Do you ever justify playing ROMs or Backups by buying another version of a game?

[VACRMH]

I'm probably weird about this, but I wanted to see if I wasn't the only one.

For example, I just found a PC game that I always wanted (Actually never knew it came out in the states, it's called "Takeru: Letter of the Law") but the prices are pretty high for it. About $40.

However, the import for 3DO is only around $10. I could buy the import to own a copy, and download the PC version in English to play.

I couldn't see myself doing this for something that's out on current gen, or for something that it would be too much of a pain to mess with (Like modding my Saturn for a burn of PDS and buying a copy of Azel). I know I could just outright download the PC version, but I like to actually own a copy of the game. I'd love to own the US originals, but when Snatcher is $100+, and the import can be had for as low as $10...it's tempting.

I've also bought imports that have been fan translated, but I just play the patched rom.

Sorry for the wall of text, anyone else do this?

[sheath]

I try to own at least one version of any game I actually play.

[Swamperon]

I do that, for example Shining Force III Scn 2 & 3, as they're japanese only and I play a patched copy on my PC.

But I didn't do that to 'justify' it. I would have played them anyway. My love for the SF series prompted me to do both. Which is why I own multiple copies of the same game in different languages for other series as well.

I don't download any current gen games and I actively discourage people from using R4 devices on their DS.

Generally I only resort to downloading if the game isn't available in my region, or it is sufficiently old that the company couldn't financially benefit from it i.e. no longer available new.

[kirbykirb]

So you justify theft buy attempting to purchase the least expensive unit to "good" about playing the game? And not even the matching console version?

Hell, just save the hassle and play the rom and enjoy it. You're going to anyway, why go through the hassle of trying to purchase the game produced for a different console; or pretending/thinking that a company is not making any financial benefit from it. A company does not fully disclose their plans; or full ideas about a game and just because a particular game isn't selling/for sell anymore does not mean they automaticly do not benefit from it.

[kedawa]

That's kind of like buying Photoshop Elements and then downloading CS5.

In the case of used games, the developers don't see any of that money anyway, so I don't think there's any real moral justification there.
If it makes you feel better, though, go for it.

[VACRMH]

A company does not fully disclose their plans; or full ideas about a game and just because a particular game isn't selling/for sell anymore does not mean they automaticly do not benefit from it.

How exactly would a company benefit from me buying the US version as opposed to the import of a 15 year old game?

[Icarus Moonsight]

If you want to support the company, I'm sure they'd accept a donation. They may even grant you written permission of use rights going that route. Even if no money changes hands, you can send them an email and ask. You never know what they'll do. Worst that can happen is they say no. If it's not a currently viable product, I doubt they'll even care if they found out. Unless you're selling copies at a fleamarket or something equally dumb.

[Greg2600]

I rarely, if ever, play emulated games nowadays. I'm fortunate to be able to afford most of the common old stuff now. 8/9 years ago, I played roms, had no choice. I have to say, there are very few games which are so expensive due to rarity that I would ever play. Most of those games, IMO, stink.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Nope! I am a filthy pirate. Dohohohohoho.

I do buy legit games when I have the chance, but that doesn't justify my piraty ways.

[AntonLebedev]

I play emulated ROMs, but I care to own the exact version of the cart (if it's SEGA, then SEGA cart, if it's NES, then NES cart). However, I make no difference between Megadrive and Genesis. And I have bought (not cheap) a Karateka for PC - and could not run it via DOSbox, so I used the pirated download instead.

When I buy used stuff from people, I think it is acceptable. Yes, the company does not get my money, but the person gets. Just like any other asset (share, bond, painting) - it can be used, bought and sold, raise and fall in value. When I buy something, I reward the person for not discarding the item into thrash, and sometimes the reward compensates the money payd back then, and with interest.

[kirbykirb]

How exactly would a company benefit from me buying the US version as opposed to the import of a 15 year old game?

Tricky question; but if it was still brand new from the original retailer it would benefit the retailer since the developer and publisher originally got paid when the item was new.

Once an item is used, the original dev/pub sees no profit on the recurring sales of the product.

But IP can still come to que, as well as music if it wasn't originally developed just for the game but licensed; just as the game cartridge itself- its a software license to use the game as originally intended on the home console.

:P

[Robocop2]

If a game is still commercially available from its creators I try to purchase it. I don't really see any moral quandry in playing a game that new retail sales stopped many years ago. The devloper/publisher will not lose one bit of revenue from my play of emulated games. Now if they release said game on a compilation disc I feel obliged to buy it sure but otherwise no not really.

[Richter Belmount]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvdf5n-zI14

Thats a solid answer right there , if its something thats on a nes , atari and snes cart i dont really give much thought to the morality of playing it via emulator.

[Edmond Dantes]

I used to do this, but to be honest it still felt wrong to me. Not morally wrong, just more in a practical sense. Like "if I was just gonna download it anyway, why did I pay for it?"

When I buy something, I like to play the copy I actually bought. It just seems like a waste otherwise.

[kupomogli]

While most of the games I emulate I own, there are some that I don't own that I do emulate. The games I don't own all happen to be in either cartridge format or 16bit CD format. Most of the games I don't own as of yet but emulate either don't sell at realistic prices, I haven't found a good enough condition copy worth owning and not selling(since I only like CIB,) or are import only.

I tend to like owning the games I play emulation or not. The only PSX game I've ever emulated and haven't owned is Brigandine Grand Edition, and then found a near mint copy last year so now I actually own the game. Rare game and I'm lucky to have found it in a condition as good as it was.

[NayusDante]

The only thing I emulate these days is hacks. This is mostly limited to stuff like Rockman 5 Endless. Yes, I own the US cart and the Anniversary Collection, but the hack is for the Japanese version. Hacks do have artistic merit, though, so it's not like I'm pirating a game just to play it, it's something new that couldn't be experienced otherwise.

Still, it doesn't matter how you "justify" it, it's still violating a (rarely enforced, if at all) copyright. In the end, it doesn't matter how YOU justify something. All that matters is what the copyright holders think about the matter.

[exit]

If I really like a particular game I track down a copy, otherwise I don't give it a second thought.

[Xtincthed]

i never emulate, always buy the original.. if i can't find it or afford it i'm not playing it
but i dont have that much time to play so i'm never in a deadlock :p

[bangtango]

The only stuff I have ROM's of nowadays is games that relied on a battery to save your progress. Most of the time a cartridge game with a dead battery is just as useless as a Phantasy Star Online disc which is no longer supported.

Go ahead and call it theft, but a person who bought a game 20-25 years ago with a save battery that is long since dead isn't a heathen for still wanting to be able to play that game and save his progress, even if he is now doing it with ROM's instead of the original cartridge with a dead battery.

Just because everyone else on the internet changes their dead batteries in NES or Genesis games doesn't mean I have to or even want to.

[VACRMH]

but i dont have that much time to play so i'm never in a deadlock :p

Good point, I have way too much to play as it is. There's a few pricey games out there that I really want to play, but I should just focus on what I own as it is.

Truth be told, I think I've only owned one game and played it on another system before. I downloaded Manhunt 2 for PSP, to play it uncensored, when I had bought the PS2 version.

But I thought it would be an interesting topic to talk about. I know that there's no major reason for me to even try and justify playing "teh romz" in general (I would think even the translation work for the US versions would be part of the copyright in itself, so even if I own the JP version, I dont own the US translation), but I like to own the games I play, at least in some form. So the idea came up after buying imports to play the patched version. I don't think I'd go as far as buying a majorly different version and pirate the better/updated version (Say, Ys 1 on Master System and then downloading one of the PC remakes), but it was just something to think about.

The collector and gamer parts clash with each other I suppose, and I'm sure if I found a deal for a legit US version of something I owned the import of, I'd snatch it up right away.

/blahblahblah

[dendawg]

I play rom and "backups" for one reason and one reason only.....because I can!:ass:

[Richter Belmount]

You guys are such assholes for emulating games , think of the poor guy who had to horde that old snes cartridge so he can charge you a fucking arm and leg , and also think of the developers who moved onto current gen your hurting their profit margin for a old nes game.

[Enigmus]

You guys are such assholes for emulating games , think of the poor guy who had to horde that old snes cartridge so he can charge you a fucking arm and leg , and also think of the developers who moved onto current gen your hurting their profit margin for a old nes game.

I could never agree more. LOL

To me, the "emulation vs. original" debate will pretty much side with emulation as the original systems and games die out. Another thing is compilations- if I/you own five different collections containing Sonic 1, shouldn't that merit the right to play that in Kega? After all, I'm/you're the one shelling out $20 to $35 per collection disc even though they're mostly unaltered from the last one. Also, consider this- how many of the games in a "complete collection" will you really play, especially for systems like NES and A2600 which are rife with shovelware? Emulation just lets you pick what you really want to play (as long as you own/owned the game) instead of pouring thousands of dollars into an 800-1200 NES/Fami game collection and then realizing there's only 200-300 games you'd actually play. And on the "PC emu's aren't good without USB controllers" subject, just put HBC on your Wii and play games on there with a Classic Controller. Problem solved.

[11killer11]

If I bought the carts of the WWF and WCW games that are on the N64 from ebay,then once they came, I downloaded the roms of them onto my computer would that be considered okay?

I jus don't have room for another system the way my TV's set up.

[megasdkirby]

If I bought the carts of the WWF and WCW games that are on the N64 from ebay,then once they came, I downloaded the roms of them onto my computer would that be considered okay?

I jus don't have room for another system the way my TV's set up.

Supposedly, that's still illegal.

The only way it's supposed to be "legal" is if you take the carts you purchased and dump the ROM yourself...and play your own ROM image, never to distribute. And if you sell your game, you must also delete your ROM image.

[j_factor]

It's still technically illegal, but who cares? It's true enough to the spirit, if not the letter, of copyright law.

[kedawa]

The spirit of the law was to protect copyright holders from loss of enrichment due to counterfeiting and piracy. Emulating old games that aren't currently for sale by the copyright holder doesn't really go against that one way or another.

[WanganRunner]

I emulate for convenience.

Anything non-portable that's older than PS2, I usually play in emulation to avoid having to keep twenty million consoles hooked up.

This is especially nice for, say, PS1 or N64, where the visual quality of the game is MUCH better in emulation. SM64 is killer in 1600x1200 at 60fps with 4x AA and high-res textures.

I don't have a particular compulsion about HAVING to own a hardcopy of anything I emulate for legal/moral reasons. I own plenty of hardcopies that I'll probably never play, and I play many games in emulation I'll never buy hardcopies of.

My collecting and my actual gaming are very disconnected in this way.

I'd never pirate/emulate anything NEW though, but otherwise I don't see the harm, even if the courts do.

Meh.

[Zthun]

I lie, cheat, and steal, but rarely play emulated games cause it just doesn't feel the same. Sometimes, though, I'll get back into it. It can be fun to play the games I don't have.

[Famidrive-16]

I don't really play as much emulation as I used to, but when I do, it's mostly games I've played before. I used to go searching for every ROM I could but it's not really as fun as playing the legit version.

There are a couple times I've made exceptions, though. I'm pretty sure I'll never be able to play a real copy of Snatcher, for instance.