Words of Apology

[aoanla]

Well, again, I wouldn't. However, the lack of necessity of an act does not imply its moral incorrectness.

[Dave2]

In the US it is legal to download (or otherwise obtain) ROMs and the like, so in those cases it is not piracy.

Can you back that up? I don't see why it would be legal.

[da_zeg]

Roms, for games consoles past, are NOT legal, AFAIK in the US you can download one, and keep it for 24 hours after which it must be deleted.

But consider the nature of these games, they are no longer in production, and as a result, if you were to buy them they would have to be preowned. The games companies can no longer profit anymore from the sale of these games, and although technically illegal downloading ROMs is generally considered ok.

Nintendo, on the other hand, were money robbing bastards, suing lots of websites for containing NES and SNES roms. They made a quick buck out of old rope.

Emulation, harms nobody, and allows me to play the games I grew up with, although I just managed to aquire a bona fide generation 1 megadrive - Tomorrow it meets my TV, so anyone wanting rid of megadrive related stuffs - give me a shout, im looking for games, a decent 6 button pad, and a power base converter (mmmm master system)

[Stewsburntmonkey]

While it hasn't been tested in court, the changes made to the DMCA in 2003 provided for the copying of work that is "obsolete".

Here is the wording of the definition of "obsolete": "For purposes of this subsection, a format shall be considered obsolete if the machine or device necessary to render perceptible a work stored in that format is no longer manufactured or is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace."

Things like old console ROMs would appear to fit that definition.

[shinygerbil]

Sorry... I wanna keep all mine

All my pads are ruined. All of them. My megadrive 2's on the blink too, but I've still got plenty of games

[da_zeg]

I got rid of the megadrive 2 when after getting a new tv, decided to pull it out the cupboard, and found that it was only working in b/w, i later found out that it was working when I put it on the old telly, but I had already agreed to sell it. So when i won this one in a bet, i couldn't have been more chuffed, had the chance of a SNES as well, but lost out on super street fighter II.

[xander]

Sorry... I wanna keep all mine :)

All my pads are ruined. All of them. My megadrive 2's on the blink too, but I've still got plenty of games :D

Fun fact: Sega Genesis controllers can also be used with the Atari 2600. Its true... one of my Atari controllers broke a couple of years ago. I noticed that the plugs appeared to be identical, so tried plugging the Sega controller in. Lo and behold, the directional pad works like the joystick, and the "A" button worked as the button. Which is good, because I can still get Genesis parts at pawn shops, but not Atari parts.

xander

[Stewsburntmonkey]

My favorite old system is my Game Gear. Back when the original gameboy was all the rage in portable gaming, Game Gear had a color screen and much better graphics. It could also be used as a portable TV! It's no PSP, but it is pretty darn close considering that it came out 14 years before the PSP.

[Dave2]

Game Gear, eh?

Go on then, where do you store your stash of AA batteries?

[shinygerbil]

I had an AC adapter for mine my parents' poor electricity bill...

[Dr4goN]

Too expensive? £20 too expensive?

Yes. 20 "quids" in Polish zloties equals 120 zloties.

I only have any sympathy with them in two circumstances: if the game is very hard to find in the shops, and yet is still regarded as payware by its publisher; if the game is extremely derivative crap, in which case, arguably, it's not worth the money you'd have to pay for it.

I agree in 100%. But that's why I did it. I'm saying that I was unable to buy Darwinia even that its release date in Europe was 20th March. Plus it was very creepy game, as far for Introversion. But now I don't have Darwinia on my case or on my hard drive. I know, it was folly of me that I did it. But this game is far too crappy and far too expensive for me. I understand those 249 zloties I paid for Quake 4, but why should I pay 120 zloties for so low-end game like this?

[shinygerbil]

...

[shinygerbil]

I wouldn't think the "latest" FPS is worth the DVD it's written on.. Darwinia is one of the very few games I've actually gone back and replayed, just a few months after I finished it. I've done that before with Sonic the Hedgehog (various incarnations), Flashback and an obscure Megadrive game called Story of Thor (or Beyond Oasis, depending on which side of the Atlantic you live on). Oh, and Golden Sun.

But it's a pretty exclusive list...

Steve

[xander]

Too expensive? £20 too expensive?

Yes. 20 "quids" in Polish zloties equals 120 zloties.

I only have any sympathy with them in two circumstances: if the game is very hard to find in the shops, and yet is still regarded as payware by its publisher; if the game is extremely derivative crap, in which case, arguably, it's not worth the money you'd have to pay for it.

I agree in 100%. But that's why I did it. I'm saying that I was unable to buy Darwinia even that its release date in Europe was 20th March. Plus it was very creepy game, as far for Introversion. But now I don't have Darwinia on my case or on my hard drive. I know, it was folly of me that I did it. But this game is far too crappy and far too expensive for me. I understand those 249 zloties I paid for Quake 4, but why should I pay 120 zloties for so low-end game like this?

If you can afford to pay for a computer and Quake 4, then you can afford to pay for Darwinia. I don't care if you are using dollars, or pounds, or zloties, or rubles. Your constant reference to cost and zloties seems to be a bit of red herring. You have obviously found a way to pay for other things that you care about, including things that cost a hell of a lot more than Darwinia. Stop whining about the f***ing cost. No one here cares.

Now, if you opinion is that the game is crap, please explain to me why you spent months posting on this board, and why you bothered to finish it. The game obviously intrigued you enough cause you to play it through from beginning to end at least once. I interested you enough to post on these boards. Quite frankly, I don't think that is a very convincing excuse, either.

Here is what I think happened. You found a decent game that you kind of liked, but that you didn't think was worth the £20. So, you pirated it. I can understand that. While I personally don't pirate software, I can certainly understand why you might. Then, you started posting on these boards, in order to share you knowledge. Finally, you made the mistake of declaring, with pride, that you pirated the game. You got balled out by people here (I don't really know what you expected), behaved like a child, then left the boards for a while.

Then, your computer crashed (which is not really suprising, if you are downloading a lot of pirate software). At this point, you decided that Darwinia was not worth reinstalling, so figured that you might get some points here by mentioning that fact. Wrong.

It is like you stole a box of condoms, then told the manufacturing company that you stole them. The company got pissed off, so you shut up. Then, a few months later, after you have used all of them, you explain that they are all used, so you won't use them anymore. Not that you are remorseful for taking them in the first place, only that you won't use them anymore because they are used. Show some genuine remorse for the act that you committed, or get bent.

xander

[shinygerbil]

It is like you stole a box of condoms, then told the manufacturing company that you stole them. The company got pissed off, so you shut up. Then, a few months later, after you have used all of them, you explain that they are all used, so you won't use them anymore. Not that you are remorseful for taking them in the first place, only that you won't use them anymore because they are used.

xander

analogy of the century