Games on demand?

jkristof94

pjft

@jkristof94 a private network server for your own use? Sure. No different to using an external hard drive, only through your local network. I actually don't know if that's already supported or not.

@mediamogul with the current status of Kodi in the EU, namely the crackdown on Kodi boxes, that's a... brave route they're taking. I wasn't aware of that development.

I feel I should add this here:

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mediamogul

@pjft

Too funny! My bet is that they have second thoughts before the final release of Leia, but it amazes me that they've entertained the notion at all.

BenMcLean

Contrary to popular belief, RetroPie as it stands now actually in fact does ship with a working built-in option to download legal ROMs and other game content, not just emulators. It is just part of RetroArch.

To access this, (be warned, I am writing this from memory -- I don't have it in front of me right now) I believe you go to RetroPie > RetroArch Config > Online Updater > Update Content. I am very excited to play Super Boss Gaiden for the SNES which I downloaded this way having never heard of it before. It also lets you download the shareware releases of Commander Keen 1 and 4 for DOS, among other things.

That's the good news. The bad news is that RetroArch does not download this content to the correct folders for RetroPie to automatically recognize it. You have to manually move each thing into it's proper folder. Maybe RetroPie + RetroArch could be tweaked to automatically move this free content into the proper folders for convenience sake.

I'm going to see about working with the RetroArch team to expand the free content available this way.

CodeDrawer

@BenMcLean How does one get the legal roms?

herb_fargus

@CodeDrawer you consult Sega:

https://www.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/6fyex9/i_would_buy_roms_if_they_sold_they_sold_them

CodeDrawer

Also did you know that the hacked roms are legal?

pjft

@herb_fargus oh wow. Thanks for sharing that. I have most of those games in some system or the other - either Genesis or the later psp collections - but will look into it tomorrow and complete the library. There are certainly some I never managed to get a hold off.

BenMcLean

I was referring to homebrew ROM files which are freely redistributed by their authors, but it occurs to me that I should write a comprehensive guide on where and how to procure content to play on RetroPie without violating copyright laws, both free and commercial content. If that's allowed then I'll post it on this forum.

Not that I have anything against pirates. I just think its also nice to have as much content as possible which we can actually prove is legal to refute stupid claims like "Emulators are illegal"

mediamogul

@CodeDrawer

Also did you know that the hacked roms are legal?

As I understand it, Sega allows the games that they own personally to be hacked and shared through the Steam Workshop, but I think it's important to clarify that this is a very unique and very forward-thinking stance on their part. Outside of this, patch files are normally required to stay legally clear.

CodeDrawer

I wish nintendo did the same!

meleu

@CodeDrawer said in Games on demand?:

I wish nintendo did the same!

Maybe that's why they say "Sega does what Nintendon't".

CodeDrawer

@meleu said in Games on demand?:

@CodeDrawer said in Games on demand?:

I wish nintendo did the same!

Maybe that's why they say "Sega does what Nintendon't".

Ninty never listens to the fans :-(

lilbud

@CodeDrawer said in Games on demand?:

Ninty never listens to the fans :-(

While your are right, be careful. I could easily turn this into an hour long conversation .

CodeDrawer

@lilbud What I mean by that, is that ninty mostly ignores the fans. Only every now and then they interact with fans. cough super mario maker cough But then there is that rom hack, captain toad treasure tracker. Then ninty made it into a game. Way to bladdernut steal an idea from a hacker ninty!

lilbud

@CodeDrawer Hey, Captain Toad was a national treasure

ohmycommodore

On my initial read of this I figured "central server" meant a NAS or cloud space of your own. That's interesting, but yes only for smaller games. A lot of small games would not tax your internet too much.

That said, I still think investing the time to comb through and select a nice "personalized" set of ROMS for yourself / family / kids etc. is worth it, as well as the time to figure out your workflow to add a handful more ROMS here and there without much hassle.

backstander

How does one get the legal roms?

This might be a stretch but Sega has started selling several of their Genesis/Megadrive and Dreamcast games on Steam. Bundle Stars (who sells Steams keys) has a Sega bundle where you can pick which games you want out of this list for 3 for $1.49, 10 for $2.99 or 20 for $3.99:
https://www.bundlestars.com/en/promotions/sega-genesis-pick-mix-bundle-2

I just purchased the last 19 games I hadn't purchased before on this list. They did this last year around this time as well. 20 retro Sega Genesis games for $20...that's like $0.20 a game and a good deal!

The only reason I put this here is this:
These are actually encrypted ROM dumps and there's an emulator that runs these ROMs in Steam. I won't post the link but there's a few programs around the internet that can decrypt the ROMs and then they work with just about any emulator. I have tested them on RetroPie and they work after decryption.

BenMcLean

Backstander, your information is out of date. The SEGA Genesis and Mega Drive Classics collection on Steam provides a folder named "Uncompressed ROMs" which contains ready-to-play ROM files which can be copied directly onto your PI, your phone, your hacked PSP or whatever you play on. No encryption, no DRM, no problems. They even encourage you to create ROM hacks and distribute them on Steam Workshop.

SEGA is cool. SEGA does what Nintendon't. Give them all your sheckels.

backstander

@BenMcLean
That's great! I haven't messed with it in over a year and I've noticed a couple updates to Sega's emulator on Steam since I did. I was planning on revisiting this since I just purchased 19 new Sega games lol.

I think some of these ROMs might also have bug fixes in them as well (compared to the original cartridges). Kind of like what Nintendo does with some of their Virtual Console games.