Comments 1,818

Re: Dolphin Emulator Steam Release "Indefinitely Postponed"

RadioHedgeFund

@SwitchForce I think the point they are trying to make is that whether you buy a 2nd hand copy or download a room Nintendo isn’t seeing a penny of it. They got paid at the original point of sale for the 2nd hand copy just as they did for whatever disc or cart got backed up that first time.

The ridiculous prices for retro titles coupled with failed battery backups, disc rot and other physical failures will mean that eventually the only way to experience many of these older titles will be via roms.

Re: Dolphin Emulator Steam Release "Indefinitely Postponed"

RadioHedgeFund

@SwitchForce I see it as people having to resort to 'theft' to maintain wider access to culturally significant pieces of artwork. To quote Indiana Jones: it belongs in a museum.

In the case of software, and software alone the law is wrong and needs to be updated for the 21st Century.

A good few examples of this would be how the pro-firearms groups keep mentioning their 'right to bear arms' but neglect to include the part about fighting as an organised militia. The USA isn't at war with the British Empire anymore and that law no longer applies. And yet it stays, has been twisted by the modern world and now there are children out there that have to go through armed intruder drills at school. You know how many school shootings we have in the UK since the law on gun ownership was changed in 1997? Zero.

Another good example is the amount of religious folk who read the book of Leviticus and use it to justify their own prejudices against people with a non-conformist sexual orientation. This was a series of rules written thousands of years ago as a constitution for a group of people (the Hebrews) who had just escaped a generation of bondage in Egypt and had no idea how to function as a state. These rules were not written for the modern world and yet are still twisted by the church. You know how much Jesus said about these things? Nothing, he said respect and love everyone even if you disagree with them!

Older laws need to be updated or we end up in a situation where corporations control all your access to culture and artwork, the lifeblood of a society. It is inevitable gaming will move to a 100% digital only medium meaning physical access is out the window. When that happens and your only option is to pay a subscription fee to a corporate entity to access something you do not own, what then?

Re: Dolphin Emulator Steam Release "Indefinitely Postponed"

RadioHedgeFund

@1SDANi It's not that copyright is theft but rather that having a century or more's control over artwork and culture, something that belongs to everyone is theft from society at large.

Copyright should be limited to a decade to creators can still make money but are also then motivated to constantly create new things to do so instead of monetising nostalgia.

Re: Dolphin Emulator Steam Release "Indefinitely Postponed"

RadioHedgeFund

@BlueBeemer But I didn't steal an Apple: I took a photograph of the Mona Lisa and then put it up online for people to save to their own devices. I didn't steal the Mona Lisa.

The rules for physical objects and infinitely replicable software are not the same. This gets even more complicated when that infinitely replicable software is also artwork which, ones it's commercial viability period is over, should be out there in the world for humanity to enjoy.

Saving a copy of the Mona Lisa to your hard drive lets you look at it but it also doesn't take away from the power of visiting the original at the Louvre so you can see every brush stroke in person.

Playing a rom on an emulator is the same: sometimes you just want to have a 5 minute go to see what the fuss is about or just experience the plot for yourself. But to properly /experience/ that game you want the hardware and a physical copy. This goes double if the game is multiplayer.

Notice how nobody steals books because we have libraries you can borrow them from if you just want to read a story? But if you have ideas you buy the book to scribble down notes and then maybe talk about it in a group or write a blog about it.

https://emreed.net/Speculation_2020

Give that article a read and see why artwork, once it is no longer commercially available should not be vaulted away for a century. Culture should not be locked away.

There is also a massive upside to this idea as well: if copyright was stripped right back to just a decade of corporate ownership then the industry, addicted to its profits would have no choice but to constantly, constantly be churning out /new/ things.

We are all tired of remakes, attempts at big shared universes, tired sequels and reboots. If copyright was a decade there would be a constant search for the new which in turn creates new fanbases and new culture.

Re: Dolphin Emulator Steam Release "Indefinitely Postponed"

RadioHedgeFund

@Rooty As and when Nintendo decide to rerelease their GameCube back catalog either singular or as part of a sub I will be first in the queue. Netflix pretty much killed movie and TV piracy for a reason.

Playing games on a proper console from an official source is always better than emulation because of the quality of life improvements.

Until then? Se la vie.

Re: Dolphin Emulator Steam Release "Indefinitely Postponed"

RadioHedgeFund

@johnvboy That's not the same thing. I can still buy old movies on DVD and they work on any device. I pay some retro collector an overpriced amount for a GameCube disk and I cannot play it on my switch.

It's the locking away of artwork that is bad for society. If the Louvre locked away the Mona Lisa is have no choice but to put a jpeg online for people to look at.

Re: Dolphin Emulator Steam Release "Indefinitely Postponed"

RadioHedgeFund

@GrailUK 'Free' or not, Nintendo loses approximately £0 for every rom you download and install. You cannot legally purchase those games directly from Nintendo anymore.

I am 100% against the idea of pirating switch titles and 100% for people being able to enjoy older titles that are no longer sold or supported by Nintendo.

(Unless they're planning on bringing out a ton of Gamecube titles on the Switch in which case shut up and take my rupees!)

Re: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom: Where Does It Fit In The Zelda Timeline?

RadioHedgeFund

There is one mistake. At the end of Majora's Mask Link doesn't actually return home. This is what leads to the flooding of Hyrule in Wind Waker: Link isn't around and so the people turn to the gods for help. It expressly mentions this in the intro!

I would suggest Link's Awakening follows on from Majora's Mask. Unable to return to Hyrule via the door under the clock tower, Link decides to sail off to try to find Hyrule. He encounters the Wind Fish (who maybe does send him back after his shipwreck?)

Re: Nintendo Wins Court Dispute Against Pirated Game Hosting Site

RadioHedgeFund

@Burning_Spear I don't believe that. I download those roms precisely because they are unavailable on current consoles. I'd happily pay money to Nintendo to play all those titles upscaled on the Switch without having to use touchscreen controls or an emulator with sound glitches and frame rate drops.

I'd get all mod cons with the Switch too like cloud save backup and online play. Imagine Double Dash or F-Zero GX with online multiplayer!

But Nintendo have not yet released these titles and as there is no commercial way to play these games and pay Nintendo for them, roms are the only way for people to be able to enjoy what are timeless pieces of artwork.

Its like the Louvre deciding to lock away the Mona Lisa in a vault and never letting people look at it and sueing anyone that gives away a poster or right-click>save's a jpeg of the original. Could you imagine the outcry from the art world if that happened? So why are games any different? It might be Nintendo's commercial property but software shouldn't be locked away in a vault when people want to enjoy it.

Re: Nintendo Wins Court Dispute Against Pirated Game Hosting Site

RadioHedgeFund

How much money did Nintendo lose though? If it hosted Switch games it deserves to be taken down but they're not losing a penny if people are downloading Gamecube or Wii titles.

The sooner US Copyright laws gets taken back to 1750 and artists get only 10 years on their creations the better. This not only spurs on the creations of new art for people to enjoy but it also makes older creations more accessible to everyone.

Re: Soapbox: Why Aren't There More Books About Games?

RadioHedgeFund

I’d be lying if I said Game Over by David Sheff didn’t change my life. Obviously the copy given away free with Arcade Magazine, I still have it on my shelf. I knew from that book onwards I wanted to work in the design industry. 20 years and counting.

Trigger Happy by Steven Poole is also well worth a read.

Re: Soapbox: 3DS' Boundless Creativity Got Me, And Nintendo, Through Some Tough Times

RadioHedgeFund

I'm amazed that Nintendo have never span-off Streetpass into a mobile game. The protocol 'developed' by Google and Apple for Covid notifications was basically streetpass using Bluetooth; couldn't they piggyback that system and use it for something more fun?

A 3DS in 2023 remains a worthy purchase, mainly because of how easy it is to hack the console and install roms on it. Once the eshop closes down there is no legal way to download software to the console or give Nintendo any money for them which IMO makes it fair game.

Re: Soapbox: 1080° Snowboarding Is The Coolest Nintendo Ever Got

RadioHedgeFund

No, for one reason: Avalanche is the better game. It gets proper hard on the black level courses but some of the secrets are worth it to unlock like the NES controller snowboard and the rocket with working booster that makes you go ridiculously quick. Top OST too.

It came out the same year as SSX3 which is a better game overall but honestly they are actually very different titles.

The best snowboarding title of the 32/64bit era was MTV Snowboarding on the PS1.

Re: Talking Point: 20 Years Of The Best Game Boy Ever - How Did You Get Your GBA SP?

RadioHedgeFund

I brought my original when Metroid Fusion came out. I got it for GC connectivity and also because I fell for Nintendo’s clever marketing.

It became my travel buddy during my university holidays as lugging my GameCube home became rather tiresome.

If I was stuck on a desert island with some sort of solar charger, a GBA SP and a copy of Advance Wars I’d be happy.

I still dislike the GBA Pokemon titles though.