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ROM images are also used when developing for Embedded Computers . Software which is being developed for embedded computers is often written to ROM files for testing on a standard computer before it is written to a ROM chip for use in the embedded system. At present, this article deals mainly with the use of ROM in relation to emulation. USAGE OF ROMS Changing meaning ROM chips, while still in use, have been replaced in many instances by optical media such as CD-ROM s and DVD-ROM s, magnetic media such as hard disks and magnetic tapes and, more recently, Flash Memory chips. However, the term ''ROM'' is commonly misused to cover many of these newer media so, for instance, a computer game copied from a magnetic tape may also be referred to as a ROM. Images copied from optical media are also called ISO images, after the standard File System for optical media, ISO 9660 . Many ''ROMs'' used by emulators, of particular note, console emulators are not true images of the ROM chips present on the Cartridge PCBs. They are often modified to allow easier functionality in emulators through methods such as combining the images from multiple ROM chips, or adding header information. ''Dumping'' ROMs .]] ROMs can be copied from the read-only memory chips found in cartridge-based games and many arcade machines using a dedicated device in a process known as ''dumping''. For most common home video game systems, these devices are widely available. Dumping ROMs from arcade machines, which in fact are highly customized PCB's , often requires individual setups for each machine along with a large amount of expertise. Creating ROMs from other media is often considerably easier and can often be performed with off-the-shelf hardware. For example, the creation of ROMs from games stored on magnetic tapes (from, for example, the Sinclair ZX80 computer) generally involves simply playing the magnetic tape using a standard Audio Tape player connected to the line-in of a PC Sound Card . This is then recorded to an audio file and transformed into a ROM file using a simple program. Likewise, many CD and DVD games may be copied using a standard PC CD/DVD drive. Copy prevention mechanisms While ROM images are often used as a means of preserving the history of computer games, they are also often used to facilitate the unauthorized copying of modern games which are still commercially viable. Seeing this as potentially reducing sales of their products, many game distributors have incorporated features into newer games which are designed to prevent copying, while still allowing the original game to be played. For instance, the Nintendo GameCube used a non-standard 8 cm DVD-like optical media which for a long time prevented games from being copied to PCs. It was not until a Security Hole was found in Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II that GameCube games could be successfully copied to a PC. SNK (now known as SNK Playmore ) also employed a protection on their Neo Geo games (because of Bootleg s flooding the market) starting with The King of Fighters 1999 which used a encryption algorithm on the graphics ROMs that prevented them to be played in an emulator. Many thought that this was the end of NeoGeo emulation but the protection didn't last long because soon enough emulation gurus found a way to decrypt the ROMs (as early as 2000), dump them successfully and make them playable in any given NeoGeo emulator. Another company that used to protect their arcade games was Dev) in 2007. Capcom's latest arcade board to date is the CPS-3 , whose encrypted roms have resisted emulation attempts until June 2007 , when the encryption method was Reverse-engineered by Andreas Naive. MAME and a variant of the CPS-2 emulator Nebula currently emulate CPS-3 games. ROMs and preservation The lifespan of digital media is rarely great. While black-and-white photographs may survive for a century or more, many digital media can become unreadable after only a decade. This is beginning to become a problem as early computer systems may be, at the time of writing, fifty or sixty years old while early home video consoles may be nearing thirty years old. Due to this aging, there is a significant threat that many early computer and video games may not survive without being transferred to new media. So, those with an interest in preservation are actively seeking older arcade and video games and attempting to dump them to ROMs. When stored on standardised media such as CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs, they can be copied to future media with significantly reduced effort. The trend towards mass digital distribution of ROMs, while potentially damaging to copyright holders, may also have a positive effect on preservation. While over time many original copies of older games may deteriorate, be broken or thrown away, a copy in ROM form may be distributed throughout the world, allowing games which would otherwise have been lost a greater chance of survival. Collecting ROMs Like many other items such as Stamps and Coin s, ROMs are also collected by many people. The motives for doing this vary from a desire to preserve the history of computer and video games to obsessive collectors. Those who desire to collect all ROMs have been derided by the team behind the MAME Emulator as PokéROMs, in a reference to the Pokémon fad. PokéROM can also refer to "Pocket ROMs" as Pokémon refers to "Pocket Monsters"; since the advent of the GP2X , PSP , DS and other portable handheld gaming machines capable of Emulation and even with some Cellphones , people can now have an entire library of old games in their "pocket". Given this desire by many people to collect ROMs, there are many projects on the internet which dump ROMs, catalogue them or provide tools to verify the correctness and completeness of ROM collections. For instance, the TOSEC and Good Tools projects produce regularly-updated databases of games and other software for various old computers and video games consoles. According to some, the " Holy Grail " of ROM collecting is the NES Nintendo World Championship 1990 cartridge ROM image, of which there were only 127 original cartridges in the world. However, the game has since been dumped as a ROM Image and copies are much more widely available. INTERNET DISTRIBUTION OF ROMS The trading of ROMs over the internet is extremely widespread. Many methods are used for such distribution, including:
Although the large size of games for recent consoles makes the distribution of more than one game at a time impractical, it is often the case for older consoles that many thousands of games can be distributed together as a collection. For example, the entire Good2600 set of 2,687 Atari 2600 games could be downloaded in around two minutes over a Broadband connection. HACKS AND FAN TRANSLATIONS Once games have been made available in ROM format, it is possible for users to make modifications to the games. This may take the form of modifying graphics, changing the levels, tweaking the difficulty factor, or even translating the game into a language in which it was not originally made available. Hacks can often take the form of humorous modifications to games, as is the case with a hack of the NES version of Mario Brothers , entitled “''Afro Mario Brothers''” which featured the famous brothers wearing Afro Haircuts . Also the mod Metroid Redesign is a Super Metroid ROM hack which totally revamps the game and also adds new objectives. A large scene has developed to translate games. Many games receive a release in one part of the world but not in another. For example, many , some five years after the fan translation was released. ''see also'' Fan Translation and Rom Hacking LEGAL STATUS OF ROMS ROMs themselves are not illegal per se. This section gives a general discussion of the legal status of ROMs as regards the various uses to which they may be put, though this should not be construed as legal advice. Games owned by the user In some countries, it is legal for an individual to personally make backup copies of a game they own. Individuals may make backup copies for various reasons, perhaps as insurance against losing the game or as redundancy in the event that the original game's medium becomes unreadable. See the section on ROMs and Preservation. However, in the U.S. it has been illegal since 1983 for a user to create their own backups of video game ROMs onto other cartridges. This was decided in the court case of Atari v. JS&A . JS&A manufactured a "game backup" device that allowed users to dump their Atari ROMs onto a blank cartridge. JS&A argued that the archival rule allowed for this. The court disagreed, noting that ROM media was not subject to the same volatility as magnetic media (for which the law was created). Thus, not being so relatively vulnerable, ROMs were not applicable under section 17 USC 117(a)(2). Some games companies, such as Nintendo , print warnings inside their game manuals that they do not allow users to make backup or archival copies. Whether or not these warnings in this specific form can be considered valid Contract s is legally questionable. For an overview of relevant issues, see User Agreement (EULA) , Shrink Wrap Contract , Clickwrap , Fair Use , Fair Dealing and DMCA . 24 hours claim Some ROM websites claim it is legal to download and keep a ROM of a game one doesn't own for as long as 24 hours, after which it is one's responsibility to delete it. Even though it is widespread (most likely due to copycat reactions), this claim is completely false, as there has never been such a law. Officially licensed ROMs It is, of course, legal to purchase a ROM image which has been licensed to you by the rights holder. For example, Atari made a number of their original arcade games available in ROM format which is compatible with the MAME emulator through the online ROM retailer Star ROMs . Star Roms stopped licensing roms in February 2006, though. Nintendo 's next-generation console, the Wii , is backwards compatible with many games for older systems such as the NES, presumably through some (secure) ROM downloading process. Freely licensed ROMs The vast majority of computer & video games from the history of such games are no longer manufactured. As such, the copyright holders of some games have offered free licenses to those games, often on the condition that they be used only for non-commercial purposes. For example, two of the games emulated in MAME, '' Gridlee '' and '' Robby Roto '', have been made available under such licenses. As such, they are made freely available from the MAME Home Page . There are also Homebrew ROMs available for many systems. These ROMs are unequivocally legal to distribute and run, per the creator's license. Unlicensed ROMs While some games which no longer make any profit fit into the category above, the vast majority are no longer available in any form. The legality of obtaining such games varies from country to country. Some countries have special exceptions in copyright laws or case law which permit (or discourage less) copying when an item is not available for legal purchase or when the copying is for non-commercial or research purposes, while other countries may make such practices firmly illegal. There is often a distinction drawn between distribution and downloading, with distribution being seen as the greater offence. Abandonware It is often the case that games which are still in copyright are no longer sold or marketed by their copyright holders. This may be due to the perceived lack of demand for the game or for other reasons. Some of those engaged in ROM trading claim that such games should be deemed ''abandoned'' by their copyright holders and that the game, termed " Abandonware ", can be freely traded by users. This invokes the concept of Abandonment from Trademark Law , whereby trademarks which are no longer exploited by their holders become abandoned. While this concept exists in trademark law, there is no equivalent concept in copyright law. In fact, the copyright laws of most countries, including all signatories of the Berne Convention , grant copyright holders the exclusive right to distribute, or not distribute, a work until such time as the copyright expires under law or is granted to the Public Domain by the copyright holder. Commercial distribution Commercial distribution of copyrighted games without the consent of the copyright holder is generally illegal in almost all countries, with those who take part in that activity being liable for both criminal and civil penalties. Online auction sites such as EBay have sometimes been used by sellers to sell unauthorised copies of games which are advertised as legitimate copies. Such sellers, in addition to violating copyright laws, may also be prosecuted for fraud and/or false advertising. Enforcement There have been few convictions and lawsuits related to ROM trading. Criminal convictions tend to be related to high-profile Warez groups which trade combinations of recent Film s and Computer Games . In contrast, the ROM scene tends to concentrate mostly on older games. Given the lack of continuing profit from most older games, the grievances of games companies rarely exceed sending a Cease And Desist order which compels the recipient to stop distributing the copyrighted works in question. Many have argued that it would be irrational for a company to spend money prosecuting for games that they are no longer making profit from, as there would be no damages to speak of. Even so, this has not deterred Nintendo from pursuing a number of lawsuits against ROM distribution websites via non-profit subsidiaries. The reasoning for Nintendo's defense of its aging properties may be explained by its Wii store, which allows users to purchase these games for emulation on the Wii through the use of it's Virtual Console service. SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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