@Kalmaro What are you talking about? Of course we have no obligation to justify why we make copies of our own software/games/music/DVDs for personal use if we are not distributing them. Again, that's how the law works - if it isn't prohibited, it's permitted.
Additionally, you are incorrect in stating that you are only purchasing the right to play a game. You are purchasing that specific copy of the game. Yes, your rights are limited as to what you can do with the game, but you are not merely licensing the right to play the game, as you do some modern pieces of software. EULA's differ from software to software, some spell out that you are only licensing the software, and the company reserves the right to terminate you ability to use the product at any time - this is not the case with physical games/media, especially not 20-30 years ago.
So yes, absolutely - if you somehow want to prove that it is illegal for someone to make backups of their own legally purchased software - the responsibility is entirely on you, the lawyer, prosecutor, etc... that wants to prove it is illegal. The problem is, as I've stated, it's not prohibited by law, and there is absolutely no precedent set for charging someone for making copies of their own software. Again, a 10 second Google search will show you as much.
EDIT: And you keep telling everyone to "Show me a ruling"... again, I'm not a lawyer and don't pretend to be an expert - but take 30 seconds to think about how the law works. Things do not need to be spelled out to be permitted - it's the exact opposite. If there isn't a ruling outlawing something, it is lawful.
@Leej07 Heh, I think it's been clear I am mainly on your side of the argument (I have no issues with ROMs of games I own/have no legal way of obtaining) but I still disagree with that analogy. The issue is, even if ROMs of commercially released games were somehow compeltely removed from the internet, emulation still has a place. Emulation is awesome for the homebrew scene, or even playing games with enhanced features off of the original media. If you want to use the prohibition analogy, it would be more accurate to say you are allowed to have and play ROMs, but you're not allowed to download, sell, or dump your own.
EDIT: And I've already made this point earlier, and don't feel like re-typing it, but emulation as a whole has many uses outside of simply emulating video games consoles - it revolutionized the IT industry. So emulation, be it video games or otherwise, is not going anywhere.
@Syrek24 I can't take your ridiculously long post seriously, when your first paragraph contains something so absurd as "illegal emulators that are not from the parent company"... have you done any research on the matter? If so, you would know emulation is not illegal.
Second, you mention "You are not above the law." Of course not. No one is arguing it is legal. But don't pretend you haven't, and don't frequently, break laws when convenient to you. Never mind the fact that just because something is illegal, doesn't necessarily make it immoral. Your whole argument hinges on "But it's illegal" which 99% of everyone posting in support of emulation acknowledges. Nobody has said it is a gray area legally - they've said it's a gray area morally.
Just a couple years ago same sex marriage wasn't legal in the US - guess that was totally immoral back then, but thank God that now that a group of politicians somewhere said it is okay, same sex couples can continue their love with a clear conscience. Conversely, before slavery was abolished, I guess we should have just all accepted that it was okay? After all, it was legal. Let's not use our own brains for anything. We must always, 100% follow the law in all circumstances. Don't be so naive.
@Einherjar Unless we're talking about two different things, reverse engineering is certainly not illegal, and is common practice in the technology world. Sigma & Tamron reverse engineer Canon/Nikon camera tech for compatible lenses and accessories, Cyrix reverse engineered Intel's x86 platform back in the 90's to avoid licensing costs. Of course there's countless other examples, those two just came to mind. In Cyrix case, they were sued by Intel, but ultimately won the suit, so the court agreed they were within their legal rights. Otherwise, great post.
@Kalmaro I forgot to include this in my last reply... for the most part, I feel you and I have had civil, and mostly intelligent back and forth conversation. However, if you cannot wrap your head around how someone, specifically @Onion that you addressed in your post, can simultaneously believe that something is not evil, while also acknowledging the fact that it is illegal - there really is no point in you continuing this conversation.
@Kalmaro Don't take this the wrong way, but you keep stating you are repeating yourself, and you are asking other people to go and find a ruling/legal precedent for you that shows it is legal to make backup copies of your own games. We're under no obligation to prove our actions are legal - they need to prove the action is illegal. I'm doing some research on the topic simply because I am interested in it, but if the law does to prohibit something, it is permitted (In the US and I believe Great Britain as well).
So no, we have no obligation to you, or to the law, to prove that we are allowed to backup our own games. For one, a quick Google will show you countless articles, many from reputable tech sites, stating you are allowed to make backups of your own games. Two, you will find absolutely no legal precedent for anyone ever making a backup of a game they legally own being prosecuted. Three, you will find no law prohibiting any such backups. And finally, it does not matter what Nintendo says they want you to do. If they come out and say you cannot make a backup of your own games, it makes absolutely no legal difference. As it stands right now, there is absolutely no reason to think that making a backup of your own game is illegal in anyway. If it isn't explicitly forbidden, it is permitted. That's inherent to the US law and there's plenty of precedent to back that one up.
@Leej07 They are not the same thing. Emulation is 100% completely legal, and has plenty of legal uses. You can also legally obtain roms (From your own devices). I think I get the point you're trying to make, but it's not the same as the prohibition.
@Slim1999 lol just facts I think you should look up some more facts lol and learn the difference between piracy and stealing lol. Not saying either are right, lol, but they are clearly different. lol just facts.
@Onion Ha, yeah, clone hardware is terrible. I'll stick to my originals + flashcarts =) But I do find it humorous that those against emulation in general are recommending clone hardware.
On the topic of emulation, the more I think about it, the more ridiculous and close minded I find the viewpoint of emulation always being bad. And I thought it was pretty ridiculous before. But as I thought about it more (I'm a network engineer) the entire IT industry was revolutionized due to hardware emulation. Companies like VMWare have built their entire business model around emulating the underlying hardware in order to to create a virtual environment capable of running server operating systems. At it's core, that is the exact same topic of video game emulation - there is just no good argument against it. If you want to talk about roms and illegally distributing them, sure, you'll hear no argument from me - that's all kinds of illegal. But it's impossible to argue the emulation at it's core is a bad thing.
EDIT: I assumed it goes with out saying, but obviously VMWare is a multi-billion dollar, law abiding corporation (Well, at least as much as any other multi-billion dollar corporation) so it's not like they're peddling illegal emulation software. It's their core business.
@Onion I think what is more funny, is that most of the people on here that are 100% die-hard emulation is always evil types, have recommended you go out and buy clone hardware. So as long as you are giving your money to another profit seeking corporation, I guess emulation is okay? It doesn't stop there - the morality police that say the law should never be broken, almost certainly break the law regularly when convenient if they deem minuscule enough...
As you mentioned, it's hard to dispute the fact that it is illegal. It's also hard to dispute the fact that piracy can and does harm developers. But that certainly does not mean that all uses of such technology is wrong. If I could end all piracy (Even the perks I enjoy today) I would probably do so, if I knew that the games were somehow being preserved somewhere. But as history has shown, that's not the case - Take the Atari 2600 for example. No preservation efforts back then, and to this day, there is no complete list/collection of Atari 2600 games. Who knows how many other games were lost.
The best argument against roms and emulators, even against someone like me who collects games, buys them multiple times over, etc... would be that playing a ROM means you may not buy the game when it is officially released. Take Mother 3 and Starfox 2 for an example. There was no legal way to play either of those. I was never a fan of the SNES Starfox games, and I would never buy it, but I played Starfox 2 for a little simply because it was this crazy piece of history. I played mother 3 to completion because there is no way for me to legally play it otherwise. If Mother 3 is released, I will absolutely buy it again (And again, and again, most likely) and if I can get my hands on a SNES classic, I will own Starfox 2, but I admit I would not have purchased Starfox 2 otherwise. Either way, in both of these cases, I have justified it to myself, because the Devs/Publisher will in no way be losing any money, no harm was caused. But I admit that it is possible for other people to be in the same situation, and would then skip Mother 3/Starfox 2 when they are legally released because they have played them before.
@GravyThief I honestly do believe in the emulation scene and ROMs from a preservation aspect. I agree with the majority of your post, but let's not overlook that there is a huge difference in supporting emulation/digital preservation in general, and hiding behind "I emulate because I support preservation efforts." So in that sense, yes, I agree with you - those people are lying to help make themselves feel better.
On another topic, we've got countless people saying things like ROMs/Emulation is always bad no matter what, but then they still somehow support clone hardware - what exactly do you think is going on inside that close hardware? I'll give you a hint (Ok, the full answer) - it's emulating the original hardware.
There's also very lively homebrew communities that rely heavily on emulators for the creation and testing of their games. So there are many morally justifiable ways that ROMs and emulation can be used. You can even use real discs to play games on your PC emulator - I did this is PSX back in the day when my PSX broke. Of course there are plenty of people who abuse ROMs/Emulation, but let's not pretend it's a black and white issue.
Bottom line, there's a pretty clear different between legality and morality. If there were some magic button I could press that would end all piracy, even the kind I find morally justifiable, I would press it. But since pirates do exist, and people do steal things, and the ROMs are already out there, I will continue to use them to replay games I own, games that would be impossible to play otherwise, and I am very happy that preservation efforts do exist.
EDIT: And I've seen a few people stating it's legal to play games from defunct publishers, or games out of copyright. That's non-sense. Copyright law for software/video games is 120 years. And just because a publisher/developer is defunct, does not mean the work suddenly becomes public domain. While this may have happened in a few cases, it is absolutely not the norm. So again - yes, it's illegal. Perhaps you can justify it to yourself morally (I likely could, if there was no legal way to obtain the game, I couldn't support the dev in anyway, etc...) but that goes back to the difference between my personal morals and law.
@mr_me450 the underlying issue is the same. Even those who are against the use of roms/flashcarts typically acknowledge there is nothing wrong with emulation, which is legal in most countries. The issue is how you obtain roms.
@Siskan I understand that it can be dangerous if everyone suddenly decides they will only obey laws they want, but let's not pretend that emulation is some slippery slope that will lead to anarchy.
The fact is, everyone already decides which laws they will or will not obey, and everyone breaks laws. Be it curfew, legal drinking age, emulation, speeding, buying illegal fireworks, etc... Everyone already makes that determination for themselves.
And don't get me wrong - all of those things I listed can be terrible. Rampant piracy can be too. But there is a clear difference between legality and morality, and while some more abuse emulation, others may not. Using myself and your re release scenario as an example - I have most of my favorite games on a flash carts, but I own the physical carts of basically every rom I would play, and I've purchased re releases, virtual console releases, etc... So yes, for me personally, I have no moral issue with playing roms of those games. I understand this is illegal, and I also understand most people don't behave that way, which is why it has to be illegal.
My best personal example is the legend of Zelda ALTTP. I own it for snes, 3ds, wii, and wii u. If it launches on switch, I will likely buy it again. And yet, I most recently played through the game on my original SNES on an SD2SNES flash cart, and I don't feel the slightest bit of guilt or regret.
@Kalmaro Yeah, the only thing I can say with any certainty, is the general consensus is you are able to legally backup your own software. Quick google shows quite a few topics/discussions on it, but nothing concrete. I'll poke around later and see if I can find any sort of legal ruling, but I doubt I'll turn anything up.
@Kalmaro ha... sorry - I follow the tech industry very closely (It's my passion, hobby, career, etc...) so I'm almost positive I saw it somewhere. But I'm not a lawyer, and I don't really have the time to find a specific ruling. I may spend a few minutes Googling later, and will share if I can find something, but I am fairly certain that there has been precedent for making backups of games that you legally own. Again, I'm not trying to blow you off... just being honest. Digging through legal docs isn't my idea of a fun time on a Friday night =)
EDIT: I do that it applies to most disc based content as well. Again, I'll briefly look to see if I can find something on cartridge ROMs. Most EULAs state not to make illegal copies of the disc - because you are typically permitted to make backup copies for your own use. Again, not 100% applicable here, but that's all that's coming to mind right now.
@Seacliff And not just on steam. Atari has the Atari flashback which can play ROMs from an SD card, and Sega also has multiple consoles/handhelds that can do the same thing. So yeah, ROMs as a whole are certainly not evil.
@Kalmaro That's not true. You can certainly legally back up your own games and own the roms (Perhaps depending on location?). Sure, not many people do that. Morally, I couldn't care less - If I own the game, what difference does it make if I download the rom, or dump it myself? Legally, of course I understand there's a difference, but the end result is the same. I'll be the first to admit that I pirated games when I was younger - but I buy more gaems now at 30 than I ever have in my life, and many of those games I have purchased multiple times over, even after playing a rom version. Again, I don't want to sound like I am defending piracy in general - but for old games, video game preservation, and convenience to play/backup my own games - I have no issues with playing roms of games I own.
@Onion @jimi Regardless of where you fall on the legality/morality of pirating out of production games, you have to admit there is a clear difference between pirating a copy of something, and stealing a physical item. As Onion also said, it's not as if buying a used copy of the game/console in question would benefit the developer or Nintendo in any way.
On the topic of flashcarts, I think this depends on the exact console in question. Many have DC-DC converters to regulate the input voltage to a specific level. All handheld consoles have this to my knowledge (At least, every one I've ever modded or refurbished), so you there shouldn't be any real concern over supplying slightly high voltage than normal - as long as it is within the regulator's input voltage levels.
Comments 66
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@Kalmaro What are you talking about? Of course we have no obligation to justify why we make copies of our own software/games/music/DVDs for personal use if we are not distributing them. Again, that's how the law works - if it isn't prohibited, it's permitted.
Additionally, you are incorrect in stating that you are only purchasing the right to play a game. You are purchasing that specific copy of the game. Yes, your rights are limited as to what you can do with the game, but you are not merely licensing the right to play the game, as you do some modern pieces of software. EULA's differ from software to software, some spell out that you are only licensing the software, and the company reserves the right to terminate you ability to use the product at any time - this is not the case with physical games/media, especially not 20-30 years ago.
So yes, absolutely - if you somehow want to prove that it is illegal for someone to make backups of their own legally purchased software - the responsibility is entirely on you, the lawyer, prosecutor, etc... that wants to prove it is illegal. The problem is, as I've stated, it's not prohibited by law, and there is absolutely no precedent set for charging someone for making copies of their own software. Again, a 10 second Google search will show you as much.
EDIT: And you keep telling everyone to "Show me a ruling"... again, I'm not a lawyer and don't pretend to be an expert - but take 30 seconds to think about how the law works. Things do not need to be spelled out to be permitted - it's the exact opposite. If there isn't a ruling outlawing something, it is lawful.
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@Leej07 Heh, I think it's been clear I am mainly on your side of the argument (I have no issues with ROMs of games I own/have no legal way of obtaining) but I still disagree with that analogy. The issue is, even if ROMs of commercially released games were somehow compeltely removed from the internet, emulation still has a place. Emulation is awesome for the homebrew scene, or even playing games with enhanced features off of the original media. If you want to use the prohibition analogy, it would be more accurate to say you are allowed to have and play ROMs, but you're not allowed to download, sell, or dump your own.
EDIT: And I've already made this point earlier, and don't feel like re-typing it, but emulation as a whole has many uses outside of simply emulating video games consoles - it revolutionized the IT industry. So emulation, be it video games or otherwise, is not going anywhere.
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@Syrek24 I can't take your ridiculously long post seriously, when your first paragraph contains something so absurd as "illegal emulators that are not from the parent company"... have you done any research on the matter? If so, you would know emulation is not illegal.
Second, you mention "You are not above the law." Of course not. No one is arguing it is legal. But don't pretend you haven't, and don't frequently, break laws when convenient to you. Never mind the fact that just because something is illegal, doesn't necessarily make it immoral. Your whole argument hinges on "But it's illegal" which 99% of everyone posting in support of emulation acknowledges. Nobody has said it is a gray area legally - they've said it's a gray area morally.
Just a couple years ago same sex marriage wasn't legal in the US - guess that was totally immoral back then, but thank God that now that a group of politicians somewhere said it is okay, same sex couples can continue their love with a clear conscience. Conversely, before slavery was abolished, I guess we should have just all accepted that it was okay? After all, it was legal. Let's not use our own brains for anything. We must always, 100% follow the law in all circumstances. Don't be so naive.
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@Einherjar Unless we're talking about two different things, reverse engineering is certainly not illegal, and is common practice in the technology world. Sigma & Tamron reverse engineer Canon/Nikon camera tech for compatible lenses and accessories, Cyrix reverse engineered Intel's x86 platform back in the 90's to avoid licensing costs. Of course there's countless other examples, those two just came to mind. In Cyrix case, they were sued by Intel, but ultimately won the suit, so the court agreed they were within their legal rights. Otherwise, great post.
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@Kalmaro I forgot to include this in my last reply... for the most part, I feel you and I have had civil, and mostly intelligent back and forth conversation. However, if you cannot wrap your head around how someone, specifically @Onion that you addressed in your post, can simultaneously believe that something is not evil, while also acknowledging the fact that it is illegal - there really is no point in you continuing this conversation.
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@Kalmaro Don't take this the wrong way, but you keep stating you are repeating yourself, and you are asking other people to go and find a ruling/legal precedent for you that shows it is legal to make backup copies of your own games. We're under no obligation to prove our actions are legal - they need to prove the action is illegal. I'm doing some research on the topic simply because I am interested in it, but if the law does to prohibit something, it is permitted (In the US and I believe Great Britain as well).
So no, we have no obligation to you, or to the law, to prove that we are allowed to backup our own games. For one, a quick Google will show you countless articles, many from reputable tech sites, stating you are allowed to make backups of your own games. Two, you will find absolutely no legal precedent for anyone ever making a backup of a game they legally own being prosecuted. Three, you will find no law prohibiting any such backups. And finally, it does not matter what Nintendo says they want you to do. If they come out and say you cannot make a backup of your own games, it makes absolutely no legal difference. As it stands right now, there is absolutely no reason to think that making a backup of your own game is illegal in anyway. If it isn't explicitly forbidden, it is permitted. That's inherent to the US law and there's plenty of precedent to back that one up.
@Leej07 They are not the same thing. Emulation is 100% completely legal, and has plenty of legal uses. You can also legally obtain roms (From your own devices). I think I get the point you're trying to make, but it's not the same as the prohibition.
@Slim1999 lol just facts I think you should look up some more facts lol and learn the difference between piracy and stealing lol. Not saying either are right, lol, but they are clearly different. lol just facts.
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@Henmii the cartridges are unlicensed, but that does not make them illegal, even if they are frequently used for illegal purposes.
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@Onion Ha, yeah, clone hardware is terrible. I'll stick to my originals + flashcarts =) But I do find it humorous that those against emulation in general are recommending clone hardware.
On the topic of emulation, the more I think about it, the more ridiculous and close minded I find the viewpoint of emulation always being bad. And I thought it was pretty ridiculous before. But as I thought about it more (I'm a network engineer) the entire IT industry was revolutionized due to hardware emulation. Companies like VMWare have built their entire business model around emulating the underlying hardware in order to to create a virtual environment capable of running server operating systems. At it's core, that is the exact same topic of video game emulation - there is just no good argument against it. If you want to talk about roms and illegally distributing them, sure, you'll hear no argument from me - that's all kinds of illegal. But it's impossible to argue the emulation at it's core is a bad thing.
EDIT: I assumed it goes with out saying, but obviously VMWare is a multi-billion dollar, law abiding corporation (Well, at least as much as any other multi-billion dollar corporation) so it's not like they're peddling illegal emulation software. It's their core business.
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@Onion I think what is more funny, is that most of the people on here that are 100% die-hard emulation is always evil types, have recommended you go out and buy clone hardware. So as long as you are giving your money to another profit seeking corporation, I guess emulation is okay? It doesn't stop there - the morality police that say the law should never be broken, almost certainly break the law regularly when convenient if they deem minuscule enough...
As you mentioned, it's hard to dispute the fact that it is illegal. It's also hard to dispute the fact that piracy can and does harm developers. But that certainly does not mean that all uses of such technology is wrong. If I could end all piracy (Even the perks I enjoy today) I would probably do so, if I knew that the games were somehow being preserved somewhere. But as history has shown, that's not the case - Take the Atari 2600 for example. No preservation efforts back then, and to this day, there is no complete list/collection of Atari 2600 games. Who knows how many other games were lost.
The best argument against roms and emulators, even against someone like me who collects games, buys them multiple times over, etc... would be that playing a ROM means you may not buy the game when it is officially released. Take Mother 3 and Starfox 2 for an example. There was no legal way to play either of those. I was never a fan of the SNES Starfox games, and I would never buy it, but I played Starfox 2 for a little simply because it was this crazy piece of history. I played mother 3 to completion because there is no way for me to legally play it otherwise. If Mother 3 is released, I will absolutely buy it again (And again, and again, most likely) and if I can get my hands on a SNES classic, I will own Starfox 2, but I admit I would not have purchased Starfox 2 otherwise. Either way, in both of these cases, I have justified it to myself, because the Devs/Publisher will in no way be losing any money, no harm was caused. But I admit that it is possible for other people to be in the same situation, and would then skip Mother 3/Starfox 2 when they are legally released because they have played them before.
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@GravyThief I honestly do believe in the emulation scene and ROMs from a preservation aspect. I agree with the majority of your post, but let's not overlook that there is a huge difference in supporting emulation/digital preservation in general, and hiding behind "I emulate because I support preservation efforts." So in that sense, yes, I agree with you - those people are lying to help make themselves feel better.
On another topic, we've got countless people saying things like ROMs/Emulation is always bad no matter what, but then they still somehow support clone hardware - what exactly do you think is going on inside that close hardware? I'll give you a hint (Ok, the full answer) - it's emulating the original hardware.
There's also very lively homebrew communities that rely heavily on emulators for the creation and testing of their games. So there are many morally justifiable ways that ROMs and emulation can be used. You can even use real discs to play games on your PC emulator - I did this is PSX back in the day when my PSX broke. Of course there are plenty of people who abuse ROMs/Emulation, but let's not pretend it's a black and white issue.
Bottom line, there's a pretty clear different between legality and morality. If there were some magic button I could press that would end all piracy, even the kind I find morally justifiable, I would press it. But since pirates do exist, and people do steal things, and the ROMs are already out there, I will continue to use them to replay games I own, games that would be impossible to play otherwise, and I am very happy that preservation efforts do exist.
EDIT: And I've seen a few people stating it's legal to play games from defunct publishers, or games out of copyright. That's non-sense. Copyright law for software/video games is 120 years. And just because a publisher/developer is defunct, does not mean the work suddenly becomes public domain. While this may have happened in a few cases, it is absolutely not the norm. So again - yes, it's illegal. Perhaps you can justify it to yourself morally (I likely could, if there was no legal way to obtain the game, I couldn't support the dev in anyway, etc...) but that goes back to the difference between my personal morals and law.
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@mr_me450 the underlying issue is the same. Even those who are against the use of roms/flashcarts typically acknowledge there is nothing wrong with emulation, which is legal in most countries. The issue is how you obtain roms.
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@Siskan I understand that it can be dangerous if everyone suddenly decides they will only obey laws they want, but let's not pretend that emulation is some slippery slope that will lead to anarchy.
The fact is, everyone already decides which laws they will or will not obey, and everyone breaks laws. Be it curfew, legal drinking age, emulation, speeding, buying illegal fireworks, etc... Everyone already makes that determination for themselves.
And don't get me wrong - all of those things I listed can be terrible. Rampant piracy can be too. But there is a clear difference between legality and morality, and while some more abuse emulation, others may not. Using myself and your re release scenario as an example - I have most of my favorite games on a flash carts, but I own the physical carts of basically every rom I would play, and I've purchased re releases, virtual console releases, etc... So yes, for me personally, I have no moral issue with playing roms of those games. I understand this is illegal, and I also understand most people don't behave that way, which is why it has to be illegal.
My best personal example is the legend of Zelda ALTTP. I own it for snes, 3ds, wii, and wii u. If it launches on switch, I will likely buy it again. And yet, I most recently played through the game on my original SNES on an SD2SNES flash cart, and I don't feel the slightest bit of guilt or regret.
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@Kalmaro Yeah, the only thing I can say with any certainty, is the general consensus is you are able to legally backup your own software. Quick google shows quite a few topics/discussions on it, but nothing concrete. I'll poke around later and see if I can find any sort of legal ruling, but I doubt I'll turn anything up.
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@Kalmaro ha... sorry - I follow the tech industry very closely (It's my passion, hobby, career, etc...) so I'm almost positive I saw it somewhere. But I'm not a lawyer, and I don't really have the time to find a specific ruling. I may spend a few minutes Googling later, and will share if I can find something, but I am fairly certain that there has been precedent for making backups of games that you legally own. Again, I'm not trying to blow you off... just being honest. Digging through legal docs isn't my idea of a fun time on a Friday night =)
EDIT: I do that it applies to most disc based content as well. Again, I'll briefly look to see if I can find something on cartridge ROMs. Most EULAs state not to make illegal copies of the disc - because you are typically permitted to make backup copies for your own use. Again, not 100% applicable here, but that's all that's coming to mind right now.
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@Seacliff And not just on steam. Atari has the Atari flashback which can play ROMs from an SD card, and Sega also has multiple consoles/handhelds that can do the same thing. So yeah, ROMs as a whole are certainly not evil.
Re: Flash Carts Could Be Slowly Killing Your Retro Consoles
@Kalmaro That's not true. You can certainly legally back up your own games and own the roms (Perhaps depending on location?). Sure, not many people do that. Morally, I couldn't care less - If I own the game, what difference does it make if I download the rom, or dump it myself? Legally, of course I understand there's a difference, but the end result is the same. I'll be the first to admit that I pirated games when I was younger - but I buy more gaems now at 30 than I ever have in my life, and many of those games I have purchased multiple times over, even after playing a rom version. Again, I don't want to sound like I am defending piracy in general - but for old games, video game preservation, and convenience to play/backup my own games - I have no issues with playing roms of games I own.
@Onion @jimi Regardless of where you fall on the legality/morality of pirating out of production games, you have to admit there is a clear difference between pirating a copy of something, and stealing a physical item. As Onion also said, it's not as if buying a used copy of the game/console in question would benefit the developer or Nintendo in any way.
On the topic of flashcarts, I think this depends on the exact console in question. Many have DC-DC converters to regulate the input voltage to a specific level. All handheld consoles have this to my knowledge (At least, every one I've ever modded or refurbished), so you there shouldn't be any real concern over supplying slightly high voltage than normal - as long as it is within the regulator's input voltage levels.