Emulation - The Legalities, Ethics, Benefits and Drawbacks

[Azuren]

What are your views on emulation?
It is, by itself, a semi-legal practice. It does, however, open the door for significant piracy. Emulation on PC or CFWs are both equally extralegal in this sense.

What benefits does emulation provide?
Only two real benefits here; you can consolidate all of your favorite games on one platform, and you can forgo buying the console. That second one send to be the major reason many are into emulation.

Does it impact game sales?
Yes, it does, regardless of the "I wouldn't buy it anyway" arguments. If you wouldn't buy it, how else would you experience it? Watching someone's YouTube? That's profit. Borrowing a friend's game? He still had to buy it. Going to a friend's house to play it? Again, that person had to buy it. Renting it? That's revenue generated for the rental company, who pays for the rights to rent it.

But downloading an emulating it? You're a pirate, congratulations.

How do game creators feel about this?
Well, Sony took some significant legal action when the PS3 was jailbroken. And I seem to remember a pretty big coalition teaming up with Nintendo to attack the R4 company. So I'm pretty sure they're mostly not down for it.

What are the legalities and ethics around emulation?
Emulation is legal when you own the game you're playing. Any other scenerio is not.

What percentage of those that use emulators are engaged in privacy?
I'm not going to throw out a number, because I don't know. But considering how many of my friends emulate without owning the game they're playing? Most.

Are there sources of data to support this?
I feel like this question is the gunshot from the previously loaded question. Nice try, though ;)