This post is for all those looking at the entire Game Room concept and asking, "What the hell?  Why?" 
 
My guess is unless you were old enough to have actually played these games in an actual arcade or on the early consoles in your best friend's living room, then this entire idea will seem silly and pointless.  However, as someone who did play many of these games at 25 cents a pop, this has the potential to be awesome.  Starting with these 30 titles and adding new ones each week, you get one session of Free Play with each title in the Showroom.  From my experience so far, one session appears to be one timed ten minute session and not simply one play as I feared when I read the previews.  You then can also get another session of Free Play in a friend's Game Room.  You also have in-game tokens that can be used for more Free Play sessions.  Finally, you can then spend 50 cents for more sessions.  However, given how much actual free play you get I don't understand why anyone would exercise the 50 cent option when the actual games are only $3. 
 
All this Free Play is important as the truth is that many of these titles weren't even worth 25 cents to play in 1980.  Sadly, the original group of 30 titles has a number of dogs. However, there are also some titles that were at least great then and a small few that have stood the test of time.  Is every game here worth $3?  Hell no.  However, there certainly are a few games that are worth it if you can look past old graphics and sound to see the quality in their game concepts.  I suggest using Free Play to find these.   
 
Sharing those few that have stood the test of time with my daughter is what makes the entire Game Room concept awesome in my opinion.  She is already positively in love with the Atari game Adventure. Just seeing the enjoyment she has received from the game has been well worth my 240 points.  I'll never forget when she first watched me load up the game and squealed, "Daddy, why is that duck trying to eat you?"**   
 
The competitive "challenge" aspect and the ability to rewind difficult games are just icing on the cake in my opinion.  
 

 
 
**For the uninitiated, Adventure is a quest like game where you are a warrior (actually just a box) out to find the keys to the three castles of the land in hopes of locating a magical trophy.  Your quest is to find the trophy and return it to the Gold castle while avoiding three colored dragons that look amazingly like ducks.  If you try it out, be sure to play scenario 3 where the placement of all items is randomized.  Scenario 1 is a small training scenario, and Scenario 2 is a larger fixed scenario.      

im old enough to have played some of those and i still dont want it. Then again, i also dont question people that do

This is a great service, if it's well executed. I for one, am really looking forward to getting back to basics and playing some old ass arcade games. Somewhat less excited for the 2600 titles, though I used to play a lot of 'em... 
 
But goddamn, son. Lunar lander. It's on!

" im old enough to have played some of those and i still dont want it. Then again, i also dont question people that do "

all i wanted was a good version of tempest and its done just that so its a win for me!!!

Well said, Jasonofindy. Compared to the games of this generation, yeah, quite a few of these titles wouldn't even come close to holding up. With a bit of nostalgia and appreciation for the old classics, they're well worth the few bucks. A lot of it's perspective, as far as I'm concerned.
 
I've only purchased Astrosmash in the Game Room so far, but as a person who grew up on Intellivision games, it is doing a lot to bring back my childhood. While that's not necessarily worth $3, the ability to have my high score saved and ranked, along with replays of my best efforts? Yeah, that makes it worthwhile.
 
I might own the old games, and I might own a few Intellivision collections already, but I'm still looking forward to any future titles that might pique my interest. I only wish that for the Intellivision, they'd add a "Dip Switch" feature that let you turn on controls similar to playing with two controllers, which let you use the disc and numpad at the same time for "run and gun" controls. That would make Night Stalker a must-purchase when it comes out.

I think it's a wonderful idea and I didn't even know about getting a free play with each game. That's an awesome idea. I imagine I'll be spending a whole lot of time checking out the game room.

Microsoft has done the impossible and has got me hooked on these 80s arcade games. I've never wanted to get a high score in anything before but now I'm obsessed. I've been playing Shao-Lins Road the most. I've never heard of it before, but its great. For those interested: I was born in '89.

Oh shit! Adventure is in there? I'm all over that!

"From my experience so far, one session appears to be one timed ten minute session and not simply one play as I feared when I read the previews. "

"If I really like a game, I'd even chip extra for the PC version too. I like this whole cloud concept they're using, if I can be issued a challenge on my xbox, go on vacation, and finish the challenge on my laptop, that's basically the future of games for me. Pure awesome.  

 "If microsoft made it easier to just hook a credit card into your account, and just start charging things, no buying points, then it could be a lot more popular. I know I'd spend a lot more money if I didn't have to think about buying a 30$ chunk of points instead of 3$ here, 3$ there kinda thing. That's the infectious steam model, I suppose.  " 

I got 55 achievement points for changing the theme to 80's and putting 8 chainsaws in my arcade.

This sums of my feeling exactly
 

" Microsoft has done the impossible and has got me hooked on these 80s arcade games. I've never wanted to get a high score in anything before but now I'm obsessed. I've been playing Shao-Lins Road the most. I've never heard of it before, but its great. For those interested: I was born in '89. "

"I got 55 achievement points for changing the theme to 80's and putting 8 chainsaws in my arcade. "

Game room seems like a good idea for all the people who had the old systems back in the 80s and 90s.

I like the idea that they're building a virtual museum for classic gaming enthusiasts. You can not spend a dime and at least appreciate it from that perspective. It's unfortunate,though, that some of the cabinets look really generic. That alone killed my intensive to buy some of the machines day one...why am i paying the same $3 for these half assed efforts? I'm a fan of cabinet art myself.

I'm old enough to have played these games when I was younger. 
 
I still don't see the point of this.

" I'm old enough to have played these games when I was younger.  I still don't see the point of this. "

You forget, "real hardcore gamers" have only existed since 2003. So they would have no interest in the before time. 

I respect people who want to play those games again, but goddam it has just been too long for me.

game room sounds pretty interesting. i don't think i will be getting any arcades. i don't find anything great with the avatars.

" This sums of my feeling exactly
 

"

I like the idea, Just right now it doesn't have anything I want.

" I like the idea, Just right now it doesn't have anything I want. "

" @owenneil said:

" I like the idea, Just right now it doesn't have anything I want. "

This.  My earliest arcade memories start around 1990 so the current game room looks like the shittiest arcade ever created compared to my memories of the arcade.  There were better games in the broken laundromat cabinet than what game room currently offers.  I hope that there's a way to transfer XBLA games to Gameroom.  Stuff like Final Fight Double Impact, Crazy Taxi, Afterburner, Double Dragon, Outrun, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Metal Slug, Soul Caliber, TNMT arcade, etc are the style and quality level of games that I remember playing in the arcade when I was a kid.  Centipede and Breakout are the best titles in game room so far and those were like laundromat quality titles for me.  Where's the 6 player X-Men game, Captain Commando, Simpsons, any 2D Capcom Fighter, etc? "