Well, like everybody else on the internet, when Wolfenstein 3d was removed from the abandonware sites I branched out in search of a nice version of Dig Dug. Yadda yadda yadda, I found MAME.
If you are currently looking to get into the MAME scene, but haven't the IRC prowess to obtain ROMS, then check out the Tombstone project. Google will do. Use the words "Tombstone Project." If you have $15.00 in postage to spare, then delivered directly to your hands (manos) will be DVDs and DVDs heaping full of arcade roms and other old stuff you'll never use. Or just go to http://www.allmyroms.com.
I quickly grew restless playing Ms. Pacman Champtionship Edition on my laptop. But i never considerrd building an arcade cabinet because people who build arcade machines are crazy, self-destructive psychopaths. But it didn't take much convincing to get me excited about building one. As soon as I found a job, I bought three pieces of particle board.
Sixteen nails later and I had The ZOOM MACHINE.
Often I would daydream about how much play my cabinet would get when finally I completed it. Would I be burned out on the whole arcade thing? Would all the hard work make me tired of looking at my creation? Would the massive amount of Japanese Quiz games and Mahjong Porn overwhelm and desensitize my attraction to arcade games?
Or... would my cabinet contain the same soul that the cabs of the 80's possessed? That mystical aura - the thrill of the unknown. Life. All of these questions were on my mind.
But yeah, I play that som-gun all the time.
Curiously enough, for some reason I'm not as skilled a Ms. Pacman Championship Edition player on joystick as I am with the arrow keys. meh.