Your opinion on emulators.

I feel emulators shouldn't really be illegal if you own the game in some form, like my SMB3 rom could be countered with my physical copy of super mario advance 4. Even that rom is mostly just used to piss around with game genie codes, so I've really stolen a game genie more than a game.

Also, netplay isn't offered anywhere else and is in my eyes also viable
 
Like I said, Emulators are not illegal, ROMs are, even if you already own the real thing.
However, if you create the ROM yourself, instead of downloading it, then it is legal for own use.
 
I'll use an emulator if the game in question is incredibly expensive/hard to get and is not worth going to the lengths to obtain it when I might end up hating it.

Also, for Pokemon Monotype Challenges. I'm not buying 18 of the same game for each generation sorry. Also, I need certain hacks for certain types to be able to even begin the challenge (Dragon, Ghost, Ice and a few others for specific generations)
 
Xpike said:
Emulators are fine to play games that are almost impossible to get, or weren't released at all, like Mother 3, but I am strongly against using them for piracy if there's legit means to get the game new.
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Was Mother 3 a japan-only n64 game? Just curious.

My opinion on emulators is that they are for people who either can't afford the original game or console, or they are for people who sold all there games and consoles and just have a computer in there possesion but still want to play some classic games. I've personally used emulators at some point in time and I like them, but nothing beats using a controller and good old cartridge based game.
 
MKGirlism said:
One note for the people who didn't know that: Emulators are not illegal for 2 reasons:
1. Emulators made by Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft/Apple/Google are used to Debug on, and are only meant for Developers.
2. Emulators made by 'generic' people don't use anything illegal in their products when shipped, and it doesn't break any currently existing law.
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1. They have never released these to the public, as far as I know, so you can't use these.
2. While this applies to old emulators, more recent ones like Playstation emulators, need a BIOS file that would be ilegal to download, the only legit way to get them is using your own console to rip it. Apart from the fact that getting the ROMS for free IS illegal if you don't already own the license to the product in another way, and I don't think you would download an emulator without any games to play.
 
I suppose I can see why some people do use emulators as they seems useful fore rare/unreleased games along with screenshotting. However, I an afainst getting rons of perfectly available games. I think game companies should sell roms, so people can enjoy the use of an emulator without it being illegal.
 
Phantom L said:
I suppose I can see why some people do use emulators as they seems useful fore rare/unreleased games along with screenshotting. However, I an afainst getting rons of perfectly available games. I think game companies should sell roms, so people can enjoy the use of an emulator without it being illegal.
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They sell ROMS, but with the Virtual Console service or PSN or XBLA. If they wanted you to play all games on the PC, they would develop for PC, but there's a reason the console market exists.
 
To be honest, if you download a rom or emulator off the internet, it's not really you that going to get in trouble anyway. Only the people who upload them are the ones doing the illegal stuff. The downloaders are the innocent ones unless they upload it also. However, they are still innocent if they got it from another website and just uploaded it on another. In a nutshell, the "core" source of the actual rom is the person doing the illegal stuff. The reason why the law doesn't really do much about it is because they can't really track down online pirates as easy as they can track down black-market DVD and CD sellers. Also, most people who download roms try to find a way to legitimately get the actual game as soon as they can. I am one of those people.

Rom hacks and stuff like that aren't really illegal since it is kind of their own version of that game. Kind of like how kirby's avalanche is nintendos version of puyo puyo and dr. robotniks mean bean machine is sega's version of puyo puyo. However, I do have a "theory" that it could be still illegal since they do not own the rights to edit or distribute the game online. You may wonder if that makes "fan games" illegal. Well no, fangames are made by "fans" and they usually are their "own original take on the game" so that makes it completely okay unless they try to copy another game and don't add any original things to it like levels and enemies.
 
Xpike:
1. Only the Nintendo and Sony ones are not Public, the others are. In Microsoft's case, all but Xbox 360.
2. No, even when owning the license, it's still illegal to download the game. And again, my only purpose of using Emulators, is for the games I make, so in the end, I can get Emulators without Downloading games.

Lily:
You maybe don't expect it, but every game sold is a ROM, just not as a file, for the most of the time.

Chillv:
ROM Hacks aren't legal for being custom, it's more of a grey area (not legal and not illegal).
At least, it depends on what ROM Hacks.
Pre-patched Anti-Piracy ROMs are, in fact, ROM Hacks as well, and these are illegal.
If you look at Mario Kart Zero, in another fact, it's part legal, because it's highly customised, and part illegal, because it uses Mario Kart DS as a core, which is commercially available.
 
Usually, I think game companies sometimes don't really care too much about free distribution of ROMs. I mean, compared to you making money off ROMs, that's a different story.