Your Opinion on Emulation

[Djinn]

I have seen this argument rear it's head before. And just like all the other times, it has evolved into a morality argument between a small few on the issue of what is legal, why it should/shouldn't be legal, and the implications of picking and choosing which laws to follow. We all know it is illegal. And those who are not 100% on the legality, are still pretty sure it just might be illegal. But comparing downloading music and media to murder and dealing is going too far. It does not prove a point to compare apples to oranges, no one looks morally superior or criminal genius.

In the same vein buying any of these games from a independent vendor at a flea market is in the same legally gray area. Someone is making money off of someone else' media. And none of the profit is making its way back to the developers. Not very likely that anyone will bring any litigation their way, but it is considered morally wrong yet no authorities do much about it.

The purpose of the thread was to voice one's opinion on the subject and not to ridicule which side of the moral line posters are standing. It might be smart to take a minute before people start flaming and the thread is locked.

 

[DeletedUser9]

This thread needs to stay on track and those bickering need to stick to the topic and follow the rules. We're not going to turn this into a thread of accusations and justifications.


Emulators are not illegal. ROMs are however. And that's an inescapable fact that needs to be realized: They are illegal. It is however also important to realize that there is a line between illegal and immoral. For example... Jaywalking is illegal. But what if there are no cars around? What could possibly be wrong with it? The same line of reason applies to almost anything, but especially to emulation.

On one hand, the companies put time and money into their job to produce these games. If they do not receive proper payment for this, will they continue to make them? Furthermore, there's an entirely additional factor: Aside from the payment the creators should receive for creating the game, what about your right to play it without earning it? I do believe in fair exchange, and I believe in earning things the proper way.

On the other, what's the harm in downloading a ROM for a game that can't be acquired in any legitimate way or one you already own? It hurts no one. You own the game, so why not be able to play it on your computer. Or there's no other way to get it and/or the creators will never get any payment for it anyway. Although, then there's the fact that by downloading it you are supporting the site hosting it at least in hits, and many ROM sites are no so well-intentioned.

So it's a case by case thing. I don't particularly use ROMs, but I wouldn't have any problem with using them in a handful of circumstances. Core reason I haven't is because I'm skeptical on any safe, totally virus-free sources.

 

[quordlepleen]

I don't use emulators myself but just trying out a game with one isn't too bad if you plan to buy the game. If you do it in replace of the game it's not so good. In truth it's your choice if you use them i can't stop you

 

[Connor]

I personally think that emulators make LP's and walkthroughs so much better with that extra quality boost they give you when recording. Other than that, the only time I would ever use them is for about 10 mintues of having fun with cheats and whatnot, that being said, I think emulators/roms should only be used if YOU OWN THE GAME.

Emulators are a bit of fun, but don't even compare to the fun of playing on a console. That's just my opinion though.

 

[Obscured]

my two cents:

yes, emulation is illegal, however let's put the example (my example) of banjo kazooie:

I owned a nintendo 64 which got lost with games, everything when I moved out to my current house...after this I tried to find all my games by other ways: some of them like OOT I found luckily on the VC, however i tried to find everywhere for Banjo Kazooie and it turns out I can only get it buying a freaking xbox 360 and then buying the game on their version of the VC...as you may understand, I am so not buying a xbox 360 just to buy a game that I already owned...

conclusion: yes it is illegal to emulate but there are many games that are hard to find/ can't be found by legal means and if I buy an used cartridge and an used console the company isn't making money out of it anyway...I think emulation is only right when you can't find the game you're looking for in a legal way, but if it is out there, buy it....

 

[athenian200]

I do not believe in creator's rights, and I am opposed to the DMCA and other regulations that help companies enforce copyrights. I don't agree that making a copy should be considered "theft." It's the creation of an arbitrary limitation that doesn't make sense, in order to preserve a stream of revenue that made sense back when that limitation was based on the need to produce physical media.

I will not download ROMs because it is illegal, but I am genuinely disgusted with the law, and believe it should be repealed. I think it's an example of the government selling out to corporate lobbyists. They always get laws passed that favor their agenda.

 

[JamesBond007]

I'm using emulators for a long time. Started with NES, then N64, and finally SNES and GB/GBC/GBA. All my favourite heroes came from emulated games. Although later I bought for comparison few N64 games for Virtual Console, but quality of these games are higher on PC. Even I can play few games (Like Zelda: Ocarina of Time) in my native Polish language on emulator.

 

[Jimmy]

I do not believe in creator's rights, and I am opposed to the DMCA and other regulations that help companies enforce copyrights. I don't agree that making a copy should be considered "theft." It's the creation of an arbitrary limitation that doesn't make sense, in order to preserve a stream of revenue that made sense back when that limitation was based on the need to produce physical media.

I will not download ROMs because it is illegal, but I am genuinely disgusted with the law, and believe it should be repealed. I think it's an example of the government selling out to corporate lobbyists. They always get laws passed that favor their agenda.

Care to elaborate on this view?

As a songwriter and aspiring musician I hope to get paid enough to afford the things I need/want (I'm not particularly a man of expensive tastes, so I'm really talking reasonable expenses). To be honest I wouldn't really mind people pirating my stuff as long as I had enough money for the above. I'd prefer for people to listen to it through piracy than not listen at all, but obviously would prefer people to buy stuff.

I think gaming is a different ball game though. New companies start out by getting loans to develop games, and when you are buying their games you are not only making the process worthwhile for them financially, but you are enabling them to develop more (hopefully better) games and keep their staff on the payroll. (I guess the same could be said for record companies.)

Is there anything immoral about copying a game that you already own? I wouldn't say so, unless you are planning to give/lend it to someone else outside of the people you are living with at the time (it's unreasonable to expect 2 people living in the same household to buy 2 copies of a game they both play). Should companies pursue people that do this? Probably not, unless it's a mass piracy organisation making lots of money. It's not worth their time.

I more or less agree with Axle on this.

 

[DeletedUser9]

Athenian, I would also like to hear you elaborate that. The way I see it (and I don't see how this can be interpreted any other way, which is why I'm curious now), copyright law exists for one reason, and that is to protect peoples' products. If you come up with an idea or create a piece of art, you alone have the right to profit off it. And if people can copy it and distribute those copies (even it they can't sell them) that will destroy the creators' business. If it becomes legal to do so it essentially would mark the end of art, music, movies, video games, and books as legitimate professions because people would no longer be able to profit off of them, meaning they would only every get created as a hobby (which means there would be hardly any, probably).

If you created a piece of art, should your right and ownership of that piece of art extend to more than just the physical painting? Shouldn't you have the right to sell it? That's what copyright law allows.

 

[Brave Huxley]

Ohh heavy topic, very heavy topic.

On the subject of emulation. I think it has it's wonders. Questions of morality and legal issues aside, I feel emulation is a ground opener to your nostalgic bone. For example, I love the LoZ series, have all the games, as well as the associated systems needed to play them. Problem is, they're all boxed away, neatly packaged inside bubble wrap and shoe boxes. I think it's more of a convenience then anything to have a program that allows you to play a 10 year plus videogame. I own all these games, and of course some of them I have only in ROM version, but it's still an amazing feeling going back and having a bit of fun playing them. Like a previous poster had stated, it's an amazing tool for guides and such, as well as having the ability to get into the hard wiring of those games and be able to see their inner workings. Texture modding Ocarina of Time to have the same graphics as Twilight Princess is amazing.

 

[LolGames4U]

I disagree with it because it's piracy and I want to go into the video game industry and start my own company and I don't want people stealing the games I make. Not that I do, but I will.

 

[Michael Heide]

[video=youtube;HU13dboXAz8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU13dboXAz8[/video]