Emulators & Roms...legal??
 

just curious since lately my fingers are itching to play old atari2600 games for some odd reason
any reliable/trustworthy places to get them either paid or free???

Legal, no. Paid, I don't know, you could buy a cheap 2600 with games on eBay?
Free on P2P

Emulators are legal. But ROMS are not.

buy this Atari TV Games Console
at Target $20

i just wanna play one game in specific....kick ass game called frontline

ROMS are not illegal. Downloading copyrighted ROMS that the publisher hasn't given permission to is illegal. Like the P2P downloading debate there are many legal ROMS that the creators freely distribute.

There are Emulators and ROMS of systems/games by companies long gone that some sites call abandonware. These are no more legal than downloading any other copyrighted games, there's just likely nobody that cares.

Nothing in the Atari line should be considered abandonware. They have an active catalog of retro releases from CDs of classics to the new gadgets that look like the old joysticks with built-in games that hook directly to your TV.

That said, my favorite Atari 2600 emulator is called Stella, available easily with a Google search and there are more than 500 ROMS out there that work with it. I only tell you that here because many of them are independently produced and offered freely by their creators. :)

If you have trouble finding it, that was the Canadian release name given to the Atari game Combat.

roms are bad! :)

http://jenna.525i.net/romsrbad.jpg

there's nothing illegal about them... just like a dvd burner. Not illegal.
However, if you get a pirated game to use with it... that's illegal.

Exactly.

this is the frontline im talking about

combat is a diff one...bad ass game nonetheless...i remember spending hours and hours with my brother and friends doing combat tournaments

where did you get the marquee? Mine still doesnt have one :1orglaugh

man i just showed my wife.. i said hey come look what Tical has in his office (because i have an arcade machine like his)

and she says... tag body spray

wtf?

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

Ah, got it. I just verified and played a working version of it. Write to me at the address below and I'll send you some links. They are against the rules to post here.

damn, I want one of those!!! MAME :thumbsup

Man I really miss some of those old games.

On all the ROM sites it says they are legal to download but illegal to have on your computer for over 24 hours. Any truth to this. Perhaps only internationally? Or perhaps just trying to make it look legit?

Just found it interesting that ALL ROM SITES have the exact same disclosure before downloading...

The 24 hour bit is one of those things that has been repeated so often that it becomes popular belief (like you can't convince some people that Walt Disney is not frozen in cryogenics :upsidedow). It is completely untrue.

Emulators are legal and roms are too if they are your 'backup'. Meaning you have to own an original copy of the game for it to be legal. Buy one of those 20 in 1's or old games on ebay if you want to be legal.

hey dude..email sent :)
thanks

You're welcome:)
Check your box :thumbsup

try www.mamemarquees.com they've got a ton to choose from