Why Iain is wrong about emulators

My colleague Iain recently wrote a piece on why emulators are not only awesome, but are also important for the culture of gaming. They allow for gamers to explore a vast backlog of classic gaming, and for free. When I read the article, it brought me back to when I used to play emulators, but it also reminded me of how much I disagree with him.

I love old school gaming. When I was in college a few years back, my computer was loaded with emulators that allowed me to play through some of my favorite games. Talk about nostalgia. Not only was it a great gaming experience, it was free. I could play through all my old favorites from systems that had long broken down. It was great.

But that was the golden age of emulators. A time where the only other way to get your nostalgia fix was to spend money restoring your old consoles, or wait for it to be re-released. This is when emulators fit into a moral gray area for me. Still illegal, but ok in my book. If the developer wasn’t going to make any money off the game anyway, what harm was being done?

Well, it’s becoming less and less gray.

With the ever developing e-shops and ports to iOS and Android devices, emulators are falling ever more into piracy. As Iain pointed out:

”I’d argue it’s piracy only when it impacts on the profits of the companies involved — sure maybe there have been re-releases on iOS, Nintendo’s eShop or the countless other “legitimate” online stores, but the people playing these emulators were never going to shell out for an exceptionally expensive piece of imported hardware and then pay extra money for a game that’s 10-15 years old. It’s just not going to happen.”

Where I agree with him that it is only piracy when it has an impact on the profits of the companies involved, I disagree that the use of emulators does not fall into this category.

In cases of emerging markets, and specifically China, the argument can very well be made that the people, as a whole, are not going to shell out money to play these games legitimately. It just isn’t in their culture. However, just because there is a lack of gaming culture or even money doesn’t mean that using emulators to play these games is any less illegal.

Think of it this way. You are at the mall and you find a shirt that you like, but can’t afford. In fact you’ve never bought from this high end store, so why start now. You talk to a friend who gets you the shirt through…”means”, and you enjoy your shirt without having to spend a cent. That’s not stealing, right? I mean you didn’t actually take it out of the store, and it’s not like the company was relying on this one sale right? Right?

I realize that this may seem like a stretch, but this is exactly how I see emulators. As e-shops become more and more flooded with remakes and re-releases, the reasons why emulators were helpful and even in a gray area become weaker and weaker. These are real products, made by real people that rely on your purchases. It’s just that simple.