Roms & Emulators

Posted in Off Topic

For those that don't know, Emulators are programs that mimic classic consoles (such as NES, Atari, Sega, etc.) on your PC. Roms are game files of old console games that you play on your PC using the emulator.

What are your thoughts on these? Do you support them, or do you consider having them a crime? Things have drastically changed with old-school games as a result of the Playstation Network, XBox Live and other such services. A few years ago, I'm sure a lot of people's opinions on ROMs were a lot different.

5 years ago, I could honestly say that I believed downloading Roms and Emulators were harmless. I mean, you can download old PC Games that are no longer sold, and no one cares. Old consoles and console games were hard to find (not counting EBay which isn't always reputable), and weren't being produced anymore. In my mind, they were like abandonware. So I didn't feel guilty in the slightest downloading them.

Nowadays, though, you can find many old console classics on XBox Live or other such networks. But you have to pay to download them. So they are no longer like abandonware. They are being produced and sold again to the mass market. Yet at the same time, they aren't exactly the same. Some are tweaked to try and appease younger gamers. And some you can't use the same old cheats and tricks you could before because the hardware has changed.

So my question again:
Do you think it's okay to download roms and emulators in today's gaming market?

-Nate-