Ace Alabama
PJ64 Member
Why? Nintendo worked their asses off on the Wii, and there is an emulator. That makes them feel like crap! (My opinion.)
The Use Of EMUs ANd Roms Illegal?!?!?!?!?
- Thread starter ShadowUmbreon50
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Reverse engineering hardware to create an emulator is legal no matter how current the system is. Emulators are used by Nintendo themselves quite extensively now, perfectly legal. What is illegal in the Western World is the unlawful downloading of copyrighted works.
I believe the whole issue is very gray.
In case law, there have been very few cases if any, that resolve this issue, so according to case law, the legality of emulation is undecided.
According to written law, emulation software is clearly legal. Backward engineering is a legitamate method of using software. When you buy a game, you have a choice of how you wish to use that game, and if you choose to use it through an emulator that uses backward engineering, you have acted legally.
Roms and ISO's can be legal, depending on
1. How you acquired the ROM/ISO
2. If you have permission from the copyright holder to use the rom.
3. If the software is under copyright laws
If you downloaded the ROM, but own the game, this is a very grey area, and the law is not clear, you might be acting illegally, you might not.
If you downloaded the ROM, to try the game and then buy it or delete it, this is a grey area again, but your probably acting illegally.
My opinion is that Nintendo should not be trying to sell us something they have already sold us. It should be that if you own a game, you have already bought the right to play the game, and you should not feel guilty about playing it on an emulator.
I think that any game that is recent, should not be emulated out of respect for the people who are making money out of it.
However, once a game reaches a certain age, about 5 years is fair, then the game should become public domain. The developer has had plenty of chance to make money out the game, the game will have become less valuable as an assett and people who can not afford the silly asking prices of games today, should be allowed to play these games.
In case law, there have been very few cases if any, that resolve this issue, so according to case law, the legality of emulation is undecided.
According to written law, emulation software is clearly legal. Backward engineering is a legitamate method of using software. When you buy a game, you have a choice of how you wish to use that game, and if you choose to use it through an emulator that uses backward engineering, you have acted legally.
Roms and ISO's can be legal, depending on
1. How you acquired the ROM/ISO
2. If you have permission from the copyright holder to use the rom.
3. If the software is under copyright laws
If you downloaded the ROM, but own the game, this is a very grey area, and the law is not clear, you might be acting illegally, you might not.
If you downloaded the ROM, to try the game and then buy it or delete it, this is a grey area again, but your probably acting illegally.
My opinion is that Nintendo should not be trying to sell us something they have already sold us. It should be that if you own a game, you have already bought the right to play the game, and you should not feel guilty about playing it on an emulator.
I think that any game that is recent, should not be emulated out of respect for the people who are making money out of it.
However, once a game reaches a certain age, about 5 years is fair, then the game should become public domain. The developer has had plenty of chance to make money out the game, the game will have become less valuable as an assett and people who can not afford the silly asking prices of games today, should be allowed to play these games.
Doomulation
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I don't agree with you there. As we have seen with Nintendo, they're not re-releasing old titles through emulation on the Revolution. And what if you haven't bought that game in the past? Then it is only fair that you pay again, because whatever you say, companies DO earn money of those downloads. If games became PD after 5 years, then Nintendo wouldn't be able to take a price for those downloads and the companies who made them wouldn't get anything either.
Remember that Nintendo has invited companies to make games for an older system that can be downloaded and played via emulation on the Revolution.
I think it comes down to this basic arguement
Nintendo believe that;
As they own the rights to the intellectual property (ie, their computer games), then no one has the right to play that game unless they have bought the game, regardless of weather the game is currently for sale or not.
I believe that this is wrong, I believe that the law should be this
If you own the right to the games, but you are not currently selling the game, then you have forfeited your right to that property. Just because you have invented something does not mean you can deprive the rest of the world of it after it's shelf life has expired, ie, 5 years after the game came out.
Basically, Im against current copyright laws and I think that the inventor of something, should only have limited time to make use of that invention, and after that time anyone should be able to take advantage of it. Current copyright laws are regressive and make technological advancement more difficult, for the sake of the inventor.
I think thats sum it up.
Nintendo believe that;
As they own the rights to the intellectual property (ie, their computer games), then no one has the right to play that game unless they have bought the game, regardless of weather the game is currently for sale or not.
I believe that this is wrong, I believe that the law should be this
If you own the right to the games, but you are not currently selling the game, then you have forfeited your right to that property. Just because you have invented something does not mean you can deprive the rest of the world of it after it's shelf life has expired, ie, 5 years after the game came out.
Basically, Im against current copyright laws and I think that the inventor of something, should only have limited time to make use of that invention, and after that time anyone should be able to take advantage of it. Current copyright laws are regressive and make technological advancement more difficult, for the sake of the inventor.
I think thats sum it up.
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with virtual consoles of a sort on all 3 new consoles, publishers now have the opportunity to make money off old titles, all the way back to '70s arcade games. This completely changes the situation regarding emulation and rom downloading, not from a legal point of view, but in the sense that it now represents a loss of income for publishers, which wasn't the case when the games were not available to purchase anymore.
you can bet that they will over the next few years be going after rom download sites, like the music industry has over music downloads. So just be grateful you got your roms while they weren't paying attention- in a few years they'll be very hard to get...
you can bet that they will over the next few years be going after rom download sites, like the music industry has over music downloads. So just be grateful you got your roms while they weren't paying attention- in a few years they'll be very hard to get...
Doomulation
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Not if you know where to get them. There are some places that just won't go away.
Flash
Technomage
I think they must actually do something, not just collect money for what they did 20,30, 40 years ago. For example they can run multiplayer gaming service for emulated games, translate and release old games that were never released outside Japan (Fire Emblem series, etc) and if you want access to this stuff from your (insert console name here) you must pay a small fee, for example $20 per month for multiplayer service and access to downloads and $10 for each translated, updated, extended game. It will work.
There's no copyright for Beethoven's works but musicians can get some money, right ?
Linux is free, but if you need technical support or want discs and printed manuals you'll pay some money.
Doomulation
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Nonsense. They are games - created by some develop. They were never free. They were never created for free, they were never sold for free. So why should it change now?
The point is to experience our old games exactly as they were experienced before. And due to their age, hence the low price. I'd rather they were free, yes, or at least cheaper, but from a company's standpoint... I'd charge for 'em. The copyright hasn't expired either.
The point is to experience our old games exactly as they were experienced before. And due to their age, hence the low price. I'd rather they were free, yes, or at least cheaper, but from a company's standpoint... I'd charge for 'em. The copyright hasn't expired either.
Your army can still rebel against you, and potentially kill you, or worse, the enemy side kills you, but yeah, the world isn't fair, but we cope with it as best we can...
i know
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