Poll: Is it ok to emulate a game if you own it?

[clippen05]

Recently I was reminiscing about one of my favourite games of all time: Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. I've been considering replaying it for the umpteenth time and perhaps making a Let's Play out of it. And that's where my problem lies. My capture card would be incapable of recording Gamecube footage, but I could record a PC emulation. I own both the game and a gamecube/Wii, and it plays. The topic also led me to thinking: what if you owned a classic game and wanted to play it on the go on your smart phone? What do you guys think? I'm not really asking for a legal perspective, I'm looking for your opinions on the topic. And this would be for any situation where you want to play a game, not just for recording.

 

[Lizardon]

I know you didn't ask for the legality, but this is from Nintendo's website

Can I Download a Nintendo ROM from the Internet if I Already Own the Authentic Game?

There is a good deal of misinformation on the Internet regarding the backup/archival copy exception. It is not a "second copy" rule and is often mistakenly cited for the proposition that if you have one lawful copy of a copyrighted work, you are entitled to have a second copy of the copyrighted work even if that second copy is an infringing copy. The backup/archival copy exception is a very narrow limitation relating to a copy being made by the rightful owner of an authentic game to ensure he or she has one in the event of damage or destruction of the authentic. Therefore, whether you have an authentic game or not, or whether you have possession of a Nintendo ROM for a limited amount of time, i.e. 24 hours, it is illegal to download and play a Nintendo ROM from the Internet.

Source [http://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal.jsp]

However, you'll find most people will say that there isn't a problem and that you would be morally in the clear. And although it is considered illegal, it is incredibly unlikely that you will be prosecuted for it.

 

[DugMachine]

Mmmm doing LPs might get a bit iffy as it's still illegal I would think. I don't think anybody will really make a huge deal of it but you never know.

 

[wabbbit]

It's a grey area. It's not 100% illegal to use them if you own a copy of the game in the same way it's technically OK to make "backup" copies of your games.

 

[Alien Mole]

Wouldn't you be legally safe if you made your own ROM/image/whatever from your own copy? I'm just asking; I'm not sure.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Wouldn't you be legally safe if you made your own ROM/image/whatever from your own copy? I'm just asking; I'm not sure.

Depends what you use that copy for and even that is a legally muddy area. And it all differs from country to country.

For example, though I could be mistaken about this, under Belgian law I am allowed to have a second copy of a copyrighted work, but I have to make it myself for the exception to apply i.e. I can't download one from the internet. Also, the second copy is only for personal use, so it's probably doubtful that using it to make LP's is still legally in the clear.

Morally, I have no problems with it though. So long as you don't make any profit of it, you can churn out backups of a game you own all you like. I have done so with some of my older, more valuable games, so it would be hypocritical of me to claim otherwise.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Strictly speaking it's only legal if you made the copy you own work with the emulator.

But morally there is nothing wrong with getting backups of a game you bought and playing them in any format you desire, or procuring a game that is no longer sold.

 

[NickBrahz]

I don't see anything wrong with this personally, but then again i don't find anything wrong with pirating AAA games (Those bastards won't get my money while they try to charge me $100 for a dam game) all comes down to personal opinion.

 

[ubersyanyde]

In your case I would say it's fine, but I would just buy a better capture card. Gamecube/Wii emulation requires a pretty fast PC (a good core i5 processor) already, so recording it at full speed would require a PC that's probably out of your price range if you didn't want to buy a new capture card.

My (probably wrong) opinion on emulation as a whole is that if you can't get the game by any other means then just emulate it. If the company was worried about people pirating the games then they wouldn't have discontinued the product and made it difficult to find. Besides, unless they have made it available for digital purchase, they aren't going to be making/losing any money regardless of how you acquire it.

 

[teqrevisited]

I see no problem with emulating if I own the game and the necessary hardware to play it normally.

 

[Saulkar]

Legal? Probably not but fuck it, they already have your monnies.

 

[Saulkar]

My (probably wrong) opinion on emulation as a whole is that if you can't get the game by any other means then just emulate it. If the company was worried about people pirating the games then they wouldn't have discontinued the product and made it difficult to find. Besides, unless they have made it available for digital purchase, they aren't going to be making/losing any money regardless of how you acquire it.

So many games are left commercially unavailable but the companies that own the IP refuse to let them see the light of day while openly acknowledging that they do not want you pirating it. For this reason I hold your sentiment.

 

[Gizmo1990]

I don't see anything wrong with this personally, but then again i don't find anything wrong with pirating AAA games (Those bastards won't get my money while they try to charge me $100 for a dam game) all comes down to personal opinion.

I agree that games can be way to expensive but it does not matter if you agree with the price or not, you cannot justify stealing the game. I think Aston Martin's are overpriced but that dosen't mean I can go out and steal one.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

If you've paid for it before then who cares? The legality of it is a grey area but the morality is strongly in your favour. Fuck the greedy corporate bastards, you've paid for their success in the past so they should acknowledge that and back off

 

[SnowyGamester]

I won't go into the legality as it seems to have already been covered, however I'll mention that if your capture card lacks the traditional composite video input you can get a HDMI adaptor for your Wii for less than $20 (see here: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Wii-HDMI-480p-Converter-Adapter-Wii2hdmi-3-5mm-Audio-Box-Wii-link-White-/230757818086?pt=AU_CablesConnectors&hash=item35ba3cdee6 ). I've got one myself and it works superbly...comes up way more crisp than the standard cables (technically the Wii also supports component cables which this device emulates and then immediately converts to HDMI so there isn't any visual degradation (or as little as possible) from interference with the old analogue signals). So that'll work if your capture card has HDMI or DVI input (though I recommend using the 3.5mm jack for the sound if possible as the converted HDMI audio isn't that great).

 

[CannibalCorpses]

I don't see anything wrong with this personally, but then again i don't find anything wrong with pirating AAA games (Those bastards won't get my money while they try to charge me $100 for a dam game) all comes down to personal opinion.

I agree that games can be way to expensive but it does not matter if you agree with the price or not, you cannot justify stealing the game. I think Aston Martin's are overpriced but that dosen't mean I can go out and steal one.

Why steal it when you can rent it for next to nothing? Most top titles cost me £2.50 to play, finish and discard and the game publishers don't get all of that so i laugh at piracy and exposing yourself to criminal proceedings, aswell at EA trying to destroy the second hand market.

I have the legal way to fuck them all!

 

[Roxor]

If it's possible to emulate it, then you should emulate it.

 

[Vivi22]

It's a grey area. It's not 100% illegal to use them if you own a copy of the game in the same way it's technically OK to make "backup" copies of your games.

No actually, in most places, it is 100% illegal to download a ROM even if you own a physical copy. Making your own copy from your original physical copy is legal in many places though. It just also happens to be impossible to do for many older cartridge games if you don't have the right equipment, and the end result is no different than had you just downloaded it.

Which is why I don't think any sane person would argue it's immoral or that it even should be illegal. Especially when the reality is that the law is unenforceable, and actively prevents people from keeping their own backup copy should they so choose.

 

[Fishyash]

It's illegal, even if you own an authentic copy.

That's all I really want to input on it, whether you find it morally acceptable or not is your decision.

Honestly, I don't even think it should be illegal. If there is no official way to purchase either a digital or newly produced copy then I don't see where the issue is...