RF Generation Message Board

the only reason i will use a ROM is for the rarity of the title or on a disc for the DC. i played them all the time before i got into collecting but since then i dont play them anymore. i own the real thing of most of the ROMs i had.

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I never had any luck with MAME a long time ago so I never played them. I have never tried any console system roms.

ROMS? What are ROMS? ;)

The only time I ever used one, and it didn't work so I actually didn't, was after a game I own broke and I really wanted to play it.

I'll play them but the real thing is much better. ROMS are what got me into collecting games. I played them a lot when I was in Iraq. They helped the time pass. I have MAME, all the consoles, and a PS2 controller to USB adapter. They are cheap, fast, and fun, but Marvin Gaye said it best "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"

Links removed

Can't have links listed to ROM sites.....sorry.

Ken

DO NOT POST ANY LINKS ON THIS FORUM TO ROM SITES PLEASE

Roms are nice for when you want to try a very expensive game before you buy it, but they can't replicate the expierience of hunting, recieving, opening, displaying and appreciating the retail versions with their artwork, covers, inserts, etc. or the lights, sounds, ambience of a coin-op.

It's like the difference between a cheap hooker in a sleazy motel versus a classy lady on a night on the town with satin sheets.  ;)

I have nothing to do with roms or emulation beyond those forms legaly released under the assortment of compliation discs for various new generation systems.  It's not that I think they are evil or such, just that I'd rather own the original.  If it's an expensive game I try to find it cheap.  If I cant find it cheap I keep searching untill I find it for a price I'm willing to pay.  I'm stubern like that.  There's so many games out there that I'm able to find a good portion of what I want sometimes for prices I'm willing to pay.  I dont hold it against others if they do, that's their buisness.   As for me and my games, let it be the real thing, not a rom.

I love ROMs. It was how I could test games for my Nomad before buying them so I knew if they were really worth the money before parting with my hard earned cash. Plus it's cool being able to play MegaDrive games on your Dreamcast :)

At the same time they tick me off, you could have a massive collection of 200 games for some rare system that cost you a 1/4 of your years wages. You'd think it's something really special, but then when bragging but how it took you forever, and almost everything you had to complete this collection when your cheap skate mate says, oh yeah, I've got all those game and have played them all on my PC.

It just really kills the moment and the whole magic to the whole collection, just like making out in a park when a load of Japanese tourists suddenly come by haha :embarassed:

So IF people followed the legal guidelines, only use ROMS that you do own or delete them after 24 hours I would be happy. 24 hours is more than enough time to preview a game and decide to purchase them or not, and if you already own them it'll be cool to have the ROM for making the game cross platform by playing it on your Dreamcast, or Saturn through emulation.

I'm about 99% sure this topic was made from a few badly choiced comments I wish I could take back but am too lazy to go back into that topic and delete them.

Anyway, I'll rom old games, but that's it. And hell, I have Phantasy Star Collection, Game and Watch Gallery, Megaman Anniversary Collection, Link to the Past GBA, Megaman X Collection, Yoshi's Island Advance, Sonice Mega Collection etc. So in other words I will definately buy the game if it is made available again, hence why I am pro Wii all the way.

If the Wii gets the entire Phantasy Star series. I may have to ignore the name and pic one up.

Phantasy Star 4 would be a godsend.

I used to play Mega Drive and Master System ROMs all the time on Gens+. I could never find an emulator I liked for any other systems. I slowly stopped using it, though. I still have all these ROMs on my computer. I used them when I was lying on the bed with my laptop and couldn't be bothered setting up the TV, plugging the cartridge in and sitting upright.

There was one time when I was on a two hour train journey with my laptop. My ROMs were useful then. For some reason I'm fine with playing ROMs on my PC if it's for 16bit and before, but "backups" for any other system are a no-no.

generally no

but i do have a large collection of MAME roms on my xbox.  however, i also own every arcade classic compilation available for the PS2/XBOX/Cube generation of games, so my level of guilt is minimal.

I'm a fan of emulators for the dreamcast and xbox, though I never really end up playing them.  I guess I just put them there for the heck of it while modding.  Its the homebrew scene thats more fun anyways.  Especially since I've started seriously collecting.

I like 'em.  I plug in an xbox controller.

ROMs are nice. I like them sometimes. I mainly play them on my PC with a Logitech WingMan RumblePad controller, which is sorta like a Playstation controller crossed with a Saturn controller...with a throttle! It lets me play Superman 64 rather well. :D

The only thing I've ever done with roms is take a few screenshots of some NES games for the database here, and I also installed a SNES emulator on my handheld pc once just to see what it would look and play like.  I see it somewhat like games for mobile phones...it sounds cool and everything, but it's not the same as the real thing...and owning the original feels like you actually had to do something to get the game other than simply download it. 

I don't like ROMs.  It's not the stealing issue,  I think that if your not depriving someone of property it's not stealing. (not trying to troll, just let it go).  I just rather have the real thing.

oh and....
I've never seen you moderate so intensely, but I understand...
Covering your ass = good  ;)

yeah it seems as if i have started a touchy thread. but shimra is right this was in response to the comment:


i just didn't agree with that statement and just wanted to see what everyone else's 2 cents were.

i in no way started this thread in support of emulates and ROMs.

Dude it's too late for apologies, you're fired, clean out your desk and go. ;)

No. Very no. Many very no.
I can't say I've never played a ROM, though. I used to. Back when I didn't know that the "Delete within 24 hours and you'll be fine!" stuff was a load of crap.
Now, though, no. Hate them. For several reasons: 1) You've got the whole fact that it's illegal, and my conscience can't handle that. 2) I can imagine wanting to kill someone when you just spent $15000 on, say, a gold Nintendo World Championships only for someone to say "Yeah, it's pretty sweet. I have the ROM." It takes away from the "Haha, only me and 25 other people have this!" factor of it.

Used to play around with ROMs ALOT and I loved them...my biggest problem with them is that they take up way too much room on my computer.  I've got better things to do than sit around and try to get a ROM to work on some emulator that MIGHT run the ROM I have.  Just too much of a hassle.

Burn them to CDs you say?  Meh..then they take up physical room in my Room of Doom and I'd rather fill that space up with legit, complete games....box, manual and everything.

After buying several actual arcade machines, the ROMs pretty much lost my interest and I got rid of them all.  There's just nothing like playing Centipede or Joust for real...and to smell that familiar smell of burning dust and the faint hum coming from those old coin ops makes me all nostalgic...those are the same smells and sounds from when I was growing up in and around the arcades.  Even when they're turned off, they still give off a pleasant smell AND feel you just can't get from a ROM...

**hangs head in shame**

My sentiments exactly.

this is exactly why emulation is essential.  if history is to be preserved, then it does nobody any good to maintain an artificially low supply (collectors will always clamour for originals and maintain high demand).  the point of emulation is preserve and maintain neglected titles of the past.  this is especially true of arcade games by defunct companies and uber rare titles like the NWC cart or Air Raid on the 2600.  no media will last forever, and in 100 years, the only way to play vintage games will probably be through emulation or burned EPROMS or flashcarts on actual hardware.

secondly, the emulation scene fueled interest in retro gaming.  companies like taito, sega, capcom, etc would have never compiled their back catalouges if there was no visible evidence of people wanting to play those games. 

i fully support the rights of copyright holders, but in the cases where the holders refuse or cannot publish their work on any affordable platform, emulation is a great stop gap and shouldnt be ignored becuase nintendo says its bad (the company that pretends NES donkey kong is the arcade version)

Yeah that was pretty awesome when the Gospel of Judas was withheld by people who didn't know what it was, then upon finally getting it the book was in terrible condition thanks to those people. See what I'm getting at?

I have not idea what you are getting at.

As far as Ebay and spending 15k then some one has the ROM I could care less. I am a collector so I want the real deal not some ROM. ROM's mean nothing to me.

Overtime the games will be lost. I don't care how well the people take care of them the games will be lost in due time. Roms preserve the games(while not exactly in cartridge form). Game companies rely on roms and emulators for their ports as well. Roms are not necessarily bad. Roming new games that have recently come out is however. That's what my terrible analogy was alluding to.

You don't have to play roms, they exist. If you do, good for you I don't mind. If you don't, more power to you. I however do play roms for hard to find games and games not released in the US, but only on 16 bit or less systems. If a game is rereleased which I like and have the rom for, I'll buy it. Hence why my GBA collection is mostly ports and I'm an avid fan of the Wii.

Like I said, if you own the game, then by all means keep a rom as back-up or to play it on something else. The games may not last forever, but there is a good chance they'll last your lifetime, and it's not like you'll need them any longer than that so if you don't own the original, for shame. It's bad if you intend to keep it more than 24 hours :D

I play ALOT of ROMS. I don't really see anything wrong with it unless it's a current gen game, and even then it's nice to test them out before forking out $49.99 on Kabuki Warriors, though the legit way to go about trying the game would be renting the game, but some of this crap these companys put out, isn't even worth the $4.00 renting fee.

I especially think MAME is awsome, because arcade cabs are getting harder, and harder to come by. If it wasn't for MAME most of the old arcade games would NEVER be played by anyone again, unless they happened to stumble upon a cabinet at some pool hall in Hickville, TN, or if an arcade compilation disc is released, and even then the only companys that are still around, and will actually put out a compilation disc, are Capcom, Midway, Konami, Tecmo, Namco and Atari. The chances of you playing arcade games by any other companys are slim to none, unless you use an Emulator. Besides, there are alot of games that will NEVER be released even on a compilation disc due to licensing issues, like Capcom's Alien Vs. Predator, and Konami's The Simpsons. Even when Konami made the original TMNT arcade available on TMNT 2 Battle Nexus, they couldn't get alot of the music for the game, and had to replace the opening theme, and some of the music for the stages.

I also use it for the fact that I don't have $150 - $200 to fork out on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the 2600, and most likely never would, but atleast I can check it out, and see what I'm missing. I don't really think a collector who bought Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the 2600 should look down on me, simply because I've played the Rom. He is a collector, and didn't really buy the game for playing it, he bought it mostly because it looks good with the rest of his collection, and owning it makes his peepee that much bigger...  I'd do the same thing if I found the game complete for under $50.

It's also very awesome playing games that never got released like The California Raisens on the NES, and games that never made it across seas, finally being translated and in playable form, like Shieken Densetsu 3 on the SNES, and Earth Bound on the NES.

The way I see it, I've dumped thousands and thousands of dollars into the video game industry, and continue to do so,  so me d/ling and playing a few Roms doesn't make me feel too guilty in the slightest....   especially if it's a Rom for a Sega Game.

I myself have never had any interest figuring out the whole emulation and rom thing...I barely even play my REAL games as it is...

I use to collect roms like i collect games.

I haven't had the time to do so in well over a year though.

Needless to say i still have tens of thousands of more ROMs archived somewhere than games i will ever actually own.

Had complete sets for
2600
5200
7800
Jaguar
Lynx
NES
SNES
N64
Gameboy
GBA
NDS
PSP
NeoGeo CD
Genesis
Master System
Colecovision
Odyssey
O2

Aaroun 1k for GBC
Few thousand for Spectrum

Tons of other random stuff i can't remember right now

I wish i knew were the harddrives were. Alot of them had scans. I know i had a complete set of scans for NeoGeo CD...