Legal mame Roms -- Anyone know where to buy --

[aumameman]

Hi All,

I am getting back into Mame Gaming but I want to do it legally so I just wanted to ask if there is anywhere you can buy legal Mame roms? Yes I know I can buy the logic boards and dump the info off myself but I don't have the skillz, patients or the time to do it.

Any thoughts?

Cheers
krnageskillz

[northerngames]

the official mame site offers free downloads of the free legal games just go there and download them I dont think anyone sells them.

[aumameman]

What a pain in the butt.

I know that star roms was around for a while selling Atari ROMs but they are long gone

Hmmm wonder if those 48 in 1 or 60 in 1 Game boards have legal ROMs??

[Minwah]

Hmmm wonder if those 48 in 1 or 60 in 1 Game boards have legal ROMs??

I am not sure about those but I know some of the PC based umpteen-in-1 systems illegally use Mame, and as it was pointed out to me recently, one at least uses Mamewah (again illegally).

[Jdurg]

What a pain in the butt.

I know that star roms was around for a while selling Atari ROMs but they are long gone

Hmmm wonder if those 48 in 1 or 60 in 1 Game boards have legal ROMs??

No they do not.  They are illegally obtained/burned ROMs.

[Katana Man]

The other legal way is to purchase the actual game motherboard with the ROM chip on it. Then you can run the MAME version of that ROM legally.

[aumameman]

Thank you everyone for replying.

I think its time to do some due diligence and find out if the 48 in 1 (60 in 1) boards are legit or not. I have seen these in commercial use many times before so one would think they are legal.

I am fully aware that the PC based umpteen-in-1 systems are illegal, there is no question as they run Mame, a PC, a HDD and some crazy number of games.

Thats where the 60 in 1 are different, they don't run Mame and usually claim that they can be used for commercial purposes.

[Minwah]

I have seen these in commercial use many times before so one would think they are legal.

That means nothing, except the operator is either oblivious, or (more likely) willing to take the risk. Depending what country they are in, they are probably unlikely to very unlikely to get caught.

Most of these devices are made in places like China, where copyright isn't exactly shown a lot of respect.

[saint]

The other legal way is to purchase the actual game motherboard with the ROM chip on it. Then you can run the MAME version of that ROM legally.

I am not aware of any legal ruling that supports this. I think it is possible that you would be fine from a legal perspective if ever challenged, and I think from a moral perspective you're clearly fine, but I would not say that this has been verified to be a legal manner in which to obtain a MAME ROM.

[Jdurg]

I think its time to do some due diligence and find out if buying Oxycodone is legit or not. I have seen this sold in pharmacies many times before so one would think it is legal.

I am fully aware that heroin is illegal, there is no question as it is a controlled substance.

Thats where Oxycodone is different, it's a prescribed drug so it should be able to be used for recreational purposes.

Just modified your quote a bit to turn it into a very similar analogy.   

[aumameman]

I think its time to do some due diligence and find out if buying Oxycodone is legit or not. I have seen this sold in pharmacies many times before so one would think it is legal.

I am fully aware that heroin is illegal, there is no question as it is a controlled substance.

Thats where Oxycodone is different, it's a prescribed drug so it should be able to be used for recreational purposes.

Just modified your quote a bit to turn it into a very similar analogy.   

and I almost really ROFL!

In Australia you are well within your right to make a backup of Movies or CDs into a different format. This is a relatively new law which was passed a bit over a year ago as the politicians were listening to their MP3s in the park and they realized that they were breaking the law.

So it should be same for Arcade ROMS, which means I need to find a way of getting the games I want, which is where the 60 in 1 boards come in as I am interested in those vertical classics.

But I dunno if the 60 in 1 boards are really licenced and legit hence my moral debate.

The good thing (some would say bad) is the game boards are falling in price here as the Arcade centre is long dead and people are/have lost interest in Arcade games in favour for Xbox 360 and PS3.

[Katana Man]

Exactly.  If you own the real motherboard/ROM chip, you should be all set legally to run the ROM via MAME.

[Ginsu Victim]

Exactly.  If you own the real motherboard/ROM chip, you should be all set legally to run the ROM via MAME.

But like Saint said, there's really nothing to substantiate that claim.
With CDs and DVDs, it's legal to own a backup that you made yourself, but you can't download an ISO legally.
So it seems to me that owning a ROM backup would be legal only if you copied the ROM yourself from the original source.

Of course, I could be wrong. I talk out of ---my bottom--- all the time....

[Katana Man]

Yeah, it's probably never come up in court before, but if you owned the hardware, you'll win in court all day long.  Especially since the extracted data from a ROM chip is the same thing you'd get from a downloaded ROM.

[Ginsu Victim]

I just tried reading the DMCA and my head started hurting.

[aumameman]

Thanks everyone for your responses, I guess buying the game boards is the answer so I'll just have to decide what I really want.

P.S. Does any1 know if there is a Mame for Mac OSX still being developed/supported or a Linux version??

[Jdurg]

I think its time to do some due diligence and find out if buying Oxycodone is legit or not. I have seen this sold in pharmacies many times before so one would think it is legal.

I am fully aware that heroin is illegal, there is no question as it is a controlled substance.

Thats where Oxycodone is different, it's a prescribed drug so it should be able to be used for recreational purposes.

Just modified your quote a bit to turn it into a very similar analogy.   

and I almost really ROFL!

In Australia you are well within your right to make a backup of Movies or CDs into a different format. This is a relatively new law which was passed a bit over a year ago as the politicians were listening to their MP3s in the park and they realized that they were breaking the law.

So it should be same for Arcade ROMS, which means I need to find a way of getting the games I want, which is where the 60 in 1 boards come in as I am interested in those vertical classics.

But I dunno if the 60 in 1 boards are really licenced and legit hence my moral debate.

The good thing (some would say bad) is the game boards are falling in price here as the Arcade centre is long dead and people are/have lost interest in Arcade games in favour for Xbox 360 and PS3.

 

[superart]

edit

[aumameman]

No thats illegal. The only way you can legally play ROMS is if you own the original game board or if you have purchased the license from an authorized reseller.

Those who are getting ROMS "from a friend" or getting them from Bit torrent are breaking the Law.

[Havok]

If you buy the HotRod joystick, you get 14 legally licensed games with it:

1941
Block Block
Commando
Exed Exes
Ghouls'n Ghosts
Magic Sword
Mercs
Sections Z
Side Arms
Son Son
Street Fighter (Hyper Fighting)
Strider
U. N. Squadron
Varth

Not a bad deal for $99. Check it out here:

http://www.hanaho.com/

[my58vw]

Have I heard this before --- yes! - because I asked it about beatmania hardware!!

[superart]

edit

[aumameman]

No, I think you'll find most who are using custom built Arcade Machines have illegal ROMS installed. This is a reality that we all don't like as we say its preserving the games but in fact its still piracy.

If you own a licence for the game, weather it be the original game board or a licence purchased from an authorized reseller you can play the ROMS in MAME legally or you can download one of the very few legal ROMS from the MAME DEV website.

If you buy the HotRod joystick, you get 14 legally licensed games with it:

Not a bad deal for $99. Check it out here:

http://www.hanaho.com/

Great Idea, but I don't think they ship to Australia
If I can get them to ship to AUS I will get one for sure, well worth the $99 even if it was just for the game licences, but you get an arcade stick included..w00t!!!

[Katana Man]

Yeah, my ArcadePC Deluxe (from HanaHo) came with CD with 50 Capcom Games:
1941-Counter Attack (world),
1942,
1943-Battle of the Midway (U.S.),
Area 88,
Bionic Commando,
Black Tiger,
Block Block (World),
aptain Commando (world),
Carrier Air Wing (world),
Commando (world),
Exed Exes,
Final Fight (world),
Ghosts 'n Goblins (world set 1),
Gun Smoke (U.S. set 2),
King of Dragons (world),
Knights of the Round (world),
Last Duel (U.S. set 2)
Legendary Wings (U.S. set 1),
Magic Sword (world),
Mega Man-The Power Battle (Asia),
Mega Twins (world) Mercs (world),
Nemo (world),
Quiz   Dragons (U.S.),
Section Z (set 2),
Side Arms-Hyper Dyne (world),
Slam Masters (world),
Son Son, Speed Rumbler (set 1),
Street Fighter (world),
SF II-Champion Edition (world),
SF II- Hyper Fighting (U.S.),
Strider (U.S.),
U.N. Squadron (U.S.),
Varth-Operation Thunderstorm (world),
Vulgas (set1),
Willow (Japan, English),
Rockman, SF II Turbo-Hyper Fighting,
Gun Smoke (world),
SF II-The World Warrior (Japan 911210),
SF II-The World Warrior (Japan 910214),
U.S. Navy (Japan), 3Wonders,
Tiger Road,
Trojan (U.S.),
F-1 Drean,
Pnickies (Japan),
Quiz   Dragons (Japan),
Higemaru
 --All titles are registered Trade Mark of Capcom Entertainment for use under license by HanaHo Games Inc.