Lunchtime Discussion: Emulators
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Article written by nofi in Blog, on Monday, November 23, 2009 at 12:15.
As regular readers will know, I’m nearly 80 and like nothing more than dragging out the ol’ Spectrum 48k and having a blast with some classic 2D platformers like Everyone’s a Wally, Dynamite Dan and Rollercoaster. It’s a pain, though, to have to sit through 5 minutes of whirring and chirping as the Speccy does its magic, so most of the time I’ll play said games on an emulator.
So, with our recent Lunchtime Discussion on Piracy reaching 250 comments, let’s take a different route on a similar subject: games that have been out for around 25 years surely aren’t still making money for the publisher, even if they still own the rights to the IPs (Codemasters, Rare et al), so should we feel guilty about playing these games having downloaded them?
Certain sites, like WorldOfSpectrum, remove titles from their download database if the author or publisher asserts their rights to the games in question, but some of the classics from Ultimate, such as Knight Lore and Alien8, are still ‘found’ on the internet and downloadable, and at 48k unzipped don’t exactly tax your bandwidth either. Should we feel guilty about this?
Have you downloaded copyrighted ‘classic’ 8-bit games for the Spectrum and Commodore 64, even ones you actually own on cassette, and how do you feel about it?
Comments
Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.
yobrenoops | 23/11/2009 12:27
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I much prefer to play on the original system.
pawski | 23/11/2009 12:43
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yeah it would be nice, but what a pain in the behind. ten minutes setting up my c64, another 5 to load forbidden forest, then about 30 seconds playing it till i realise that while it was an amazing game far far ahead of its time i was about 6 when it came out, and i thought everything was amazing then, even insects, which i now realise suck hard.
cc_star | 23/11/2009 12:29
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25 years and aren’t making the publisher money
2 words – Tim Langdell, 3 words if I include the ‘C’ word
double-o-dave | 23/11/2009 12:34
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that reminds me, i haven’t fired up macmame and played kung fu master for ages. roll on lunchtime!
GamerRiley | 23/11/2009 14:09
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Top game mate, still got it on the C64. I cheated and used the auto-fire toggle switch on the joystick to kick 10 bells out of everyone
shields_t | 23/11/2009 12:36
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I’d rather play them on the original system to be honest, I’ve picked up a bunch of old consoles from eBay and am toying with the idea of a Speccy and an Amiga before Christmas.
I wonder how many coders from the glory days of gaming are still in the business? I know Chris Roberts who was responsible for Strykers Run on the BBC and Wing Commander on the PC tried his hand at movie directing. The result was the dreadful Wing Commander movie. Having said that, he’s been a little more successful as a producer, having put up cash for Lord of War and Lucky Number Slevin.
cc_star | 23/11/2009 12:43
Team TSA: Writer
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Lucky Number Slevin is a great film
A s to who is working where I’m not sure but the pre-IBM compatible PC market of the UK was a huge source of creativity which still influences games development worldwide – even now
shields_t | 23/11/2009 12:52
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Quite true, the blurring of lines between games and films certainly began there.
I liked both Lord of War and Lucky Number Slevin, but you have to admit, Wing Commander was crap.
rSp8 | 23/11/2009 13:10
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Saw a Sega Dreamcast, complete in box, with a keyboard, arcade style joystick, mouse and 4 games for 24.99 in Cash Converters the other day. I was really tempted, especially since they had a good selection of games for next to nothing inside as well. I thought “The missus’ll go nuts- You’ve got a PS3, why are you wasting money on old machines everybody chucked out years ago!” and gave it a miss. The reality of playing old games never lives up to the memories anyway.
flatspikes | 23/11/2009 14:08
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Stykers run… man was that an amazing game at the time.. ok I’ll stop gushing and keep reading…
DJ Judas | 23/11/2009 12:43
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I’ve nothing against emulators from a legal perspective, my problem is that the enjoyment isn’t there when games are played on an emulator.
It’s just too easy to get emulators and ROMs, add to that the fact that they’re played on your PC, where you browse the internet, watch movies, play games and whatever else you may do; it takes the ’special’ out of playing the old games we love.
pawski | 23/11/2009 12:46
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yeah nothing will match shaking the life out of another quickshot2 on dt’s decathlon on an old 14″ black and white tv. Nothing except everything else ever.
DJ Judas | 23/11/2009 12:57
Epic
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In the wider spectrum I believe the same about anything that is ‘too easy’ to get hold of; downloading games for example. Because one hasn’t parted with their hard-earned for it, it is a less enjoyable experience.
The same could be said for if I buy too many games at once; I don’t feel that I get as much as I can out of each game.
Emulators remove the ‘individual’ factor from a game by reducing it’s worth because it is no longer a weighty piece of physical media. It’s for this reason I always want my high-profile games to be available in physical form.
shields_t | 23/11/2009 13:10
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Y’know, I had never really thought about that but it makes sense, I’ve been over mates houses and played on MAME, and it cheapens the experience when you know that if one game annoys you, you can just move on to another from a list of hundreds. Not quite like the days when I had to save up for weeks and weeks to buy a game.
3shirts | 23/11/2009 13:41
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It’s a weird one. I don’t agree with piracy (apart from the Guybrush Threepwood type) but if I want to play Super Mario Bros 3 (one of my all time favourite games), it’s impossible to do in a way that will actually make Nintendo any money (short of shelling out for an entire Wii!).
The best way to play it is on PC, on an emulator and using a usb NES controller http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=32
3shirts | 23/11/2009 13:45
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More companies should look into what Sega did here http://www.amazon.co.uk/SEGA-Mega-Drive-Console-System/dp/B001W6PWM2/ref=sr_1_3/280-4464210-0757442?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1258983820&sr=8-3
Raen | 23/11/2009 14:04
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That’s awesome! I wish there was a Master System version, I can’t get mine to work
Think the PSU is busted.
Sympozium Necropolis | 23/11/2009 13:44
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yep but its Sega
jimmy-google | 23/11/2009 13:58
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Some games are still making their publishers money (Tetris is now 25 but I still bough the mini for my psp and lemmings is just about to turn 19 and still proivding income for Sony). If a game isn’t being made available to purchase then I don’t think there is a huge issue (as the publisher isn’t offerering any other way of playing that game) but when the game is still available to buy it should be viewed like any other piracy no matter how old it is.
Kings | 23/11/2009 13:58
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This is obviously a bit later, but I often play N64 games using Project 64. I did have an N64, but I sold it, and besides, the graphics look better on my laptop and I can use my PS3 controller, as my N64 analogue stick was buggered. I also have Master System, Megadrive, and Nes/Snes emulators, and I don’t see the problem, as i’m playing games that I paid for the first time around when i was a kid, like Zelda, Goldeneye, Sonic etc.
3shirts | 23/11/2009 14:16
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This is a good point. I’ve always believed you are buying a license for the game and the physical media is included at cost price as a convenient way to distribute and keep piracy down. Thats why I think ROMs are fine if you still have the original game (or had it but it broke). If you sold it on while it was fully working, then you sold the license so playing a ROM is still piracy.
Kings | 23/11/2009 15:50
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Well the games that i’m playing, I did sell on as fully working, so what I am doing is essentially illegal, as I don’t have the actual game which im playing. However I personally don’t see it as that big a deal, it’s not like I have a modded 360, and i’m playing games that I could only play if I were to buy them off ebay, which is obviously funding the seller, not the producers etc.
GamerRiley | 23/11/2009 14:14
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Personally it’s a nostalgic trip down memory lane for me and the whole enjoyment is waiting for the title to load from the tape deck. That was all part of the fun. Although now, 30 years on, my cassette tapes that have lived in my loft all that time are deteriorating fast and will most probably struggle to load. They bloody struggled back then when they were new!
bunimomike | 23/11/2009 14:20
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Technically speaking if someone is breaking the law (by playing an emulated game) then that’s still piracy, no? The original piracy thread was fascinating and heated but people against piracy used the law to back up their feelings (as well as other reasons). However, now we’re looking at grabbing a handful of old games and playing them without paying for them. Admittedly there may well be no opportunity to even pay for said title/s. Tricky bugger because the first word that springs to mind is “hypocrite”. Not aimed at anyone but more at the situation I’m talking about. Although, on the flip side I completely understand why it’s done. Pity something official isn’t set-up so people can go to one paid-for emulator cafe online, choose the system and start downloading. A PSN equivalent for the Amiga, for the SNES, for Dreamcast, BBC Micro, etc. Small amounts of money still changing hands but great value and a tiny reward even after all these years. Obviously the latter idea is all above-board and legit as oppose to other dubious places to get your ‘games of old ‘at present.
3shirts | 24/11/2009 07:03
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I don’t know why console manufacturers don’t buy up the most popular emulators, develop them further themself and then sell the emulator for a couple of quid with games at something like 50p each. At that kind of price people would be happy to pay rather than pirate and it would give the developers a nice trickle of income out of basically zero cost.
tyrant161 | 23/11/2009 14:24
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I play on emulators quite a lot on my PC. Megadrive, SNES, MAME, N64 and M2 SEGA arcade machine emulators. The best by far is M2 and N64 (project 64) because the graphics are improved loads…theres nothing like a blast on Daytona usa or Sega rally using the xbox360 joypad or wheel which also uses force feedback. If only Sega would bring Daytona usa to PSN with full online support…now that would be good.
tyrant161 | 23/11/2009 14:31
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I use Fusion for megadrive and 32x, SNES, PJ64 for N64 games, MAME and M2 emulators for arcade games. The best of which are PJ64 and M2 Sega arcade emulators. There’s nothing like a blast on Daytona USA or Sega rally in a better resolution than the arcade with improved graphics as well. If only Sony and Sega would get together and bring them to PSN, Daytona online with full online support would be fantastic.
TheSabreman | 23/11/2009 14:35
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Lol nice first line !
I don’t think Rare are going to make money from JetPac etc so I don’t think is necessarily a bad thing to download old Spectrum games.
Whether they are officially made public for free maybe due to others remaking the game (to sell) and not acknowledging the original authors ?
World of Spectrum is doing the best thing and respecting the companies decision whether to list it or not.
Can the Codies please do BMX Simulators HD for PS3 !
skibadee | 23/11/2009 15:01
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Spectrum and Commodore 64 bring back some good memory’s
skibadee | 23/11/2009 16:29
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i would have to use a emulator to play these games any way