I remember seeing some classmates in a networking class in high school (this was in 2001) playing Punch-Out!! and some other NES titles. I told the teacher about it and he put a stop to it simply because they weren't paying attention, although I'm sure he knew about the other ramifications.

And a couple of years ago, a gaming club at the college I used to attend was also using illegal ROMs. I told them to stop or you could not only get the school in trouble, but also be stuck with a multi-million dollar legal bill and get disbanded as a result. Dunno what happened to this day.

I use to play SNES games all the time in web design class after I was done with all my work. Everyone in class had about 200+ roms. You could usually yell at somebody to setup a server so you could get some 2 player action going.

Personally, I think the whole idea of roms is pretty controversially topic among gamers (could be compared to stem cell research to relate). You can't always find a game you want at used game store or in virtual console in that matter. Plus, its great to place games you use to play when you were little. Someone might say wait for it to come out on VC, but I am a consumer, I'm impatient, I want it now!

But its sad to see someone sell someone else's property just to make a quick buck.

uh, eBay?

Douche.

Sounds like someone doesn't have a whole lot of experience with eBay to make that sort of comment. The scamming every so often is bad enough, but dealing with PayPal...

Yeah, ROM it is. (before you get started on Virtual Console- won't take my credit card or my prepaid points card, stupid region lock).

Whatever... however you rationalize piracy, it's still piracy.

yeah i can see how buying it off ebay for 50 bucks really helps the developers! good comment! *eyeroll*

Ever hear of the Wii's Virtual Console?

What do you mean, "another pirate on ebay"? Have you ever heard of video game collecting? Legit copies of Contra, as well as other old games, can be found there; I believe that's what thesimplicity was referring to.

Also, seconding what Dave A. said. There's plenty of money to be made from old games, and no one knows that better than Nintendo.

I wish I didn't have to have a non-Japanese Wii to get games in English. On the plus side, at least it takes JCB (don't see a whole lot of that elsewhere) credit cards.

so what happens if someone reads this post and points a finger and names names? would that bother you?

You mean you'd rather not ruin someone's life over a crime that doesn't hurt anyone and helps those who can't find the games?
You evil bastard!

"Snitch". "Tattle". Why are you using kindergarten terminology?

Blatantly illegal material like this hurts everyone at cons; if you let them get away with ROMs, they move in more and a wider variety of pirated stuff. Eventually, the police stop seeing these as nice little hobbyist conventions and start seeing them as venues to trade pirate goods, leading to the scenario described in McWeen's post #1. Then, everyone's enjoyment of the con is abrogated - and many folks invest a lot of money and time to travel to a con.

You could have at least given a mention of your objections to the managers of the con; that wouldn't have "ruined anyone's life". Even a quick call to the cops might have just brought a couple of officers and a "hey, what's going on here, buddy" rather than the train wreck this behavior unabated could lead to. Proactive behavior gives better results than depending on some external magical force.