- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
But I need a little clarification on ROMs and how they work. From what I’ve gathered and what’s been posted, it sounds like someone is “recreating” the game as a different program.
No. The game is not being recreated at all - it's being copied. It's the exact same as it was on the disk before it was copied.
When the legal issue hits on emulation is with the lock and key protocols newer console OS (emulators) have. Now, one could assume a new lock or a new key can be made for the emulator you create, whichever side you have to recreate, but if you use the (we’ll say “key”) that the manufacturer used to protect his data, then you’ve crossing a line because this is part of the original OS of the console and copyrighted data. If that is the case, they are illegal to make (and possibly to own). You have to make your own key from scratch to legally create an emulator for new games.
Some of this I didn't tell you, Minus, sorry.
That's why you don't see emulators for the newer consoles.
When Consoles first started uing CDs instead of cartridges, the first few sectors on the CD were burned as bad sectors. This was done in order to prevent people from being able to load the CD in their computer. Of course, eventually people found ways to tweak their drives so that they could read those disks, but this was sony's method of preventing ROM-making. Yes, it defeats the purpose of backing games up, but we're talking about big money here.
As for cartridge games, one would have to own a peculiar and rare device that would read a cartridge and write its contents to a common media. People more that likely retrofitted actual consoles into their PCs to do this.
Now that the lock and key is used, it's not practical to continue emulating consoles. More people who are looking to break Anti-Piracy laws are modding their consoles. Developers are taking note of this and, since more and more of the top games are using online content, they are building in protection features online.
That's pretty much the jist of it, though, Minus. Nice thread. We need more of this sort of stimulating disussion.