[Tfug] Mildly OT: Mame, anyone?

[Bexley Hall]

Hi,

I've been on the lookout for a "Robotron cocktail" but they are few
and VERY far between (I'm not sure any were ever made for anything
but "internal" use).  A "full upright" is a possible alternative
but having an extra refrigerator (effectively) in the house is a
bad use of space!  (already have the pinball machine packed up
in the garage due to lack of space)  And the "cabaret" is just a
toy...  :<

So, I'm considering the idea of assembling a cocktail table
(I have various plans) *modified* to exploit the capabilities
afforded by newer technologies (e.g., a really large LCD monitor
could be used where an equivalent CRT monitor would have been
prohibitively large for the original cocktails).

[Ideally, I can find a half-silvered top glass to hide the monitor
when not in use]

But, that's a fair bit of time/money to invest and *just* getting
a Robotron out of the deal doesn't seem worth the effort.

OTOH, going the *emulator* route means I could potentially
have a library of games of which to take advantage!

However, I have no first-hand experience with MAME and wonder
how true the emulations are (i.e., accurately mapping the
timing characteristics of the original hardware/software).

Has anyone gone this route to share observations of the
process and results?  I.e., are games *truly* and completely
emulated (insofar as I/O's will allow)?  Or, is it a case
of "90% results" like so much FOSS ("well, it *almost* works,
but...")

Willing to take this offlist to not bother other disinterested
parties.

Thx,
--don