[Eraserhead]

Do you or do you not use an emulator? If so then what kind? Vote and please state why you chose your vote.

[Lord of Nukes]

I voted "Yes, I find nothing wrong with it or I don't care," even though it doesn't exactly define how I feel about emulators. I generally emulate games for three reasons.

First off, I tend to download ROMs for games that I own. This is because the save batteries in Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance game packs only last for a certain amount of time. Some of my games have become incapable of saving (Pokemon Silver and Gold because of the timekeeping feature) or incapable of starting up (Zelda: Oracle of Seasons). I know that back-up copies of games are illegal but the Game Boy Color isn't supported anymore and I'd prefer to get copies of my Game Boy Advance games as a reassurance that I'll have them should any of my game packs fail. I don't feel bad about this at all.

Secondly, I emulate games that I are not released in North America or Europe. Nintendo's portable systems don't utilize region locking so I could still theoretically obtain some of these games if I'm willing to pay. Honestly though, Nintendo doesn't sell NES or SNES games and they no longer produce Fire Emblem 6 which would theoretically work on any GBA or DS. Were I to purchase these games, Nintendo would make no extra profit so I don't feel too bad about it. If any of these games are ultimately released in North America then I will buy them to atone for my having played them for free. XD

The last reason I emulate games is because I cannot get them anywhere. This is where it gets the haziest for me. I've a Final Fantasy VII ROM because Sony doesn't sell the game anymore and I've yet to see a copy on sale at a game store (I do keep a look out, I'm sure somebody's mother is going to sell their university student's old video games to EB Games or something). I could order it from an on-line source but I have no idea if they'd be reliable. I occasionally read stories on forums about people who were ripped off by being given a bootleg or a shoddy copy of a the game they were attempting to order which further discourages me. It doesn't bother me a great deal because Square Soft (Square Enix now) and Sony wouldn't make any profit by my buying the game from anywhere. If I see it at a store somewhere I'll buy it (I assume FFVII works on the PS2), otherwise it's not a big deal. On a related note, I have vowed to buy any game off of the Wii's Virtual Console that I've emulated and played for more than five minutes. So far, none have come up that I've emulated and don't legally own because I don't emulate a lot of games. Excluding Final Fantasy VII and Zelda DX, every game I emulate without owning was only released in Japan.

So... in conclusion; yes, I do use emulators. Games that I can buy I do buy if I do or plan to download a ROM. I also don't worry a great deal about the Japanese games I emulate because none of them are in production anymore (although Fire Emblem 4 was released on Japan's Virtual Console and I've no way of getting that without purchasing a Japanese Wii). The only area where I feel any real concern is with games that are available in the region but I can't find a copy of. I obligate myself to buying the game if I ever see it despite that fact that it would most likely be used and thus give it's producers no profit. Honestly, I feel worse about buying a bunch of used games than I do about emulating what I restrict myself to downloading.

[InuYasha]

I voted the same as^, but for different reasons.

1. I used to has a GBA, but it broke.

2. Bigger screen, etc.

[Rick Hard]

i used to use emulators a decent amount but i dont use them at all any more. I had loads of roms and stuff, N64, snes, nes mame, mega drive, Gameboy, gba etc. But i just ended up deleting them all and i just dont really bother with them much anymore. They're just not as good as playing the actual game. i know its good for of it convenience, but i just cant be bothered wit them anymore. Im not against them either. Its a pretty good way to relive your youth. lol. And also, i aint gonna go out and pay all sorts of money for these games. sure it appeals to some people, but i just dont think its worth the money.

[Imac]

I play Super Bomberman 4 & 5 on a SNES emulater on a regular basis because there not avalable in this country, I used to have a large number of GBA and SNES roms but i lost them all thanks to not backing up however it hasent rearlly matterd, iv never had the urge since then to want to play any

[The Dark Blue]

Of course, how else could I play Conkers Bad Hair Day or Pokemon Shiny Gold? Classic

[Rick Hard]

i actually just heard of this little card, called R4 or something. you put a micro SD card in it with DS roms and stuff on it and you can play em all on your DS as if it was the actual cartridge in it. You can even put snes, nes and probably n64 as well on it. And some of the home brew applications allow you to play music and videos on your DS.

Of course its probably completely illegal and the like, but its a good little invention.

[metroid_dragon]

Generally, games are the one thing I will never pirate, so I do tend to avoid the use of emulators. The exceptions I make are if I already own a copy of the game, if the game is nearly impossible to find for various reasons (lack of copies, unreleased in region, ect) or if my system to play it on is broken. Once my SNES kicked the bucket I used emulators to play through a few games including Chrono Trigger and most of Super Mario RPG. Those games are classics and I think that it's definantly worth emulating them if you don't have a working SNES.

Sometimes It's just easier to use the Emulator as well. I emulated my GBA games all the time before I got my gameboy player. I really dislike the small GBA screen and would much prefer to have it 19" or larger. I played the first Advance Wars game on emulator for that reason. Since I got my GBA player for the GC I haven't opened up my GBA emulator once.

Overall I won't just DL games because they are free and I'm too cheap to support the developers, I'll only DL the roms if there is a more legitimate reason for it.