Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie

jonnykesh

@BenMcLean Here is a link to a set of homebrew ColecoVision ROMs. Some fantastic clones and great original games. http://www.colecovision.ca/roms_homebrew_0-9.php

Clyde

All of the Neo Geo games at GOG seem to work flawlessly on RetroPie 4.3 (I only checked their attract mode and some minutes into actual gameplay). So, I think they would fit nicely into this topic's list.

You'll need the neogeo.zip and [romname].zip (e.g. pulstar.zip) from the GOG installer file. The Linux .sh installers are just zip files you should be able to extract with any zip tool. On Linux/Retropie, this could be unzip:

unzip pulstar_en_gog_1_15377.sh -d .

Mind the "." at the end, it means "current directory" in Linux. The option -d determines the directory to extract to. You could also use another extraction path after the -d option. The neogeo.zip and [romname].zip are located in the subdirectory data/noarch/game/ .

Alternatively, you could extract the Windows .exe installers with the tool innoextract that's available for Windows and Linux. For Pulstar, the command on Linux/Retropie would be:

innoextract "setup_pulstar_gog-1_(14775).exe"

Here, the neogeo.zip and [romname].zip are located in the subdirectory app/ .

Important: You have to put the filename into quotationmarks if it contains special characters like "(" or ")" that are used as operators by the Linux shell itself. Otherwise, you'd have to put a backslash "\" before every single special character, e.g. "\(" and "\)" in the example above.

edit: According to @Eckaji, some Windows versions of the GOG Neo Geo games are modified and won't work in Retropie. So, you should prefer the Linux installers.

edit 2: Some of them are only listed for Windows, but all of those have (not officially supported) Mac & Linux versions in their "Goodies" download section. Thanks to @Eckaji for making me aware of this.

BenMcLean

ColecoVision NORTH: Added.

Neo Geo games on GOG: Added.

Thanks

Clyde

@benmclean Thank you, the same to you! What do you think about a link to my post above for instructions about extracting the roms?

BenMcLean

@clyde said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

@benmclean Thank you, the same to you! What do you think about a link to my post above for instructions about extracting the roms?

Sure OK.

Clyde

@benmclean Thanks again. :)

bense2k

Mega Man Legacy Collection and how to extract the NES roms here

BenMcLean

@bense2k said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

Mega Man Legacy Collection and how to extract the NES roms here

Great find! See also the creator's awesome GDC talk where he tells companies to be sensible about emulation for a change.

People are perfectly happy to pay for ROMs if you give them a way to do it. But make no mistake: we will in fact get the ROMs one way or another, so game companies choices are to 1. Profit from this or 2. Not profit from this. There's no such thing as a third option in which people don't get the ROMs and anyone who thinks there should be can go to hell.

I added the Mega Man Legacy Collection.

Clyde

@benmclean I agree with you in so far that I buy any roms legally I can get my hands on. But to justify using illegal roms by saying "we will get the ROMs one way or the other" is a lame excuse for ignoring other's rights, in this case those of the copyright holders. But if you ignore other's rights that easily, why should anyone respect yours?

BenMcLean

@clyde said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

But to justify using illegal roms by saying "we will get the ROMs one way or the other" is a lame excuse for ignoring other's rights

I think you've got how this works backwards.

I'm not a pirate because I do whatever the hell I want.

I do whatever the hell I want because I'm a pirate. Arr!

in this case those of the copyright holders.

Copyright is intended to promote progress, not stop people from running decades old software on whatever devices they own which they can get working. If game companies aren't selling ROMs then screw them. They should have been on top of this 15 years ago.

But if you ignore other's rights that easily, why should anyone respect yours?

If I'm using DRM then they shouldn't, because DRM takes away individual physical private property rights, which are more important because they are a natural right, while copyright is an artificial convenience.

Now batten down yer hatches, landlubber, or I'll make ye walk the plank! Yo ho ho and a bottle of ROMs!

Slimy

@clyde
How about this one: It is a company's job to compete with what's readily available. I'm not going to try and help them if they're incapable of this. (A good example is SEGA Genesis Classics Collection on Steam. It's basically just a bunch of roms, but I bought it because it presents itself really well and has workshop integration.)

Clyde

@benmclean said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

Copyright is intended to promote progress, not stop people from running decades old software on whatever devices they own which they can get working. If game companies aren't selling ROMs then screw them. They should have been on top of this 15 years ago.

So, every time other's rights don't suit your needs, you think you're right to ignore them? Again, why should anyone respect your rights, then? Do you want to live in a world where everyone's rights are naught the moment they're inconvenient to someone else?

If I'm using DRM then they shouldn't, because DRM takes away individual physical private property rights, which are more important because they are a natural right, while copyright is an artificial convenience.

There are no "natural rights". Rights are granted to you by people (peer groups, societies, organisations etc.) Try to go into the wilderness and see if nature respects your right to life and physical integrity.

Where did you get this differentiation from other than your convenience anyway?

@slimy said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

@clyde
How about this one: It is a company's job to compete with what's readily available. I'm not going to try and help them if they're incapable of this.

I'm not sure what you want to say with this. Do you mean that companies can and should compete with cheap or even free illegal copies of their rightful property? And/or that they have some kind of unwritten (maybe moral) obligation to make their property available? If you didn't mean either of that, please explain it a bit further.

BenMcLean

There are no "natural rights".

Well then, you've got nothing to complain about.

Try to go into the wilderness and see if nature respects your right to life and physical integrity.

It's not the wilderness which makes natural rights natural. It's the law of human nature. [Video Redacted]

mediamogul

@benmclean

This is an all ages forum. Be civil and keep it clean.

Clyde

@benmclean said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

There are no "natural rights".

Well then, you've got nothing to complain about.

So, you agree that there are no natural rights? Then please make your argument again without them. If not, please refrain from rhetoric cop-outs and stay on topic.

It's not the wilderness which makes natural rights natural. It's the law of human nature. [Video Moderated]

So, now there's a "law of human nature" that explains "natural rights" (for humans)? Please explain both without just referring to one another and how they apply to individual private property rights but not to copyright, which was your initial argument.

BenMcLean

@clyde said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

So, you agree that there are no natural rights?

Absolutely not. I'm just saying that if you were correct that there are no natural rights then there could be no artificial rights either, for what is artificial is always formed out of what is natural. And if there are no artificial rights then there's nothing for you to complain about when it comes to copyright.

So, now there's a "law of human nature" that explains "natural rights" (for humans)?

John Locke, Second Treatise on Government. Read it, then come back.

Clyde

@benmclean said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

@clyde said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

So, you agree that there are no natural rights?

Absolutely not. I'm just saying that if you were correct that there are no natural rights then there could be no artificial rights either, for what is artificial is always formed out of what is natural.

So, there have to be natural cars in the world, because without them there couldn't be artificial cars?

And if there are no artificial rights then there's nothing for you to complain about when it comes to copyright.

I complain about your still unexplained claim that individual private property is "natural" whereas copyright is "artificial". Regardless whether you're right or not, you didn't demonstrate your position the least.

So, now there's a "law of human nature" that explains "natural rights" (for humans)?

John Locke, Second Treatise on Government. Read it, then come back.

Now I know where you're coming from. You could've saved us time and effort by mentioning that when I asked you for your source six days ago.

As for Locke, although I, like many thinkers in and since his times, don't share his views because of various flaws and contradictions I see within them, I'll meet you there for the sake of the argument.

As far as I understand Locke (I'm no expert in 17th century philosophy), he sees two ways to gain private property: one's own work and voluntary transfer. So, how can you claim property of roms that you didn't put work into and that weren't given to you voluntarily by their creators? Don't they own them by Locke's laws based on the work they put into them? Shouldn't you respect that property-by-work?

Locke also forbids "spoiling", i.e. taking more than you need. Based on your position, I suspect you may have more roms than you can ever play. If so, isn't that also against Locke's philosophy?

P.S.: Note to the moderators: I don't want to hijack this thread. If our discussion is overly off-topic, please give us a quick sign.

BenMcLean

@clyde said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

So, there have to be natural cars in the world, because without them there couldn't be artificial cars?

Think about what I said. Think real hard. Is that what I said? Is that even anything remotely similar to what I said? Is that really even analogous to what I said?

Obviously not.

Artificial metal constructions like cars are made out of naturally occurring metals. If there were no naturally occurring metals, there could be no artificial metal constructions.

Locke's labor theory of property defines the right of physical private property as a natural right, and it only applies to physical goods. I said that copyright is not a natural right: it is artificially created by a social contract. The purpose of copyright isn't to protect authors: it is to promote progress. (meaning the creation of new works) I'll try and support creators where I can to encourage the creation of new works, but I have no respect for the copyrights of companies who aren't creating new works and aren't even re-releasing their old works in a convenient format.

Clyde

@benmclean said in Where to (legally) acquire content to play on RetroPie:

Artificial metal constructions like cars are made out of naturally occurring metals. If there were no naturally occurring metals, there could be no artificial metal constructions.

Yes, but that's not analogue to what you said about rights. You stated that artificial rights need prior natural rights, not some other natural resources rights may be derived from, e.g. humans' brains and the practical need to organize their populations. Please demonstrate why artificial rights can't be derived from other natural resources.

Locke's labor theory of property defines the right of physical private property as a natural right, and it only applies to physical goods.

Yes, that's one of the flaws of his 17th century philosophy. Next to proclaim natural laws a priori on the basis of a creator god "giving" the world to humans.

I said that copyright is not a natural right: it is artificially created by a social contract.

So, you're breaking the social contract of your society. By what right? And, like I asked before, why should society respect any of your rights then? Do you want to live in a society where everyone breaks the social contract whenever he or she pleases? (Yes, I'm grazing Kant's categorical imperative here.)

The purpose of copyright isn't to protect authors: it is to promote progress. (meaning the creation of new works) I'll try and support creators where I can to encourage the creation of new works, but I have no respect for the copyrights of companies who aren't creating new works and aren't even re-releasing their old works in a convenient format.

So, you're only ignoring copyrights whose holders are not creating new works? I highly doubt that, because I think most of them do, but if actually so, how do you determine that? Can you give some examples of rom copyright holders that aren't creating new works?

How exactly does (your) convenience matter in the question whether (copy)rights of others should be respected or not? Do others' rights become null and void if they don't cater our convenience? How about your rights when you don't cater others' convenience?

markwkidd

So, you're only ignoring copyrights whose holders are not creating new works? I highly doubt that, because I think most of them do, but if actually so, how do you determine that? Can you give some examples of rom copyright holders that aren't creating new works?

How exactly does (your) convenience matter in the question whether (copy)rights of others should be respected or not? Do others' rights become null and void if they don't cater our convenience? How about your rights when you don't cater others' convenience?

I love to see a good copyright discussion! One of the innovations of modern times, we're still seeing what affect it's having on culture.

It seems relevant to mention that one of the two criteria for determining whether something is "Fair Use" in United States law is whether by making a copy of the intellectual property without permission deprives its creator of income.

Regardless of jurisdiction or the historical application of this fair use criterion, a lot of people who emulate feel do believe that it is morally acceptable to make a copy of a protected work if its owners have abandoned it or for other reasons have chosen not to make the copyrighted work commercially available. There are innumerable examples of this, and a whole term "abandonware" to describe it.

Copying abandonware would probably not be fair use in most cases, but I think it's possible to make an argument that it's in the spirit of copyright law.