Can you charge people to play consoles?

patch · 08-08-2003 11:29AM #1

What would happen if I made up a cabinet with a ps2 inside, with a money slot? Put it in a hostel for people to play?

What are the legalities?
Are there any Roms etc it would be legal to use for something similar?

Nice idea if it worked!

LoGiE · 08-08-2003 04:58PM

I'm no law expert but unless you can agree on some form of profit sharing with sony your borked!

If your willing to build a cabinet in the first place a coin box was going to cost you a bit anyway. Having spent quite a lot of time in Hostels this summer might I recommend a bar with cheap drinks ala europian hostels;) NO Irish prices!

*But seriously you could rent an arcade machine for cheap enough

KdjaCL · 08-08-2003 05:14PM

Mame with a few games but the user interface may be off putting.

Rent an arcade machine or buy one there are quite a few arcades that sell them usually in need of new joy sticks.

Or just get a pool table and 7 ft monster named Cedric with a taste for blood.
kdjac

patch · 08-08-2003 05:32PM

Thanks....... I reckon if you could get around the rom copyright laws, you'd throw together a 'mini cabinet' handy enough.

Those pesky laws though.......

ps. renting a cabinet would cost money.....I'm trying to find ways to MAKE money!

KdjaCL · 08-08-2003 05:39PM

Do you know the hostels in question?
If so then the PS2 idea would work.

Just dont do a GC nintendos lawyers would hunt you down.

kdjac

patch · 08-08-2003 05:58PM

I lease the net cafe from one. I reckon if you put it on a timer, you'd have those annoying little kids that run around all day, throwing euros in it goodo.

Really though mame would be ideal.....

bugs · 08-08-2003 07:33PM

Technically, you can't have your ps2 in a cab for the public/customers to play without permission from sony. Its along the same lines as the films public performance protections. In reality, you'll never be caught.

There were some arcades back in the megadrive days that slotted megadrives into cabs for 10p a go. So its probably handy enough to do.

BLITZ_Molloy · 10-08-2003 04:56PM

They were Mega Techs. Like the Nintendo Playchoice they were officially sanctioned. They even had separate cartridge lockouts so you couldn't use them on consumer consoles.

Using consoles in arcade machines is illegal in Japan and its enforced. I don't think anybody cares elsewhere. There are a few MAME cabinets in arcades in London with supposedly liscenced ROMs but it sounds like bull****.

There used be alot of places where you could pay to play consoles in 1993/1994. They had them in Ennis and Galway anyway. The one in Galway even had Neo Geo's.

bugs · 14-08-2003 04:32PM

Originally posted by BLITZ_Molloy

There used be alot of places where you could pay to play consoles in 1993/1994. They had them in Ennis and Galway anyway. The one in Galway even had Neo Geo's.

Strange anywhere would use neogeo AES home systems when running the MVS arcade hardware is so much cheaper :P

Can you charge people to play consoles?

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