nesdev.org

http://www.retrode.org/wordpress/about/

I'm still trying to figure out the actual purpose. "Wait... if you own the physical cartridge, then you probably own the physical console, so why buy this device and use an emulator?"

As I see it, the best thing about these devices is the ability to back up save data.

The Retrode is probably the closest thing you can get to "legal" in the US.

You can make your own backups for archival purposes and shift from no-longer supported storage formats.

The PC + emulator + Retrode becomes a SNES clone much like Gateway or Compaq Computers were IBM PC clones.

koitsu wrote:http://www.retrode.org/wordpress/about/

I'm still trying to figure out the actual purpose. "Wait... if you own the physical cartridge, then you probably own the physical console, so why buy this device and use an emulator?"

Because the physical console is not a handheld. Laptop computers, Nintendo DS, GP2X, Android phones, Maemo phones, and the new Pandora PDA can run emulators.

whicker wrote:The Retrode is probably the closest thing you can get to "legal" in the US.

You can make your own backups for archival purposes and shift from no-longer supported storage formats.

The PC + emulator + Retrode becomes a SNES clone much like Gateway or Compaq Computers were IBM PC clones.

Or you could buy one of the many Copier units that were imported into the US. There are other, better options.

MottZilla wrote:Or you could buy one of the many Copier units that were imported into the US. There are other, better options.

Unlike older copiers, the Retrode is still manufactured. It's easier to find than a secondhand copier, especially because eBay bans sales of copiers. It also doesn't need a floppy drive or parallel port or other pre-1998 technology that isn't included in many newer PCs.

Oh, and another thing that's better than the original console: Emulators support save scumming to a much higher degree than the authentic console. It's absolutely necessary if you've dumped Super Mario World and applied any of various platform-hell IPS patches on top of it.

I felt the author's section on why you should or shouldn't buy the device was clear enough. I don't find it the least bit useful, myself.

What would really be cool, although impossible due to latency, would be real-time communication with the cartridge. That way your SNES emulator could play games with the three unsupported special chips. Or with better accuracy for the rest. But not even a RTOS could manage that.

That said, I've heard copiers were considered illegal here, too; and that dumping games that way was no good. Could've been BS. But either way it's fine by me, I can dump them via serial through the joypad port -- no copier needed :)

byuu: You have no location listed, but in the United States, I see no reason why dumping lawfully made Game Paks for use on an emulator isn't covered by 17 USC 117(a)(1).

In [url=http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#117]17 USC 117[/url], Congress wrote:(a) Making of Additional Copy or Adaptation by Owner of Copy. — Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106 [which defines the exclusive rights of a copyright owner], it is not an infringement for the owner of a copy of a computer program to make or authorize the making of another copy or adaptation of that computer program provided:

(1) that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner, or

(2) that such new copy or adaptation is for archival purposes only and that all archival copies are destroyed in the event that continued possession of the computer program should cease to be rightful.

This, when taken with Universal Music Group v. MP3.com, makes Retrode look significantly more legit than your garden variety ROM site. But then I am not your lawyer.

Yeah, I don't recall where I read it, but I assumed it was probably wrong.

(2) is interesting. Let's say you dump your complete game collection. Now obviously you can't sell it, or you no longer have a legal claim to it. So what do you do if you don't want 4,000 cartridges cluttering up your studio apartment?

To be perfectly legal, do you throw them all away? Or does even that act remove your ownership rights?

You need to delete the ROMs when selling your collection.

I've never heard Copiers were illegal except from great sources like Nintendo itself. Nintendo probably tried to get customs to seize them but the devices aren't illegal, or atleast weren't illegal back in the early 90s.

MottZilla wrote:I've never heard Copiers were illegal except from great sources like Nintendo itself. Nintendo probably tried to get customs to seize them but the devices aren't illegal, or atleast weren't illegal back in the early 90s.

Nintendo did do this, and they were indeed successful. Nobody knows how exactly they accomplished this with customs (whether it be legal pressure or under-the-table handouts). My source is an individual at Fairlight (the Amiga/PC group) who was selling SWC DX32 copiers at the time.

My guess -- and this is speculative -- is that it probably a combination of "big corporate entity" and customs not truly understanding what it is they were dealing with. On the latter point, remember this was the mid-to-late 90s, the US government had absolutely no brains about technology at the time. Customs just does what they're told, and anything "grey market" customs can do whatever they want with. Consider that the companies making said copiers were incredibly shady; changing company names regularly and so on, just to be able to stay in business.

On the lesser point, Nintendo's international status and size/popularity at the time almost certainly had some involvement -- the same technique applies today; look at the whole Gizmodo/Apple fiasco. Steve Jobs just had to make a phone call and suddenly a raid happens. If this were some small mom-and-pop company, that raid would've never taken place (though an officer or investigator would have "eventually" gotten around to it).