RetroN 5 $129.99 with free shipping @ ThinkGeek - The RetroN 5 deals thread

Drclaw411

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CURRENT DEALS:

$129.99 with free shipping at ThinkGeek


Important Information
​Warranty registration - http://www.retron5.com/warrantyregistration_/
Patch Notes / How to Update (Last update 6/10/2014) - http://retron5.in/?src=98f13708210194c475687be6106a3b84

I've included the text from the pre-order era of this OP in spoilers for reference.
UPDATE 5/27/14: It's real this time. Hyperkin's June 6 release date is happening. Many mom and pop stores that have received their units have started selling them already, and many people who have ordered from Amazon (myself included) are reporting getting emails from Amazon notifying them that their orders qualify for release day delivery and are updating estimated delivery status to June 6th, no longer showing the "we need more time" placeholder. It's worth noting that so far only people who have ordered the grey unit from Amazon are receiving order updates (which coincides with Hyperkin reporting on their facebook page that they had shipped Amazon's grey preorder units, but Amazon had yet to place an order for the black units). All consoles that have been shown off online by reviewers, people who have been able to buy them before the street date, or Hyperkin themselves have all been grey consoles to this point. No word on black consoles. Another note: Chris Gallizzi of Hyperkin responded to an inquiry about Newegg orders by saying that he is not aware of any issues with Newegg's preorders, and they should be good to go for the launch.

UPDATE 5/22/14: Just one day after IGN and Polygon reported that Hyperkin would begin shipping units to retailers on May 22 (today as of this writing), Hyperkin essentially confirmed that. They have announced that the launch date for the long overdue RetroN 5 is June 6th, 2014. In a much quieter fashion (just by responding to a random person's comment) they confirmed this would be for North America only and that the console would launch in the UK in September. There is also one more small hitch. The rumor that the first batch of units would be only for mom/pop B&M retailers and that NO units from this batch would go to Amazon or Newegg has been gaining some serious steam. While Hyperkin has been responding to a decent amount of comments on their facebook page from excited fans, they continue to ignore questions about when Amazon orders will ship. So it seems those of us who preordered on Amazon still don't have a solid release date. Fulfillment could happen any time between June 6th through September or beyond.

UPDATE 5/21/14: IGN today reported that the RetroN 5 would begin shipping out on May 22 (tomorrow, as of this writing)! This coincides with Chris Gazzilli, Hyperkin's project manager, posting a picture on his facebook page of a massive shipping container full of RetroN 5 units. Ladies and Gentlemen, it seems hell may have just frozen over.

UPDATE 5/13/14: Hyperkin has listed the RetroN 5, and it's controllers, on their company wholesale store for authorized retailers to buy. The console (both colors) and controllers (both colors) are listed as sold out. I'm not sure if they were in stock and sold out quickly, or if they haven't been made available yet. Regardless, it's good news that the system is listed for the first time ever. Additionally, reviewers such as GameSpot and several youtube reviewers have received their review units, which appear to be retail units. The RetroN 5 seems to finally be around the corner. We'll see, but things look promising right now. One thing to note: the listing for the console on Hyperkin's wholesale page indicates that each wholesale box contains six units. If this is the case, it would seem to debunk the previous report of the console being shipped in quantities of four per retailer.

UPDATE 4/25/14: While this hasn't technically been confirmed by Hyperkin, I take it as fact. It's worth remembering that NOTHING has been officially confirmed by Hyperkin. Hyperkin has remained silent until unofficially confirming almost all known info in random interviews with various youtubers and forum members. Therefor, again, I take this as fact:

I spoke to Hyperkin today.

Here are the "unofficial" details.

The "end of May" release is a "soft" release. Meaning they really are waiting for the next batch due in the summer for the official real release. Amazon is NOT getting any of the units released at the end of May. Each retailer is only getting 4 units. Retail on the unit is $139.99 and $39.99 for the additional controller. The reasons for the price increase are both cosmetic and technical but if it works as it should then it should be a great retro system.

Our 4 are already taken with pre-orders. If you know any stores locally that are getting units, and you want one for end of May, then i suggest you contact them and put money down. Keep in mind that each store is getting 4 units only for the soft launch.
UPDATE 4/17/14: Hyperkin has increased the price of the RetroN 5, saying "north of $100, between $129.99 and $149.99". Alll pre-orders from Amazon should be honored via their pre-order price guarantee. I believe Newegg has the same guarantee, I am not sure about Stone Age Gamer or 8 Bit Classics. Think Geek still hasn't opened pre-orders on the unit, instead offering a link to be signed up for email notifications as to when it will be available. Also on the Amazon front, they have sold out or pre-orders. Furthermore, it is more likely you'll learn the ETA from Amazon, Newegg, or whoever you ordered it from. Hyperkin has gone on record of saying they will never again announce a hard release date for anything.

UPDATE 4/12/14: After Hyperkin denied the console was delayed again and vigoruosuly shoved the month of April up everyone's ass for half a year, today they delayed the vaporware console yet again. At the Midwest Gaming Classic, they did their annual presentation. They ignored the planned April 2014 release, but finally somebody in the crowd asked about it. The Hyperkin rep said it was releasing in "30 days, guaranteed". This is not the first time they used the word "guaranteed", last time was about April so this doesn't mean jack shit. So maybe it'll randomly show up at people's houses at the end of may, maybe it wont, and maybe my ass will fly out of my ass.

Retron 5 Delay History:
-Summer 2013 (which they continued to say after summer was over, claiming they meant "Indian Summer" or "California Summer"....i'm not making this up)
-December 10 2013
-Quarter 1 2014
-Quarter 2 2014
-First two weeks of April
-April 2014, guaranteed
-Gauranteed within 30-40 days of April 12, 2014
-June 6 2014

DELAYED. ANY UPDATES FROM HYPERKIN WILL COME ON THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/HyperkinGames

UPDATE: In a recent interview, Hyperkin confirmed that the initial batch of units WILL NOT BE ENOUGH to meet day ome demand. Also confirmed was the ability for the system to act as a multitap. Example: in a four player SNES game, two players could use snes controlles, one player could use the retron controller, and one player could use a genesis controller. Interview can be found here.


Pre-order at Amazon (SOLD OUT)
Pre-order at Newegg: Black (SOLD OUT) or Grey (SOLD OUT)
Pre-order at Stone Age Gamer (DUE TO HIGH DEMAND, RELEASE DAY DELIVERY NOT PROMISED)
Pre-order at 8 Bit Classics (DUE TO HIGH DEMAND, RELEASE DAY DELIVERY NOT PROMISED)





UPDATE: Hyperkin claims that they opened up some packaged retail units and discovered some units had faulty pins. because of this, the Retron 5 has been delayed. No new release date has been announced, although Hyperkin has stated the unit will release in 2014 and that they are aiming for Q1. This is the Retron 5's third delay.

EDIT: Preorders are sold out at Amazon and Newegg.

Retron5 pre-orders have finally (about damn time) opened.

For those of you who have been following this console, you know it's quite highly anticipated and looks to be far better than any clone system released before.

For those unfamiliar, here's a little info:

  • It's one system that plays games for the following systems: NES, SNES, Genesis, Mega Drive, Famicom, Super Famicom, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance.
  • Two controller ports for each console will be built in with the system. It will also come with one wireless universal controller.
  • Outputs in HDMI and upscales for HDTVs. Early impressions and videos of this have been extremley postive. From the website: "The RetroN 5 will up convert the video signal to show clearer and cleaner images, with vibrant colors on an HDTV with a resolution output of up to 720p through the use of shaders. You will also be able to select the aspect ratio in our GUI, from the standard 4:3 to the HD ratio of 16:9."
  • Features a user interface (dashboard. Somewhat similar of the PS3 interface in appearance, in my opinion).
  • Features save states. From the website: "Most games did not allow for you to freely save your games. The RetroN 5 will allow you to save their games at any point during gameplay, and will feature an autosave feature upon shutdown. You will be able to load your saves at anytime during gameplay."
  • Button reassignment supported. From the website: "Users will be able to program the controller to assign buttons to their preference. In turn, the RetroN 5 will save these custom layouts, so that users will not have to constantly reconfigure the button configuration. This feature will also be available to people wanting to remap their buttons on their original controllers."
  • 100% game cartridge compatibility, without lag.
  • Sega Power Base Converter compatible, allowing Sega Master System games to be played.
More information is here. It may be a bit dated since this was from back when they first announced the console, but I figured it was the best site to link since it also featured some screenshots as well. http://hyperkin.com/blog/2013/03/retron-5-details-revealed-from-the-midwest-gaming-classic/ There is also plenty of info on Hyperkin's facebook page.

I've been looking forward to this for a long time, and i'm extremley excited that pre-orders are finally open. For one console that not only plays all of these console's games, but upscales them and features save states (either to the cartridge (if supported) or the console itself)...this seems like a great deal. And if you've been following the hype for the console, there is a good chance it could end up selling out. Hyperkin isn't a huge company and this thing has a TON of pre-release demand (just check out the comments on the facebook page). I like the look of the black one a bit better, because it seems to be the traditional console color nowadays. But I opted for the grey model because the black console and controller seem like they'd be fingerprint magnets.

Preorder either color here at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Hyperkin-RetroN-Gaming-Not-Machine-Specific/dp/B00DZIX3CQ/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1378958043&sr=8-13&keywords=retron+5 or here at Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=retron%205&N=-1&isNodeId=1&RandomID=65244712392254220130925161655

Here are pictures of the two consoles, since the pictures on Amazon aren't that great:

Grey:
Retron-5.jpg


Black:
e3_retron5_03550.jpg

 
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Victimless crime.
Yeah, except for the people that did take the time to get games working on PC but the roms are still out there so people download it illegally instead of buying the game.

Edit:

You guys do know you are doing this to yourself? "Oh I will buy the game when they let me do it legally on pc".

Why the hell would they go through the trouble of getting a lot of games to work on PC when people just download them. Maybe some people will buy them but not enough to make it a worthwhile investment. If people can buy a game or download it for free people will download it making it not worth the trouble.

 
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I use to be a huge pirate back during the quake 3/half life one days, but I realized how much of a dick I was to the gaming companies not too long after that.  I will say that people who pirate anything make up any excuse they can to feel better about what they are doing.  Very stubborn people.

 
Gosh. I feel like I opened quite the can of worms by calling someone out on their pirate ways. 

I'd throw my hat into the ring of the whole debate, but I don't think I could say much to add or detract from the current arguments. Software piracy seems to be one of those topics where everyone has a line that is heavily guided by fairly individualistic opinions and attitudes that are subject to the whims of one's moral compass. 

Whatever the case may be, I think it's very cool that the Retron 5 is driving so many people to try and build up their retro collections. I myself have recently purchased the entire Super Star Wars Series, Castlevania 3, Metal Gear (NES), and a bunch of Genesis games (including both of the Mickey "Illusion" titles) while I await the eventual release of Hyperkin's new multi-console. 

 
Gosh. I feel like I opened quite the can of worms by calling someone out on their pirate ways.

I'd throw my hat into the ring of the whole debate, but I don't think I could say much to add or detract from the current arguments. Software piracy seems to be one of those topics where everyone has a line that is heavily guided by fairly individualistic opinions and attitudes that are subject to the whims of one's moral compass.

Whatever the case may be, I think it's very cool that the Retron 5 is driving so many people to try and build up their retro collections. I myself have recently purchased the entire Super Star Wars Series, Castlevania 3, Metal Gear (NES), and a bunch of Genesis games (including both of the Mickey "Illusion" titles) while I await the eventual release of Hyperkin's new multi-console.
See, I used emulators when I was younger (I am in my 30s) for games I couldn't purchase in the states, couldn't afford, or couldn't find.

However, yeah the Retron 5 has made me restart my collection for old games again, ontop of the VC/PSN purchases I've made.

So many memories of the 4th Gen of consoles, and some very vivid 3rd gen.

Was Terranigma ever released in English speaking territories?

Also, speaking as a person holding a Masters of Computer Science, specializing on Information Assurance/Data Integrity. I was always taught/told that roms and back-ups are legal if you own the original cartridge of have purchased a legit version of the original data (such as VC or PSN releases). However, with today's laws and the constant flux of the American legal system and regular redifiing of many of these terms and ideas, I really can't say for sure.

If anyone has a good update to this information, I'd love to read it. Thank you!

 
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It is cool this console has influenced people's desire to start collecting again. I know I just bought my two first retro games in over 3 years last week.

People should keep the thread updated with their finds/purchases. I would like to know what people are looking for.

 
Games I'm currently looking for

Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (also on steam for those that care)

Sonic and Knuckles

I have not bought any in a month or two but my current collection is the following. I should say I focus mainly on Sega Genesis

Sega Genesis
Rampart (complete in box)
Taz In Escape From Mars (complete in box)
Sonic 2 (complete in box)
Asterix and the Great Escape (complete in box)
Sonic Spinball (complete in box)
Road Rash (complete in box)
Stargate (complete in box)
Altered Beast (complete in box)
Flashback (complete in box)
Mortal Kombat II (complete in box)
Final Zone (complete in box)
Jungle Strike (complete in box)
Heavy Nova (complete in box)
Marble Madness (complete in box)
General Chaos (complete in box)
Dragon’s Revenge (complete in box)
Kid Chameleon (complete in box)
Zombies Ate My Neighbors (complete in box)
Taz Mania (complete in box)
Fatal Labyrinth
Sonic the Hedgehog (complete in box)
Spot goes to Hollywood (complete in box)
6-pak (complete in box)
Beavis and Butt-head (complete in box)
John Madden Football ‘92
Eternal Champions (complete in box)
Bonanza Brothers (complete in box)
Risk (complete in box)
Shining Force (complete in box)
Toejam and Earl: Panic on Funkotron (complete in box)
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (complete in box)
Monopoly (complete in box)
Herzog Zwei
Pirates! Gold
Comic Zone (complete in box)
Ecco: The Tides of Time (complete in box)
NBA Jam (complete in box)
Judge Dredd (complete in box)
Jurassic Park (complete in box)
Mega Bomberman
X-men (complete in box)
Donald and Mickey in Castle of Illusion
Ms. Pacman
Toejam and Earl
Bubsy
Tecmo Super Bowl (complete in box)
Mortal Kombat (complete in box)
Mortal Kombat 3 (complete in box)
Vectorman (complete in box)
AAAHH!! Real Monsters
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Echoes from the Past
WWF Super WrestleMania (complete in box)
Aladdin (complete in box)
Sword of Vermillion (complete in box)
Columns (complete in box)
Sub-Terrania (complete in box)
Art Alive (complete in box)
The Lost Vikings (complete in box)
Mario Andretti Racing (complete in box)
Shining In The Darkness (complete in box)
Andre Agassi Tennis (complete in box)
George Forman's KO Boxing (complete in box)
Jeopardy Sports Edition (complete in box)
 
Sega Master System
Reggie Jackson Baseball (complete in box)
Pro Wrestling
Hang On & Safari Hunt
Great Football
 
Nintendo
Superspike V'Ball/Nintendo World Cup
Bases Loaded: Second Season
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt
Jackal
The Legend of Zelda (have manual)
Tiger-Heli
Digger T. Rock
Flight of The Intruder
Dick Tracy
Snake Rattle n Roll
Rygar
ShadowGate
Hydlide
Renegade
DuckTales
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Yoshi (have manual)
Metroid (have manual)
Doctor Mario (have manual)

 
Super Nintendo
Super Mario Kart
The Simpsons: Barts Nightmare
The Legend of The Mystical Ninja
F-Zero
Adams Family
The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past
Super Mario World
 
Some of these I've had for most of my life but a lot of them has been picked up over the last two years
 
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If only funcoland was still around I remember as a kid going there and get bag full of nintendo and Super Nintendo games for 5 or 10 cents a piece sometime even one or two cents the prices and service was great until the GameStop stores started showing up ruining all that eventually
 
I could list all my games, but there's too many. I'm up to 200+ NES carts and 150+ SNES carts alone. I've only got about 20 Master System carts and about 30-40 Genesis. I've been actively maintaining an excel spreadsheet with my catalog since 2005. It's a few weeks out of date at this point and I buy at least a cart or two a week anymore. If anyone is actually interested in seeing what I have PM me and I can send you my spreadsheet. Also, if anyone lives in the Phoenix area PM me and maybe you can join my retro gaming group. We play the classics about once a month.

 
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Thank you for mentioning your spreadsheet, I just read you entire post to my girlfriend to which she responded "and you didn't write that?". You're my doppleganger now, at least according to her.
 
Has anyone had legal action against them for playing ROMS? I mean, not the emulators/distributors themselves, but people actually playing the games? I've never heard of a case before.

Publishers (for the most part) view second hand sales just as bad. It's not like your going to find wild brand new copies of Mario 3 for the NES at Wal-Mart.

For the record I don't have any ROMs and own a lot of carts myself. But I'm not against piracy, I am with Project CD (Witcher makers) who basically said "Pirate our game. If you make a good game people will buy it." and they are pretty much right. I know a lot of people who pirate games but will go out of their way to support a company who they love and/or buy a great game. Hell, Witcher was $1-$2 on Steam plenty of times.

 
If only funcoland was still around I remember as a kid going there and get bag full of nintendo and Super Nintendo games for 5 or 10 cents a piece sometime even one or two cents the prices and service was great until the GameStop stores started showing up ruining all that eventually
Funcoland became Gamestop back in my home town.

Ugh, Gamestop may seem shadey but Funcoland certainly was.

I'm filled with stories and memories from my home town. Specifically an employee was taking games "New" off the shelf, opening and selling them to customers. Claiming the boxes were display only, then keeping the money. He did this for sounds upon thousands of dollars worth of Merchandise, but made it look like the store still had everything instock.

I wonder if he's still in jail, this was back in 96.

 
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I am with Project CD (Witcher makers) who basically said "Pirate our game. If you make a good game people will buy it." and they are pretty much right. I know a lot of people who pirate games but will go out of their way to support a company who they love and/or buy a great game. Hell, Witcher was $1-$2 on Steam plenty of times.
I believe they are more of the belief that DRM does not stop anything. The whole "make a good game and people will buy it" is not true and I'm fairly sure not what they are about. Make a good game and more people will pirate it.

DRM just does nothing because people will find a way to get past it and it just costs them money to use it and harms legit buyers.

I'm also not 100% against piracy but I think people trying to justify it is amusing.

 
I believe they are more of the belief that DRM does not stop anything. The whole "make a good game and people will buy it" is not true and I'm fairly sure not what they are about. Make a good game and more people will pirate it.

DRM just does nothing because people will find a way to get past it and it just costs them money to use it and harms legit buyers.

I'm also not 100% against piracy but I think people trying to justify it is amusing.
No, the make a good game and people will buy it is why Nintendo games have very little depreciation over the years.

Their is always a market and want for these games.

Sadly, AAA games are more style over substance in many cases.

 
Some of these I've had for most of my life but a lot of them has been picked up over the last two years
Pretty nice Genesis collection! I actually don't own a single Sega game -.-. Never owned a Sega console growing up. But I am trying to find Shining Force 1, 2 and Shining in the Darkness for a fair price currently.

I actually had a good friend who worked at Funcoland back in the day. He had one of the most successful locations in the state (MN). But after Gamestop came in, they slowly phased everyone out. Because they had some much sketchier business practices. Eventually everyone from the original Funcoland team was fired.

As far as what they did (don't know if this is common anymore): if they get a call, and someone says, "Hey, when is Chrono Trigger 2 coming out?" the employee would play along and actually get them to put in a pre-order. Only to backtrack eventually with "it's cancelled" or something and ask if they want to switch the order around. That was in their training!

 
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Pretty nice Genesis collection! I actually don't own a single Sega game -.-. Never owned a Sega console growing up. But I am trying to find Shining Force 1, 2 and Shining in the Darkness for a fair price currently.

I actually had a good friend who worked at Funcoland back in the day. He had one of the most successful locations in the state (MN). But after Gamestop came in, they slowly phased everyone out. Because they had some much sketchier business practices. Eventually everyone from the original Funcoland team was fired.

As far as what they did (don't know if this is common anymore): if they get a call, and someone says, "Hey, when is Chrono Trigger 2 coming out?" the employee would play along and actually get them to put in a pre-order. Only to backtrack eventually with "it's cancelled" or something and ask if they want to switch the order around. That was in their training!
Not sure if these are still good prices but here are the prices I paid for the shining force games

Shining Force - 25$ + 3$ shipping

Shining in the Darkness - 25$ + shipping

I ended up posting this not knowing how much I spent on both of them but yeah seems 25$ is the best I could find :p

 
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You're free to rationalize theft/piracy any way you like it but that doesn't make it any less of a crime. Old games are NOT public domain (copyrights don't expire until at least 50 years after the death of the author and video games have barely existed that long at all).
1) software is not and can not be an antique. Apples and oranges.

2) as I've stated, there is zero copyright protection on cartridge-based games.

3) even if there was a loophole to #2, the only reason a company would care to enforce it would be due to loss and damages. For the games I'm referring to, there is literally zero ways for the publisher - which in some cases don't even exist therefore have no owner - to make money off of the game (especially if it is not released on VC). There'd be no one to make any lawsuit, and even if it happened, the case would be flushed.

4) While the sharing of ROMs may be questionable, the backing up and creating of your own ROMs of games you've bought is 100% legal. It clearly doesn't authorize that they can be uploaded and downloaded online, but it certainly makes no clear statement on the prohibition on it. The laws are fuzzy and that's why no one gets in trouble for it. It's a waste of time for everyone.

 
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1) software is not and can not be an antique. Apples and oranges.

2) as I've stated, there is zero copyright protection on cartridge-based games.

3) even if there was a loophole to #2, the only reason a company would care to enforce it would be due to loss and damages. For the games I'm referring to, there is literally zero ways for the publisher - which in some cases don't even exist therefore have no owner - to make money off of the game (especially if it is not released on VC).
You're free to rationalize theft/piracy any way you like it but that doesn't make it any less of a crime. ;)

 
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4) While the sharing of ROMs may be questionable, the backing up and creating of your own ROMs of games you've bought is 100% legal. It clearly doesn't authorize that they can be uploaded and downloaded online, but it certainly makes no clear statement on the prohibition on it. The laws are fuzzy and that's why no one gets in trouble for it. It's a waste of time for everyone.
The original people might not still be around but there is someone that owns it somewhere.

 
You seem to be twisting the "second copy rule" to justify piracy. YOU are allowed to make a back up copy of the game if YOU currently own a lawful copy of the game.

Companies can indeed make a "loss of damages" claim even if the product is not widely available. Just because I can't go buy a new copy of Zombies Ate My Neighbors doesn't mean that the product still doesn't have value to
I made the ROM. I own the game. So what now?

"...even if the product is not widely available"

ahhh you're twisting words now. I never said it should be free if it's not "widely" available; I said if it's literally impossible to buy. Why are thousands of books free? Movies? TV? PUBLIC DOMAIN. They stop having owners - they stop having people make money off it - they stop caring to protect it - it's in the wild now.

 
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The original people might not still be around but there is someone that owns it somewhere.
Actually, not to defend piracy, but there are actually quite a few games in limbo because the original creators went out of business and the copyrights were never sold/transferred to a new owner. The big question is, if someone wanted to buy the rights to a license in this flux state who would they get it from if no one owns it currently?

 
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You could do what I did and just buy the actual game so you own the game instead of pirating it.
pirating? I ripped the ROM myself, from the game that I purchased. 100% legal. I wanted to play on me homebrew wii instead of dusting off old consoles. Self-righteous prick.

 
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The original people might not still be around but there is someone that owns it somewhere.

Actually, not to defend piracy, but there are actually quite a few games in limbo because the original creators went out of business and the copyrights were never sold/transferred to a new owner. The big question is, if someone wanted to buy the rights to a license in this flux state who would they get it from if no one owns it currently?
That's exactly right Chrono. But this isn't about that, it's about this stupid notion that "ROMs are illegal." Nope, they're not. It may be illegal to up- and download, but they're 100% legal to have.

 
? huh? because I added the dash? uh ok bro
Actually, you changed the post more than once (I was able to quote your original post before you altered it, then you changed it over twice). Funny shit to try to act like you didn't. Where are the legal sources behind your arguments, by the way?

 
Actually with games of the late 1980's and early 1990s most of the defunct publishers were actually branches of bigger publishers for instance ultra if anyone remember them was around only 5 years before shutting there doors. But the games and copyrights survived because they were a branch of konomi
 
pirating? I ripped the ROM myself, from the game that I purchased. 100% legal. I wanted to play on me homebrew wii instead of dusting off old consoles. Self-righteous prick.
I think you went way overboard on this and reported it as such.

When I replied "You could do what I did and just buy the actual game so you own the game instead of pirating it." It was in response to the below comment and from how I'm reading it you don't own Zombies and pirated it. It was not in reply to anything else you wrote and that is why I only quoted this part.


Answer this: Zombies Ate My Neighbors is not for sale in physical form at MSRP (obviously) and is not available via Virtual Console or Steam or ANYWHERE. How would you go about playing it? As far as I'm concerned, the ROM's public domain. No one profits from it and no one CAN profit from it. If anything, it helps the publisher more than hurts.
 
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Actually with games of the late 1980's and early 1990s most of the defunct publishers were actually branches of bigger publishers for instance ultra if anyone remember them was around only 5 years before shutting there doors. But the games and copyrights survived because they were a branch of konomi
The good ole days when publishers had to create sub-labels in order to release more than 2 games on Nintendo.

 
pirating? I ripped the ROM myself, from the game that I purchased. 100% legal. I wanted to play on me homebrew wii instead of dusting off old consoles. Self-righteous prick.
You seem to just be digging your hole deeper and deeper. As I stated earlier, piracy is something that everyone has different tolerances for and those tolerances are based on our individual moral compasses. You make certain assumptions about what many consider to be legal grey areas in order to justify your choices and actions to people that will likely never agree with your point of view. Why? Your morality is your own. If it is okay in your book then let that be enough. Defending what you do is sort of irrelevant because the kind of ROM usage that you describe makes up an infinitesimally small percentage of the larger whole of ROM use.

Also, I think you may be confused with one of your main arguments. You have said more than once that "there is zero copyright protection on cartridge-based games." Now, I'm not a law guy or anything and my understanding of copyright law is not terribly comprehensive, but I'm pretty sure the statement you've been making is 100% wrong. As far as I understand it, anything made by someone has inherent copyright protection. So, for example, all those awesome original drawings on deviantart are given automatic copyright protections simply because they were original creations. I don't see why cartridge games would have fallen into some sort of legal black hole where they are the only media not protected by copyright. If you could explain what you mean by your argument, it would be greatly appreciated.

However, that might not be necessary. My guess (and I could be wrong and please correct me if I am) is that you are making the claim that there is no "copy protection" on cartridge based games. And on that front, you'd probably be right. As far as I know, there's no technology that prevents the act of digitally copying what is on the cartridge (as opposed to something like macrovision on DVD media). That said, copy protection is not the same as copyright protection. In fact, copy protection is not even a necessary component of copyright protection. Copy protection tries to prevent the act of making of a copy through the use of specific technologies (like the aforementioned macrovision). Copyright protection protects intellectual property through the use of the legal system. When someone pirates games, they usually break copy protection measures AND break copyright law. In the case of cartridge based games, this may only be a case of breaking JUST the copyright law. But that's still illegal (unless you own the original blah blah legal grey area blah blah remember, guy, no need to get defensive. I'm talking about retro piracy in general and not your specific variety of it).

Anyway, like I said. If it works for you then it works for you. Stop diggin' that hole.

 
The good ole days when publishers had to create sub-labels in order to release more than 2 games on Nintendo.
true but it was a good thing cause it limited publishers to only publish quality games instead of shovelware that why so many the retro games are amazing cause the quality and it was actually 4 games a year. Plus it was the only thing at the time to prevent another video game crash
 
I'm not even going to buy a launch model RN5. I'm going to wait a few months until they release the improved / fixed version like they have done with all their previous hardware.

All these delays have me worried and knowing the track record of Hyperkin I'm just not going to take any chances. 

 
You seem to just be digging your hole deeper and deeper. As I stated earlier, piracy is something that everyone has different tolerances for and those tolerances are based on our individual moral compasses. You make certain assumptions about what many consider to be legal grey areas in order to justify your choices and actions to people that will likely never agree with your point of view. Why? ]
What aren't you understanding about this? This isn't about morality or point of view or anything.

Making ROM backups is not illegal. That's not a justification, it's just the truth. It's not an "assumption." Flash Carts are very real and very legal, as is backing up a cartridge you own Look it up buddy.

Older cartridges didn't have copyright protection, that's not a ln assumption or justification either. A five second google search will probably help you with this misunderstanding you're having.
 
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Make a good game and more people will pirate it
Technically, yes, more people will pirate a more popular game BUT that doesn't imply that the ratio of pirates to buyers go up. It's like saying here in the US there's more murders that 100 years ago so we must be a more violent country. Nope. There's just simply more people. The ratio has gone down...way down. It's about per capita.

Make a great game and less people *per capita* will pirate it. Very important to distinguish...

Also, tell that to Nintendo, who is the king of getting pirated; why are Mario Kart Wii and SB Brawl still like $50 new? Because they're incredibly popular and people keep buying. Software is what makes Nintendo their billions; if your statement was true, they'd be in bankruptcy by now. They don't profit much from their consoles anymore, if at all.
 
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This thread barely talks about the retron 5 anymore. It's just emulation this, I'm not stealing that. Drama, drama everywhere.
I feel you. I feel awful for having contributed to such off-topic nonsense. It's hard, though, with someone rampantly spreading misinformation about cartridge games having no copyright protection and then showing zero proof as to how he came to that conclusion. I really respect cheapassgamer as a community and it bothers me that it might indirectly be contributing to the spreading of gross misinformation. But even with that, I'm done. From now on, only relevant posts.

 
I finally picked up my first Master System games this weekend. Now I need a power base converter. Should I get the original or the mini version?
 
Games I'm currently looking for

Sonic and Knuckles
I have one of these mint & totally complete. Not that I'm interested in selling it, I just wanted to pour salt in the wound, lol. Other than that nice collection if I may say.

I believe they are more of the belief that DRM does not stop anything. The whole "make a good game and people will buy it" is not true and I'm fairly sure not what they are about. Make a good game and more people will pirate it.

DRM just does nothing because people will find a way to get past it and it just costs them money to use it and harms legit buyers.
This is something I can agree with.

 
bread's done
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