The Ethics of Emulation

[J T]

If I emulate an old game or I buy it used on e-Bay doesn't matter much to the original creators-- they aren't seeing my money either way. Digital distribution is changing things though. Lots of old PC game developers are getting my money via gog.com because I will pay 6 or 10 bucks for a DRM-free older game. If Nintendo, Sony, and others sold their games through GOG, I'd probably buy them too.

[corn619]

Depends for me personally. I have a metric ton of roms, but don't play them much because I'd prefer to play the games I physically own. Guess I'm starting to grow out of emulation.

EDIT- However, since my PS2 is broken I've been emulating PS1 games on my computer, but with the physical discs instead of .iso files.

You should burn the discs to isos. The emulator runs the game much faster and smoother as opposed to discs. You may already know, but I'm just throwing it out there.

[Flak Beard]

I personally try and support the industry by always buying games that can still be found easily, and purchasing retro titles through digital distribution if possible. I don't however view emulation, or the burning of no longer available games, as damaging to the industry. If anything, this pushes publishers to get their older stuff on download services as opposed to just letting used game shops continually make profit off a single copy of a game.

I'm also not sure why emulation is always immediately viewed as a bad thing in some people's eyes. You constantly here about how it is an "inferior" experience, but there are many advantages to it such as playing the games in higher resolution, saving anywhere, custom ROM hacks and fixes, netplay, etc. I often play ROMs of carts I own even.

If anything, emulation has helped preserve gaming history more so than anything else. There would be hundreds of obscure retro titles lost forever if it weren't for ROM dumping.

[MrPopo]

there are many advantages to it such as playing the games in higher resolution, saving anywhere, custom ROM hacks and fixes, netplay, etc.

Higher resolution means nothing if you don't run a filter on top of it. And I personally don't care for the filters; I prefer the original pixelation. Save stating is easily turned into a cruch (I've certainly seen myself do so) and I don't mind working within the confines of the original game developer's intent. The patches are nice, but you can always get that effect with a repro/flash cart. Netplay is a distinct advantage of emulation, though.

[Flak Beard]

Higher resolution means nothing if you don't run a filter on top of it. And I personally don't care for the filters; I prefer the original pixelation. Save stating is easily turned into a cruch (I've certainly seen myself do so) and I don't mind working within the confines of the original game developer's intent. The patches are nice, but you can always get that effect with a repro/flash cart. Netplay is a distinct advantage of emulation, though.

I play NES games all the time in 1280x1024 with just a simple pixel doubling filter. They look much crisper than running RF or composite from my NES to the TV.

True, save states can be a crutch, but they certainly come in handy being I'm grown up now and don't have the lifestyle to accommodate playing a game for three hours straight. I can get in twenty minutes on a ROM before work, save state, and then continue the next time I have a chance to play.

There is definitely something nice about playing and owning original hardware. Although, at times I think emulation is downplayed because gamers feel is somewhat invalidates their collection and efforts in obtaining original carts. A nice collection is still a nice collection. I enjoy both collecting and emulating, and I'm not so much of a purist to have to stick to the former.

[fastbilly1]

Emulation may be illegal, but like many of you said, if the developer is not getting money for it, I have no problem with it. I own over a dozen games on the Virtual Console (the only one I owned the cart for was Mario Kart 64), and I have no problem running a game like Ecks Vs Sever on my Wii through Visual Boy Advance or Contra on FCEUltra. Neither game is on the Virtual Console (one of them will never be), and no one is losing money. Ofcourse I own both of those games, but if I played something I dont own like Rodland, well no one at Jaleco is going to be upset with me. But taking a new game is just wrong and we all know it. Emulation does however give me portability. Between my Palm Pilot and my Netbook I can run most games up to the N64/PSX era. To me this alone makes worthwhile to me. I own 200 something NES games and for obvious reasons cannot cart them around for whenever I fancy a game.

Though my opinion on this may be skewed since I fully support MAME, even fiscally when they allow it. Without it many older arcade games would have been lost forever - Im looking at you Arabian.

I have been emulating since 1996 and dont plan on stopping anytime soon. I should have a MAME cab running by the end of the week but I have a collection of over 2000 titles (counting PC games). I support developers when I can and will forever be grateful to them for the fun and adventure they have given me over the years. Heck I just dropped $150 on a Core Grafx at a set of games when I own a TG16 and a Wii.

Nothing will replicate playing a game on the original hardware: be it console, arcade, or pc. But in time, everything breaks. Well everything but an Edison light bulb

[executioner]

If I emulate an old game or I buy it used on e-Bay doesn't matter much to the original creators-- they aren't seeing my money either way. Digital distribution is changing things though. Lots of old PC game developers are getting my money via gog.com because I will pay 6 or 10 bucks for a DRM-free older game. If Nintendo, Sony, and others sold their games through GOG, I'd probably buy them too.

Digital distribution and dlc is great for you guys but us forgotten third world countries don't even have the opportunity of buying the god damn games online. We have to fake our address to be able to get decent stuff on ps3 network or xbox live, and pay extra for online credit on those console. Seen $20 cards sell for $30, maybe I should get in the business with the help of you guys. Very frustrated last time I tried to buy a game on steam to get my credit card rejected. Paying $80 for a $50 game is nuts and paying $100 more for a console is outrageous. I have no freaking option. If I want to play an old game have to emulate, but who am I kidding because I would probably pirate anyways.

[GSZX1337]

Since most of what I had to say has already been covered,
1. Emulation is illegal.
2. The original Developers don't give a shit.
3. Sometimes it's the only way to get games.

What I have to say concerns emulating games that are already available on Virtual Console or has been ported to a modern console. I might get some hate for this, but I'm not going to pay $5-$15 for something that I can get for free that the original developers aren't (as far as I'm aware) going to get a cent for. I've played SMB3 on the Virtual Console and wasn't impressed in the slightest. I couldn't tell if there were filters applied (though I was playing on a SDCRT) and I think the emulation wasn't as good as FCEU or NEStopia. (though, it's been over ten years since I played SMB3 on an NES, I've mostly played the game in the All Stars remake compilation) If I'm going to be spending money on old games, the emulation should be better, or I'm going to buy the carts. Some compilations have terrible sound emulation. The one that comes to mind right now is Sonic Mega Collection Plus for the PS2. When you'd collect rings, you'd only hear the chime once every other time and once your spin dash hits top velocity, you hear a high pitched squeal. $20, huh? I think I'll just pirate.

I will buy a remake (i.e. Mega Man Powered Up) or a port if it has something interesting to offer. Example: Marvel vs. Capcom 2, I pirated this game before the port to XBLA/PSN came out. I had a burned copy of it in my PSTwo and played the hell out of it. Why did I get MvC2 PSN if I already had the PS2 version and had no problem pirating it? The extra features. Online play was really important to me. I got to find out how much I sucked at the game. Also, the filters. This wouldn't have sold me alone, but since I can't emulate the PS2 version well without filters, I found this to be a nice feature to coax me into buying it. If more games did this, I'd buy them and not pirate the older versions.

[elvis]

1. It is stealing.

No, it's not.

Stealing is where a physical object, or quantity of something is taken by a third party, depriving the first party of that thing. Legally, it is a criminal process.

Using unlicensed ROMs is copyright infringement. No more, no less. Legally, it is a civil process.

Using silly words like "stealing" merely muddies the waters, and confuses people.

1. Emulation is illegal.

No, it is not.

Emulation is the process of simulating hardware instructions through software. In and of itself, it is not illegal. You can emulate a Motorola 68000 CPU, ARM Cortex, Zilog Z80 and many other chips and systems without any legal ramifications.

When you download an unlicensed ROM, that is copyright infringement. It doesn't matter what you do with that ROM - you can have it sitting idle on your desktop in a zip file if you like, but it's still copyright infringement. The act of emulating hardware and playing the ROM doesn't make it any more or less illegal. (Much like listening to an unlicensed MP3 is not the illegal part - gaining a copy of it in the first place is, whether you listen to it or not).

There are plenty of console and arcade emulators that you can use with free ROMs. Here's 14 free to use and perfectly legal ROMs to use with MAME:
http://mamedev.org/roms/

The good blokes at HeadSoft now have 3 games out for Nintendo DS, totally free of charge. You can legally play them on real hardware via homebrew cards or emulation:
http://www.headsoft.com.au/

Likewise there are hundreds of free commercial and homebrew ROMs for almost every console and emulator you can think of.

Commercially, emulation is exactly how Nintendo Virtual Console works. Likewise for the classic games on XBLA and PSN. If emulation were illegal, Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony would be in big strife.

As above, please don't muddy the waters with vague statements that whitewash a range of technologies and actions. Be specific, and be clear about what you are talking about. Not doing so simply confuses people, and makes it worse for everyone when stupid politicians and law makers start to arrest people for importing homebrew hardware, the act of which is clearly not a crime, and is clearly being confused with the intent of the end users:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/vi ... ter-Jailed
http://kotaku.com/5450691/man-facing-pr ... cartridges

[GSZX1337]

1. Emulation is illegal.

No, it is not.

Let me clarify, Emulation as a method of pirating games you don't own is illegal.