicked through a final message that popped up and managed to catch that they wouldn't respond to the logs directly unless you do something or other (probably report directly on the site)! No surprise there, as most companies really hate to reveal that they have tech support. It's still rather lousy of them.
Will be writing up a piece (more coherent, etc.) on the Contra H.Q. as soon as I go through their tech support process and try it out on that other PC.
A flat fee lets you get all the games you can download. I think it's $20 a month (or free, if you're like me, although that's on a limited basis).
I have it installed on my "better" PC (to explain quickly, one PC has shit integrated graphics and a 2.7 GHz Celeron, while this PC has a reasonably good video card - GeForce 6800, but no USB 2.0), but I've yet to try it out with my Xbox 360 controller. I assume it would work though.
Sound on many games seems off - 'blurry' is the best word I can think of to describe it. Last Resort's sound isn't very crisp, much different from MAME. I wouldn't get it for the Neo games.
Different games have different controls, since many of these ports were available previously.
Again, there is a major downside to using it for some titles apparently running MAME; who knows how up-to-date the binaries are (the Hanaho disc I got a while ago is .36 - ancient, though it seems to be a sort of cut-off-date for compatibility), and the default options are in place, whether you like them or not. No cheats, no key configs, and blurry, hardware stretched graphics.
An odd issue has struck me while playing Serious Sam 1st Encounter - my PC would play the game fine for about 30 seconds, and then shut down the entire PC, and my UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) needed to be unplugged/plugged back in! No idea what was causing that, although I've changed the number of peripherals plugged into that UPS's battery backed and non-backed (but surge protected) spots, and that is leaving the UPS cooler. Still, there isn't any indication why the software would cause such a problem - I've also got Prince of Persia installed and that causes no problems.
Final wrinkle: You have a tool to submit logs to GameTap with. I did that, but clicked through a final message that popped up and managed to catch that they wouldn't respond to the logs directly unless you do something or other (probably report directly on the site)! No surprise there, as most companies really hate to reveal that they have tech support. It's still rather lousy of them.
Will be writing up a piece (more coherent, etc.) on the Contra H.Q. as soon as I go through their tech support process and try it out on that other PC.
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PooshhMao
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llabnip
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But you are supporting the game companies which hold copyrights on these games. Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner) is providing the GameTap service and these games for legal use and play and there are kickbacks to the copyright owners for allowing the games to be used. For those that don't want to pirate, it's an alternative. While it needs improvement, I'm all for the effort.PooshhMao wrote:Why the heck you'd want to spend 20$ a week for something less good than MAME is beyond me... it's not that you're supporting the original developers or anything...
The cost is currently $7 per month for unlimited access. I think there are other plans for people who don't need unlimited access.
llabnip - DaveB
Once more the light shines brightly in sector 2814.
Once more the light shines brightly in sector 2814.
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J-Manic
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Ed Oscuro
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quoted and emboldened (lol) for emphasisllabnip wrote:The cost is currently $7 per month for unlimited access. I think there are other plans for people who don't need unlimited access.
In any case - hey, real emulators are better, and unless you're a total computing novice they will be a snap to set up and get equal performance to anything in GameTap (well, aside from the 2600 and some of the other systems with bizzare DOS console-style emulators; gosh, I hate Stella).
It can't hurt to send the likes of Capcom and SNK/P some thanks for their great original IP...but I'd personally rather spend my limited dollars on real shmup hardware and games that I can keep through the years.
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dave4shmups
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I'm all for it too, as long as game companies don't just use this as a dumping ground for games that are already readily available on classics compilations. This is, IMO, what's happening to XBLA, and if game companies can't be bothered to release previously unreleased games, then they have little right to gripe when people turn to mediums like MAME. I'm sure that Japanese developers are well aware that arcade gaming here in the US is practically dead, save a few places like Dave & Busters. I've said it a million times on here; if game companies want emulation to end, then there are ample ways to cut into it-like this.llabnip wrote:But you are supporting the game companies which hold copyrights on these games. Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner) is providing the GameTap service and these games for legal use and play and there are kickbacks to the copyright owners for allowing the games to be used. For those that don't want to pirate, it's an alternative. While it needs improvement, I'm all for the effort.PooshhMao wrote:Why the heck you'd want to spend 20$ a week for something less good than MAME is beyond me... it's not that you're supporting the original developers or anything...
The cost is currently $7 per month for unlimited access. I think there are other plans for people who don't need unlimited access.
"Farewell to false pretension
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
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Ed Oscuro
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Well, that seems to be what's happening with GameTap as well. The lack of configuration makes it newbie-friendly, but I'd imagine that 99% of the people on this forum are familiar enough with technical matters (be it using PCBs or setting up emulators) that the cost plus the sub-optimal nature of the control/visual aspects makes the monthly fee a bad tradeoff.
Of course, for somebody with low computer skills, or very little spare time to spend setting up emulators, this might be the way to go. I can't see it though - blurry 1942 ruins my eyes.
It depends on what you're looking for.
From my perspective the main draw are the PC games. Games like Prince of Persia 2 and Zork Grand Inquisitor are difficult to find, and GameTap takes care of the technical aspect for you (though bug free operation isn't guaranteed right off the bat, so you might spend some time with tech support regardless - a good PC should fix this though). There's not a LOT in the way of original content - mainly Uru and the Sam & Max episodes along with episodes of Space Ghost (!) - but the flat fee sure beats paying $30 for a single game on Steam (although unlike Steam, you aren't guaranteed access to that game throughout the years; stop paying and you lose access to all the games you've downloaded).
Of course, for somebody with low computer skills, or very little spare time to spend setting up emulators, this might be the way to go. I can't see it though - blurry 1942 ruins my eyes.
It depends on what you're looking for.
From my perspective the main draw are the PC games. Games like Prince of Persia 2 and Zork Grand Inquisitor are difficult to find, and GameTap takes care of the technical aspect for you (though bug free operation isn't guaranteed right off the bat, so you might spend some time with tech support regardless - a good PC should fix this though). There's not a LOT in the way of original content - mainly Uru and the Sam & Max episodes along with episodes of Space Ghost (!) - but the flat fee sure beats paying $30 for a single game on Steam (although unlike Steam, you aren't guaranteed access to that game throughout the years; stop paying and you lose access to all the games you've downloaded).