Simple Noob question

[Memory-sniper]

I don't have a working cd-drive. Can I still play games with dolphin. I'm looking to play twilight princess. Also is it legal if you actually own the game? I have TP but no gamecube or working drive so this really kinda sucks. Help is appreciated :).

[NepSquare]

Well, it is "illegal" when you play the original disc in another system than what it's meant to be played on. Even if you use a backup.

But we are not playing here ;)

There's no piracy involved anyway, you are not exactly infringing copyrights of the media, but actually the gamecube itself. I don't know what to call that, but probably if shit hits the fan on a big scale, Big N can say they lost income on sales of gamcubes due to people being able to play the games on another system. That's the "illegal" part.

But this is something different, I see the emulation community as something educational, and we use it also that way... Sometimes people mistake Dolphin with commercial or other software, but it's purpose is different.

So educate yourself, and njoy what you learn and know that this is not a way to be able to "play" GC games on pc, but it's a gateway that interpets software in a totally different way....And I must say, I like the possabilities.

Just one side note before I start to help this thread, and I'd like not to get in a discussion about this one BUT:
--Owning the game that you made a backup from doesn't matter, if we are talking about emulation: No GC involved nor do you ever "play" your backup.
--Not owning a game but deleting it after 24hrs is pure cr@p. I've never seen so many disclaimers on R0m sites since one guy thought of this one. Nowhere on the planet there's a written law for this. People just copy eachother, that's it.

So, all "legal" stuff aside, if you don't own a gamecube (no exploit possability) nor a >DVD< drive, then you are not able to load the medium onto your pc. And that means....yeah.
Making a backup at a friend's house is illegal, just kidding, it's doable. :)

Peace,

Nepsi.

[emwearz]

Well, it is "illegal" when you play the original disc in another system than what it's meant to be played on.

Thats totally false.
(example, it is perfectly legal to use pcsx2 as long as you own the console from which you dumped the bios from and the original game).

[NepSquare]

You're right, you mean in that case the console manufacturor and the game distributor wouldn't suffer any loss, everybody wins. Thx!

[Tyseah]

Good evening everyone (or should I write "morning" ? xD)
Well, I'm posting in this topic as I have a noob question and I thought it good not to open a new topic for such a stupid question.
Then, here's the question : Which version of Dolphin do I have to download if I have an Intel Core 2 Duo with a 32-bit Vista ?

[Agozer]

The regular one. The new x64 build with dual core optimizations doesn't work with a 32-bit operating system.

[[SS] Starscream]

Thats totally false.
(example, it is perfectly legal to use pcsx2 as long as you own the console from which you dumped the bios from and the original game).

It's not false. GC games were made to be used ONLY on the GC and anything else is not what was intended and therefore we are using their software in an illegal way.

If they wanted us to use their software on whatever we wanted to use it on they would have made GC discs run on a simple DVD drive with our PC's. If they wanted us to play mario games on our PC's they would have released PC versions of all their games, but they did not.

Now, i don't think it is as bad as not even owning the game and stealing the download online, but i still believe Nintendo would not approve of this.

I think as long as people believe in their own minds that they are not doing anything illegal then it's ok with them.

[Toasty]

Starscream;388122']GC games were made to be used ONLY on the GC and anything else is not what was intended and therefore we are using their software in an illegal way.
Wrong. If that were true it would be illegal to play GC games on a Wii too.

[NepSquare]

Nope, that IS a licensed Nintendo Console, a pc isn't.

[[SS] Starscream]

Wrong. If that were true it would be illegal to play GC games on a Wii too.

What kind of silly argument is that?

Nintendo made the Wii and wanted GC games to be used with the Wii. What you just said makes absolutely no sense.

[Toasty]

If I buy a book and decide to tear out the pages and use them as toilet paper, it's not illegal just because the author didn't "intend" for the book to be used that way. Would you mind showing me what law leads you to believe it's illegal to play a legally acquired game on an emulator?

[[SS] Starscream]

http://www.nintendo.com/corp/faqs/legal.html#IPR

Read this. I think you could read between the lines without the actual wording being there as i wrote my response above.

I'm not here to make trouble for anyone here, i enjoy emulators and have no problem playing games i bought on my pc, but that does not mean it's legal.

[[SS] Starscream]

I guess this is all you need.

How Does Nintendo Feel About the Emergence of Video Game Emulators?

The introduction of video game emulators represents the greatest threat to date to the intellectual property rights of video game developers. As is the case with any business or industry, when its products become available for free, the revenue stream supporting that industry is threatened. Such emulators have the potential to significantly damage a worldwide entertainment software industry which generates over $15 billion annually, and tens of thousands of jobs.

[Tyseah]

Wosh, thank you for you reply.
Well, peace & love !
Let's say that it's neither completely legal nor completely illegal, ok ?

[Toasty]

But what Nintendo feels and what's law are two different things. It's a fact - emulators are used to play unauthorized copies of games. However, they can also be used to play games that people did legally acquire. In fact, when used in that capacity, they do little or no damage to the industry. (Game companies count on games, not consoles, for profit, and often end up losing money on console sales.)

Emulators themselves do not infringe on copyright (unless they steal source code or something like that, but that's illegal regardless of the type of program being written), and hence are legal. Using a legitimate copy of a game or other software in an emulator is also legal. Using an unauthorized copy of a game in an emulator or in the console it's designed for is copyright infringement and is illegal.

[Mantorok]

Actually, the law is pretty clear. You're allowed to make a copy of any software for archival purposes. However, an archival copy is just that: you're not supposed to use it as an alternative to the original, you're supposed to use it when the original media fails (i.e. the disc is too scratched to be read by a drive). Also if the original media is physically destroyed or sold, you must destroy the archival copy.

[NepSquare]

Since there is no legal way to make backups for our NGC games, can we assume Nintendo thought ahead (like dreamcast "backups") of that one? Does this render making NGC backups illegal? Hmmm.

If there is a legal way to make backups, thus not even thinking about it's final purpose (archiving OR piracy), it's practicaly legal like Mantorok said.

However, Toasty, ALL Nintendo games are licensed by who? Nintendo. Even game developpers need to aqcuire the Nintendo License to produce a game for that console. The NGC is also licensed by you know who, so why do you think Nintendo licenses their consoles AND their games? So that they can be played ONLY in that combination(and they make money for "registering" each new title anyway, let alone a sh!tt! one or not).
Not doing so will either make them loose money over consoles (if the emu community is big enough) or the games. It's their maket, both hard- and software....So....it's perfectly illegal in my opinion.

(Also, there's no legal way of running unlicensed software on a NGC, so why would it be legal to run licensed NGC software on a pc??)

Just a side-note: As long as they sell NGC games licensed for Gamecubes on the worldmarket, it's illegal to play on a other system than NGC...After a console dies, no more profit is being made, so no more infringing possible. So nobody cares... BUT: Backward compatability fixed that problem for console makers and game developpers a long time ago. So I rest my case, packup my bags and head to Moonbase Alpha, where international laws don't apply...

Can anyone share some public domain Roms for my NGC? Oh right! That's illegal too! ;)

Sorry, I bore myself a lot in general, it could reflect my judgement on this matter...

[Sercio]

Cant some just lock this thread and stop this stuff?

[zaba_3]

Cant some just lock this thread and stop this stuff?

I dont see why this should be locked..

[[SS] Starscream]

Cant some just lock this thread and stop this stuff?

Haha. What he means is, please someone do something so this illegal talk about emulators stops, i want to continue using dolphin "legally" in my own mind.


The concept is a real easy one to grasp. Nintendo makes their licensed games to be used on their licensed console. Period. Anything else we say to justify that is just us trying to do whatever we can to keep our favorite game emulator going for ourself.

Without emulators being made, millions of illegal copies of Nintendo games on the internet would have no reason to be there, with no emulator to play them on.

Some of you are too stubborn to admit what i'm saying is right so i will end this here.