Future Of Video Game "Preservation"?

[itsthinkingstill]

So in case no one was aware, Nintendo being Nintendo has cracked down on some Rom hosing sites for Piracy concerns.

This has now caused almost all Rom-Iso hosting sites too at the time of this writing disable all downloads from anything from Nintendo to Neo Geo Pocket Color, with CoolRom being the only major one left at the time of this writing.

Im curious what everyone else thinks on the matter?

Personally for me, this sucks for us Sega Fans. This actually came to my attention because i have been unable to find my copy of Sega Rally Netlink Edition to play some matches and went to make a backup copy due to how rare it is and it is now "Lost" in a sense, would be really sad for Daytona Netlink if i have to make a backup copy of my backup copy.

While i could defiantly understand for the 20 or so games that Nintendo has re released ( ) for people pirating, the thousand of other games that have not been released for decades i think is in a different ball park.

My only hope that the other times that Video Game company's went after emulation can show us anything (Sony with Bleem and the VGS ) we can get a happy ending

[Tarnish]

What I'm curious about is why did these sites remove absolutely everything. If Nintendo is the only arsehole making a mountain out of a molehill, these rom sites should have just taken down all Nintendo games and leave the rest. Does Nintendo have a right to sue/threaten these sites regarding IPs that Nintendo DOESN'T own?

[Anthony817]

Those sites are just being careful for now. I moderated Theisozone/DCisozone from 2009, until late 2014. I know what places like that are going through now. TIZ launched a site called Retrozone after they closed their downloads. It ran for like 2-3 days this past week. Then, either they shut it down, or it was shut down.

I haven't spoken to Jambo since about a year ago, but knowing him I think he took the new site down just to feel the market situation for now.

Places like that will return, maybe not immediately, but they will be back.

[HuntrRose]

roms arent gone.. they are just harder to get at..

im sure there are spreadsheets of links to roms for all consoles just like the dreamcast spreadsheet..

[itsthinkingstill]

Sorry i was not clearer on them being "Gone", Torrents can never be stopped more meant easy access. Thanks for all the ideas. Here's hoping they come back soon!

On a side note i still find it funny that Nintendo still goes after sites/projects (i even heard that they went after the Mario 64 hacking/modding community) yet Sega endorses roms and hacking for there games of past and of New. For example they endorse it for the Genesis Classics on Steam

[BlueCrab]

I know that my opinion on these types of matters is generally not popular in communities such as this one, but I feel like stating it anyway...

ROM websites are not about video game preservation. They're about wholesale piracy. Sites that host ROMs for download are not doing it to "preserve" the games for future generations -- they're doing it so that people can download games illegally for free (and for the owners of the website to get some illegal ad revenue out of it at that). I honestly do not blame Nintendo for going after the owners of these sites -- they're blatantly illegal and stomp on Nintendo's (and other companies') rights as the copyright holders.

Yes, there are people who care about video game preservation (myself included). I just don't give other people access to what I've preserved, since they shouldn't have access to it under the relevant laws (both in the US and internationally). Preserving something doesn't mean making it available against the wishes of the rights holders to whoever wants it -- it means making sure that I (or whoever else I pass my collection onto in the future) can enjoy it even if my discs/cartridges were to bitrot to the point where they're unusable (as allowed by 17 U.S.C. § 117). Preservation means making sure that servers are available for online games where it is possible to bring them back (once again without violating the rights of the individual copyright holders).

Nothing in copyright law allows you to go and download ROMs for games you don't own. Nothing in copyright law allows you to download someone else's backup/archival copy and use it (even if you own an original copy of the game). Backup/archival copies under 17 U.S.C. § 117 must be created from your own original copy in order to be legally produced.

One can argue that copyright for commercially produced works is far too long to be in the public interest (a point I'd largely agree with), but that argument doesn't change the fact that ROM download sites are engaged in widespread, commercialized (arguably, criminal) violation of copyright.

That's just my US$0.02.

[itsthinkingstill]

Great way of putting it all in a paragraph!

I think that applies (me personally anyway) to games that are still published/still accessible in some form from the publisher or holder of the IP. Games that have not been printed or re released in 15-30 years i think could be consider fair game in uploading. Like the Netlink games for example, all very rare and in limited quantity and have not been touched by Sega legally since 97-98

Just me though

[OfManNotMachine]

I'll stand by my belief that very little is lost from piracy. The numbers that companies put out claiming they "lost" due to piracy is complete and utter fictional bull shit and here is why...

98% of those who pirate things, were NEVER going to purchase it in the first place. Period. End of story. So when Ubi-Soft a few years ago claimed they lost 2 or 3 million in sales of one of their Assassins Creed games is being completely silly. To assume those people were going to buy your game is utter nonsense. It's always been this way.

In many cases, people who have pirated PC games do it as a way to try it before they buy it on Steam since demos have pretty much vanished for the most part.

How many people who purchased an NES, or SNES classic actually know how to hack their console and load whatever they want on it, probably 10% AT BEST.

[OfManNotMachine]

Also...many here will say "Of course I know how to hack my NES Classic" Because we are a small community on a specilized site dedicated to this type of crafty stuff. However, those products are largely purchased by the general masses who have NO FREAKING CLUE how to do that stuff.

I'd make the claim that most retro gamers are playing on REAL hardware with the carts they've owned forever because we are mostly purists who won't play it any other way

[Anthony817]

Yep, my brother REFUSES to play on modded systems. He wouldn't have the slightest idea how to do that in the first place, let alone find and download the games, or know how to get them onto the consoles. I am the one he comes to for problems with PC or anything technical. I currently have my Dreamcast with GDEMU, Modded PS3 with CFW, OG Xbox and gaming PC as well as stock Xbox 360 for the exclusives. I also have a Steam account with over 700 games. I might like playing on modded systems, but I still like owning games too. I like modded systems largely for the homebrew and indie stuff, things that continue to keep those systems alive. It isn't always about pirating for people with modded consoles.