Poll: Am I a bad person to use Emulators?

[rob_simple]

Part of intellectual property is the right to control your intellectual property. That is, not just that you can sell it but also that you choose not to. If a game company doesn't want to sell a game in the US, that doesn't magically give you the right to the game. You are nto only breaking the law, but you are violating someone's rights. That's not cool.

You are completely right from a legal standpoint, but someone creates something that would bring joy to hundreds of people then chooses not to share it with the world? Fuck them and their rights.

 

[Winterfel]

That one day when game companies like Nintendo realises that they can make and sell their own emulators and roms for older gen consoles without any greater effort.
I mean if you can't beat them..

 

[AngloDoom]

I really only use Emulators on games I have but, for whatever reason, I cannot play.

A good example is Breath of Fire III - I have the game, but my console long ago gave up on life and I have no way of playing it and the disc is scratched to the point I'm not sure it'd play any more anyway. Therefore, I now play the game on an Emulator.

Similarly, I have Digimon World but still no Playstation: so I would download a Rom for the game, if I found one that worked on my Emulator...

But I haven't found one. This makes me a sadface.

 

[Atmos Duality]

AS IT APPLIES TO RETRO-GAMING:

You might get the legal finger waving from the more pretentious sorts.

In reality, most of those old titles aren't being played in significant quantities anymore, and the developers are almost certainly not going to see any dividends from those that actually are still on sale anyway.

The publisher will, but no big publisher will fund games that look that dated anyway, so you can't even influence the market that way either.
(As far as I know, only Capcom did it for Megaman via Wiiware, and now even Megaman is dead)

 

[FoolKiller]

For example, if someone were to emulate Super Mario 64 even though you can easily get it on the Wii's Virtual console then they're still in the wrong.

What happens if you have an N64 but not a Wii?

Or better, how about a game that is ridiculously priced and hard to find: Suikoden.

If you have a PlayStation, that game goes for well over 100 USD on ebay. No store carries it anymore. You can buy it on PSN if you have a PS3. Say I have a PlayStation, but no PS3. Where do you stand on that?

 

[ToastiestZombie]

For example, if someone were to emulate Super Mario 64 even though you can easily get it on the Wii's Virtual console then they're still in the wrong.

What happens if you have an N64 but not a Wii?

Or better, how about a game that is ridiculously priced and hard to find: Suikoden.

If you have a PlayStation, that game goes for well over 100 USD on ebay. No store carries it anymore. You can buy it on PSN if you have a PS3. Say I have a PlayStation, but no PS3. Where do you stand on that?

Like I said, emulators are an incredibly grey area. I can't see any way to get around it, so yeah, can't help with that.

 

[Wintermoot]

dev's weren't going to make money of you anyway.

 

[zehydra]

My feelings are, if Nintendo (or whoever) isn't selling the product anymore, then you should be free to emulate the game, since any copy of the game you get at this point is going to be used anyway.

Used games sales do not go to Nintendo, obviously

 

[WorriedSandwich]

If you were emulating a modern console, say an Xbox 360, then yes, you would be a horrible person. But if the game is from the PS1 era or further, then I'd say it's okay.

There's nothing wrong with Emulation, a lot of people are doing it for the Wii and PlayStation 2 since it provides about 10x better visuals and it's not illegal. Provided you own the games of course.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=427321
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=356785

Spoiler

Excuse me, but what are the first two pictures from?

OT: Agreeing with the general consensus here. If it's impossible to obtain a retail copy of a game, emulating is OK. If the developer is still around, consider donating/buying their next game.

 

[wookiee777]

I'll be honest, piracy for older systems in my opinion is a good thing. I think it keeps a system's legacy going. Look at the Dreamcast, which has tons of things being made by pirates. These things give owners who are aware about the emulation/homebrew scene something to add to their system and keep it fresh.

The people who release emulators and homebrew work hard on it too and aren't paid for anything. I actually bought a PSP 1000 specifically for the purpose of using homebrew games on it. My only real rule when it comes to piracy is not to take from modern independent developers, no matter how bad their business practices are.

Wait...there's an answer in my rant here somewhere...there it is! No, you aren't a bad person and you shouldn't feel ashamed for using an emulator.

 

[Tenkage]

Man never thought I'd get so many replies, thanks for all your opinions...yeah Emulating is grey, but without it, many good games might fall into the cracks of time, never to be seen again....besides How else am I supposed to play Mother 3? Wait for Nintendo of America to put it out...they aren't going too, pretty much they know about the fans who want it, but they don't care. But thats another story

 

[xplosive59]

I am fine for using an emulator for games at least 2 generations old (mainly Snes, N64, PSX and GBA games), wouldn't use a PS2 or game cube emulator though, also I doubt my PC could run those games.

 

[Something Amyss]

You are completely right from a legal standpoint, but someone creates something that would bring joy to hundreds of people then chooses not to share it with the world? Fuck them and their rights.

That's a rather selfish viewpoint there.

 

[Smeggs]

If a game is over 15-20 years old I'd say it's fair game. People who made it probably aren't getting money from it if you managed to buy it anyway.

^This.

It's at the point now where a lot of the old games from my childhood are virtually impossible to find. Isn't it better, then, to be able to at the least download them freely rather than let them fall into non-existence after twenty+ years? I mean it's practically the same thing with old movies, just that they sometimes show those movies on TV as well.

I've got a few of the GBC games on emulator, like Pokemon Red and Silver, and some from SNES, like EVO, FFVI, and Yoshi's Island.

 

[Bocaj2000]

what? You're playing games that you would otherwise never be able to play? Why would this be a problem?

 

[rob_simple]

You are completely right from a legal standpoint, but someone creates something that would bring joy to hundreds of people then chooses not to share it with the world? Fuck them and their rights.

That's a rather selfish viewpoint there.

No, selfish is creating art and then refusing to share it with the rest of the world for no good reason.

The view I am championing is, in fact, the exact opposite of selfish.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

I see nothing wrong with this. Some games are just too hard to aquire/simply not available these days, meaning emulation is pretty much the only option. However, if an old game IS available for legal download on Virtual Console, PSN, XBLA or whatever then I say buy it.