I know that the admin here has a problem
with emulator talk, so I'll make my point
quickly.  One of the major reasons for
emulation of video games is that they have
been discontinued and are hard to find. If
it was easier to get games for Atari,
Coleco, etc, people wouldn't need to emulate.
If said games could be obtained legally
without too much hassle, I would do so,
but hunting garage sales and fleamarkets
is not always a success.  Arcade games are
emulated for several reasons:
 1. Some people love the classics but most arcades are too concerned
    with profit to keep them, and
 2. The units are too big to own.  Yes, a Pac-Man machine can be found
    for under $500, but who has room in their house for one?
Both of these problems are solved by programs such as MAME that enable
play of arcade classics at little or no expense, taking up no space
(well, hard drive space I guess), and the ability of the emulator's
owner to decide which games too have, rather than beg the arcade owner
to put in a Galaga machine instead of another Super Mega Hyper Turbo
Street Fighter 7: Tournament Edition machine.  Again, if these games
could be legitimately found without a hassle, people would do so.
--Dan Decker
--- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 
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