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

DazZ.

Elite Member
Jun 4, 2009
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I think it's absolutely 100% fine if there is no way to give the developer/publisher money for a copy, as is the case with most snes games that are just being traded about second hand.

Most other cases are grey areas.
 

Pearwood

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Mar 24, 2010
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If you can provide a receipt or if the hardware is obsolete (not applicable in your case) never mind emulation as far as I'm concerned you can just go to a piracy website and download a copy. In the first case you own the game, you're entitled to have a copy for whatever purposes you want. In the second case nobody owns the game as all production has stopped and the only existing copies are in the hands of second hand traders.

I'd be a bit suspicious of that article from Nintendo on the subject to be honest. I can't it mattering even if it went to court, whether you make the ROM yourself or download it there's still the end result of you having a copy of the game you own on your computer and I just don't see their argument holding up.
 

Whispering Cynic

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Nov 11, 2009
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If you own a copy of that game and there is no way to obtain a working copy through legitimate channels, yes, by all means emulate it. As far as "legality" is concerned: do what you want, it's not like they can stop you. Ends justify the means.
 
Jun 11, 2008
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If you have the copy of the game you can make your own back up which is fine and allowed. Roms of the internet are legally a no no but no one really bothers about them so far. Morally, if you own it I don't think it is wrong.
 

snekadid

Lord of the Salt
Mar 29, 2012
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Its been stated here that it is not illegal to make a copy of a game you own to play it as a ROM. Since a downloaded ROM of the game you use is the same exact code as the game you own they are indistinct from one another and downloading and playing has no real actionable power.
 

Dr. Cakey

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Feb 1, 2011
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When people say "no one cares about emulation", they mean NO ONE. Most LPs of old games are emulated anyway, and plenty of new ones as well. I know somebody emulated Shadow of the Colossus of all things for exactly the same reason as you. And unlike music, TV and movie clips, anime, and fun, I've pretty much never seen any kind of copyright or other attack on a Let's Play.

By the way, in regards to backup copies, it doesn't just vary by country, it varies, period. Crack open an instruction booklet and you might find a "copying or reproducing bla bla bla, including "backup" or archival copies, is not permitted and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law" or "bla bla bla "backup" for personal, non-commercial use only" or something else.
 

EHKOS

Madness to my Methods
Feb 28, 2010
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Lizardon said:
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.
Exactly, there's legal and then there is right. It helps to own the game/console too, if you feel badly about it. I would also say it would be OK to emulate if say, it was a rare game such as the Resident Evil Beta disc, that is impossible to physically get your hands on.
 

SidheKnight

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Nov 28, 2011
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That's the purpose of emulation: to have backup copies of games you own/owned but can't play anymore due to broken disc/cartridge/console.

So it's OK.
 

Folji

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Jul 21, 2010
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When a game is around 10-15 years old or more it just feels unreasonable for anyone to care whether someone decides to emulate the game rather than play the real thing. It's gone past the point of no-one cares.

For new games on the other hand, don't think all that many still gives much of a damn. The copyright holders might give more of a damn than they would with something older, that's about as close as it likely gets.
 

Shoggoth2588

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Aug 31, 2009
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I don't see why it should be illegal but poster #2 posted that link from Nintendo...I guess the safest bet would be to limit yourself to games that didn't come out in your region and/or games that are completely out of print and haven't been put on a collection or, made available online. Like Mystic Ninja Goemon or whatever the SNES one was called...that isn't on the virtual console, is it? Or Monster Party on the NES, I don't see anybody being insane enough to collect or, put a digital copy on the virtual console.
 

bioject

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Aug 12, 2010
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I don't think it's a problem at all. In fact I often emulate PS1 games I already own and run them through my disc drive so that I can play with better graphics.
 

The White Hunter

Basment Abomination
Oct 19, 2011
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Lizardon said:
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.
Now I thought that here in the UK it was perfectly legal to utilise an emulator if you have the original copy still.

If not then oh well, I'd say it's morally fine, it lets you tinker with the game without breaking it and such.
 
Apr 5, 2008
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In my personal opinion:

- If you own it and are only capturing the ROM for your own use, it's fine.
- If the game is abandonware, sharing it is also fine
- If the game is still "current" and available for sale, sharing it is a no-no.

Generally speaking, provided one owns the game/movie/book/album in question, I have zero issue with that person using a digital format for contemporary devices. I realise the law strongly disagrees with me here, but IMHO it's the simple difference between pirating something, and paying for something legally. If a person has bought a game/movie/book/album, they have given money to the author of the work and, to me I wouldn't consider that person "format-shifting" said work to be piracy, provided it isn't distributed.
 

Kukakkau

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Feb 9, 2008
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I'd say for older games (10 year etc) it should be fine, since it's not really like the developer is still producing more copies

I would say though if you own a copy of the game and download an emulator game it isn't really morally wrong, since you HAVE given the dev money for a copy.

I did this for FF7 since when I bought it (like 7-8 years ago to see what the rave was about) my PS2 started having problems with trying to randomly reformat PS1 memory cards, meaning I could save but it would randomly erase all data so I couldn't actually get anywhere in it.

So I got a PC rom version and managed to actually play through it
 

Mr F.

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Jul 11, 2012
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*sigh*

Moral/Legal.

I hope a mod comes onto this thing and locks it, locks it hard, before someone accidentally condones privacy and gets their account banned. Seen it happen.

Morally? Yes.

Legally? No. Well, perhaps. Technically it might be. But for all intents and purposes? No. Depends on the EULA. But most EULA's are evil, so a safe bet would be "No, god no, hell no, seriously no".

So no. Don't go emulating stuff, don't go downloading stuff, piracy and any of its offshoots are bad, very bad, and none of it should be condoned.

*sigh*

Well, you did say you do not care about the legality. But, well... Meh, all the above still holds. It depends if you think morality/legality are intrinsically linked. Many people do. Personally I find that the law is more fluid and that there are no absolutes in any system. So overall? Bacon.

Any other answer is too risky.
 

Bara_no_Hime

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Sep 15, 2010
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Edit: Sigh. Mr. F. you have officially made me too paranoid.

Post redacted, even though I was only talking about abandonware and the fact that I don't use emulators because I prefer gaming on a console rather than on PC.

Abandon Thread.jpg