This week the ESRB has announced a new campaign (press release). They are partnering with the Parent Teacher Association to help parents within the community to recognize and utilize the rating system in order to identify appropriate game content for children. The initiative includes a booklet (view the electronic version) that will be distributed throughout the 26,000 PTAs nationwide.

We at Game Apparent always encourage families to look for the ESRB ratings on games before purchasing them. It’s a simple way to help parents filter media for which their children aren’t prepared. It’s good to see the ESRB engaging in proactive initiatives like this and the Game Search Widget (see the yellow box in the upper left corner of our main page).

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For those who need a refresher, check out our original article about M.A.M.E. We will soon be posting our next episode of Game Apparent TV which will focus on my mindless rambling about the work that went into converting the Space Invaders cabinet we acquired in Episode 2. This is an opportunity for me to offer some technical details with some of the rambling filtered out.

In creating the M.A.M.E. cabinet, I had three essential jobs:

1. Building the cabinet (or modifying a non-functioning original)
2. Configuring software (the emulator and the games themselves)
3. Building and wiring the interface (including the control panel and display)

There are a number of sites with relevant information for all of this. However, I would like to focus on the third step. The first step is mostly wood-working. Though it’s challenging, it’s fairly straightforward. The second step is pure computer stuff. Except for picking a front-end interface, this was the easiest for me. However, the third step was the most intimidating. (For those of you who haven’t wired before, be sure to view the upcoming episode to see the bundle of spaghetti that hides underneath the panel!) Though the cabinet itself may seem like the element that brings authenticity to the arcade gaming experience, I contest that it’s the interface more than anything else. If the interface is right, once you begin playing everything else will just fade away…

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To all the families, to all the gamers, and to all the families with gamers - Happy Thanksgiving from Game Apparent!

Sony seems to have wished PS3 owners with the PSEye a Happy Thanksgiving as well. Two new titles appeared Tuesday of this week just in time for your holiday gathering. Both are kid-friendly too!

The first is Aquatopia and I would describe it as an electronic fish tank. It’s very pretty and you don’t have to worry about cleaning the water! The Eye makes it look as though you can see your own reflection in the tank. Many of the fish are attracted to movement so when you move your hand, some fish will follow it. Also, moving your fingers at the water’s surface feeds the fish.

 It may be a simple diversion, but at $1.99 USD it’s hard to beat. Also, it might give the kids something interesting to do while you’re dealing with the after effects of the turkey and it’s tryptophan. (Yes, I know that the effects of tryptophan within turkey are exaggerated, but for whatever reason, we’re always exhausted.)

The second download is a little more ($4.99 USD), but it offers a more traditional game experience. It’s called Operation: Creature Featureand it’s a lot like Lemmings with an Eye interface. You basically guide these little creatures with your hands in order to get them out of harms way. Each level poses new challenges. It’s very simple to learn and it poses enough of a challenge that young and old will find some entertainment value.

I know that we have much for which to be thankful and I hope that you all do too. Take care and enjoy your families!

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Before I start, allow me to clarify a few things:

1) M.A.M.E. is the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. (For more information about the project, visit the website here.)
2) It enables people to play the original code of thousands of arcade games on myriad devices including computers, PDAs, and videogame consoles.
3) The emulator itself is free, but the games that you run on it are not. In order to play these games legally, you must either own the original arcade game (or the ROM chips that hold the code for that game) or have purchased the rights to play those games. (There are a number of titles that have entered the public domain as well.)

Now that I’ve established this, why is this relevant for parents who have children interested in videogames? Well, one of the great things about the original arcade games is that the graphics were so primitive that most titles were more abstract. They also tended to be very simple and family friendly. Furthermore, the nature of arcade games is that the player rarely gets more than 5 or 10 minutes out of a single quarter. Therefore, many of these titles naturally disengage the player at fairly short intervals.

With these issues in mind, I have been playing with M.A.M.E. for years on my computer and I have aspired to create my own arcade cabinet in order to play these games the way that they were intended.  Hence the experience that led to our second VodCast.

Originally, I had intended to build my own cabinet from scratch. However, my level-headed and realistic wife pointed out some of my “less-than-stellar” projects which required wood and the use of power tools. Furthermore, our friend Josh brought to our attention the Month of MAME (cabinet-building: episode 1 and episode 2) on Systm. The fact that two accomplished woodworkers underestimated the challenge of making an arcade cabinet was all the wake-up call I needed. If I was to make my dream a reality, I should focus on the software and hardware integration (which I knew) as opposed to cabinet-building (which I didn’t know). With this in mind, Chris and I found a local auction this past weekend where I was able to purchase on old non-functioning arcade cabinet in which I hope to install the guts of a system that will enable me to play a number of the old classics.

I will keep you all informed of my progress and I hope to let you all decide for yourselves whether or not this could be an appropriate project for you and your family.

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