Reproductions: What is our community ok with?

[SirGawain]

Im a fan of repros if the game was never released outside of Japan and someone translated it, or like others have said, if the original game is so rare that the price is outrageous. The only problem I would have with them is if someone was passing off a repro of something like Hagane as original. As long as it is stated up front that it is a repro, I could care less.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I'm not really crazy about repros in general. Think of all the cannibalized carts and hardware. Makes way more sense just to import games.

Though the worst offenders are:
Reproductions of any game that is expensive - EX: MUSHA

I do not like seeing repros of games that were once commercially available. They're essentially bootlegs and are too easy to confuse with the real thing.

[ninjainspandex]

Makes way more sense just to import games.

Says the guy who can read Japanese.

[Ack]

So I guess I am fine with them as long as they are clearly, easily discernible as repros, whatever titles they may be.

For now, the liability issue seems like a red herring: I'd be interested to see/read about a case where a copyright holder ever went after any retrogaming website for people selling and trading repros on a forum. Is there any actual, documented reason to be nervous about this?

I've no idea. Not that we'd want to be the first if that became an issue. You asked for general reasons why repros were being discussed by the mods though, so I figured I'd give you what I had noticed being passed around.

This thread is meant to be more of a community discussion to gauge what members felt comfortable with in general as far as repros on the site are concerned. And we wanted to know if folks felt different over repros for games such as Gundam Wing: Endless Duel, Terranigma, Hagane, or even Tetris.

[mjmjr25]

There is a concern amongst some for various reasons.

I'd like to know the reasons.

When an item is made to resemble and pass as an original it can create a situation where you pay market rate for an item only to find out it is not an original - you are out that money when you go to resell, or even if you don't care if you paid $100 for something that is ultimately worth $20, the reality is it is a bootleg and a great many bootlegs have issues. Surely you are being fecetious in not understanding this.

[Luke]

Dave hit most of the points that I agree with.

Is it clearly marked as a repro?
Do new collectors know exactly what they are purchasing?

(I almost typed out "at the end of the day" and wanted to injure my brain)...>>>
What do YOU think would place a positive of negative light on the Racketboy S/B/T community? Should there be a "Repro" sale thread in it's own? ("Reproing retro gaming" anybody?)

In short, it's up to you guys to cover your buns, so I'd take a long hard look at what Dave said about "documentation" of companies getting upset about bootlegs of their intellectual property.

[mjmjr25]

Sorry to mess up your poll, but shouldn't there be an option for all are ok?

I hadn't thought of that. I'm surprised to think we'd have members think it's ok to make a bootleg of a game released here (US), to look like a game released here (US), and then sold here (racketboy).

Calling it a repro is great - so long as it's written on the label. Calling it a repro in your sale thread is meaningless. Any person can buy it and pass it off as original elsewhere. I don't know why we want be allow ourselves to be a part of that cycle.

This doesn't apply to just video games. It applies to everything we purchase. Anything that can be legitimately passed off as something else is a problem. Many of us pay more for SanDisk SD cards, when there are chinese knockoffs available at 1/3 the price. Would we be ok with a fake SanDisk label being put on that knockoff SD card and paying full price? No, because it would load slower and be more likely to fail. Same with Louis Vitton handbags or electronics.

EDIT: I don't think the copyright thing is a concern. Not a concern of mine. The other bits are.

[dsheinem]

There is a concern amongst some for various reasons.

I'd like to know the reasons.

When an item is made to resemble and pass as an original it can create a situation where you pay market rate for an item only to find out it is not an original - you are out that money when you go to resell, or even if you don't care if you paid $100 for something that is ultimately worth $20, the reality is it is a bootleg and a great many bootlegs have issues. Surely you are being fecetious in not understanding this.

That reason I get, but I wanted to know if there were others that maybe I was missing. That's why I am fine with repros sold as such, regardless of what title it might be. If the seller clearly marks that they are selling repros, I see no major problem and no real reason to institute a new policy beyond what we have, which is basically a blanket statement of caveat emptor.

If they try to pass repros/boots as legit copies, then they should suffer the same consequences (bans, negative marks, etc.) as anyone else who sells something that isn't as advertised.

[mjmjr25]

So you are ok with a racket member buying a known repro and selling it on ebay as a repro then that person we don't know selling it as original? I don't think we have members actively conning our members but I have zero doubt we are a part of the greater bootleg cycle.

Everyone knows a 100-in-1 is a bootleg / non-official product. It's when someone has Earthbound to look exactly like Earthbound, no discernable markers.

[Gunstar Green]

Non-imports is where it gets fuzzy for me too. I think it would be wise to require "reproduction" to be printed somewhere on the label to prevent them from ending up in the wild, nearly indistinguishable from the real deal.

Though someone could just print up a new label if they wanted so I guess that doesn't necessarily solve the problem.

I don't have a clear answer myself. I like when reproductions are made using new cartridge shells that are different colors but not everyone who makes them has access to that.