Re: Is this legal?

I mean, well, morally yes, but not legal. What do I mean by that is yes, this is illegal, Vimm himself would admit that to everybody, but would say that what he is doing is on the side of morality. 

Because although most people believe this is a black and white situation between unofficial emulators and official emulators and that Nintendo always makes the right decisions is simply not true. 

You can even look it up on Google and they'll still tell you that unofficial emulation is legal, so the problem is that it's not illegal to use an unofficial emulator but getting the games to use with the emulators themselves. 

And this is where the gray part of this topic comes in because although Goldeneye hasn't been released outside of the N64 and Melee, F-zero Gx, Chibi-Robo, and basically every game that Nintendo developed for the Gamecube haven't been released since on the Gamecube. My point is that the law and Nintendo will always try to shut down ROM sites like Vimm's Lair, while they don't give the consumers an acceptable or convenient way to access these older titles. Or pour low effort, charge full price for 13+-year-old games, and then make it limited, e.g 3d all-stars. 

If Vimm was truly greedy he would have put ps5-ps4, wiiu-switch games on here, go read the FAQ message board  about policy #6, which states that 

"Vimm's Lair will never carry ROMs or ISOs for any system still in production. Please show your support for the games you love and purchase them from a retailer near you. Older systems may be added over time but will not be announced in advance." 

Or what about his two generations or more to be eligible for the vault rule. 

Vimm does not condone piracy for newer games/consoles, same for pretty much everybody else here. 

Disregarding this, even if you get a physical copy off a Mom & Pop store, or on eBay for something like Melee or Goldeneye, Nintendo doesn't make money off of it, so it makes no difference if we pirate these games, the only difference is that we get to enjoy the games we wouldn't have access to otherwise. 

And I think it's safe to say that if there is something that we can buy through other means, (E.G, Black Ops for Wii is here, even though I can purchase it via steam, I think it's safe to say that if I purchase it on steam, I can pirate and play the Wii version of Black ops because Activision isn't selling the Wii version of it anymore). 

At the end of the day, Rom sites carry more old Nintendo and Playstation games than their services are ever gonna provide, all you're gonna have to do is see the amount of stuff the Wii had on virtual console and compare those offerings back then, to Switch online and there is no competition and PlayStation in comparison doesn't do any justice for their older titles, just look at the PS store for evidence. 

If Nintendo, PlayStation, and any other game companies that aren't sega truly cared about preserving these older games, they would have done so already, 

"In a way in which that doesn't die out for the long term every time they change hardware, with a more complete and better library and Emulation that isn't put to shame by what Rom sites and Fan software were offering a decade ago."  
 
- quote by Nerrel

Because remember, we're only pirating because companies like Nintendo aren't offering us a better, accessible or convenient way to access these legacy titles we wouldn't have otherwise.

And we're using emulators because most of us think that it's a superior way to Nintendo's services in every way.

Studies show that if companies offer better services than what they're receiving from the pirates, then the pirates will buy from the companies.

Because sometimes what's illegal isn't always for the right reasons, even on a morality level,  especially because the law and corporations like Nintendo want out of print and inaccessible games to be never pirated online, only to never make the corporations rerelease these games in any accessible or convenient form.

So here is a quote and four videos that explain this better than I have.

â€œThe easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. Itâ€™s by giving those people a service thatâ€™s better than what theyâ€™re receiving from the pirates.â€?
-- Gabe Newell

Frank Cifaldi GDC talks, well worth viewing

Frank Cifaldi viewing 1: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLWY7fCXUwE

Frank Cifaldi viewing 2: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp-DRU24J18

Nerrel Emulation videos, well worth viewing, awasome channel

 Nerrel video 1:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f35i5AVzpsg&t=1s

 Nerrel video 2:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj9Gk84jRiE&t=916s

"Oh so you're a dumpbro, right? Then prove your legally owned copy of Mother 3."
In reply to: Is this legal? posted by Jackfree on .
I have been wondering if this site I legal with all the Nintendo stuff on here?...