ive been reading the n4g articles now that vgc links them on the front page and i love the pc vs. console articles. one thing i dont get though is pc gamers comment on how you can play any systems games barring the 360 and ps3 on  pc, but is that piracy or not? im only asking because i dont see how pc gamers can tout being able to play all old systems games if it is piracy. what do you guys think?

not sure but after so many years isnt it not considered illegal anymore or something?

It is piracy. Sad fact.

Technically speaking, emulation isn't piracy because you're running a virtual machine that is based on a real machine ... Using that virtual machine to play games you don't have a license to play is piracy though.

With that said, in many cases I think this software is old enough that it shouldn't be subject to copyright laws anymore. While new works based on the IP should be limited to who owns the associated trademark, after 15 or 25 years copyright should expire.

It depends. The PS3, and Wii have emulators that allow them to play games from past systems. You can also use an emulator on the PC to play a game right off the disc. Say Dolphin for the PC, a great Wii emulator, you can put a Wii disc in the PC and play it. I wouldn't consider these piracy.

On the other hand though if you were to download an emulator which is perfectly legal, and then were to download a ROM, then yes, I do believe that is considered piracy.

Emulation it's self is a legal grey area I havn't heard of anyone actually getting into trouble for an emulator by it's self. That is not to say it is legal but unless you try to sell the emulator there is nothing anyone can legally do to stop it.

How people get the games to play on the emulators is another matter, many of the oldest games (pre SNES) were made by companies that no longer exist etc so once again there is a legal grey area around those games there is next to no chance of of anyone caring even if it is not strictly legal, and in some countries as long as you own a copy of the origonal game (or other peice of content like movies or music) you are allowed to create a copy for your own use so that would be legal depending on where you live, think about it like riping a CD or DVD for your own use. For disc bassed systems like the PS2 etc it is possible to use a legit copy of the game just like a real console. 

Close.

The term you're looking for is abandonware, and it has nothing to do with the age of the game, it has to do with whether or not it is still possible to find legitimate copies of the game firsthand.

SMB is very old, but you can buy it on the virtual console, the IP is still going strong, the company that made it is going strong.

Dungeon Keeper is considered abandonware. It is no longer being manufactured or sold firsthand. The company that makes it has 'abandoned' the game.

Of course, what counts as abandoned is often a grey area.

If you actually buy the games you are just emulating the machine but paying for the software, at that point is not piracy the problem is that most people does not buy the games and just download it. I am seriously thinking about emulating the Wii and buying Xenoblade from the european market, if Nintendo of America doesn't want my money I know that Nintendo of Europe will be happy to have it.

US software copyright is 95 years long I believe. Blame the music/film industry lobbying.

As you said, emulation isn't piracy but you need to own a copy of the game first. It may still be illegal to play it on a different platform (DMCA) but that isn't copyright infringement it's just a US quirk.

I think that downloading and using an emulator isn't illegal it is the downloading and use of a rom/bios.  I don't think there is anything illegal if I was to download an emulator such as epsxe and use it to play my PSX games on my PC.