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Arcade ROMs for Download, Legally
jgoeres writes "StarROMs, Inc. has just launched a pay-per-download service for classic arcade ROM sets. These are what you need to make your emulator fun and legal. This aims to bring ROM collection & emulator use out of the semi-underground and turn it into profit, but will it fly? They currently have about 60 games, all from the various incarnations of Atari over the years, with more on the way. Prices range from about $2 to about $6 per game. And no, they don't have Marble Man."
The site mentions that a portion of their profits goes towards supporting unnamed emulators. On a different page explaining how to play the game, the only emulator they link to is MAME. Does this mean that they are supporting MAME?
(sorry I don't have url's to the specific pages - the site is slashdoted)
And the reason Nintendo doesn't do this with their own library of games is because they don't publish games for any platforms other than their own. And the reason you haven't seen a release like this for the Gamecube is because it has a limited market (nostalgia only sells so many copies) and it would cut into their eReader cards and classic ports to the GBA. Any other suggestions?
I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
Imagine how useful services like this or the iTunes store could be if they were more comprehensive in the titles they carry.
Imagine how easy it would be to make them comprehensive if the copyright holders were forced to offer you a license at a predetermined rate, instead of having to negotiate deals with everyone separately.
Imagine how much revenue filesharing could generate for copyright holders if it was easy to purchase legal licenses for the files being shared at a reasonable rate. On our own terms (for example; MP3 and AAC are not a formats I wish to purchase music in).
I haven't thought about this terribly much, but compulsory licensing seems like it could be a solution to the standoff that currently exists between filesharers who won't give up filesharing and the industry that refuses to make it easy to legally purchase digital content.
I'd have no problem plunking down $6 for a game.
... is this "Play at your own risk?" Does this fall under the same rules as any other software (CD/DVD, etc) that once you bought it, it's yours? What if the ROM has defects? Do you get your money back?
Actually, neither would I. My next question is
For instance, the copy of Galaga I have doesn't include the sound when your ship blows up. One could argue that it's a pretty minor point, but if I'm paying cold, hard cash, I'd want a *perfect* copy.
Do I have a right to complain about the bug, and for a measly $6, will anyone listen?
"I can go to the video game store and buy used games cheaper."
It's a combination of the cartridges being used and demand being nil. Frankly, the ROM is more useful than the cartridge anyway.
$2 is quite reasonable.
"Derp de derp."
Vector games are the least satisfing games to play on MAME. Raster games look great on a 19" Wells Gardner 4900 or Electrohome G07 and crappy on your PC monitor, but MAME can fake the scanlines and pixelization to a point where it's OK. But vector games look *TERRIBLE* compared to a real G05 (for Asteroids) or G08 (For Tempest). And to play Star Wars on a med res, 25" Amplifone in the cockpit version is to see the face of God, whilst playing it on MAME with the mouse is to follow Lucifer down to Hell.
MAME is a good "gateway" drug though. I started with it, and now I own 7 dedicated full size classic video games.
There are 01 kinds of cars in the world. The General Lee, and everything else.
Sorry, but your argument has some pretty shaky logic. If somebody owns some desert land that they never use is it ok to go start a brush fire?
You've just made me wonder something, though I really doubt you meant to...
Relating to land rights, specifically "adverse posession"... If I walk across your property uncontested every day for X years (7? 11? Varies by state), I have a legally valid "right of way", and after that time you cannot stop me from making the same walk whenever I want to.
Would this same idea apply to using ROMs? If a company hasn't enforced their copyright on a game for X years, during which time I've used the ROM regularly, might I have something similar to "squatter's rights" to continue playing that ROM?
I do not play the "law" game, so can't really say how viable this seems, but if companies want to pretend physical property rights apply to IP, why wouldn't this burn them by the same rules?
if emulator authors simply haven't written their ship explosion sound code correctly (likely the case, in this instance), you'll have to complain to the authors or download the appropriate sound samples
... if I download the appropriate sound samples, am I still legal? Or is my ROM legal, and my sound sample not?
Okay
Anyone know where I can get the appropriate sound sample?
Im gonna assume you're talking about MAME here ... The Galaga hardware uses sampled sounds so there is infact no hardware to emulate making the sounds... You need to download the galaga samples from www.mame.net and drop them in your samples directory.
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
Here is the content of a very interesing message posted to the alt.games.mame newsgroup by "NoRomsMoron":
QUOTE:
THIS IS VERY BAD!
It's bad for the community. Why? Because these guys can now go around
and sue anyone who posts roms they have license to. Even if you
'already had them'. Burners are screwed.
It's bad for mamedev... How much fun is it to spend hours and hours
coding a game only to know some dipshit and 'his buddy' are getting
paid to sell roms that they didn't creat that you make work with your
free code!?
It's bad for the industry... The copyright holders will inevitably
feel compelled to 'defend' their copyrights which NO ONE disputes and
try to make a case that ancient rom sales are a viable business. I
think the MAME market as a true 'market' is VASTLY over-rated. It's a
closed community for the most part of Gen-X'ers and a few late-comers.
We already have most of the mame roms we want anyway. Then, all they
do is close down the distribution systems that exist, scare away
mamedevs and lose a bunch of money. Whoever did that deal at Atari is
a knucklehead.
It's just a bad 'taint' on the hobby which we all have tacitly agreed
to keep above board and defended from scammers/spammers and Ebayers
who try to sell roms over the last few years. If this proceeds.. do
you think any of us will go out of our way to pull Ebay ads down or
flame scammers? Why should we care anymore? Let the guys making the
money do all the work.
Mame is already a 'legitimate' project. No one is getting their front
doors kicked in for having roms or even trading them for free between
friends. MOST of the commercial value of the old games is gone.
Selling them online now only kills the future of the scene and pisses
of those in it... who by the way probably spend a HUGE amount on new
PCs, Video Game consoles and games than the average consumer.
That these Jackasses took it on themselves to 'help out the scene' is
a crock of SHIT. I would like to propose that mamedev code mame so
that whatever roms they're selling WON'T work on mame. If they want
to make money from Mame.. then they better get coding.... from
SCRATCH. Let's see how long they feel it's important to distribute
roms 'to preserve them'.
I would have respected them more (only a little) if they'd just come
out and said "Hey, we're poor, stupid s.o.b.s and we're going to try
to cash in on Mame under the guise of legality and damn the
consequences!"
They are raping the golden goose, killing it, and mounting it on their
wall.... and soon they will wonder where all their precious golden
eggs went and we'll all have moved on to other things because the
scene will have DIED.
Think I'm over reacting? Mark this message friends... it will be cold
comfort I'm afraid when you wonder how come Mame releases stopped
coming out except to remove games from the source code.
By all means... Boycott Starroms and try to persuade the boys there to
perhaps try to make money honestly by CREATING something rather than
stick their leaching little lips to the hindside of Mame Developers
and the community.
Man.. I'm pissed! I can't believe Atari did anything like this!!!
Someone talk me down... I'm gonna jump!
NoRomSmoRoN
END OF QUOTE
I think I agree with his take on this. What about you?
If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
What's to say that I downloaded one and I said I paid for it from starroms. How does anyone know the difference? I have an Asteroids romset at home. I could easily say I paid for it and nobody would be the wiser.
and what is your time worth to you?
Well you have a point, there. But ultimately the benefit of going this route is that you end up with the cartdridge hardware and software both. Granted in my case I would probably just buy the roms if given the chance, or download them if not. If I had roms for every game I had ever bought with my own money I would have a lot of roms.
I think these guys are doing the right thing and we should support them. I mean this is the way it should work. The companies that produced the games get some kiznash and we get our games. After all, in the case of the arcade games you are getting a game that might cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars to buy the hardware. The main problem people had, the thrust behind abandonware, etc, is that people *want* to buy these games but can't get them for love or money. So now that they are letting us have them for a few bucks apiece, we should support this model so more games become available this way.