Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Nintendo patents 'handheld gaming' emulators

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Nintendo patents 'handheld gaming' emulators

    US patent.

    curiously it only affects pdas, mobiles, and the like.

    Nintendo have already shutdown one gba emulator project for the Zodiac:




    I can understand Nintendo needing to prevent new games being copied, but going after emulators is a very heavy handed way of doing it.

    It would make more sense to shutdown and prosecute those distributing illegal copies of gba games, although p2p software in recent years has made this much harder to stop.

    more info here:


    #2
    well if you look at all the clones of the nes which still sell loads I think you'll start to see things from their perspective

    Comment


      #3
      hmm, clones of the nes... Dime a dozen Japanese bootleg systems that harm no one, and help proliferate knowledge of their games, I see no problem.

      Hmm, better chalk this up on the calender as another dark day for gaming, ever closer to the proverbial end of days.

      Jeez, and I was just gaining so much respect for Nintendo. Does anyone else ever feel as if its the gamers vs the games makers?
      Or is it just me who feels like we have to go against the flow all the time.

      Anyway, Ive read the article and I dont like this news. It starts small like this, and then in a sneaky sneaky fashion it grows and grows and suddenly the whole emulation scene is in turmoil.
      They said it might go further and end up applying to PC based emus as well.


      Now if youll excuse me gentlemen, Im going to go sit in some ash, and scrape myself with a broken clay pot.

      Comment


        #4
        To be honest, its not suprising really, the Firestorm authors were going to charge for their product which obviouslly did not please Nintendo, besides Nintendos warning they are releasing it anyway under GPL this week. Reading the fine print in the patent there is a lot of speculation about itnot even applying to the Firestorm emulator and its rumoured that the patent is likely to be void because of an emulator that was around before it was filed.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by otaku84
          hmm, clones of the nes... Dime a dozen Japanese bootleg systems that harm no one, and help proliferate knowledge of their games, I see no problem.
          The fact you don't see a problem at all with that pretty much sums up your understanding of the business and why your opinion should be disregarded on this matter.

          Comment


            #6
            hey buddy:



            Im assuming we were talking about the same thing, Famicom clones?

            The fact that the system is also 20 years old, officially dead as a dodo, and with bootleg systems helping its proliferation and educating people on Nintendos many well known franchises, means it cant be too bad of a thing. Places such as Russia and the African continent only had videogames AT ALL thanks to bootleg Famicom systems.
            Once political climates quietened down in these areas, the markets were ripe for an official and sanctioned market to be set up, with legitimate videogame sales. Without bootleg Famicom and NES systems, the vieogaming world would be very different, and IMO not nearly as exciting.

            Right now, they are helping to maintain the market. With official production having stopped, the only way to purchase a new system is to buy a bootleg, or to buy grossly over inflated second hand systems. They are not being made anymore, and hence second hand prices go up. All that moeny goes straight to second hand stores, not Nintendo.
            There is absolutely no problem and nothing wrong with bootleg famicom systems.

            It is a good thing. It is good for gamers. It is good for nintendo, since it spreads knowledge of their games.


            Right now, especially since there is no profitability from it for Nintendo anymore, I spend my time buying and playing FamiClones, especially since they run better on a Euro TV, many having been modded for PAL TV's, and some coming with UK plugs as standard.
            In fact on its way from Japan is a Neo Fami system I ordered.


            Or were you reffering to other problems regarding them?


            If you want to engage me in debate on a subject I know, or as you chose to, insult me and my knowledge of gaming, then at least set the record clear on the time frame and perspective you are coming from, and what exactly it is you are trying to point out.

            As it stands, you sem to me to be little more than a troll who has his facts messed up. Then again, perhaps when you typed NES, what you really wanted to type was "Gamecube", which would make slightly more sense since they are actually still being made and sold.
            But there are no Gamecube bootleg systems, so my only conclusion is that you are confused.


            Damn, where is John Szczepaniak when you need him, Im sure he could settle this debate!

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by otaku84
              It is a good thing. It is good for gamers. It is good for nintendo, since it spreads knowledge of their games.
              Aye I'm sure they love not getting any money for their hard work. The fact that Nintendo still sell games from the NES days be it in card form, or in the way of GBA ports suggests that they still feel royalties can be made from NES games even now. So it sort of is effecting Nintendo's profits, whether u see it that way or not.

              Comment


                #8
                Ahh, this must be where the confusion lies.
                Are we talking their games which they still sell, or their old phsycial hardware, that they dont?

                I like to point to "kongetsu" in GameTM at a time like this, very good article.
                The article in question said how 4 famicom games can be bought second hand in Japan fro the price of a coke, he wasnt exagerating too much either, some are very cheap. But the hardware, due to not being made, costs alot now, especially with collectors buying them up.

                This is where the bootleg machines come into play. Allowing for affordable hardware that plays legit games.

                If Nintendo are so concerned about royalties, why dont they stop legal second hand sales of their old NES games?

                No one will buy a bootleg Nintendo Famicom game such as mario or excitebike, because the originals are not expensive.
                We're not talking FF2 here, the games they are reselling in card or GBA form were mass produced ad hoc for the Famicom, meaning they are easy and cheap to get if you want to play those games.

                My point was this:
                Bootleg systems allow people to get the hardware easily.
                This is good.
                It allows people to buy legit second hand games.
                This is good.
                Few will bother picking up bootleg carts of those old games since the originals are cheap.
                Regardless, Nintendo will make no profit from it.

                My whole argument revolves around unlicensed system hardware being manufactured. Not the software, which is dime a dozen anyway luckily thanks to them producing so many copies.
                Money is still being made from their games yes, but not their system, and bootleg systems dont affect sales of the games which are cheap anyway.


                Honestly, how bootlegging a 20 year old machine is bad for the industry I dont know. The more I think about this, the more I think "df0notfound" is an idiot.

                Sorry I wasnt aiming this at you per say smeghead, you made a valid point regarding the games which they are still selling, and there would be room for concern if they were being mass produced in botleg form, but they arent, certainly not to th extent that the systems are.


                Anyway, Im stopping this, Im sure Papercut isnt too happy about me derailing his thread. If anyone wants to continue this debate, you know where the PM button is.

                Comment

                Working...
                X