Nintendo has been awarded an patent that describes the process of using software to emulate hardware on a ‘low-capability target platform.’ The merit of this patent aside, the immediate news is that Big N is using it to challenge the commercial release of the ‘Firestorm gbaZ’ Game Boy emulator for the Tapwave Zodiac, which would allow Zodiac owners to play ROM images of Game Boy Advance games.
The issue is that Nintendo is essentially saying that all ROM images are illegal, and that the consumer doesn’t have a right to play a backup copy on an emulated device (or anywhere, for that matter.)
I’m torn, honestly, because I’ve fallen on both sides of the fence with this issue. On one side, I feel that purchasers of games should have a right to play those games wherever and however they want. On the other, I don’t think many people are manually backing up their games themselves, but are instead downloading the ROM images from the internet — along with more games they didn’t purchase. Like most fair use issues there isn’t a clear answer, but in this instance it’s clear that Nintendo will not be letting commercial emulators have an easy time of it, and this patent is a nice, heavy hammer to swing.
Read – Nintendo’s Cease and Desist Letter [via games.slashdot]
