For me as a European, it was the only possibility to play those games because I-VI were never released here on their original consoles (VII was the first one to ship to Europe) so that's the only way to play those games (other games as well, like Chrono Trigger) and I'm not a big fan of the DS/PSP remakes (yay for original experience).
1&2
4&5
6
All of these games run on the original Playstation (which you can get 2nd Hand for as cheap as 16€) and the PS2 (which is still available in German stores).
FF3 only came out for DS, that's true. But it came out. There is no need to play a pirated copy. And "yay for original experience" doesn't count, because the original games weren't released for PC emulators.
I am a firm believer in creators' rights. If I like a book, movie, video game, comic book or song, then I should pay for it through the usual channels. That's the only way to make sure that the creators involved make any money and can continue making solid entertainment.
I'll make an exception for games that
really aren't available anymore, not even in used condition, like Ancient Stone Tablets. However, the Final Fantasy games do not belong to that group.
Are [Virtual Console games] for their original consoles? No. They're edited version to work with the Wii, basically, NOT their original versions, therefore the original version shouldn't have anything to do with the VC version.
But you don't play the pirated ROMs on the original consoles. You play them on the PC or on an illegally modified console. So you might as well get the VC versions.
Anyway, even if it's illegal anyway, I don't care. I love old games, games that I lost and games that broke, I don't have the time nor money to get them and their consoles, so I emulate them.
That's a slippery slope. By that logic, you might as well steal a physical copy of the game from the store. Sure it's illegal, but why would you care? You love games and don't have the money, so you steal them. What's the difference? The difference is that it's easier to get caught if you shoplift. Downloading ROMs is much more convenient, and much less risky. But it's still wrong.
Don't misunderstand me. My reason for emulating is legitimate.
But actually doing it is not.
Use this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGM8PT1eAvY
Applies the same to video games.
Not available in my country.
I understand why some people don't like emulation. In my opinion it is because they are simply misinformed by companies and the media, who are greedy for every penny they can get, regardless of the fact that it may just be repackaging a 15 year old game and selling it for 10 dollars.
Of course they are greedy. But they are also right. Those games are their intellectual property, and they can demand any price they want. Yes, I think that 60€ for a new Wii game is a bit much, but that does not give me the right to steal it, no matter if it's online or in an actual store.
I mean, put yourself into their position for once. Imagine you are a software developer who had a great idea for a game. You live on Ramen noodles for a couple of months and spend all of your time creating that game. When it's done, it's an absolute masterpiece. You sell it to a corporation (let's call it
Nintendo), and they pay you an amount of money and royalties for every copy sold. The game sells a few hundred thousand copies, and your hard work pays off. Piracy however lowers the amount of copies sold, sometimes quite drastically. Nintendo sells fewer copies of the game, and you get less royalties. ROMs take food off your table. Which means that a game like Godhand 2 never gets made. And this is
not a made-up sob story.
So stick your fingers in your ears and sing "I don't care" all you want, emulation is still stealing, and stealing is wrong.