GoldenEye 007 Nintendo 64 Community, GoldenEye X, Nintendo 64 Games Discussion

[kcghost]

I just thought this was an interesting topic that should be looked into. Many people have voiced their opinions on this, and all have raised some valid points. To start off, from a legal perspective, downloading a copyrighted ROM is not a crime, nor is downloading music. Oh, but wait, arn't people sued by the RIAA? Of course they are, but that does not mean its a crime. The government (at least of the USA, pretty sure its the same in other countries too) does not give a damn if you download copyrighted stuff UNLESS, you obtain and reproduce for profit mass amounts of it. Downloading copyrighted stuff is breaking civil law, which you can ONLY get sued for, you will never land in jail for downloading stuff.

Another point, old games mean two things. There are now history, and no money is being made off of them anymore. Therefore, it is not hurting the company that made them, so why should they care?

Counterpoint is Nintendos standpoint: http://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal.jsp#roms

And also the unfortunate but true fact that copyright lasts a ridiculous 75 years. The double copy thing is not true at all, just because you have a copy of the game does not mean you can obtain a second copy that violates copyright laws. The only fussy part in this is where very personally, a gamer backs up his games to prevent against damage.

Despite Nintendos strong standpoint and threats that it has a team of lawyers that will go after the downloading of ROMS, Nintendo does nothing. In my opinion, its all about money. Nintendo doesnt want emulators on the Wii, since its now making more money off old games with the virtual console, but it doesn't care about games downloaded on the internet that do not make money anymore, since most downloading would never buy the game (or if they have it, wont buy it again). But they would certainly buy it to have it on their TV through the Wii. Putting an emulator with ROMS on the wii goes right through that moneymaking strategy, so they are completley against it.

For another example in copyright law, look at the double-standard thats has gone on for awhile in the music industry. Haven't heard much news anymore, but there was a time when the RIAA was sueing tons of people that downloaded music, from rap songs to friggin nursery rhymes, for alot of money. Then tons of rappers make obvious remix copies of old songs (songs have 50 year copyrights however), without getting any permission from the original artists. Does the RIAA give a crap? Isnt it supposed to help the original artist with some money - it is a recording industry association, youd think itd be on the side of, you know, recording artists. But they dont care. Its a company of lawyers stealing money off random people.

Downloading roms, clear cut, is civil law illegal. The fact is, you can easily do it. So it becomes a moral or ethical issue which has been argued many times. Several websites (such as this one) will have policy against linking to ROM sites (although linking to a ROM site is likely nowhere near illegal in itself). So should we care? Should we freely link to and download ROMS or should we be discreet about it?

I would simply like to see the opinions of others in this topic. My opinion is if game companies do not make money off it, then they don't care, therefore I don't really care, but Ill still abide by any policy that states against linking, simply because of its controversiality.

Last edited by kcghost on Fri Feb 23, 2007 4:49 pm; edited 2 times in total

[Luther]

I think it's wrong. I consider it stealing.
But, it doesn't stop me from doing it. I guess I'm the rare breed that can do wrong without having to justify it.
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Warriors... Come out to pl-ay!!

[GE MASTER]

It's interesting. We can make our own roms with a gameshark device. I'm sure we would all pay for a rom if Nintendo had them available.

[Dragonsbrethren]

GE MASTER wrote:

It's interesting. We can make our own roms with a gameshark device. I'm sure we would all pay for a rom if Nintendo had them available.

Indeed, from what I hear the Virtual Console is doing really well, although the number of complaints I hear about it on other forums you'd think the opposite. People seem to think paying for some of these classic games is a ripoff when they can download them for free online. I disagree, I've always said that if Nintendo released legal emulated versions of their games I'd buy them and I fully plan to once I get a Wii (This year). They're even starting to release Japanese games in the US, you can get the Japanese SMB2 now, which is awesome, I hope the Japanese version of Castlevania III is made available.

I wish they'd make a virtual console type thing for the DS, allow you to download GB/GBC/GG ROMs and an emulator via the Wii. I have a DS flash card and a GBC emulator but an official package would be so much nicer. They'd need to make their own flash card for storing the games, unless they made it so you'd have to download the package every time you wanted to play, which would kind of suck.

[SubDrag]

I just find it ridiculous they don't change the games at all. I see no reason to download them on Wii VC. That's why XBox 360 is so great in that respect - the high scores and achievements. Nintendo's online "strategy" is infuriating and somehow successful.

[Dragonsbrethren]

SubDrag wrote:

I just find it ridiculous they don't change the games at all. I see no reason to download them on Wii VC. That's why XBox 360 is so great in that respect - the high scores and achievements. Nintendo's online "strategy" is infuriating and somehow successful.

I don't mind that they don't change the games but at the same time I wouldn't mind if they kept track of high scores. I won't bother downloading any games I already own in cartridge form though, I only plan on getting games I never had a chance to own. Of course, I've already played some of these games via PC emulation, but as I said I prefer to get them legally and support the developers. Maybe, if enough people download their classic games but don't buy their newer ones, some developers will take a look at them and realize what made the gameplay so much better than a lot of today's games. I doubt it though.

[Agent 005]

Personally, I feel that as long as you're not downloading with the intent to make a profit by selling these ROMs, it's okay.
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Finish the job, Trevelyan...if you can.

[GE MASTER]

Hey welcome to the forums. I think that we all made our roms using a gameshark device so it's legit imo. We aren't distributing. The fact is, all of us have one and maybe 2 copies of the friggin game!! I do understand Nintendo and the threat of roms to their business.