What Nes/Snes repros are worth getting?

[Gameguy]

they're not "scammers," making repros takes some effort and they are charging for that, it's not extravagant and I'm willing to pay it.

Charging for labour is profiting, profiting by selling something that you don't own the rights to is bootlegging. I don't see a problem if the makers of "reproductions" only charged for parts, supplies, and shipping, charging for labour is what's shady when your just stealing someone else's game. If the games were actually released in the public domain then go nuts and charge whatever you like.

Plenty of people are willing to pay $3 for bootleg DVDs sold at flea markets, it takes time to film those in theaters, or download and then burn those so they're just as legitimate as "reproduction" games.

Still, if you want a separate cart then go and get one. Just don't pretend that it's perfectly legal when it's not, companies choosing to not enforce it isn't making it legal.

a flash cart is just as legit as a repro cart.

but hey, its your money do as you like.

Technically you can just use a flash cart for homebrew games so they're slightly more legitimate than a straight forward "reproduction", if you choose to use one for piracy then it's your fault. Just like choosing to use a kitchen knife as a weapon would be your fault, there's nothing wrong with a kitchen knife on it's own.

[Leo_A]

I have no ethical problems with someone charging a bit extra for their time, otherwise those that wanted something on cartridge that is unavailable would have no one to turn to in order to purchase a reproduction.

But the vast majority of what people want to play on reproductions are playable on a flash cart that will play that and most everything else for just about the same amount of money one reproduction cost. And like c0ldb33r said, a rom sitting on a flash cart is just as legitimate as a something burned on a eprom (Both aren't the real thing).

So I don't understand why someone wouldn't go that route unless it was something like Star Fox 2 that doesn't work on a flash cart due to using a special enhancement chip.

[Gameguy]

I have no ethical problems with someone charging a bit extra for their time, otherwise those that wanted something on cartridge that is unavailable would have no one to turn to in order to purchase a reproduction.

So as long as someone wants something there should be someone out there providing it? Cocaine too?

It's kind of like this "repro" being offered for Chrono Trigger: Crimson Echoes.
http://digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=151081

There was a cease & desist sent out by Square Enix to stop the game from being released, now not only was the game leaked out but people are profiting from it too. This wasn't a game that nobody cared about, the rights holders stepped in and wanted it scrapped. I'm not in favour of them sending the cease & desist but people making repros and profiting kind of validates their reasoning.

I don't really care if people make what they want using IP that doesn't belong to them for personal fun, it's the profiting on it that bugs me. This is a big reason why copyright holders don't want people using their IPs without permission. If you want to help people out and make repros as a favour to the community that's fine, just don't make a big profit on them. Cover all expenses including solder and electricity costs but that's it, rounding up a couple bucks to make an even number is ok but nothing beyond that. If you're helping out a homebrewer make copies of their game that's different, if it doesn't violate copyright it's not the same thing and you can profit from your services.

I'm sorry but that's how I feel about this. I wasn't trying to aim this at you specifically, this issue just bugs me in general. As you've said it makes more sense to use a flash cart except for the games that aren't compatible.

[Leo_A]

That's fine and if you delve into my posting history here, you'll find my opinions aren't much different.

But I'm not against someone earning a modest return for their time after all cost are taken into account (Say if a game cost $60 in materials and shipping, I'm not against asking $70 or $75 for it). No one's getting rich and there is at least a slight incentive for the person to keep doing this for the community since they're earning a tiny bit for their time and effort. Better yet, send the person a game they want as a thank you for their time after paying for their cost.

Now if a reproduction cost $70 (I'm just making that number up) and they're charging well over $100 for it, I'm not going to be too supportive. I'm against profiting from someone else's work, especially if the reproduction maker starts to feel like they have some ownership rights of the game code due to their time and effort in making reproductions.

It's happened more than once, there was a thread about a 2600 prototype here several years ago where the prototype owner wanted to profit from making reproductions of his find and was starting to act like he owned the actual code of the prototype and didn't feel like anyone else should even be able to dump the contents of it later on after purchasing one of his reproductions (When in reality they'd have the same rights as he does to the contents, absolutely none).