What are you guys thoughts on this? Do you think they are worth buying? Came across this today, think its a repro cart because the name isnt on it. But if i can get it cheap ill be sure to get it, instead of the hundreds it usually goes for
Repro's should be banned but it'll never happen. They're destroying the value of real carts and can sometimes cause damage to consoles. As for your cart, The plastic seems legit but the sticker seems "new" it doesn't matchup with the marks on the cart meaning someone likely used a real cart then printed a fake label and made a fake pcb. I've a few repro's here but most have died and I've no clue why. Likely crappy parts.
Lots of the repros for older consoles (like SNES or MD) are built on boards that were originally designed for use with 5V flash memory, but since that's hard to find now people build them with 3.3V parts instead. This normally works for a while, but eventually the chips blow up. You can do it properly using level translators and a sub-regulator, but most people don't bother.
Nothing wrong with reproductions as long as it's mentioned. Don't really think so at all. Collectors out there know what the real deal is, and will be willing to pay a premium for it (stupidly). The whole point why reproductions flood markets is due to the high price of real ones. Just like $20,000 watches, there will be fakes for $5,000. More likely people can afford a $10 reproduction game, than a $500 original.
Just understand what it is before buying it. Plenty of people out there try to sell reproductions for far more than they are worth, as they are only worth the sum of their parts. Which makes it particularly shady when some of these people price different games that use the exact same parts differently. There is no value in what game it is when it is a counterfeit that anyone could make. If there are numerous "reproduction" games for a system you intend to get then you are going to quickly approach the price of a good flash cartridge like an EverDrive. So if there are a number of Genesis/MegaDrive games you want to play but are too expensive then you should get an EverDrive or some other device to load the ROM files. Again if you do purchase and reproductions you should be certain of what you are getting and that the cost is appropriate.
No more than $20 for a CIB repro. That's if it's without save support. For a CIB repro with save support I'd say $35 tops, for me personally. Although I like my nonsaving CIB repros at $15.
I have a few reproboothings, but that's just because a friend of mine made some (as a limited-run pet project) and I wrote the box copy for them. I had fun pretending to be a Sega marketing rep from 1995. I don't think I'd bother with any other repros. Well, not unless I was getting one as a present for someone who didn't care to emulate games or use a flash cart.
I recently got a repro MUSHA. Only because the real one is so expensive. I still try and get everything genuine. It's the only repro I own. The funny thing is there is people who scream piracy but many of those same people own a off market 5-1 or whatever cart for NES or Game Boy or something else.
I think it's pretty ridiculous to have a debate about the moral apect of abandonware piracy. None of the devs will see any of your money when you buy an original cart off someone from ebay. There's no morality to it, the only argument worth considering is if you simply prefer having *original* carts.
Most people are concerned not about the piracy aspect that what you are getting is illegitimate. They are usually concerned about the people profiting off of it or attempting to pass off bootlegs as originals. That is a valid concern. Particularly with games that are high priced but simple to bootleg.
I'm talking out of the context where you buy repros knowingly. If you're at a place where you can't tell one from the other than that's a different conversation. I buy my repros for $6 a cart and $12-15 cib. At that price point I'm perfectly happy and I'm happy for the producer for making a buck from it.
How about the morality aspect in those cases where the repros include hacks or translation patches? Both with the authors explicitly forbidding commercial use, or not specifying anything (there might be a few with the autor explicitly allowing commercial exploitation, but I for one haven't come across a single one)?
Here's a talented homebrew dev's take on it which I support 100% If you're making something for everyone and for free then you shouldn't be bothered by someone trying to make a buck from it. That's some kind of mild mental health issue, imo. You want to have a slice of the pie AND keep it. It doesn't work that way. Once it's out there in the wild - it's out of your control. You're entitled to your opinion (as a dev) but getting pissed when someone does make commercial repros of your (probably illegal to begin with) hack or even your own freeware software is irrational, illogical and unhealthy. When someone makes a repro of your "rom only" release they're actually putting in legit work into it (which is worth something by itself) and they're offering an otherwise unavailable service. That said, I do not condone repros of currently available homebrew/indie carts.
Ah, the old repro debate. It's nice that we live in a world where people can make repros and not pass them off as originals for scamming purposes. Oh....wait... It's nice that we live in a world where people respect they don't have a right to everything. Oh....wait.... It's nice that we live in a world where people respect the hard work of others and don't try to greedily profit off their hard work. Oh.....wait... But hey repros are fine because I do have a right to play anything I want, and just because the original devs won't make any money, means it is fine for some thieving c**t to make a buck off their hard work instead. That's what you supporters sound like.... I do like these threads though...great for showing who the real parasites are.... Edit For the sake of some balance I will say that the gaming industry is severely lacking when it comes to realising the brilliance of its back catalogue and imo needs to do much more to make these games legally playable and affordable for people.
It's real simple either keep it to yourself (and keep full control of it) or release it publicly (and lose all control of it). I can respect someone making awesome homebrew just to show it off on youtube and never release it (like that japanese guy). It's his decision and his absolute right. But I refuse to understand people making illegal hacks and asking for some kind of perverse copyright. Or "don't make carts" right, what? Same goes for people freely releasing their work and getting upset over some poor scmuck getting a buck or two for *actual work he put in to making the carts" and for the *service he is providing which the roms author DOES NOT*. If the problem is the dev not seeing any profit then that's his fault for making it freeware to begin with. He could've made a deal with an indie publisher and released actual carts that way. Or contact a chinese factory and handle the publishing personally. If the problem is a principle of someone making a profit of your work then I refuse this principle as well. They're not making a profit of your work, they're making a profit of their OWN work making the cart (the one you refused to make). As I've said before, I do not consider noobs getting owned buying repros thinking they're original a subject worthy of discussion. Everything I've said on this subject has been said assuming we all know what we're talking about and can tell the difference. People getting fooled by repros is a separate subject completely.
I'm not sure why you are trying to turn this debate into a narrow one focussed solely on homebrew. It didn't start that way (see OP), it isn't that debate. Well, I am sure...it's a a side issue and perhaps the only one where what you espouse has any chance of some merit. Great attitude though. Who gives a fuck when other people get screwed eh!?! This forum certainly used to...
Don't put your words in my mouth, friend. It is indeed not cool when people get screwed over. That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm trying to say is that I do not see how anyone gets screwed over in the scenarios I've discussed. I do not want to talk about people getting fooled by repros of retail games because if you're at that level you shouldn't be out there buying anything in the first place. Go back to square one and do your research. It's not very hard or particularly time consuming to figure out how to tell apart real from fake. Hit up google and youtube, communicate with sellers.
