I bought a Microsoft Sidewinder Freestyle Pro about 6 months ago, I used it to play emulated ROMs (I own the originals, relax). Recently I have gotten up my old hunger to play Chrono Trigger, and I now find out that apparently Windows XP (Which I had used at the time) does not support my game pad, and so when I beat Super Mario, FF1-4, Yoshi's island, I was using a game pad that didn't work. I tried to install drivers but it pops up it says they're not supported, I try to install anyways but it crashes itself half way through. GG my $20 that I paid for this.

Found this in a review at Amazon:



This at driverforum.com:



Don't know if that'll help though.

That's just crazy enough to work. Thanks much

Not to get off topic too much here, but I have yet to see any definitive proof that it is legal to download and play ROMs even if you own the original game. Furthermore, even if that is legal, it is definately illegal for anyone to share ROMs online in the first place, so you are still an accessory to a criminal act.

I *hate* hardware that is no longer supported. My Graphire 2 is that way. It would work with Windows 98, but it won't work in XP.

Why wouldn't it be legal, assuming you own the original game?

Well, freely distributing them can't be legal. Possessing and playing them in a medium and on a platform not originally intended *could* be illegal.

Think about it this way: Is it legal to walk into a video store and just take a copy of a video game because you've already purchased the same game? I know physical goods can't really compare to copying data over the internet, but it just doesnt seem as obvious to me that obtaining copies of ROMs of games you already own from another source (ie, not making the copy yourself) is legal. And, like I said, I have yet to see any official source or article that says "Yes, this is legal." All I've ever seen on the subject is teenagers posting on online forums saying that "the entertainment industry is greedy, so I am going to try and snub them by pretending to deprive them of money by doing something that I am saying is legal only because I think it sounds like it could be legal, regardless of the fact that I have done absolutely no research on the topic at all."

Gah. I'm trying to find the proper passage in Us copyright law that permits usable backup copies of software (which ROMs would fit into). So far, these links are what I've got; they suggest ROM possession is legal, given that the person possessing them has a license to do so (such as having paid for the originals). After all, it caused the court to decide in favor of Accolade in Sega v. Accolade, where Sega sued for copyright infringment when Accolade decompiled a Sega game the company had purchased a copy of. I'll find more definitive information later.

http://assembler.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000107----000-.html

<3

I'm not doing it to spite the greedy music industry. I'm not going to buy a CD for my car, house, office, cottage, I'm going to make a few copies, and leave the original in its nice protective casing. I already own the SNES Chrono Trigger, and I intend to buy the PlayStation version. That's 2 bloody copies, I don't think having one to play on my computer is depriving anyone of money.

Notice, I never said it was legal, I just said relax, because I think that you would agree that this is a suitable use.

I agree that backup copies are probably legal. ROMs distributed on the internet, however, are not "backup copies." Also, having one copy on your computer that you use with an emulator, and one copy with your game console, means you have two playable copies, not one playable copy and a back up copy. I guess maybe you could get around this by saying that you only used the Emulator and the ROM on your computer, while you left the console and cartridge collecting dust in your closet, but still the whole thing seems very grey to me.

And Mikus- dont worry, I wasnt going to ban you or anything, as this thread was about hardware, not the roms themselves. Also, there are such things as CD Binders- I personally find them to be very usefull when I want to keep a bunch of CDs with me where ever I go.

How odd, my Graphire 2 works in XP fine, as GoY can testify.

http://www.wacom.com/productsupport/drivers.cfm?os=XP&product=ETA

Drivers for Graphire2 in XP... wtf?

He's a witch!

It states in some Nintendo manuals when you buy a game that having a ROM version of it even though you now own it is not legal

Do those old games really matter anymore though? You can get a group of'em for like a couple bucks now, or free from a friend. But that's not illegal?

There's no profit they can really still make from these games, they've moved on. The only ones you'd be ripping off by stealing would be secondhand stores or game owners, but this sort of thing wouldn't effect them. Most people who would buy a game like that actually want to own the physical object long-term so that really can't take away sales...

So... if you're not really stealing anything from the company that made the game, then why is it so taboo?

ROMs are only really useful for old boxes that don't work any more, like my old Amiga or my Megadrive.

The only real advantage to playing the ROM over the original is the ability to use save states (aka quick saving in the middle of the game at any time). This makes a lot of older games that have no save feature or makes use of limited save points much easier to beat since you can simply reload a save state. It almost feels like cheating because of it.