Just wanted to know. I know it isn't exactly the nicest thing to do, but seeing as the companies don't produce the games I emulate anyway, I don't mind downloading the occasional game for my visualboy advance, or my Project 64 
Poll: So, do you emulate?
- Thread starter Condorbeta
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To those looking to click 'No, that's stealing!' might I suggest that you look up the copyright laws in your country before you assume that stance? That's not a criticism, I just don't want people to miss out on the use of emus due to a lack of understanding about the laws governing their use, that's all
I do use emulators (Project64, SNES9x and Kega Fusion) as I have the original ROMs but nowhere to set up my old consoles. I download the ROMS that I own and occasionally play them through my PC. If games developers/distributers were willing to sell ROM images of old, out of circulation games for a small fee I would buy these and keep playing the old games that I love.
Right now my Sonic3+Sonic and Knuckles and Streets of Rage 2 ROMs get as much play as my Wii games. In some cases, older does not mean poorer gameplay. Emus are also a great way to get your handheld games up onto the 'big screen' of your TV or computer monitor.
I do use emulators (Project64, SNES9x and Kega Fusion) as I have the original ROMs but nowhere to set up my old consoles. I download the ROMS that I own and occasionally play them through my PC. If games developers/distributers were willing to sell ROM images of old, out of circulation games for a small fee I would buy these and keep playing the old games that I love.
Right now my Sonic3+Sonic and Knuckles and Streets of Rage 2 ROMs get as much play as my Wii games. In some cases, older does not mean poorer gameplay. Emus are also a great way to get your handheld games up onto the 'big screen' of your TV or computer monitor.
In almost all cases, distributing ROM images violates copyright. Obtaining and using them is fuzzier, but mostly only escapes prosecution because it is too much effort for copyright holders to chase down.dl_wraith said:To those looking to click 'No, that's stealing!' might I suggest that you look up the copyright laws in your country before you assume that stance? That's not a criticism, I just don't want people to miss out on the use of emus due to a lack of understanding about the laws governing their use, that's all
Generally, my emulating days are over barring the Virtual Console, mostly I can get what I want from there, or from other rereleases. (Now, where's my Chrono Trigger on VC?).
Though I will, when I get a new PC, get it set up to play my old import PS1 games, as they're still region locked for the PS3.
Unfortunately, downloading ROMs is illegal and that whole "but I own a copy" stuff is nonsense. Nintendo in particular has repeated time and again that they do not want you doing that, and that is certainly not part of your rights when you bought the game in the first place. You are allowed to make a back-up copy (and even that is a little tenuous), not download ROMs.
I'm not saying that is right, and it's true what you say, that downloading is the only way to get some of these games since they aren't sold anymore. But when the V& comes knocking you better use the back door.
It's the pirate life for me! I have pretty much every SNES and NES ROM locked away in a vault deep underground where they will be protected for centuries to come.
I'm not saying that is right, and it's true what you say, that downloading is the only way to get some of these games since they aren't sold anymore. But when the V& comes knocking you better use the back door.
It's the pirate life for me! I have pretty much every SNES and NES ROM locked away in a vault deep underground where they will be protected for centuries to come.
You beat me to the punch you swine!
I forgot about the virtual console, what a rip-off that is though. It's funny too because I am sure that they used code developed by the emulation scene to get their games working on the Wii. Now they get to turn it around and charge money for it.
I forgot about the virtual console, what a rip-off that is though. It's funny too because I am sure that they used code developed by the emulation scene to get their games working on the Wii. Now they get to turn it around and charge money for it.
There is another end to the emulation discussion; my saturn and ps2 are in a closet, and I don't currently own a tv (scary huh?). Fortunately due to emulation I can run all ... er except for Soul Calibur III ... of my saturn and ps1/2 games on my shiny computer~!
If emulating using the actual games is somehow illegal ~well gosh, i'm not sure I can bring myself to care.
The reason this isn't just plain silly is that emulators are region free, or region switchable rather, so I can snag old saturn imports on ebay if it catches my fancy. Ahh the flexability of pc gaming...
If emulating using the actual games is somehow illegal ~well gosh, i'm not sure I can bring myself to care.
The reason this isn't just plain silly is that emulators are region free, or region switchable rather, so I can snag old saturn imports on ebay if it catches my fancy. Ahh the flexability of pc gaming...
It's a rough subject. When it comes to illegal downloads, i've always had a stance on whether its actually physically attainable by any other source. I completely agree that the whole "I own the original game" thing is pure bullshit. If you own it, go play it. Every now and again i have a look on ebay to see what games i can aqquire for my megadrive (genesis) or SNES (Famicom). Sad fact is, some games cannot be got hold of. Those that own them don't want to sell them, and those that don't want to own them. It's not the consumers fault that the products don't exist anymore.
Near as damn all the decent PS2 and X-Box games are easily still aqquired, and by all rights my ps2 collection is big enough, so that area alone, but theres so many games i didn't have for my childhood consoles because my parents money bought games, so they were few and far between. I missed out on the entire battletoads series and as such downloaded them, enjoyed them, and then deleted them. That meant i could talk to a friend who once owned them, and had a, well for him it was a reminicing discussion, for me it was a talk about 5 minutes ago.
I think its a shame that companies are holding licences to games they no-longer produce. How the fuck do they expect us to play them now. I know that would cause people to wait till a games copywright expires and then aqquire it for free. But those same people would probably download it illegaly anyway.
I say yay for roms that are for games no longer produced, but don't go mockin the companies for being pissed when people are downloading games that are still on the shelves
Near as damn all the decent PS2 and X-Box games are easily still aqquired, and by all rights my ps2 collection is big enough, so that area alone, but theres so many games i didn't have for my childhood consoles because my parents money bought games, so they were few and far between. I missed out on the entire battletoads series and as such downloaded them, enjoyed them, and then deleted them. That meant i could talk to a friend who once owned them, and had a, well for him it was a reminicing discussion, for me it was a talk about 5 minutes ago.
I think its a shame that companies are holding licences to games they no-longer produce. How the fuck do they expect us to play them now. I know that would cause people to wait till a games copywright expires and then aqquire it for free. But those same people would probably download it illegaly anyway.
I say yay for roms that are for games no longer produced, but don't go mockin the companies for being pissed when people are downloading games that are still on the shelves
I'm proud of my ROMS. I find it annoying that ROM sites are so thoroughly policed.
Funny though, I'll use ROMS and Emulators, but I've never illegally downloaded music of movies. For some reason, that grates against my moral compass. I should really get that re-magnetized.
Funny though, I'll use ROMS and Emulators, but I've never illegally downloaded music of movies. For some reason, that grates against my moral compass. I should really get that re-magnetized.
I use ROMs to experience things I wasn't old enough to when they were released, like the NES.
With regard to legal issues, it would cost game publishers a lot more to eradicate ROMs than to accept them and discourage people from them, therefore the people who download ROMs shouldn't feel bad. They are part of the inevitable erosion that occurs in any market. Besides, it's not like movie or music piracy, where money is being made; people who make ROMs and release them don't make any money out of it. They do it because they feel the game is worth sharing.
With regard to legal issues, it would cost game publishers a lot more to eradicate ROMs than to accept them and discourage people from them, therefore the people who download ROMs shouldn't feel bad. They are part of the inevitable erosion that occurs in any market. Besides, it's not like movie or music piracy, where money is being made; people who make ROMs and release them don't make any money out of it. They do it because they feel the game is worth sharing.
I used to, but I noticed something odd about having twenty gigs worth of games for various consoles. Much in the same vein of having 200 television channels on digital cable instead of just the three networks and maybe PBS and a UHF station, I never played any of them. Oh, occasionally I would play a game for a while, but after a while I would get bored with it and then play other games, lasting on each about as long as I had Dungeon Keeper 2. For the record, my time playing Dungeon Keeper 2 was clocked in seconds. It literally took longer for the game to boot up than I did playing the damn thing before uninstalling. I guess the real problem with so many choices is that it's easy to get bored with them and then not choose any of them.
I use emulators for arcade games I can't obtain any other way short of buying a cabinet, and a few NES, and SNES games I'm nostalgic for.
Why do companies hold onto licenses for games they don't distribute anymore? They don't gain anything from it, so they don't LOSE anything when people emulate them. No harm, no foul, I say.
Now, if getting a genuine copy is possible, I take that route first (mostly because of ethics, but partially because most emulators are crud). Fortunately we have a great vintage game store here in Madison, not to mention the secondhand bookstores that always have a few really old games in stock, so I rarely have to download, plus Nintendo is now selling its vintage games for $5 on downloads for the Wii, which will net them a hefty sum.
But think back to the crappy spinoff consoles like the 32X and the Saturn, each one of those lasted about a week and a half, but each one had a couple of good games that were supposed to justify the extra purchase. Getting a copy of an old SNES game is one thing, finding a working 32X or Saturn to play 32X games on is quite another. So I do need an emulator from time to time.
Now, if getting a genuine copy is possible, I take that route first (mostly because of ethics, but partially because most emulators are crud). Fortunately we have a great vintage game store here in Madison, not to mention the secondhand bookstores that always have a few really old games in stock, so I rarely have to download, plus Nintendo is now selling its vintage games for $5 on downloads for the Wii, which will net them a hefty sum.
But think back to the crappy spinoff consoles like the 32X and the Saturn, each one of those lasted about a week and a half, but each one had a couple of good games that were supposed to justify the extra purchase. Getting a copy of an old SNES game is one thing, finding a working 32X or Saturn to play 32X games on is quite another. So I do need an emulator from time to time.
I have a couple DVD's with NES, SNES, Sega, and 64 roms because A.) I doubt I could find many, if any, of those games unless it was through ebay and for far too much money B.) If I did buy it through ebay the original publishers aren't seeing a cent of that money so why should they care if I choose to download it for free instead of paying some dork far too much money for a game? and C.) Because I'm not afraid of the FBI breaking down my door for downloading Bubble Bobble.
On the other hand I don't download many Playstation games, instead I make my own images of them and play off those and I haven't gotten into PS2 emulation because I never really played PS2 except for Armored Core and FFX and it's really too late for me to start now...
On the other hand I don't download many Playstation games, instead I make my own images of them and play off those and I haven't gotten into PS2 emulation because I never really played PS2 except for Armored Core and FFX and it's really too late for me to start now...
I've done it and do it, but really only so I can play games never released in English, so I consider myself on a morally solid state.
Count me among those who emulate the games I'm not offered. Even with arcade games I own a licensed multicade for the game room, but they still don't offer some of my favorites like I-Robot, Cruisin World, etc...(I bought the Wii Namco Museum just for Gaplus!) and while I don't mind the virtual console I think they put out too few games and don't have a really good solution for storage space. Developers make nothing off of a title they do not release...I'd be MORE than happy to see "Smash Packs" of old school arcade and console titles if they feel like they want my money...if not...well I'm not costing them anything...
I see studios sitting on their old games as a wasted opportunity. Take Time Crisis 4 for example...it's expensive, and it only plays the 1 game...if Namco simply offered older Time Crisis and Gunbarrel games on some PS3 disks they could make $$$ off of programs they already have sitting around and make the new gun seem like a better value...instead the new game doesn't make as much $$$ as it could, and the old games make no $$$ at all.
I see studios sitting on their old games as a wasted opportunity. Take Time Crisis 4 for example...it's expensive, and it only plays the 1 game...if Namco simply offered older Time Crisis and Gunbarrel games on some PS3 disks they could make $$$ off of programs they already have sitting around and make the new gun seem like a better value...instead the new game doesn't make as much $$$ as it could, and the old games make no $$$ at all.
