Author Topic: Comments on Emulation (Read 2832 times)

WarioLandMan · « **on:** December 03, 2003, 11:41:58 AM »

There has been a lot of stuff on emulation. Sites holding ROMs seem to think it's okay, but Nintendo has been cracking down on them lately. I think emulation is good. I can play a lot of old arcade games and NES/SNES games that I wouldn't be able to play without an emulator. Post your comments!

gunblade88 · « **Reply #1 on:** December 03, 2003, 04:22:56 PM »

i think emulation should be legal and of course in this situation nintendo sony and sega would completely disagree. c'mon ive already played mario and luigi on gba!! now this is another arguable case of napster and metallica and they're probably not gonna crack down too hard on it until it becomes increasingly popular. i believe screech has a strong opinion on this topic and you should let him spill his guts out....(although some of his points of veiws are hipocritical) *cough* *cough* hehe screech dont take this seriously.

If winners never quit, and quitters never win, what idiot made the saying "Quit while you''''''''re still ahead"?

Hirocon · « **Reply #2 on:** December 03, 2003, 08:57:29 PM »

No, emulation should not be legal, it is blatant stealing. You may argue that the games are no longer being sold, bla bla whine whine, but as Nintendo has proven, the companies can always go back and re-sell classic games whenever they feel like it, and free emulation would destroy the profitability of this.

On a slightly different issue, however, I thing that video games (and all copywritten works) should enter the public domain much sooner. 75 years or whatever it is currently is way too long. I think the limit should be 20 years, or something similar. C'mon, people would still be creating things even if they could only have exclusive rights to their works for 20 years or so. Getting filthy rich for the rest of your life because of one good idea you had half a century ago seems ridiculous.

Also, I think public libraries should carry video games. They already carry books, music, movies, and other forms of copywritten work...so why the heck not video games? With everything else they waste our tax money on, would it be so terrible for them to give us free access to video games?

Luigison · « **Reply #3 on:** December 03, 2003, 11:16:43 PM »

It is and should be illegal, but mods are and should continue to be legal. It's illegal to download a ROM. Even if you own the game because you paid for the one you have, not for the copy you downloaded. But, it is not illegal to modify a game you legitametly own. Nintendo can't tell me not to play batting practice with my NES Duckhunt. But, they can tell me not to copy the game and sell or give it away. So, if I bought the game I can do what I want with it. It's kind of like it being illegal to make a CDR copy of a friends Pink Floyd CD, but not illegal to make a remix of Pink Floyd CDs you bought.

For example, I can play my NES and SNES games (including imports) on my N64 using a TriStar64. That's not illegal because I bought the games so I can do what I want with them (as long as I don't break other laws like using a XBOX to break a bank window). The same is true for using codes, tricks, cheats, glitches, and products like GameShark and Action Replay. Those modify the game and are legal. So, why would it be illegal to modify my game?

The only thing the guy that made Demo World is giving away is the file that modifies the Super Mario World game. He is not giving away the Super Mario World game itself. If you want to play Demo World you have to have Super Mario World. The same way the if you want to make a remix of Pink Floyd songs you have to have them already (legally I mean).

It's also kind of like Scary Movie 3 is a spoof of other movies. That's legal. They couldn't just copy the original movies and try to make money selling tickets to them though.

I don't know how Watoad did it. I had planned to leave this place, but keep coming back just to see what is goin on, and find something I must reply to. I also recently started posting on the official Nintendo forums and thought that would take up too much time and prevent me from being here, but there is no community there like there is here.

Edited by - Luigison on 12/3/2003 9:20:24 PM

Lizard Dude · « **Reply #4 on:** December 03, 2003, 11:29:47 PM »

Hiya! Good post; the XBox breaking the window made me smile.

â€œIâ€™m a stupid fatty and I love to play with my Easy Bake oven!â€

Hirocon · « **Reply #5 on:** December 04, 2003, 01:10:37 AM »

Are you sure such code modification is legal? Whenever I actually read those user agreements before installing PC software, I see prohibitions against decompiling, modifying, or reverse-engineering the code, etc.

Lizard Dude · « **Reply #6 on:** December 04, 2003, 01:28:44 AM »

Some PC companies actively encourage people to mod their games, so I'm also unsure of exactly what that means.

â€œIâ€™m a stupid fatty and I love to play with my Easy Bake oven!â€

TEM · « **Reply #7 on:** December 04, 2003, 04:02:23 PM »

Emus are evil.

Edited by - TheEggMan on Time slowed/and/Reality bent. But on:and:on the Eggman went. AM

Forest Guy · « **Reply #8 on:** December 04, 2003, 05:02:14 PM »

Emulators are downright illegal and evil. I'd write my opinions, but Luigison basically said what I was gonna say already.

I am Meowrik! The 5th Samurai Pizza Cat! beware the fearsome fury of my fiery Jalapeno Katana!

gunblade88 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 04, 2003, 06:26:31 PM »

i guess im outnumbered here...but think about it...you can copy a cd and give it away as long as you are not making money off of it....but as usual they want the copy to be a bought one...

im not gonna state anything else because it would be stating my opinion and of course we dont wanna start a flame war.

any way i wont be posting on this topic any more

If winners never quit, and quitters never win, what idiot made the saying "Quit while you''''''''re still ahead"?

Luigison · « **Reply #10 on:** December 04, 2003, 07:24:31 PM »

"you can copy a cd and give it away as long as you are not making money off of it"

Not legally if the work is still under copyright protection. Even if you are giving it away, you are taking money away from the artist(s), record label(s), etc. Your friend you gave it to might have bought the cd, but since you gave it to him, the copyright holders won't make any money off of it.

Imagin if Nintendo code for the new Mario 128 game was copied by Sony and then gave away. It is obvious that Sony would be thieves even if they gave it away. Same holds for your CDR copies.

Besides, some artists consider the cd case art, liner notes, and everything the whole package as the art. Without those you are taking away from the artistic presentation. A cdr of a Janes Addiction cd is not the same as the original cd with the twins on the cover art of it. JD made a big deal out of the record label making them change the cover.

Edited by - Luigison on 12/4/2003 9:10:20 PM

TEM · « **Reply #11 on:** December 04, 2003, 09:31:15 PM »

You misunderstand me, I don't care about emulations one way or the other.
Emus, the ostritch-like birds, are evil.

Edited by - TheEggMan on Time slowed/and/Reality bent. But on:and:on the Eggman went. AM

Screech · « **Reply #12 on:** December 05, 2003, 09:48:16 PM »

Ostrich like? I never really thought of them that way.

My policy is, if they're still making money from it, don't emulate it. M&L roms are evil and twisted and wrong and anyone who emulates it deserves to be beaten over the head with their motherbord.

"Walk softly and carry a Super Scope."

WarioLandMan · « **Reply #13 on:** December 06, 2003, 03:28:17 PM »

What about homemade ROMs? Are those bad, too?