Can The Rom Dumpers be prosecuted now that nobody owns the rights to SNK games??

I know there is a large Dumping community out there. What can be done against them, now that nobody actually owns the rights to SNK games (considering SNK doesn't exist anymore)?

[ October 22, 2001: Message edited by: Mr. Osenki ]

[ October 22, 2001: Message edited by: Mr. Osenki ]

SNK never bothered with trying to stop them before, I highly doubt they care now.

Hmmm good point there, though I think they'll have even less worries now that there is now chance of anyone coming after them.

Playing on the PC is by far now the same as playing on the AES. I can understand that some people just don't have the money for the original, but there are (more than decent) DC versions out there.

There is only one thing that actually sounded quite cool, and that is the possibility to play all neo geo games over the net. That would be a cool technology for arcades!

Anyway, I lost my point there. Probably the whole NeoGeo ROM discussion will subside over time. SNK doesn't exist anymore. Collectors and true fans (like me, just ordered MS3!!!) will still Pay for their games, but most other people will start just getting roms I guess. They'll think, there's no one to harm anymore, so why not?

maybe I should start a new thread on this...


P.S.: Thanks for moving me into General Discussions, I had an old thread in Tech where nobody answered and just changed that one into this...

Originally posted by Mr. Osenki:
<STRONG>Playing on the PC is by far now the same as playing on the AES.</STRONG>

Click to expand...

No way. Sounds not the same, shitty controls, and Neo games look like shit through VGA, even with scanlines enabled it doesn't look as good as playing in RGB, or a TV with S Video.

Agreed. I can't emphasize enough the point about controls. Most puzzlers, and to some extent, shooters play just fine with a keyboard or pad.

Once you start playing fighters, a Neo Geo staple, keyboards and pads just don't cut it. With the razor-hair precision controls demanded of fighters, you need a stick. Unless you go though great pains and get a MASS stick or make your own, you won't find a PC/Mac stick.

For a successful law suit, SNK could have employed some DMCA folks years ago. They had the chance to sue the shit outta some real obscenely "public" rom sites, but they chose to remain passive.

However, it's not true that they didn't care about their stuff getting dumped/copied, at least they implemented software encryption on the carts and copy protection schemes on CD versions.

Although I personally dislike excessive rom dumping, discussions in this BBS usually boil down to an acceptable use-"policy": Downloading and playing roms is okay for preview purposes and decent "domestic use", but not for compiling shitty CD-ROMs and selling them via eBay, which happens quite often lately.

...and there are problems with law suits against rom dumpers. In most cases you will get some poor guys with a couple of roms, while the real bad boys just smile and keep on dumping.

ups, is by far "now" the same should have been: is by far "NOT" the same, typo. Glad you guys agree with me though. I have been playing my gold system for years on end now and know that an emulator can definitely not meet up to a true NeoGeo system. It might emulate the sound, the graphics, but it can never emulate that feel of playing in a real arcade.

NOSTALGIC ANECDOTE ALERT!-------!
Did you know the reason I bought a NG with my bro almost ten years ago was that in Germany kids aren't allowed in Arcades? Back then I was just craving to play all those awesome games, but I was too young. Then one day I bought the (now dead, sniff) MegaFun and it had a three page special on the Neo Geo. Three months later my brother and I had the money together (veeeery expensive system back then), we went and bought The Gold pack (incl. AoF) and have been playing happily ever since....

Sorry for the story, had to do that.

But anyway, my point is that every time I switch on my NeoGeo, I feel like a ten year old in an arcade. An emulator might "remind" me of that feeling in some way, but it can never "create" it. That's why I just bought MS3, yeeehaaa it will arrive soon!!!

How did you guys actually get to play NeoGeo? Would be interesting to know. Especially people from the countries where the Neo was not advertised at all (like Germany).

One more thing about the ROM dumpers, I guess you are right Takumaji, it would never hit the right guys if lawsuits would be carried out. That SNK never did anything against dumpers (except copy protection) was an obvious fact I kinda missed, duh. <IMG SRC="smilies/loco.gif" border="0">

There isn't anything illegal about dumping (making backups) of rom images. In order for the person to dump the roms, the physical board must be in hand, which means the dumper has legal rights to make a backup of the "software" for that board for which he has possession of. ROM chips are just a form of media storage, much like a floppy disk would be considered storage media.

Most rom dumpers offer a "service" -- someone sends them a board they would like to have backed up, the person with the equipment and knowledge provides the service, and returns the board(s) with the backup. What the other person does with that backup is beyond the control of the person providing the service.

It's illegal for people to possess these backups if they do not have the original boards though.

SNK still owns the rights to their games. Copyrights are good for 75 years. Someone will own these. Most likely these rights will be sold off to pay debts.

Jeff

Wow thanks for the insight JMKurtz! I guess that topic's clear then.

Now I think it might be a bit stupid, but do you think I should open op a new topic on how people got into playing NeoGeo? I think it would be nice for some to recap those memories, now that the active era of SNK, or rather the NeoGeo has virtually ended. I know that SNK advertised the NeoGeo in America, but in europe there was barely a word of it. Im especially interested in hearing how people in Europe got to own the greatest system of all time...