Oh, now the teasing really starts.. I like it!

Everything looks awesome! Are you going to charge for the iPhone app or have it be free?

Peter wrote:


Well, I'll be honest. I floated the idea and talked about the cost involved with the site with the guys recently. Maybe not initially but as the website itself matures, as more people start accessing and looking at the data, generally interacting with the site, pulling in data via our API etc... our bandwidths costs will grow, hardware needs will arise and that will require some coins...real coins, not the ones mario uses.
The website itself will remain free and opensource. All run, edited and hopefully loved by the gaming community enthusiasts (as is the nature of a wiki-like website). With that in mind, I did mention perhaps charging a small nominal fee for the iPhone application as a way of not only saying thank you but in a round about way, donating to the cause. I dont think we are going to do that at this stage... what might happen in the future is we branch off the application into a lite version and a pro version with the latter being something you pay for. For now, I think we will definitely setup a donation button on the site as a way to say thanks and thats it.

As for the iPhone app itself, the screenshots are just using the default Apple widgets (buttons etc) for testing purposes fro speedier production time... wait till the proper UI is placed over the top. I think you will like it .

Sounds good. I expected an undertaking of this size would need some real cash flow to keep it running, as well as earning some side cash for your efforts. The team seems to be pouring lots of time into the project. Have you spoken with any emulator authors about incorporating this into their next update? I.E. Bannister, or possibly Tantric (Wii Emulator ports). This feature would look nice along side SNESGX as the UI is awesome.

We have talked to one or two emulator authors. I think we will approach people formally when the time is right as there is still a lot to do. At this point things are changing, test data being played with and rewritten here and there, so letting people build ontop of something that is still in motion isn't a good idea at this point (ipohne app build is helping to validate stuff). Very soon though I'm sure...Niemann might fill you in on the next update.

I did contact Richard Bannister back in the day about doing a proper, more user friendly, all inclusive (all his emulators in one single app) and giving it a lickable application front-end, but he didn't seem interested and gave the impression he preferred doing things himself. Not that there is anything wrong with it, he has his own direction and ideas... it/they are his baby and he did so much for the Mac emulation scene. But, I had a bug in my head about my ideal gaming experience, so I later found my way over to the OpenEmu guys and got talking with Niemann about the Archive project as well. So at some point I hope the OpenEmu project will utilize the 'Archive' site closely and working closely with other app authors on multiple platforms is the goal in the hope they can do some equally exciting things and improve all manner of game related products....not just emulators.

This archive sounds like a fun project. As things become tougher to manage with a few people, I would like to help out if needed.

Any updates on the project?

Lots actually, we've all been hard at work. We've got a couple of media center, emulator authors, and web-developers playing with our API right now. Our database still has a bit of work to be done on it (we've got about a third of the information we would like), although it's getting much easier to bring new data in so I see it accelerating over the next couple weeks.

On the website side of things, we are working hard to implement two major pieces before we start inviting people to use the site. The first is an editing system, much like IMDb or TMDb. This allows users to submit changes through the site very easily, and after you've submitted a certain amount of info your changes are made without approval. David has really done some incredible things with the design of the site; simply amazing stuff. The second is a rewards system, David has done some excellent research on this and I'll combine it with the 'points' system I'm currently using here at MacScene.

One of the most exciting projects is our upcoming iOS app being developed by Auston (the author of Macifom). What I've seen so far has simply blown me away. Originally the specifications for the iOS app were along the lines of 'Mactracker' for video games, but David and Auston have worked wonders and I think the Archive app will actually be one of the best examples of 'rich interface' in the App Store.

We've also added a new member or two to the team, who will be helping us put together some really unique content for the site. I've also started work on integrating some of Archive's features into MacScene. So, as I mentioned before we're all hard at work and there's a lot going on. Hope that will satisfy you while we finish up a few more things and start inviting people to test it out.

Thanks for your interest, we really appreciate it.

I'm super excited about this still, really hoping it comes soon and lives up to the hope I'm investing in it. I've just posted for the first time in a while on the Retro Game Of The Week thread and was just wondering if these articles could be included along with the game info for each title. I think it would help tie the project to the Macscene community and perhaps open up potential for more (moderated) user submitted articles. It's of course your call!

The first release of the site is a good foundation of game info and browsing. Once released, additional features and content will be rolled out (wish we could do it all day one but...only human after-all). I'd like to see user submitted reviews for games available on each games page as well (with the best or most popular ones getting featured or highlighted elsewhere on the site), also mini-forms per game so you have a place to go and talk, swap stories, help etc rather than one big lumped together forum.

Setting up some kind of system for people to sell/swap their games is also something I've been thinking about ...but, I'm keen to see the response once this bad boy gets released and listen to suggestion for improvement to see what upcoming or possible features people want the most.

p.s. the iPhone app is fun .

this project just made my "watch out for" list

After the appearance of the Mac App Store today, a couple of questions have just leapt into my mind:

Is Archive far from reaching our eyes yet?

It was mentioned that it would appear on the Mac App Store, will this be only way of acquiring the application? I'm still living in Leopard land and won't be upgrading until I get a newer Mac, therfore I cannot access the store!

Surprised I missed that last post. I was hoping to get an Archive app in place for the launch of the Mac App Store (after reviewing their initial terms it looked like nothing stood in our way), but reviewing their updated terms as well as working on getting Archive integrated into other applications has taken precedent.

Right now there are about two dozen developers working with beta keys to construct everything from emulators, emulator suites, game browsers, media center plugins, and even a website integration. The past two months or so I've been focused on working with them to develop a game plan for moving the API forward. I feel the API is the best way to popularize the Archive and get people involved in the project. I saw the first screenshots and a video of a media center plugin using Archive today, and with about 85% accuracy it identifies ROMs and is fast. Really fast.

I'm hoping that the API beta keys will keep the developers happy for a few weeks while David and I focus on getting the final pieces of the site designed and developed. We've got a lot of very interesting approaches to keeping the database filled with accurate and interesting information, and David's designs simply blow anything that's been done before out of the water (sorry MobyGames, Giant Bomb, GameFAQs, IGN, etc.).

Admittedly our goal of having something ready for the New Year has come and gone, and I cannot apologize enough for that. But hopefully when you see our iPhone app, our website, and the dozens of Archive implementations you'll feel it was worth the wait. Get ready for your games to become more accessible.

I made a HTPC, and now the idea comes to me that Archive might be a good thing to tie in with XBMC.

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Set...tent_(Video_Library)

Basically, they have these databases, so when you select a movie, the correct information gets pulled in. So for movies you get something like this:

For those who don't use XBMC (there is a Mac version as well), basically everything you see above is pulled from a database. The background image, the movie poster, and all the information. So when you select the next movie, the background and everything else will change.

I've talked to and so has Neimann in a more technical way with a few developers who are producing game organiser and emulation front-ends for a range of HTPC software. There are a few of those plugins in the works for a couple of the more popular skins/themes on XBMC I think... so, hopefully we'll see them finished and released.

All excellent news! I'm sure everyone's happy to hear these updates, sounds like the scope of this project just keeps extending

I am currently working on a game launcher / organizer that will be a stand-alone app. It will work with plex, boxee or xbmc - basically anything that can launch another app.

I am using Archive to pull data for the games/roms added to the system. If the Archive doesn't have it then I fall back to Giant Bomb. It is coming along pretty well and I hope to release it soon in the forums for you guys to test. I am sure there will be some other really good solutions out there but I haven't seen them yet

So my question for you all...

What should I name this thing. I have had a working title of Mother Brain but I don't know if I like that. I also toyed with Rom-nom-nom. But that is pretty silly. Any ideas? I don't plan on selling this so it would just be free for the community to use. Although I will have to see how the beta API keys get transitioned as far as using Archive with it.


So post your name ideas and I will give you 1000 brownie points!

Looks very cool guys, great work!!

How about save/state support? I'm currently using dropbox for this, can be a little fiddly with emu's that don't support custom save locations.

But having save state uploads downloads would be very cool.

Should be worth pointing out, Archive is a repository of game information and other fun features.

We have the website coming and a fun accompanying iPhone app. Everything else discussed outside those two is by 3rd party people.

Currently in order to test the technical backend to our work, and make it better, Niemann has opened up a few API slots so that apps, websites, widgets etc etc. and their developers can access the data and build their own projects ontop of it. It is up to those authors how they want to utilize the data, and, in turn up to them if they want to do something like hosting save states somewhere... due to the legality concerns we couldn't provide that nor entertain the idea of promoting it. Shades of grey I know but... the whiter (or less grey) we are, the greater the opportunities open to us.

It's kinda funny really, I've been waiting for a decent multi-emulator frontend and HCPC interface for the mac for ages, looks like I'll get both in a better way than I could ever imagine