Time for me to give something back


S

Shrike

Active Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2003
Messages
649
well I am gonna write a guide to cover as much of the gp32 as possible, I got two weeks holidays coming up so I will do it then. Well even though I am giving back I am gonna need your knowledge. What I am looking for off you is:
1) Good points and bad points on the individual emus
2) Classic games that must you reccomend to be played
3) Games which don't work or have problems
4) How to flash firmware and the risks and how to fix if you go wrong
5) Best sites
6) Legal advice on ROM's explaining how you can own them (most of us know this but some newbies might not)

and any questions you think should go in:) email me or post on this thread, e-mail is MEGAShrike@hotmail.com
 
also a first timers guide to installing and setting up a GP32. this is the knowledge that will help the community and user base grow.
 
Yup, that would indeed be handy.

One of the major reasons I purchased a GP32 was for the C64 emulation, so once it's here (today or tomorrow) and I've got it all setup, I'll be writing an FAQ for that as well.

Flack
 
That would be really cool, especially if you allowed user submissions - Flack could add his FAQ in. A few development FAQs (how to compile code, the GP32 API, etc) wouldn't hurt.

Also we could sticky it to the forum, so newbies stop asking questions :D

- Rico, aware that he only joined on Friday
 
hehe i only had mine since tuesday =D

but i will be starting this next week so keep posting and send e-mails
 
You should start your FAQ out as a good alternative for the lousy, useless Korean manual with all the basics, etc. How to register your GP32, how to buy Moviepark, how to play a movie in Moviepark, how to play an MP3, how to use the PC-linkhost, etc. And try to use a lot of pictures, some people who bought the GP32 and expected to turn it on and immediately run games on it as on a conventional handheld might be know all the terms that you're gonna use or their English could be their basic to understand. Pictures however, most people get those. It's like DOS vs Windows: editing config.sys and autoexec.bat to configure the sound might be too difficult, but clicking on that huge speaker in your configurationpanel, most people get that.

About the ROMs, the legality of those depends on the country you live in so an universal explaination is not possible. You could try adding a few links to homebrew ROMs though. Those are legal and not some 'grey area'. That way you can safely answer questions about using ROMs with the emulators. If then they decide to download other ROMs, well...you never explained how to use those...

You could also try tracking a few of the producers of old games down (or the people owning the rights to it now) and ask their permission for their games to be used with emulators. You could try sending an email to the-underdogs.org if they know about companies who might already have done that.

As for games (for ScummVM, etc) that are still being sold: get some good adresses where one could buy them.

The only reasonable way you can use a ROM to a game that is still commercially available is owning it. That whole '24 hours before you have to delete it' is nonsense, it's a line from the first ROM-holding sites and it won't hold in any legal dispute.
 
FarmerCuckoo posted on Apr 7 2003 said:
The only reasonable way you can use a ROM to a game that is still commercially available is owning it. That whole '24 hours before you have to delete it' is nonsense, it's a line from the first ROM-holding sites and it won't hold in any legal dispute.
Click to expand...
To clarify this (yes, I've looked into it a little, but I'm not a lawyer of course ;)...

Even if you own a arcade PCBoard, or a cartridge, or a hu-card, or a floppy, etc.. that gives you only the right to do with *that specific* one what you wiah. It does not grant you the right to download a 'rom' from online, since you are then partaking in an entirely different thing.. distribution. The guy who is hosting the rom/file/image/etc is now participating in distribution piracy... giving away somethign he has not got a license to distribute, and by downloading it, you're partaking in it.

So if you own a ROM/file/etc, you can back it up, or you can copy it. You have the right (in most countries) to copy it to another media to use it (such as from a eprom to a rom image file); but you do not have the right to give it away online.

Its much more complex than thayt, but thats the letter as I understand it. ITs quite a shame, but the truth is.. use your own roms; don't give them away, unless you want trouble :)

jeff
 
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guess we're all lucky that most games companies don't really care about abandonware
but i thought there was some crazy loophole that meant if they company goes out of business it wouldn't be copyrighted anymore
 
I am a very strong believer that downloading ROMs from games that are very old is perfectly fine. Downloading an NES game is not hurting Nintendo at all because they aren't even making a pennies worth of profit off it.
 
Shrike posted on Apr 7 2003 said:
guess we're all lucky that most games companies don't really care about abandonware
but i thought there was some crazy loophole that meant if they company goes out of business it wouldn't be copyrighted anymore
Click to expand...
If no one exists to defend the license, then in effect you can do what you like. The question of ethics may still exist, but aside from ethics, the law won't come after you unless someone tells them to and funds it all :p

jeff
 
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kram posted on Apr 7 2003 said:
I am a very strong believer that downloading ROMs from games that are very old is perfectly fine. Downloading an NES game is not hurting Nintendo at all because they aren't even making a pennies worth of profit off it.
Click to expand...
"fine" isn't an issue; the question of *legality* was raised. There is a difference between legal, ethics, and what you'll do for kicks ;) And with regards to NES ROMs.. Nintendo *is* making money from them (card swiper anyone?), but whethor or not that is true is not relevent.. it is still theft. If you're nabbing old roms, you should be aware of what you're doing.. don't pull the wool over your eyes. Value doesn't come into theft.. its theft or not :) IS it okay to steal 1 cent gums fromthe candy store, just because its 1 cent?

Not to bring a downer on anyone, but it was brought up, so I thought I'd let you know.

I to believe in abandonware where the company ceases to exist and no one has purchased the rights; I'm also a *huge* believer in companies giving away thigs for free, for the good of all.. ie: id releasing the code for Doom, etc.. to them, it helps raise awareness in advertising, raises new talent they may need, and helps fuel the industry. To us it gives us fun old games, lets us learn, etc. If only more companies had a soul....

jeff
 
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BTW, the term "Abandonware" is a term that people have created to describe software that is no longer being made or supported, or owned by a particular company. Unfortunately, it's not a truly legal term. I wrote an article a few years back for COW (Classic OldWarez E-Zine) where I interviewed several different companies. The most interesting one was Epyx. Epyx filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1989. Most of the rights and games were sold off to Atari, and Bridgestone Multimedia Group, a southern California Christian publishing company. I got a hold of someone at Bridgestone and asked them about "abandonware", and they said that even though they no longer made or supported any Epyx products, that they were still covered by their copyright, and copying an old Epyx game (even something like Summer Games for the Commodore 64) is still breaking their copyright, and therefore, illegal.

99% of all rom usage is illegal (here in the US). As Skeezix stated, the idea of "I own a Frogger cart for my Atari, so it's legal to play it on the PC with an Atari emulator" was shot down in court, I believe by Nintendo. So for each guy that is truly using the emulators to play home brew roms or develop software, there are 99 (probably many, many more) kids downloading pirated roms to play with them.

So yeah, it depends on if you are arguing legality, or morality. As far as legality, if you download Marble Madness for the C64 to play on your GP32, yes, it's illegal. The other side of that coin is, I can sleep just fine at night downloading and playing games that were sold over 20 years ago.

Flack
 
About ethics -- the classic argument for MP3 downloaders is "I haven't stolen it - that involves depriving the owner of the item (check Webster) and I wasn't going to buy it anyway. So what hurt have I caused?". Of course it's still illegal and the claim that you "weren't going to buy it anyway" is dubious. However, for MSX roms, I know of nowhere to get the console, it's out of production, and the games are dirt cheap. I honestly don't think anyone cares if I download and play them, legal or not. This lack of care is strengthened further if you own the original console.

Although companies and businesses have the power of law behind them, many are not evil enough to use it. You mentioned Bridgestone but are they actively enforcing their copyrights? No, it's not worth it. Basically, don't touch anything, and you're safe. Believe it or not some parts of the legal world do make sense, this case is just one of them.

- Rico
 
Although companies and businesses have the power of law behind them, many are not evil enough to use it.
Click to expand...

Many individual companies are not going after "abandonware", but quite a lot of them have joined the IDSA and let them do the dirty work. I have seen a lot of good old games that were once available for download taken from sites because of the IDSA. Even games that are near impossible to get legally.

I am a very strong believer that downloading ROMs from games that are very old is perfectly fine. Downloading an NES game is not hurting Nintendo at all because they aren't even making a pennies worth of profit off it.
Click to expand...

They might not be making any profit of it currently, but they might later and Nintendo wants to hold the possibility to do so. Zelda 3 for example can easily be labelled an old game and could also have been described as not being able to make any profits for Nintendo. Nintendo howerver, ported it to the GBA and made it commercially viable again. Nintendo wants to hold the possibility to do such things and therefor pursues ROMs on the internet. Other examples: Sega Smash Pack and the internet browser for the Sega Dreamcast which allowed you to download old Sega Games. Ofcourse you had to pay a little fee for those games, but why pay if you can just open up any Peer 2 Peer-program and download the same ROMs by the hundreds for free.

It's a real shame it has to be this way, but for most companies business is business. I too think that downloading very old games is fine since most of them are a real and I do mean, REAL pain in the _rs_ to get legally, but technically by the exact letter of the law it's, as explained by Skeezix, theft and illegal. And legality is something that should be thought about on GP32-sites. Since the GP32 has been called a GBA-killer and that must've drawn the attention of some people within Nintendo. And the more succesful the GP32 becomes the more it will be discussed by Nintendo. And most hosts for GP32-websites will not appreciate getting angry emails from Nintendo lawyers.
 
Shrike,

Do you already have webspace set up for your FAQ site? If not, let me know. I had already begun developing a site to act as a home for GP32 Newbies ... Let me know either way.

Flack
 
Flack posted on Apr 8 2003 said:
99% of all rom usage is illegal (here in the US). As Skeezix stated, the idea of "I own a Frogger cart for my Atari, so it's legal to play it on the PC with an Atari emulator" was shot down in court, I believe by Nintendo. So for each guy that is truly using the emulators to play home brew roms or develop software, there are 99 (probably many, many more) kids downloading pirated roms to play with them.
Flack
Click to expand...
Not exactly what I said ;) Distribution bad, ripping good :)

You *do* have the right to change the medium of somethign to make it usable, and you do have the right to back it up or copy it. You buy something, you can do whjatever you like with it, as long as its yours... you can buy a CD and cut it in half, they cannot stop you. But you cannot copy it for someone else. Giving it to someone else can also be complex..

So, in particular.. if you have the cart for the Atari,m *you* can read the ROM, and you can play it on your PC. The law specifically notes you're allowed ot change the medium (from chip to software binary file, say). But you cannot give your cart to someone else to rip the ROM from, nor can you put the ROM on your website, nor can you download the ROM from someone else.

Even if you own the cart, you cannot download their ROM.. you're without the right.

Butr you can always read your own.

Emulation is legal; ripping your own ROMs is legal; playing games in an emu is legal.

Copying ROMs is illegal.

Its a careful division, but a good one in many respects. I own hundreds and hundreds of carts, and I own about 300 arcade game gutts (PCBs, sticks, amps, you name it :), so I'm covered :)

jeff

You can rip your own mp3s; they should not be trying to stop you.. its totally legal; they're trying to stop you base don the justification people are then sending the mp3s around, which are two very separate acts. But the RIAA is evil, and is trying to take away your rights :/
 
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