there's also the fact that most games I would gladly fork over cash for are just NOT availale anymore anywhere since the distributor either a. went out of business b. stop supporting the product entirely.
In those scenarios, the temptation to go get a ROM is incredibly high.
Not something I do since most of my gaming happens now a days on my DS (with actual cartridges and stuff) but I can clearly understand where people are coming from.
And you know what, if companies were to find a way to make these commercially available to us, I would be more than happy to fork over some money for it.
i.e. I would love to support Capcom and buy a collection of their CPS-1/CPS-2 chipset games. I know some of them are out there, and I think I might have even bought one, but they are definitely complete.
But also, from just a standpoint of archiving where we've been, I feel it would be a mighty shame if in the future our only avenue of experiencing these games were to be limited to just looking at the cartridge or the cabinet in a museum. Games are not like other forms of art like a painting or a movie. You need to interact with it to full experience it. To deny the future from seein the relics of the past fully would be a disservice towards the art of game making.
doesn't change the fact that it is currently illegal now, but I would most certainly support any change in regulation that can somehow allow emulations to coexist peacefully and legally with the world.
