critic: psp, emulators, piracy, freedom

[netslacker]

  thought i might ask:
what is the vgcritic's stand on sony's psp as used as a multi-system emulator and multimedia entertainment device?

  some say the dark underworld of psp customization is ruining the psp as a viable platform for newer releases.  for example, the ability to 'dump' a psp umd directly to your memory stick (for play without the disk) as it causes security and piracy concerns.

  downloading playable images of psp games and using them is illegal. though, dumping (your originals) for your own use has advantages (fast load time, not carrying disks) and would seem far less a legal no-no. 

  is it wrong for individuals to mod their psps with homebrew emulators and custom firmware to play hard to find games from classic/defunct systems (2600-sega sms)?   
 
  is it wrong to use psp emulators for newer/defuct systems (genesis-n64)?
 
  is it wrong to rip your own copy (you purchased the original) of a ps1 game with your pc for play on your psp... even though you can legally play (and pay for) most ps1 titles on psp through use of a ps3? 

  is it wrong to use a custom firmware (any other than sony official firmware) to allow the general customization of appearances and basic functions of the psp?

  how much right does the owner have to alter, mod, enhance his/her legally obtained psp device and legally purchased software for presonal use?



 

[Anayo1]

Most of the above is not even illegal. The only thing that's illegal is distributing or downloading a copied ISO or ROM that was meant to be commercially sold. Sony can't do anything to people who want to rip UMD's to their memory sticks, or emulate Super Mario 64 on their PSP - except brick their PSP through some sort of mandatory firmware update, of course.

[VideoGameCritic]

I don't have a strong opinion about this, because I don't practice any of the things you mentioned.  However, it seems to me that if you own the game, you should be able to use it for personal use as you please.  Same with music.  If I bought a CD, I should be able to convert those songs to digital form and play them on an MP3 player.

Anybody else want to chime in?

[feilong801]

Some of what you mentioned fits in the "ethically fine, but it'll probably void your warranty" area. Obviously, taking a game you own and jacking it in to your PSP is fine by me.

However, once you start getting into that "well, I don't own the original game, but it is hard to find, so what the heck," you start to cross a line. I largely agree with m0zart on these issues; you have to allow companies to capitalize on their IP in the manner they see fit.

-Rob 

[Sudz1]

I don't have a strong opinion about this, because I don't practice any of the things you mentioned.  However, it seems to me that if you own the game, you should be able to use it for personal use as you please.  Same with music.  If I bought a CD, I should be able to convert those songs to digital form and play them on an MP3 player. Anybody else want to chime in?

This is exactly why I DON'T GET the popularity of iTunes and the iPod.  I bought an mp3 player about 6 months before the iPod really took off, and it was simplistic bliss; I hooked it up to my computer, I copied any songs off my CD's that I wanted, and I transferred them seemlessly to the mp3 player.  The iPod comes on the scene and it's like nobody had ever put out an mp3 player before.  My son gets one and I'm thinking "I have to see what all the fuss is about!  What are they doing differently that makes them so much better than the mp3 players already out on the market?"  I will hand it to them that I like their menu display and navigation much better - very well designed and user friendly.  However, you can't just copy mp3's to it... you MUST use their proprietary iTunes software.  And any songs you buy through iTunes will ONLY work on the iPod, so forget moving them to any other portable music device or burning them to CD.  I also found the iTunes application itself poorly designed and needlessly difficult to use.  Hello Apple, ever hear of a little thing called "Drag and Drop"?I guess that's way off the original subject but Dave since you mentioned that if you buy a CD you should be able to do whatever you wish with those songs for your personal use, I immediately thought of how iTunes/Apple tries to screw everyone, and how amazed I am that people not only accept it but think it's the greatest thing in the world.Sudz

[chrisbid1]

you can burn songs purchased from the itunes store to CD, then re rip them to remove the DRM

[Edward M]

Yeah sure piracy is wrong, but so is shooting up a convienient store.   Sure, if I pirate games, I am technically in the wrong, but you know what, I don't care.  Humans aren't perfect, and there are bigger things to worry about.  There are a billion people living in poverty, and if I pirate the entire Neo Geo game collection, which I could never afford in my entire life, so what?  Yeah its wrong, but its the only way I could possibly play all those games, unless I want to live in a cardboard box.   So yeah, I'd rather pirate a Neo Geo game than pay some price gouger on ebay 200 bucks per game.

When I pirate a game, Im not "stealing" anything because I didn't take anything away.  I got thousands of roms on my computer and I know damn well I couldn't afford to pay for all of them.  But when you "steal" someone from something, as in actually taking a possession away, you are depriving a person of property.  So I can't compare pirating to stealing.  Yeah I know everyone doesn't agree with me, but I'd rather have the entire Neo Geo collection emulated than have to worry about moral absolution when I'm not hurting anyone, because I can't afford it anyways.  I only got 80 or so years to live, so I might as well play what games I can.   I buy plenty of games anyways.

[chrisbid1]

going a step further, if there are ever affordable options available, i am the first person in line willing to buy them. all of the KOF and Metal Slug games available on PS2 and XBox are good examples.

[m0zart1]

When I pirate a game, Im not "stealing" anything because I didn't take anything away.  I got thousands of roms on my computer and I know damn well I couldn't afford to pay for all of them.  But when you "steal" someone from something, as in actually taking a possession away, you are depriving a person of property.

The product of the minds of the developers and those who paid them for it is what you are stealing.  It took personal time, effort, and money to do that, and therefore it is their property, not yours.  They sell licenses for use to willing buyers (which is really all you are buying when you buy a copy of a game), and retain controlling interest in the substance itself, because they in fact do own it to sell.  We could easily enter into a debate on the concept of intellectual property (again) on this forum, including why it is just as valid from both an ethical and political perspective as physical property, but suffice it to say that it isn't because the act is illegal that it's that it's "wrong".  It's "wrong" because stealing the property of others, intellectual or physical, is "wrong".[QUOTE=Edward M]Yeah sure piracy is wrong, but so is shooting up a convienient store.[/QUOTE]Yes, shooting up a convenience store is wrong for reasons of property and above and beyond property-related ethics as well.  Are you saying that you would do that?  If not, then I don't understand why the reference was included.  These things are both wrong, even if one is a larger degree than another.  Quantitivately, one is worse than the other, but qualitatively, they are both wrong in any objective sense.In any case, if you don't think piracy is really theft, then why do you think it is "wrong"?  In what way is it wrong?[QUOTE=Edward M]Sure, if I pirate games, I am technically in the wrong, but you know what, I don't care.[/QUOTE]Oh ok.  Then nevermind that last question.  I'd rather ask it of someone who really cares about the answer.  This sort of demonstrates what I've come to realize over the years:  thieves aren't truly interested in the question of right and wrong to begin with.  They only care that they are getting what they want.

[Edward M]

Yeah I already said its wrong, but like I said I don't care.   I spent 200 dollars on games last week, and I never pirate new games.  But if I were to buy the original copy of all the roms and old Dos games I have pirated on my PC, I'd probably be out 100,000 dollars.  I'm not exaggerating, my emulation is over 50 GB and I have the complete rom set for several systems.  So yeah its "wrong" but its a lesser wrong that doesn't hurt anyone because Im not gonna buy the entire set of SNES games anyways.   No human is perfect, and everyone does things wrongs, and Id  rather get stuff like this wrong, than the big things.