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StarROMs Closes Doors
jvm writes "StarROMs, seller of legal arcade ROM downloads for use with MAME, is closing their virtual doors. Started in October 2003, the initial StarROMs catalog offered over 60 Atari arcade games including hits like Gauntlet and Asteroids but was later trimmed due to licensing issues. In a March 2004 interview, co-founder Frank Leibly gave more details on their business plan, including how they expected to compete with the widespread illegal distribution of arcade ROMs. Has the world embraced rental models like GameTap over the download model of StarROMs?"
Why were some games (Gauntlet, Asteroids) trimmed over legal issues, if the downloads were legal?
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Considering that I've never heard about them until today, I'd say that StarROMs had some serious marketing issues. Now that I hear about them and actually want to try their service, they're out of business? Sometimes the world just isn't fair.
In any case, I did a few background checks on StarROMs and I've come to the following conclusions. Let me know if the rest of you agree or disagree:
1. They didn't market enough. I'd heard about such a service in passing, but never found any concrete information. Had they made themselves more visible, perhaps they would have done better.
2. Game selection. With the release of the Flashback 2 and other Atari wares, it's become pretty clear which games Atari feels it has the rights to, and which ones it doesn't. Thus, just like Atari did back in the 1980's, they're recycling the same tired games over and over and over again. (No, I don't want to play Pong Yet Again(TM).) This article discusses how upset that StarROMs was that they didn't gain more industry support.
3. Price. Originally the files were $5 a piece. It looks like many went as low as $2. Given that Atari was probably chewing up a lot of that fee as licensing, I can't see how they made a profit.
Rest in Peace StarROMs. I wish I knew you better.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Damn... I guess im gonna have to find another portal to play my belived pong now
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
...how licensing issues can get in the way of games that are so old and out of date (although nostalgic).
I for one enjoy emulation and will continue to enjoy it. with or without legal roms. some CEO's need to get their head out of their arses and realize the market they have.
Speaking of the 600lbs gorilla, Nintendo would never even get to the point of releasing roms as they feel Emulation is illegal.
I'm guessing the world has embraced the w4r3z model over either of the ones you mention.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
Unrelated, does anyone have any experience with Gametap?
I saw a commercial for it the other day and it looked pretty neat.
No.
Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
I'll admit I've downloaded a few ROMs for free - and they're the same games that I already purchased once upon a time, for use on a game system that was flawed in design and could no longer support the cartiges upon which the original games were written. Somehow, I don't feel like I should have to pay for a second license to the software to port the game over to a playable platform.
I wish Congress would take a break from banning porn to pass a law the basically says if you stop supporting your software it becomes free after so many years, because unlike the books upon which the copyright laws originated, software dies if not constantly updated and copied on to new media.
You can get 15 minutes of fame, but you can go down in history for infamy.
Ever see those Cereal boxes with a cdrom for 100 free Atari classics? If you look carefully on the disk, you'll find .bin files for every .exe for each game.
There are about 15 or 20 arcade versions of games while the rest are shoddy Atari 2600 versions.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out what these .bin files are now does it?
Verified working with MAME.
I know a lot of people with full romsets for Mame, and many other emulators. Only a handful of them own *any* of the original games or boards, none of them own them all.
Whether this is good or bad I leave to the reader to decide for his or her self, but it's almost certainly the reason that sellers of legit roms are likely to go under. And people wonder why Nintendo do their damndest to squish emulators and rerelase all their old games on new platforms...
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My friends and I use gameflyhttp://www.gamefly.com/ for our newer rentals, xbox, ps2, ETC. The service is great, I get my games promptly, and I can keep them as long as I like.
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
Seems that retro games are getting their second chance with services like GameTap and Xbox Live Arcade. I have to admit that I shelled out $5 a piece for Gauntlet and Joust. Where they worth it? No, but I was buying into the nostagia not nessasarilly the game. With the PopCap games and other similar "new" games available on Xbox Live Arcade, I will probably not be buying these retro games any longer. With the exception of the upcoming Street Fighter re-release.
The question I want to raise is, "What is the worth of 20 yr old games brought back to new consoles or just as PC roms?"
Has to be done over the phone with customer service. Thats how they getchya ;)
Cool service though, just needs more games. I'll try again in a year.
Theory #1: StarROMS business model was flawed. They don't create any content, so they're stuck distributing a product that someone else manufacturers, licenses, and ultimately controls. Since StarROMS doesn't bring much to the table (other than an online sales website,) they're stuck with whatever deal the license holders see fit to dictate. StarROMS has a fundamentally weak position from which to negotiate. Infotari (or whoever) can dictate street price, fees, and sales quotas. That's a bad situation for StarROMS to be in.
... the perfect whipping boy. Infotari licenses a handful of titles to StarROMS to see what happens. There's no motivation for other companies to participate yet, so they sit back and observe. Infotari can test the waters of this particular market without the possibility of tarnishing the corporate image. If things are successful, [*doink*] Infotari pulls it's licenses and sells directly. If it's not successful, [*doink*] Infortari takes its ball and goes home. Either way it's lose-lose for StarROMS.
...")
Theory #2: Infotari (and others) are interested in this potential market called "emulation." However, many companies are loathe to adopt risk. Along comes StarROMS
Theory #3: Infotari signed up to a trial period licensing arrangement. That period has expired, and StarROMS has failed to meet quotas that would extend the contract period. (Note: Infotari would be in a position to force unsustainable pricing structures on StarROMS [see 1, above] and force them to fail. Why? It'd give them some perceived credibility when they say "We tried the legal download method, and people continued to pirate. We need some new legislation
You didn't think Infotari (or anyone else) would sign up to a perpetual irrevocable license arrangement with StarROMS, did you?
Console Classix is a rom site that holds a library of roms and lends them out to different people. Different from StarROMs and Gametap in that they don't license the games from the companies, they own hundreds of physical catridges, and then let people borrow them over the internet. In a warehouse somewhere they have 25 copies of Final Fantasy, so they let people borrow 25 copies of the rom. NES and Atari games are free, and SNES, Gameboy, and Genesis games can be had at $5/month. They've been around for a few years, and they have quite a large selection.
Part of starroms problems was that they were competing with the copyright holders, several of whom are now releasing compilations of 25-30 games for the ps2 and xbox. These are generally (IMO) better presented and more accessable to the casual gamer market, than trying to get an emulator setup correctly and acquire the roms. Plus they're all legal arcade versions (except the lame midway classics 3 racing bundle with console ports of some games)
I've purchased all of these compilations that I've been able to find in Australia for my ps2 and have had much retrogaming fun and been able to share that with my son and friends, especially the 3 or 4 player games like gauntlet or rampage.
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The thing is, these simple arcade ROM's just are not worth very much. They have about the value of a pack of Ramen noodles. You should be able to buy 250 ROMS for say $40. The problem is that you can't make money doing that due to licensing fees and you have to work licensing deals with tons of manufacturers if you want to have any kind of library at all. It's all too complicated and expensive.
Don't get me wrong, I play more old arcade games than the latest graphical wiz-bang boring games but they are so old and so simple that they just are not worth much. I mean, you almost need to be able to sell 12 for a dollar if you want people to buy them.
That and the market is relatively small. I build arcade machines so I have a pretty good idea of how many people are involved. It's not an insignificant market but it's still really tiny.
karem
When all is said and done, nothing changes...
The unsubscribe is not only phone only but the number is buried in a FAQ. GameTap claims the phone is required for security which makes no sense given you are ending a payment but beginning one, including giving credit card number, is deemed safe enough for online only. There is also no way, short of pulling out your bank statement, to check what date you are billed on. Two online support staff couldn't figure out a way either.
That carping aside--major issues but not dealbreakers--GameTap is damned impressive. It is windows & single player only but a Mac version is in development with Linux to follow. There will never be any Nintendo titles on it so fanboys are out of luck. The selection from the covered systems is strange. The Dreamcast in particular is underrepresented. The tech is very cool with all the games running their native code. Performance is fine (XP pro, 1 gig RAM, Athlon64 2800, ATI 9700Pro, 5 gigs drive space allocated). Downloading a PC game takes quite a while but the frontend end gracefully handles minimization & alt-tabbing and will sound a tone when the game is ready. The multimedia content is obnoxious and useless. Sound like a certain cable station?
It's worth doing the free trial just to play Beyond Good & Evil or a Splinter Cell and revisit Heroes of Might & Magic III and Stronghold without finding the install disks. Just remember to shut it off before it hits your card.
I'll certainly be checking in over time, probably dipping in and out of subscription for specific games.
Feeling so good natured I could drool