Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
It is the conversation the retro gaming community constantly tries to avoid, but it’s time we tackle it head-on. We need to talk about the reality of downloading ROMs, the skyrocketing prices of retro games, the concept of "fairness," and the hard legal truth that a lot of gamers simply do not want to hear. It might be hard for some to accept, but Illegally Downloading ROMS From The Internet Is Actually ILLEGAL!
First off, a massive shoutout to a fantastic friend of the channel, Retrofusion Gaming! They recently hit a huge milestone of 1,000 subscribers, and it is incredibly well-deserved. If you aren't subscribed to them yet, you need to go fix that right now. Today, I am reacting to a recent video they posted, and honestly, I have a lot of thoughts. Their take was spot-on, and I couldn't agree more with the points they brought to the table.
👉 Link to Retrofuzion Gaming's Video: youtube.com/shorts/CXUkvwyW7ZI
👉 Subscribe to them: youtube.com/@UCxvXEvex5tyNNKJFihUuAnA
Let's just rip the band-aid off right now. I don't know who in the back row needs to hear this today, but illegally downloading ROMs from the internet for use on emulators is, in fact, illegal. It does not matter if the game you are downloading was released in the 1970s, the 80s, or the 90s. Age does not magically invalidate a copyright. The code, the art, the music—it is all still heavily copyright protected, and downloading it without permission or ownership is stealing. Plain and simple. Unless a piece of software has officially entered the public domain, downloading that file from a random website is a violation of the law.
This brings me to my biggest issue with the modern emulation scene. It is time the gaming community stops pretending that downloading thousands of ROMs from a torrent site is about "video game preservation." Let’s be completely honest with ourselves: the vast majority of the time, this isn't about archiving digital history for future generations. It is about wanting to play games for free because we don't want to pay the ridiculous, inflated prices that resellers are charging on eBay or at local retro game stores.
And look, I get it. The retro market is completely out of control right now, and paying hundreds of dollars for a loose vintage cartridge feels incredibly unfair. But feeling like a game is "too expensive" or feeling a sense of "unfairness" does not suddenly make piracy legal. Furthermore, you do not need to personally play a game to preserve it. That is what incredible, dedicated organizations like the Video Game History Foundation are for. They do the actual, legal, painstaking work of preserving the code and the history of our medium.
Now, with all of that hard truth out of the way, I want to make one thing absolutely, 100% clear. I am incredibly PRO backing up your existing, legally purchased software. If you own the physical cartridge or the physical disc, you should have the right to create a digital backup for your own personal use. This is why I am actually a massive fan of hardware solutions like the MIG Switch dumper and the MIG Switch itself. Devices like these require you to actually own and possess your original, physical cartridge to utilize them. You are pulling the files directly off of your own legally purchased property and making a secure, legal backup.
Unfortunately, this is an area where I strongly feel that companies like Nintendo completely misinterpret copyright law and screw things up for the legitimate consumer. Nintendo's stance on emulation and personal backups is often incredibly draconian. They are in the wrong for the aggressive way that they read and enforce their interpretation of the law against people who are simply trying to preserve their own personal physical collections. However, the fact that Nintendo overreaches does not give the community a blank check to just download whatever they want from the internet.
Because I am a huge proponent of legal cartridge dumpers, I always issue a challenge to the community. Whenever people boldly claim in my comments, "Well, I don't care, I'll just go ahead and play the newest Nintendo game on my Steam Deck," I will always ask the exact same question: "How did you dump those cartridges, and what specific system or hardware are you using to do it?" I ask this because I am genuinely always looking for more legitimate, legal solutions to back up my games. But usually, when I ask that question, the room gets very quiet.
This is a complex, heated topic, and I know it's going to ruffle some feathers. But we need to separate the genuine desire for legal backups from the reality of internet piracy. Do you agree with Retrofusion Gaming and me? How do you legally back up your own collection? Let me know all your thoughts down below in the comments!
#RetroGaming #Emulation #GamePreservation #reaction #RetrofusionGaming #Nintendo #MIGSwitch #GameCollecting #GamingCommunity #SteamDeck #NintendoSwitch
It is the conversation the retro gaming community constantly tries to avoid, but it’s time we tackle it head-on. We need to talk about the reality of downloading ROMs, the skyrocketing prices of retro games, the concept of "fairness," and the hard legal truth that a lot of gamers simply do not want to hear. It might be hard for some to accept, but Illegally Downloading ROMS From The Internet Is Actually ILLEGAL!
First off, a massive shoutout to a fantastic friend of the channel, Retrofusion Gaming! They recently hit a huge milestone of 1,000 subscribers, and it is incredibly well-deserved. If you aren't subscribed to them yet, you need to go fix that right now. Today, I am reacting to a recent video they posted, and honestly, I have a lot of thoughts. Their take was spot-on, and I couldn't agree more with the points they brought to the table.
👉 Link to Retrofuzion Gaming's Video: youtube.com/shorts/CXUkvwyW7ZI
👉 Subscribe to them: youtube.com/@UCxvXEvex5tyNNKJFihUuAnA
Let's just rip the band-aid off right now. I don't know who in the back row needs to hear this today, but illegally downloading ROMs from the internet for use on emulators is, in fact, illegal. It does not matter if the game you are downloading was released in the 1970s, the 80s, or the 90s. Age does not magically invalidate a copyright. The code, the art, the music—it is all still heavily copyright protected, and downloading it without permission or ownership is stealing. Plain and simple. Unless a piece of software has officially entered the public domain, downloading that file from a random website is a violation of the law.
This brings me to my biggest issue with the modern emulation scene. It is time the gaming community stops pretending that downloading thousands of ROMs from a torrent site is about "video game preservation." Let’s be completely honest with ourselves: the vast majority of the time, this isn't about archiving digital history for future generations. It is about wanting to play games for free because we don't want to pay the ridiculous, inflated prices that resellers are charging on eBay or at local retro game stores.
And look, I get it. The retro market is completely out of control right now, and paying hundreds of dollars for a loose vintage cartridge feels incredibly unfair. But feeling like a game is "too expensive" or feeling a sense of "unfairness" does not suddenly make piracy legal. Furthermore, you do not need to personally play a game to preserve it. That is what incredible, dedicated organizations like the Video Game History Foundation are for. They do the actual, legal, painstaking work of preserving the code and the history of our medium.
Now, with all of that hard truth out of the way, I want to make one thing absolutely, 100% clear. I am incredibly PRO backing up your existing, legally purchased software. If you own the physical cartridge or the physical disc, you should have the right to create a digital backup for your own personal use. This is why I am actually a massive fan of hardware solutions like the MIG Switch dumper and the MIG Switch itself. Devices like these require you to actually own and possess your original, physical cartridge to utilize them. You are pulling the files directly off of your own legally purchased property and making a secure, legal backup.
Unfortunately, this is an area where I strongly feel that companies like Nintendo completely misinterpret copyright law and screw things up for the legitimate consumer. Nintendo's stance on emulation and personal backups is often incredibly draconian. They are in the wrong for the aggressive way that they read and enforce their interpretation of the law against people who are simply trying to preserve their own personal physical collections. However, the fact that Nintendo overreaches does not give the community a blank check to just download whatever they want from the internet.
Because I am a huge proponent of legal cartridge dumpers, I always issue a challenge to the community. Whenever people boldly claim in my comments, "Well, I don't care, I'll just go ahead and play the newest Nintendo game on my Steam Deck," I will always ask the exact same question: "How did you dump those cartridges, and what specific system or hardware are you using to do it?" I ask this because I am genuinely always looking for more legitimate, legal solutions to back up my games. But usually, when I ask that question, the room gets very quiet.
This is a complex, heated topic, and I know it's going to ruffle some feathers. But we need to separate the genuine desire for legal backups from the reality of internet piracy. Do you agree with Retrofusion Gaming and me? How do you legally back up your own collection? Let me know all your thoughts down below in the comments!
#RetroGaming #Emulation #GamePreservation #reaction #RetrofusionGaming #Nintendo #MIGSwitch #GameCollecting #GamingCommunity #SteamDeck #NintendoSwitch
