Emulators?

[R7308xx]

How often do you use emulators? Be truthful. I use them for hard-to-find games like Chrono Trigger and rom hacks such as Super Mariio TKO or the Mother 3 fan translation.

[mtn_otter]

My policy regarding emulators is simple: If the game in question cannot be found for sale within a reasonable distance of my home, cannot be bought for a reasonable price near my home, and cannot be bought on the internet for a reasonable price, then I will use an emulator. Fan made games are the exception, and will always be used on an emulator. An emulator will also be used for games that are only on hard-to-find platforms, such as the CD-i.

[Tina]

I only ever use FCEUX, ZSNES and VBA. Guess the only games I play on them.

I prefer not to resort to emulation-- I'm not totally against it or anything, but I feel really weird playing games on the computer. Besides, it's kind of impossible to find a copy of EB for a reasonable price. It is also literally impossible to get an English copy of EB0. It is even more impossible to get an English copy of M3.

I don't even use them to play Japanese games, either. Just the English ones.

[R7308xx]

I only ever use FCEUX, ZSNES and VBA. Guess the only games I play on them.

I prefer not to resort to emulation-- I'm not totally against it or anything, but I feel really weird playing games on the computer. Besides, it's kind of impossible to find a copy of EB for a reasonable price. It is also literally impossible to get an English copy of EB0. It is even more impossible to get an English copy of M3.

I don't even use them to play Japanese games, either. Just the English ones.

Exactly what I do.  

My policy regarding emulators is simple: If the game in question cannot be found for sale within a reasonable distance of my home, cannot be bought for a reasonable price near my home, and cannot be bought on the internet for a reasonable price, then I will use an emulator. Fan made games are the exception, and will always be used on an emulator. An emulator will also be used for games that are only on hard-to-find platforms, such as the CD-i.

Also what I do. 

[TurtwigA]

Going by this wikipedia article's sentence: "An emulator in computer sciences duplicates (provides an emulation of) the functions of one system using a different system, so that the second system behaves like (and appears to be) the first system", I have actually played on an emulator. When I had the N64 and Stadium, I played Yellow, Red, and Blue using its GB Tower. The N64 acted like a GameBoy, so it was an emulator.

TLDR: I have played on an emulator, but it was one Nintendo intended.

[Zesty Cactus]

i've only used emulators for games i basically can't buy. i've played a few SNES games on an emulator because i don't have one (mind you this was before a lot of the SNES games were released for GBA, i ended up buying GBA versions of most of the games i played), in fact i even bought a player's guide for a game i played on an emulator XD

the only other one i played was Monster Rancher Battle Card GB because i used to rent it but i couldn't find it ANYWHERE... and then i bought it when i did find it like 2 years ago.

[Mari-Illustrious-Makinami]

Quite often. Games tend to look much better on emulators than the original systems.

Just look at how beautiful Yoshi's Island looks with some graphical improvements.

[R7308xx]

Ugh... Why'd ya do that? *hopes someone gets the reference*

[Maxite]

Mostly for romhacks, and games I own but don't care to put batteries into my GBA just so I can play them.

[Super Wario Bros]

Never because I don't want Nintendo to lose money.

[R7308xx]

Never because I don't want Nintendo to lose money.

So... you've never played Virtual Console [/smartass]

[Naesala]

I never use illegal emulators.

[R7308xx]

Emulators aren't illegal; it's the roms you play on them.

[Naesala]

Emulators aren't illegal; it's the roms you play on them.

Whatever.

[Mari-Illustrious-Makinami]

Emulators aren't illegal; it's the roms you play on them.

Unless you own the actual game. :B (I think)

[Maxite]

It's a legal grey area. It's technically illegal, but unless you are distributing the ROMs you aren't likely to get sued, and unless you are distributing the ROMs by the truckload you aren't likely to get arrested.

As far as ethics go, I think it's fine play ROMs of games that you own. Games that you don't own, now that is questionable.

[Mari-Illustrious-Makinami]

But, it's not like the companies can check everybody's computer for roms of their games.

Or can they? No.

[Naesala]

Emulators aren't illegal; it's the roms you play on them.

Unless you own the actual game. :B (I think)

Roms are illegal period. doesn't matter if you own the game or not.


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.

http://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal.jsp#roms

[Maxite]

Nintendo isn't a reliable source of information in regards to the legality of roms, because of the concept of "conflict of interest." It is in their interest to promote people to *buy* official copies as backups, and to promote the belief that roms are illegal regardless.

IANAL, but there are arguments that the "fair use doctrine" does indeed come into play regarding rom of games that you legally own. Granted, the legality of roms will also differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but in general in the US it is indeed a legal grey area. Some interesting arguments on the matter are made here.

[Mari-Illustrious-Makinami]

Although, am I the only person who finds it somewhat ironic that Nintendo is (out of Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft) the most anti-emulation/roms, and yet, they're the only company who hasn't made a ROM-hosting site wrong?

Also, just my personal opinion, I find nothing wrong with downloading a ROM of a game no longer in print; will people disagree with my opinion, yes. Do I care? No.