There is one other issue, and some of the original programmers of the arcade games emailed me about it. It seems some of them are upset that the emulator programmers are getting all the recognition.(posted 9674 days ago)A lot of the older games don't have the names of the original programmers on the screen. What has this got to do with high scores? Well, I know if I was one of the original programming guys, I wouldn't want pirated versions of my game getting lots of recognition. After all, a lot of the so called clone games are really pirated copies. That means that someone hacked the title screen, and stuck there name on it. (Of course, there are legitimate licenses as well). So why debase the original guy's work? I would rather the original game get preserved, not the copy. I don't have a problem with a European version, a Japanese version and an American version all having scores, as long as each one is distinctive. If not, pick one and be done with it. How difficult would that be? Of course games like World Heroes, World Heroes 2 and World Heroes Perfect are all distinctive. Clearly this games should be treated separately. But that is a far cry from digdugat, digdugnm and dzigzag. Namco developed Dig Dug, and licensed it to Atari, then some moron pirated it and called it Zig Zag. All 3 are identical, except some of the title screens. As for Galaxian, I would say there are really 2 versions to consider: Galaxian (Namco) and Super Galaxian, which was much more difficult.
I think some of the licenses are really on the borderline. My own personal opinion on it is that the original manufacturer's version is more significant than the licenses, and most of them are not distinctive from the original. I can't speak for Chris, I'm just offering my own viewpoints. Chris as been gracious enough to allow MARP to be sort of a feeder site for Twin Galaxies, and at the same time remaining distinctive with it's own take on arcade history. I only use scores which follow very strict rules, and then only after asking the player first.
Ultimately the choice is Chris'. I do like the competition on MARP, and let's face it, a dynamic site is more interesting!
I think there is room for more than one viewpoint here.
Mark