Is it possible for the Mac Pro or Mac Mini to be configured for use in an arcade...

[applefan289]

This is more of a theoretical question. If an arcade/amusement company like Sega decided to use the Mac Mini or Mac Pro as their next arcade board, would it be possible? Is it possible to attach custom arcade peripherals (like driving wheels or dance pads) to it? Could it be configured to check for peripherals upon startup?

I started thinking the other day, "What if a Mac Pro was powering this game - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaZG4CEhXdA ?"

 

[Waragainstsleep]

They probably could if they wanted to, but I suspect a Mac Mini wouldn't have the graphic power to run something state of the art and unless they wanted to port their games to Mac OS X, they can't use VMs on a Mac Pro as the 3D performance would again take a massive hit.

In short, they wouldn't bother because they could match the parts of the Mac hardware they needed for a lot less money while leaving out the parts they didn't need and probably saving themselves having to re-write huge amounts of code.

 

[applefan289]

Yeah, these arcade companies usually just slop together their own streamlined gaming PC as their arcade board.

Sega right now uses 2 arcade boards - one low powered (used in this game http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NABSJY2cr8o ) and one high powered (for games like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPmeDQMSbWs ).

I was wondering if it were theoretically possible to replace the low-end one with a Mac Mini and for the high-end one, use a Mac Pro. Obviously, it's horribly impractical and their machines use Windows Embedded, whereas a Mac has a full OS that it would have to drag around just for a game.

I guess my question is more about the ports of the Mac Mini/Mac Pro. When looking at an arcade system like this: http://system16.com/hardware.php?id=731 , what does this have that the Mac Pro couldn't support?

Also, what does "VMs" mean?

 

[mdgm]

VMs are Virtual Machines (e.g. used to run Windows within the Mac OS).

 

[goMac]

A Mac Pro would be extremely overkill for an arcade board. Mac Mini for a low end board wouldn't be bad.

Although looking at the specs for the Sega boards, you could probably use a Mac Mini for the high end boards as well.

 

[applefan289]

A Mac Pro would be extremely overkill for an arcade board. Mac Mini for a low end board wouldn't be bad.

Although looking at the specs for the Sega boards, you could probably use a Mac Mini for the high end boards as well.

Would the ports on the Mac Mini allow for LED light decorations that change depending on game-play?

 

[goMac]

Would the ports on the Mac Mini allow for LED light decorations that change depending on game-play?

Couldn't that just be a USB device?

 

[applefan289]

Couldn't that just be a USB device?

Possibly, I'm not exactly sure what port a line of LED lights would plug into. Another question would be if it's a motion cabinet. How would the computer tell the motion cabinet when to move? Does this mean that the motion seat is plugged into a USB port (I don't think so!)?

It's really just a theoretical question, I'm not trying to hook up anything, I'm just trying to see if an arcade developer could develop games for a certain system (like the Mac Mini) rather than using their own boards.

Another thing is that most arcade boards have Windows Embedded software on them to minimize OS footprint. If a Mac was used, the game would have to carry the entire OS just to run 1 application for use in an arcade.

I just thought it was an interesting idea. lol

 

[goMac]

Possibly, I'm not exactly sure what port a line of LED lights would plug into. Another question would be if it's a motion cabinet. How would the computer tell the motion cabinet when to move? Does this mean that the motion seat is plugged into a USB port (I don't think so!)?

It's really just a theoretical question, I'm not trying to hook up anything, I'm just trying to see if an arcade developer could develop games for a certain system (like the Mac Mini) rather than using their own boards.

Another thing is that most arcade boards have Windows Embedded software on them to minimize OS footprint. If a Mac was used, the game would have to carry the entire OS just to run 1 application for use in an arcade.

I just thought it was an interesting idea. lol

You can plug anything you want into USB and make any sort of adaptor you want to make. No reason you couldn't plug a motion seat into USB, or anything you wanted, just as long as you made the right adaptor.