Siskan

@Jaguar_Wong Regardless of the size you also need to cut a hole in the battery cover or get a third party one (at additional cost) while making sure the original isn't separated from the Game Boy.

I've had 2700mAh rechargebale AA batteries for probably 12 years now and you can get 3000 ones too. We'll be able to power Game Boys from AAs for the forseeable future. But once these boards break or lose capacity you'll be stuck with ugly permanent damage on your unit.

And in the meantime you'll have to do with half the battery capacity and hence run out of battery twice as often, having to be tied to an outlet if you wish to continue playing. I always have charged AAs ready to swap. I don't even see the advantage in convenience.

@Onion My bad, I didn't explain why I mentioned FE4 being on the Japanese VC. It's still a possible way to support the developers if you want to. Couple it with another ROM on your computer if you want.

I was never against the existence of ROMs, that's just silly. It's the piracy.

@roadrunner343 As I stated I don't really wish to further debate law outside of piracy. But I did read your comment and I don't wish to ignore you.

I'm sure this thing about Zelda isn't the only example either, but as much as people debating this want to justify their own piracy (and do to a large degree) the real issue is that most people won't, especially when it comes to games outside of their favorite seriers.

@Onion Since you're still asking questions: I think everyone who sees injustice, criminality, lack of moral etc. has a right to point that out. The world would be a better place if everyone did that.
Then you may not agree with me in this particular case but that's fine. You can only do so much with this free thinking of yours if you're not allowed to vent it. If you prefer to observe, fine.

A physical copy has been paid for once and can be traded a thousand times, but isn't likely to be. It kind of limits how many people can play a game without money reaching the developer. There are only so many copies.

A copy which is dumped has probably also been paid for, but can multiply indefinitely. If a physical copy is then always tied to a download you would limit this effect. The fact you mentioned that you have one anyway tells me you can see it's less immoral that way.

Seisen no Keifu is available through Japanese VC by the way.

@Onion I noticed your previous edit. The console you'd use for GBA is Retro Freak. I do see your point though. Still doesn't make it okay.

You can always import games. And you never know if they will be released in your country. Nintendo alone did this with Mother (and Earthbound for Europe) as well as many titles through VC in the Wii days.
I do confess that I have done the same thing with Seisen no Keifu, feel free to call me a hypocrite. Like you I also own the game physically as well however. The problem I do have with that is that we were still nurturing the pirating scene. People won't upload games if there's no demand and you can be sure the majority who downloaded the ROM beside us do not own a legal copy.
Dictating? I'm just arguing for my point of view. I only treat your personal case as an example as that's what you've described to me more than anything.

Yes, you will probably do that. But you're not everyone.

Oh okay, there came the insult. Nice finale.

Sure thing. Unfortunately I addressed one paragraph at a time, so I'll post what's above anyway.

Yes I do, but that doesn't mean the older ones are entirely unproblematic. And the more recent consoles are also subject to piracy, although not by you.

@Onion You may stick to that 100% and then the likelihood may be low. But there's always the chance they will want to release it again or even make a remaster or remake. Unless it's the case of a game that belonged to a defunct company and the rights were not transferred anywhere else.

I'm also speaking broadly and not about the specific cases you mention. You probably do way less harm than many others.
This may not be so much about piracy but law in general, but it's also dangerous when people decide for themselves what laws they should abide and which ones to break. Where do you draw the line? If everyone does that you can be sure they won't all act do it the exact same way. Anyway, this is a whole different topic and a deeper one at that, which I don't really want to get into.

@Onion I have a problem with people doing harmful things, even more so if it's against the law. You're right. And I'm happy that's the way it is.
Well I think legality is a pretty important thing to consider. If something is illegal the advantages rarely mater very much. I see that's not the case for you. Unfortunately whenever people take the law in their own hands it affects others negatively.

Downloading a patch is far better than downloading a ROM. It's much less likely to affect the creators unless in the rare case a company decides to translate an old game for a new release.
Who makes money on a clone system doesn't relate to the ROM issue. The point is that there's no need to download an illegal ROM from the web if you use this method.

@Onion I'll prephrase it. It's being done by many organizations all over the world and legally so (sometimes even government funded).
You said that looking at (unauthorized) ROM dumping as preservation it'd be less sinister. So, considering that all those games are preserved anyway, that has no effect on me. The beneficial aspect of it is effectively a redundant one. You may argue that it's more accessible this way and you'd be right. But convenience is a pretty poor excuse for commiting a crime in my eyes.

You may also be right that it was slightly justified if internet was first which it probably was. But that was then.

Various clone sytems allow you to dump and patch your own games without downloading them from the web.

@Onion I really don't see you'd turn me taking Sweden as an example into some stupid argument that that's all that's needed. That's indeed ridiculous. Like I said I descibed the situation here because I know the details. If i was to describe the exact terms that the Japanese Game Preservation Society (for example) has stated I'd have to do some research. That's all there is to it. As I previously said, this is happening in many countries and not just European ones. And as far as I know none of these museums, libraries and organizations keep anything from foreigners.

And we don't need to download ROMs from the web in order to apply language patches unlike what you've stated. That was a long time ago.

@Onion Well, I'm mostly familiar with the situation in Sweden as that's where I live. Right now it's researchers and students and it's carried out by the Royal Library, to which it has been mandatory to send a copy of every new game since 1995 (they are of course locating and preserving earlier games too). I believe their goal is to make it public to everyone however.
They are also one of the co-founders to the European Federation of Game Archives, Museums and Preservation Projects. So I assume the situation is similar elsewhere in Europe.

Also being able to play old games for free isn't a human right. And if you think game preservation is no good when that's not the case, I don't really think you understand the real importance of preservation.

@Onion And my point is that there's no point in viewing it as preservation whether that's the intention or not, as they will be preserved anyway.

@Onion There are already game preservation organizations in many countries which preserve these legally. And they dump the games on their own.