Emulation

[xlib]

Anyone know of any good emulators?
I already have a SNES one..
I am looking for a GBA one. :/

Anyone know where to get them? And the ROMS for them.

[localzuk]

First, there are a few around such as http://vba.ngemu.com/

Second, just a legal warning - unless you own the original game, using a ROM is illegal in most cases.

[xlib]

Yeah I know, I am trying to get mthe pokemon games on the computer. :x :D:D

[xlib]

Does anyone know where to get the GBA ROMS from?

[Zyphrexi]

you can't ask that on the forums.

Try google.

[slavik]

First, there are a few around such as http://vba.ngemu.com/

Second, just a legal warning - unless you own the original game, using a ROM is illegal in most cases.

roms are legal if you can't get the original system that the game ran on. IE: NES, Dreamcast, PSX/PS2 in the future

[shinygerbil]

I'm not sure that's strictly true. The ROMs aren't legal until the company actually says so - look up abandonware. Some companies have no beef with letting you download their 20-year-old text game; it's not like it'll harm their profits, they've already made all they're gonna make out of it.

Some companies, like Nintendo in particular (and probably Sega too), do NOT like you downloading even the smallest NES ROM. They're quite tough on it, apparently. I used to know of many Nintendo ROM sites, which all got taken down because Nintendo directly asked them to, saying (in effect) that there was still potentially money to be made from them.

This is partly true; look at all the Sonic Compilations for PS2/XBOX/GC. And also look at the promised Nintendo Revolution; Nintendo claim there will be a back catalogue of NES/SNES etc games available on a pay-per-download basis. (Basically a legal, paid ROM.)

So, as far as I know, even if production of the game and the platform has stopped, I don't think that automatically classes the ROM as legal. Of course, I could be wrong :P

Steve


EDIT: I found this page quite amusing: http://www.nintendo.com/corp/faqs/legal.html

[slavik]

Every bunch of years, some comitee gets together and decides on the exceptions to the DMCA. One of the exceptions are public libraries. The other exception is that the hardware for which software is written must be readily available in order for the copyrights to the software to be protected by the DMCA.

So, as far as the law is concerned, NES, SNES, Genesis, Jaguar, Atari roms are legal.

Even if you can't buy a PSX, PSX roms are illegal because PS2 can play PSX games and PS2 is readily available. GB and GBC roms are not legal because the DS can play those games. I am not mentioning whether or not you own the actual games, because according to Jack Valenti, if you have a DVD of a movie (bought from store), you are not allowed to make a backup (because you only have a license to view the movie). If that DVD breaks, you must buy a new one (because you own the media?).

Unless you redistribute the roms, I doubt any company would be willing to go after you even if they knew that you had many roms for a system that they have discontinued.

I'm not sure that's strictly true. The ROMs aren't legal until the company actually says so - look up abandonware. Some companies have no beef with letting you download their 20-year-old text game; it's not like it'll harm their profits, they've already made all they're gonna make out of it.

Some companies, like Nintendo in particular (and probably Sega too), do NOT like you downloading even the smallest NES ROM. They're quite tough on it, apparently. I used to know of many Nintendo ROM sites, which all got taken down because Nintendo directly asked them to, saying (in effect) that there was still potentially money to be made from them.

This is partly true; look at all the Sonic Compilations for PS2/XBOX/GC. And also look at the promised Nintendo Revolution; Nintendo claim there will be a back catalogue of NES/SNES etc games available on a pay-per-download basis. (Basically a legal, paid ROM.)

So, as far as I know, even if production of the game and the platform has stopped, I don't think that automatically classes the ROM as legal. Of course, I could be wrong :P

Steve

[localzuk]

roms are legal if you can't get the original system that the game ran on. IE: NES, Dreamcast, PSX/PS2 in the future

Incorrect I am afraid. Roms are still copyrighted material, owned by the copyright holder. Nintendo are *very* protective about their games and as such have had many ROM sites shut down due to copyright infringement (and others have voluntarily removed the roms in question).

Copyright does not expire simply because the machines that were used to play it are no longer built.

IIRC, the copyright cut off time in the UK is something like 70 years? It may have been increased recently in order to be the same as the rest of the EU.

[localzuk]

Every bunch of years, some comitee gets together and decides on the exceptions to the DMCA. One of the exceptions are public libraries. The other exception is that the hardware for which software is written must be readily available in order for the copyrights to the software to be protected by the DMCA.

So, as far as the law is concerned, NES, SNES, Genesis, Jaguar, Atari roms are legal.

That is not true - the companies you mention are NOT US based. They are japanese in most cases (Sony, Nintendo). That means that copyright law in Japan must be upheld - even in the USA (due to agreements between the countries).

Also, in the UK we do not have a DMCA - and as such that doesn't apply.