Very new to this, can GameEx do what I want easily?

[jammadave]

Hi all. Bear with me, this is long but I'll try to be concise.

I have used MAME and have made MAME systems in the past. This time around it's a bit different, though, as I'm also wanting to get into PC gaming - I have the consoles, but it would be nice to be able to play damn near everything old and new on one machine.

Trick is - for my entire household to WANT to play on the PC instead of the consoles, on the TV, it has to work JUST LIKE a console interface. No mouse, no KB, I want a gamepad-only experience here. Hell, if you can't tell Windoze is running, all the better.

SO - I come to find GameEx. Can it do the following?:

- Open from startup quickly, and to just a few choices visible: Games, Movies, Music, Internet (...ok, I'd use the keys and mouse for internet)

- Have Movies show a single icon per movie. Right now, Media Center shows a folder for each movie, containing the video and audio TS files, instead of a single icon.

- Have Games open to either a single list of all games regardless of type (NES, MAME, Steam/PC, all of them) or at least to a category list of those options. Also, have the option to run whatever game is in the optical drive, if I don't have it installed.

- Have Internet open Firefox

Also, more specifically, is GameEx compatible with gamepads by default? or would i have to use a program like JoytoKey regardless? (would want to just shift thru the lists with the directional pad, one button for "select" and one button for "back") - think a PC version of a PS3 controller. Actually, via BlueTooth, I have found, one can use an actual PS3 controller!

I'm seeing threads here where people may or may not have issues running Steam apps - but as far as I can tell, DLing via Steam is one of the only ways to get around having to have the disc in the tray to play the game. Is that not true? I couldn't play, say, Darkfall on my friend's PC without having the disc in the tray.

I'll have more questions as I noodle this through. I have a PC spec'ed out already, just need to make sure I would be happy with going that route.

Cheers

Dave

[bkenobi]

Well, this is a very long list of demands....

Fortunately, GameEx can do everything you asked for. The only thing is that some of them will require a small bit of effort to set up. I'm not going to try to give you a tutorial on everything you asked about primarily because you will see how easy it is once you install it. There are a few things that you will probably need help with, but fortunately this forum is very active with highly knowledgeable people!

Have fun with it and come back with any questions.

[Adultery]

As long as you are somewhat familiar with computers, you shouldn't have any problems. Like bknobi said, we are always here to help. Feel free to post on the forum if you need further assistance. We'll do our best!