OffTopic - legality of RetroN machines
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RetroN 5, and similar machines, play real game cartridges. I believe these are legal because the patent on older systems has expired in terms of hardware. However, it is said that distribution of a system bios is an illegal act. Doesn't the RetroN machine need Bios's for each of the emulators built into it to run? How are they legal to sell if that is the case?
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@muehltime they are not legal for multiple reasons, primary reason being that they rip off RetroArch software that have non commercial licences and sell them anyways.
The "developers" of retron 5 are greedy scumbags.
https://www.libretro.com/index.php/retroarch-license-violations/
If you read the documentation it will answer 99% of your questions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/
Also if you want a solution to your problems read this first: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first
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@herb_fargus What about other cartridge systems, like the $170 AVS?
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@muehltime said in OffTopic - legality of RetroN machines:
What about other cartridge systems, like the $170 AVS?
The AVS uses FPGA hardware for playing NES games. It basically a custom circuit board programmed to recreate the NES hardware to a T.
Here is a video describing it better:
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@muehltime from a quick perusal here https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/12/retrousb-avs-review/ it seems like they are using a field programmable gate array instead of emulators which I think is kinda cool. (What lilbud said)
I don't have any experience with it though so I wouldn't say I have an educated opinion enough to vouch for their legitimacy but seem to be much more so than retron 5
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The sad part is that it doesn't even play actual cartridges. If I remember correctly, I believe it reads the cart's header, and then loads whatever built-in rom and emulator are mapped to it, which is why it can't play certain carts. So not only are they ripping off RetroArch, they're also indirectly selling roms (if that is indeed the case).
What makes it even worse is that to the average buyer, it looks totally legit; to them, it's a replica all-in-one NES/SNES/Genesis that would allow them to play their old games, completely unaware that it's not any more legit than those pirated Pi bundles on eBay.
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@eldrethor said in OffTopic - legality of RetroN machines:
The sad part is that it doesn't even play actual cartridges. If I remember correctly, I believe it reads the cart's header, and then loads whatever built-in rom and emulator are mapped to it, which is why it can't play certain carts. So not only are they ripping off RetroArch, they're also indirectly selling roms (if that is indeed the case).
What makes it even worse is that to the average buyer, it looks totally legit; to them, it's a replica all-in-one NES/SNES/Genesis that would allow them to play their old games, completely unaware that it's not any more legit than those pirated Pi bundles on eBay.
I get your point, but you can actually play a ROM when you own the cartridge (with the same game) right? And you need the cartridge to play the ROM on this system? So in that way its not the same as pirated Pi bundles imo.
Them selling a RetroArch system is far worse in my opinion. -
@eldrethor Whoa, is that true? I figure they would've gotten slammed with a lawsuit if that were true.
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That AVS looks awesome and it's a great idea. Would be nice to see a lot more console based system such as that compared to console like retrons and mimic'd clones. The only down fall about it is probably the pricing.
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@namerehwon Since I might not be remembering it correctly, I decided to look it up to verify it, and I think I might be wrong. I couldn't find a legit source but Googling brings up other forums where others have explained that the Retron 5 checks the cartridge to see if it's licensed, and then loads the rom dump of the cart itself.
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I was going to get one a while back, until I looked it up on the web for reviews and saw a couple articles saying that the creators of the system stole from the devs of RetroArch.
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@eldrethor My understanding was that it dumps the ROMs at load time, though I can understand it holding on to them for future use to speed things up.
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