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welby1 wrote: but it is my understanding that they do want to do it someday???

I believe it's planned but don't hold your breath. This will take a looong time.

The_Pro wrote:

welby1 wrote: but it is my understanding that they do want to do it someday???

I believe it's planned but don't hold your breath. This will take a looong time.

They may someday make submitted MAME inps available if the player gives their consent, but as for transferring videotaped stuff to digital media on a large scale, I doubt that will ever happen. Too much work for too little reason.

Also, I would guess that by the time records on original arcade machines from the old days are predominantly submitted on computer-readable media, they will be few and far between enough that it won't matter that much any more. With each passing year there are less and less of them available. This is why it is so important to document these games in MAME.

Weehawk wrote:

The_Pro wrote:

welby1 wrote: but it is my understanding that they do want to do it someday???

I believe it's planned but don't hold your breath. This will take a looong time.

They may someday make submitted MAME inps available if the player gives their consent, but as for transferring videotaped stuff to digital media on a large scale, I doubt that will ever happen. Too much work for too little reason.

The main reason for doing this is because some of the older tapes are simply falling apart. VHS and really old camera tapes aren't a good medium for long term archiving, especially if not continuously maintained. They will have transfer some stuff eventually in order to preserve the footage.

The_Pro wrote:The main reason for doing this is because some of the older tapes are simply falling apart. VHS and really old camera tapes aren't a good medium for long term archiving, especially if not continuously maintained. They will have transfer some stuff eventually in order to preserve the footage.

Of course.

What I'm saying is that this is an incredible amount of trouble to go to to preserve a recording of some guy playing some Atari VCS game for hours, which is probably about what 90% of the tape footage is like. Stuff no one would ever want to view, and most of us pity the poor referee who had to view it.

And I'm moving this discussion to The Pit because it's way off-topic.

I could litterally feel the off topic hammer coming .

You make a good point about the long recordings that I hadn't thought of. For example 75% of the scores by Todd Rogers. Great marathon efforts but a bore to watch. If it came right down to it I'm guessing they'd want to keep everything regardless of bore factor since it's an archive and entertainment value doesn't matter. Thankfully those simple atari titles don't need a huge bitrate video file to look acceptable. Then again it's the same thing over and over...but you don't want to tell someone their stuff isn't worth archiving.

I'm just glad I'm not the one who has to make these decisions.

The_Pro wrote:I could litterally feel the off topic hammer coming

Yeah, I like to stay pretty tightly on topic in that forum since it's for such a specific subject, but people shouldn't live in fear of it or anything. As moderator, it's perfectly easy for me to move anything off-topic to the appropriate forum, or if none to The Pit.

So say what you want, if necessary I'll move it...no harm done.

I hope I am not saying something I shouldn't state at this point..but TG is moving forward in this area.

most likely the target is for WR scores for each game...to convert the old VHS tapes over to DVD format.


this is more cuz the VHS tapes wear out...some of the older ones are barely watchable anymore....or can break etc.

with dvd you can have an easy backup copy that is stored away.

now would these ever be publicly available? MAME inps...for sure...

tapes or DVDs? not likely....too much of a task....leave it up to the gamer.

However, we likely soon will accept digital video for submissions also....as that is unavoidable at some point in the not-so-distant-future cuz analog video is dying out.

off to watch the WS....bah! hehe

The_Pro wrote: The main reason for doing this is because some of the older tapes are simply falling apart. VHS and really old camera tapes aren't a good medium for long term archiving, especially if not continuously maintained. They will have transfer some stuff eventually in order to preserve the footage.

I don't doubt that this is the case, Martin. But, since I was one of only two gamers to tape world-class arcade play back in the 80's (Mike Klug was the other, I found out over the summer), I actually have quite old tapes of myself, and Frank Seay (current wr holder) playing my all-time fave Crystal Castles. Maybe I'm lucky, or had great-quality tapes (generally TDK), or possibly really made sure to have excellent storage rules (never too hot or cold or humid conditions, never exposed to sun, and rarely played), but my tapes look and work perfectly, and most were made in 1986 or 1987, so the age factor is getting up there.

One interesting side note is that, while I am a rarity (which totally blows my mind) as far as taping my arcade gaming 'back in the day', Todd Rogers told me last year that he was taping (on console play) in 1976 !!! Unbelievable...

OK - shameless plug time: With people lamenting here (and on the TG boards occasionally) about TG not releasing archived game play, it seems to be a well-kept secret that my web site has been offering (starting over a year ago) arcade DVD's of world-class play on popular titles by some great players, with more to come. Check out http://www.classicarcadegaming.com/tos/DVDs/ for: Crystal Castles (me and Frank), Star Wars (the incredible Brandon Erikson), and there's even the great Donald Hayes showing off his world record Millipede game ! On the plate is a pseudo-tutorial disk by Jonathon Koolpe, and a wr accomplishment from Dwayne Richard. OK - plug over.

Maybe there are others who taped world-class arcade play in the 80's. Let me know if that's the case, but, in spite of Mike, I've pretty much given up on the prospect. Plus, even if there was, this discussion makes me worry that the tape is unviewable. Still, I'll hope for the best, on both counts... - Mark / MDA / MDARULZ

Mark...good stuff.

yeah, it's the kind of thing that actually can be it's own separate web site and personnel etc. operating the site/archive.

perhaps that can be done and then be a "partner" with TG.

of course for TG the main thing is that the gamer's have given their permission for their gameplay to be shared with the public.