Question: I've Always Wondered This

If the staff and site do not condone ROM hacking in any way, shape or form, why is there a ROM hacking section?

We don't condone the downloads of ROMs here. We don't care what people do with ROMs as long as they don't link to downloads of them. Hope that answers your question. Thanks. ^_^

Maybe because there is a lot of people who do like the section, the people of the site are a valuable part of the site, wouldn't you agree?

Britney Spears said:

We don't condone the downloads of ROMs here. We don't care what people do with ROMs as long as they don't link to downloads of them. Next time, please check your facts. Thanks. ^_^

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I saw no facts to check, hence the question's existence. But at any rate, that's it answered.

You know that the rom section is what brings many people here right? Not that many people are interested in Pokemon itself, they like the hacking aspect, learning aspect, and some like the playing of the new games aspect.

Didn't mean to come off as rude. Sorry about that.

Radium said:

You know that the rom section is what brings many people here right? Not that many people are interested in Pokemon itself, they like the hacking aspect, learning aspect, and some like the playing of the new games aspect.

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Indeed, but I was asking only about an apparent quirk in policies.

Britney Spears said:

Didn't mean to come off as rude. Sorry about that.

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Well... that seems nice of you. ( ﾟ ヮﾟ)
You have my thanks then.

Roms (copies of commercial, copyrighted games) are illegal to distribute. Patch files are not.. they are just that patches and contain no code from the roms themselves. Here at PC we promote the TALK/CHAT of the process to make your own mods. We don't actively participate in any of its creation and really only offer users a place to swap stories, help and so forth. Its just TALK. And a community gathering place.

Users take any / all responsibility for using the emulation items that are discussed here.

All of this is really to show how silly copyright law is in the U.S. We want to have the creative spirit of re-inventing the works of others, just as Walt Disney did. With everything he created, he broke contemporary copyright law. Yet he wasn't a thief or anything like that—he brought his own creativity to the works of others, which in turn were probably inspired by other people and works. "There's nothing new under the sun," indeed.

So I guess that's what ROM hacks are. They're a way for people to take Nintendo's work and add their own creativity to it. In the process, they learn tools and techniques that could in fact make them very valuable to Nintendo one day. That's the kind of creative spirit that societies so desperately need.

Now, of course, ROMs can be download with the pure intent of theft. That is wrong, and it should be stopped. Copyright, then, has to walk the line between "fair uses" that benefit society—like ROM hacking or Mickey Mouse—and stopping theft. Unfortunately, our government leans very, very far towards the ladder side in an age where potential for the former is unprecedented.

(I did an extensive paper on this; it's totally my axe to grind :p)

Just putting my thought of it as a hacker:

If the creators ever think a game that I hacked would ruin their sales of their products, and ever get the chance to tell me, I would stop hacking. I don't know if this actually hurts the creators if we hack, it might get people more interested in seeing a new game which is official after playing a hack. Shiny Gold for example and perhaps the new Dusk/Dawn ones possibly being created. I know that roms of the original games will hurt the creators, so I won't post it, and PC won't allow it anyway. I don't want Nintendo to fail in anyway.