Emulation goes legal
Well, emulation has always been legal, but getting ROMs for your emulator hasn't.
I am a huge fan of emulation -- namely, the emulation of "classic" arcade games (and to that end, Brad Oliver's continued efforts to make MacMAME work earn high points in my book).
Anyway, one problem I've always had in recommending (or, as I did earlier this year, reviewing) MAME is that the ROMs that actually turn the emulator into something fun to play with aren't usually able to be acquired legally.
Anyway, StarROMs Inc. is a solution to that. This company is legally reselling and distributing ROMs from original arcade games, starting with Atari's library.
StarROMs' e-store system is a little convoluted, because the company is determined to push the idea of buying "credits," just like tokens at the arcade, in $0.25 increments. $10 gets you 40 credits, which you can use to purchase the actual game ROMs. Games start at 8 credits, or $2. Admittedly, they're craptastic Atari Baseball, Football and Soccer, but still...
Now, I admit that the economics of it doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense when you can buy "anthologies" for $30 or so, but I still think it's a neat way to legalize an underground phenomenon that's been around for years. Good on StarROMs. I hope they succeed. I hope more companies license ROMs to them too!