Is Emulating Sketchy?

[Fahxy]

This is a topic that I've been wonndering about for a while. I know that, under certain circumstances, emulating on a computer is illegal. However, I do love it: it allows my to play my favorite old games without letting loose a lot of money. And, its illegal in the same way that downloading music is, right? it's not that bad... but at the same time, laws are put there for a reason. It is sorta like I'm stealing from the company. All the same, if I AM stealing, I'm stealing obsolete hardware that hasn't been sold by the companies for decades. What are your thoughts about it? am I doing something really bad, or am I just enjoying the stuff I've missed over the years?

 

[athenian200]

Technically, it's illegal in the US. But quite a few people do it. If they tried to prosecute everyone who did it, the jails would be rather full. I've never heard of anyone going to jail for using game images, though I have heard of people getting in trouble for hosting them. Even then, it's usually just a fine or (in some cases) a warning. There are countries where IP is not protected, however, and in those countries it's legal. Seeing as the web isn't region-locked... that means people are going to find material that local laws prohibit.

I think that in the future, they're going to enforce the restrictions by designing games and systems in such a way that it would be difficult for the typical home computer to emulate them. The Wii is already fairly close to this ideal, and I think future systems will push even closer to being so convoluted and monitored that no one will be able to emulate them easily or perfectly.

All they really need is to put the systems online, and require you to authenticate your game with Nintendo every time you play. Ideally, you wouldn't even get a physical disk... the content would be streamed, kept on a system with no kind of permanent storage, and have to be downloaded fresh from their servers every time. Eventually, the technology will permit that. It's closer than you think.

Still, I wouldn't advertise the fact that you use emulators on the Internet... just in case, you know what I mean?

 

[athenian200]

*Ahem*... I know it's not my decision to judge others, for I too know lots of people who use emulators, but... conversations involving illegal programs like emulators are actually prohibited here on ZD. You might want to keep a keen eye out for these things...

Ah... technically, emulators aren't illegal. They're just typically used to do something that is illegal, though they CAN also be used for other things.

I would assume that prohibition is more related to discussion of specific programs/games and people requesting them, rather than a general discussion of its legal status. There's no law against complaining about and analyzing the law, after all... and legal issues are the main reason discussion boards create such policies.

 

[Austin]

*Ahem*... I know it's not my decision to judge others, for I too know lots of people who use emulators, but... conversations involving illegal programs like emulators are actually prohibited here on ZD. You might want to keep a keen eye out for these things...

I'm pretty sure what's against the rules is discussing where to get various emulators and ROMs, not a discussion about whether the practice itself is right or wrong. I don't know for certain though.

EDIT: Ah, it seems that someone has beat me to the punch

 

[Kybyrian]

I'm pretty sure what's against the rules is discussing where to get various emulators and ROMs, not a discussion about whether the practice itself is right or wrong. I don't know for certain though.

EDIT: Ah, it seems that someone has beat me to the punch

Emulators are perfectly legal. ROMs, however, are not. You are only allowed to own a ROM if you own a copy of the game. It is also against forum rules to link to ROMs as it can get us in big trouble. The discussion of either of these, however, is perfectly fine. Just thought I'd point out that Emulators are actually not illegal.

 

[Majora's Cat]

@ Kybyrian

Really? I always thought that N64 and other emulators to play old games for free was illegal. I always thought of a version of "pirating". I remember reading the rules of Zelda Dungeon and it said something about not being allowed to have discussions about emulators. Anyway, I don't necessarily think that it's wrong, but there is something I don't like about being able to play a game without purchasing it. I always thought of those types of things as illegal, but from what Kyby said... I guess not.

 

[Shnappy]

Yes, it is a lot like stealing music. It's technically illegal, but the government isn't going to hunt you down. However, like Kybyrian said, it's legal if you own the game. I love to emulate (legally). It assists in easily getting screenshots for games, and most gaming websites such as Zelda Dungeon legally emulate to get their screenshots. As for illegally emulating, I've never done it for more than 10 minutes. I was doing it for a game I didn't have, and I'm a person that can't really live with guilt, so I stopped playing and deleting the files. But, just as long as you do it legally, you can play those old games as much as you want.

 

[AwesomeTingle]

Emulators are illegal... if you don't own the game For ex. I own a cycloDS, which is an emulator you put in your ds. You can put tons of games on one. But I only put on all the games I've bought, so its free and I only have one cartridge. Or, say you buy a game on Amazon. I play the game on my cyclo before it gets here. idk... thats just me

 

[ComposerBrother]

How about we add a poll to this?

My opinion about this subject is that yes, it is illegal for the roms to be downloaded (emulators are squeaky clean ^^)- but how could it impact the video game's sales if it isn't sold anymore?
Only playing old games (like gameboy+before) would not exactly be a problem to my conscience. If this applies to you, have fun downloading the emulators dude.

 

[AwesomeTingle]

Emulators aren't illegal, AT ALL. It's the ROMs that are illegal if you don't own a copy of the game itself. Emulators aren't games.

thats what I meant to say... but its like owning a gun. IT has the potential to break a law (kill someone), but that doesn't mean it will

 

[Link-182]

Well I owned a lot of games but lost them over moving houses and such, so I did download ROMS for those. That's not illegal is it?

 

[Deku man]

I think ComposerBrother has a point. Why would downloading ROMs affect the sales of games that are not sold anymore? I would think that's not a problem, but who knows, there could be issues with that theory.