If they don't sell them in stores, or even if they don't sell them in your country, Piracy is the only way to play some games. They haven't lost a sale if you weren't able to buy it legally in the first place.

Because of "pirates", video games are the most well-preserved form of media we have. Their work means that the hard work of countless game developers over the last 40 years will be saved on the internet for people to enjoy forever. It's not about just stealing a game like Nintendo likes to think; this is about making sure as few games as possible become lost media.

This Anthony guy is one of the best things to happen to LTT, it just feels like ultra legit nerd secrets + silky smooth delivery.

Imagine how amazing it would be if video games entered the public domain 10-15 years after release. Unfortunately, due to a certain mouse, that’s impossible.

THANK YOU FOR THIS i've seen so many people convinced emulation is piracy (and therefore illegal) it's good to see someone set that rumor for rest for once and for all

Even he is a great host by himself now, I really enjoy this "old school" use of Anthony, when they put him in contrast with other hosts, he really shines: Calm, knowledgable and with an amazing voice.

Cartridge swap wear is straight up the main reason I was ever interested in stuff like the everdrive. Most people don't realize that simply switching cartridges in and out DOES cause wear, and it's wear that, while technically 'repairable' isn't repairable by your average user. Even those with the knowhow and gear don't want to if they don't have to.

whoever edited this video, you are incredible.

Without piracy we would loose so much of video game history and with more and more games being "always online experiences", this problem will only get bigger and bigger over time. I understand that companies don't want people to illegally play their new games, but if a company fails to preserve their own history, then the consumers should have the right to do this job for them. Just my 2 Cents on the matter.

THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO! Dumping your own games isn't pirating - but more people need to be talking about this! I've been on a huge archival spree and was JUST talking about disc rot, hahaha. Also REDUMP is your friend!

Nice video! By the way, articles like the one at 15:54 that says that "piracy cost companies over $3 billion in 1998" make spurious claims, as it is extremely likely that a large percentage of those who bought pirated games for "as little as 70 cents" would not have been able to afford $50 games. So if they had 20 pirated games, the alternative might have them either not even owning a system, or owning 1-2 games for it instead of 20. I'm not at all saying that the sale of those is not piracy. It is. It's just that the claims of "money lost" are likely far from reasonable.

My favorite thing about Anthony is that he is incredibly knowledgeable about this stuff, but he not the know-it-all (that we all know) that just constantly tells you everything about it to show off his knowledge. He's great at explaining stuff in a way that doesn't come across as condescending and makes you feel like you're a part of it too, instead of just watching someone who knows what they're doing. I wish I had saved more of my console stuff from when I was a kid, would be really cool to archive it and play nowadays.

I love how the open source community has provided all the handy ROM & save data read-write capabilities we devs had with official Nintendo devkit hardware (I’m a former DS dev, with plenty of years with those IS-NITRO-… blue boxes). Not that the dev hardware let you do everything- R4DSes were pretty common at the studio as well though IIRC that was mostly because encrypting builds to run on production hardware was allowed by the contract with Nintendo, but decrypting was forbidden. As much as I pine to get a contract-broken blue box off of eBay at some point and equivalent hardware for earlier systems, the open source route is much much simpler.

12:57 "It's valued at $299 Canadian" And now the concept of piracy's unethical nature falls apart. Having to pay over 200 dollars to play a used game in unknown condition (in fact it actually is damaged and can't save) is an unreasonably steep cost. In addition you can only get a used copy anyway so whether you pirate or not the IP owner isn't making any money off of it. I could go on a lot about piracy and its role in the legacy game market, but suffice to say that I think IP law needs an overhaul.

I just love these videos where we have Linus play around with stuff while we have Anthony doing the explanation. What a duo!

So happy to see the Sanni Cartridge Reader mentioned here. Almost nobody talks about that one, especially over the Retrode. It's such a great project that is still being updated today, that thing really needs more coverage.

Nintendo could literally solve all their problems if they just gave people the ability to play their games on other devices as long as they have a legal copy of it and they put out a disclaimer saying that you may encounter bugs and such. People are going to do it anyways, so it's just a matter of if Nintendo will kill off their reputation or not.

Jon's "100% LEGALLY EMULATE" bit will always be one of my favorite bits on the internet

11:12 Put some respect on Castlevania, I played that game so much as a kid and even after playing it on an emulator it's still one of my top favorite games.

Is it weird that all I want to do is watch a video about Anthony talking about all the games he used to play while playing them it's actually my favorite part of the episode. Anthony is definitely in the top four at lmg for me

I have a gut feeling that Anthony wrote this one, & I’m all for it. Hopefully Anthony got his saves off that N64 memory card he used on ShortCircuit. EDIT: Oh, Anthony did write this one. Guess it was right without even checking the end credits.

I love how the solution is to keep charging people for the same product in later generations, but Nintendo refuses to do that even to gain profit. Like we’re supposed to just forget these games as time passes on.

I see nothing wrong with using Emulators/ROMs, especially as the majority of those games have been discontinued. As long as you're not selling them, there shouldn't be an issue.

13:16 Helpful TLDR: I reckon it is your capacitor. Under a dollar to replace. Before assuming the SRAM, it might be the resistor or capacitor. Probably capacitor due to age or as a knock-on effect of the resistor failure. Resistors are more likely if the resistor had got damp at some point. I reckon capacitor is the likely culprit and your SRAM could well be fine. A bad cap could be prematurely draining the battery and _(with or without resistor fail)_ changing the voltage as it writes to the (probably) 16K SRAM. Unless you have a bad solder joint (which I doubt), don't automatically assume the SRAM. You can test the SRAM chip btw. A new (identical) capacitor is a long overdue replacement. Trying saving a traditional new savegame on a real console could be a worthwhile test. A fluctuation in performance smacks of a capacitor _(or resistor)_ because it is intermittent like a voltage spike (creating the artifact). A bad SRAM would either be totally dead _(and not that symptom if it were that sudden)_ or it would be by electromigration, but of that were the case you would expect an array of SRAM, but you have only one 16K chip so it would not be so likely to be intermittent a fault _(variation in bytes that did not verify)_ compared to if you had an array. The SRAM chips places a fast load upon the power when the signal is pulled for the /RAS (row address strobe) "leg" metal strip out of the chip _(and that can be a prerequisite to the CAS signal)._ Inductance is voltage divided by the rate of change in current. So you're probably getting a voltage spike because you have a bad capacitor, resulting in the loss of bits in a RAM chip which is otherwise perfectly functional. A capacitor can be used as a decoupling capacitor. In Direct-Current, a wild variance in voltage in the power line to the chip will cause an undesirible change in the inductance _(hence using a decoupling capacitor)._ Different RAM chips can also have different voltages. Some SNES cartridges are SMD instead of through-hole. That gadget you are using might not expect the right cartriidges. That Mario-RPG is a rather modern cartridge (SMD). I would say, first just try replacing the capacitor _(with an identical rating and type, electrolytic/solidstate, where a film capacitor is superior to a ceramic capacitor in decoupling, and so an electrolytic is unlikely)._ Do also have a look for a discoloured resistor dulled _(if it is even that type of resistor)_ and take a multimeter to it (with magnification). However, it could well be just a busted capacitor with no need for other repair. Remember the kaplon tape over other parts to keep them safe and static protection. Where eye protection when snipping the legs of the capacitor you solder in (or out). Those resistors on the Mario RPG are generally not the big type you ge on other carts like other Mario games. My comment has no hate in it and I do no harm. I am not appalled or afraid, boasting or envying or complaining... Just saying. Psalms23: Giving thanks and praise to the Lord and peace and love.

Thank you so much for bringing back the "100% LEGAL" clip from your MAME/arcade cabinet video. It sparks joy.

The amount of knowledge that Anthony has is mind-blowing, thank you Linus for bringing this guy to our screens. More Anthony retro gaming videos please!!!

From when I looked into the legality of backups a while back, one thing that stuck with me was it's only legal if you still possess the original and the original is in working order. In other words, when the cartridge dies, you have to delete your ROM. Assuming your goal is to be 100% legal.

A look into the Polymega would also have been interesting (although likely somewhat off-topic for this specific video), but currently, shipping units are behind by several months, so can't really blame LTT on not happening to have one handy. They also don't have a module for the N64 yet.

Linus knew this was all for Anthony He just knew it was too cool not to make a video about it, and decided it was still worth it. Thank you Linus, and THANK YOU ANTHONY

I really hope Nintendo get's their act together and starts selling us solutions for game preservation, especially for their mobile games. RIP Dragalia Lost.

Nice to see the video still up

Youre like one of the only people I have ever seen bring up this amazing game.

Abandon-ware should be free-ware, these games should be straight up free, there is nothing wrong with downloading a game that there is absolutely no reasonable way to play.

This has become a moral issue-letting useful tech die without support and forcing people to lose what they own, all while hoarding the content and refusing to sell it is a cruel practice. We know that inexpensive digital media pricing is the best way to end piracy, but game companies don’t care or try. This leaves it up to the community to solve the problems. What happens if a company goes out of business or shuts down a service? Something good is lost forever due to greed. This is why I hate DRM, price gouging, MTX, and always-online games (even if they are single player!)-they create a single point of failure that is illegal to address. One day in 40-50 years, most of us here will be dead, and the people of the future deserve the opportunity to enjoy what we do. Don’t let companies get away with trying to shut these efforts down: the future depends on it.

I love that I'm seeing both the box and screenshots from one of my favorite games (and the first I ever beat): Phantasy Star

2:10 Your collab with electroboom is the gift that keeps on giving LOl

Of course Oracle sponsored this, their lawyers are legendary!!

"Pirating" media that you ALREADY BOUGHT in another form should be legal anyways. This idea that the license that YOU OWN for the media is somehow magically bound to the specific physical disc or virtual store you bought it from is one of the stupidest concepts propagandized by corporations onto the public. Corporations only like private property when it's their private property. As to the rest of us, they'd happily make us into digital serfs.

Linus NEEDS to have more video of this man. He is so integral on his presentations GIVE THIS MAN A RAISE he makes LTT Look good. It is what it is. The mans an asset!

what a sweet collection of cartridges you guys have there on pristine packaging

I mean, he already has the beard and the earrings. Slap on an eyepatch and have Riley as his excited parrot, and the pirate look will be complete.

I remember Linus talking about this issue on the wan show, and I fully agree, If i already own a copy/license of a game or movie, should be able to just get an automatic updated format.

I need a friend like Anthony in my life! Great job!

Good to see Anthony again, I don't watch every single video but haven't seen him in a while

Just a side note for protecting your cartridges: silicone electrical spray really helps protect the pins. It’s used in faders in audio equipment all the time to keep them in working longer.

Really don't understand why these games are protected so far out from when the originally released, it's not like anyone sells new copies anymore and it doesn't hurt Nintendo's bottom line.

I just bought a Nintendo entertainment system and how funny that this video came up. Excellent video and gave me a lot of good information. Thank you so much

Thank you guys for creating this content one of my favorite games on Sega was Phantasy star. I have a fair number of cartridges going back to Atari 2600 that I have owned for more years than I care to admit lol . I own consoles and game cartridges for alot of systems from the 70's - 90's. but there has always been tghe legal question on using roms on raspberry pi for games & systems I physically own. Using roms obtained elsewhere on raspberry Pi has been questionable even with owning both the system and the console. Thank you for sharing, is there any similar product you would recommend for Turbo Grafx & Atari 2600 as this system does not appear to work for those systems?

Linus: “ was the point of this for me to buy a bunch of stuff so you can use for your collection?” Anthony without missing a beat: “yes” Linus: “ well played ” 🤣 this is a man who both knows the immense value Anthony brings, and is simultaneously broken by systematic employee bullying 😂

Glad to see this video is trending. Very important topic, and I love how Linus called Anthony on his strategy to get the company to pay for the niche hardware for his personal use. Linus basically thumbs upped the approach. So much win here

Never seen this guy so excited. I love it.

In Sweden we pay a considerable amount of extra cash for all electronics that contains any form of storage. This also makes it legal for us to do "private copies" or backups of every type of media for private use (including friends and family).

The SMRPG cart failing just shows how important emulation is for game preservation. All these cartridges will eventually fail.

Im so glad to see Jon's 100% legal advise gif make a glorious return :)

My dad and I set up a retro pi arcade cabinet for my mom. Its awesome to be able to play all those old games with a joystick or trackball just like you're at an old arcade

I'm all for these in depth videos funding lmg staff passions!! This needs a series haha

Anthony is king. So glad he is getting the screentime he deserves. I wish he did audio books. So soothing and knowledgeable.

i love Anthony! he is so charismatic, smart and well spoken.

Anthony you are a freaking legend sir. You have so much knowledge that always amazes me in these videos. Thank you for the time you put in!

Great video! Here in Mexico, and i assume in other low income nations, piracy and hardware mods have always been critical for consumers to be able to afford games. It's become sort of iconic to own a chipped PS2 or modded 3DS.

Out of all the carts the ones that give me the most problems are the the Genesis / Mega Drive. They require resistor mods often in order to get them working again which is a pain and the contact quality is really hit or miss.

I love every video Anthony is in. We must protect him.

1:44 hell yeah, Crystalis! I actually had the battery replaced in the 90's by Nintendo. When they received the cart, they noticed "contamination" and proceeded to offer "cleaning" of all my games, all my controllers, and my NES unit. I sent them a HUGE box with over 100 games and all my NES gear, and they cleaned ALL the carts (peeling the stickers , completely reshelling them and reapplying the stickers) and replaced all my controllers and NES unit with new/refurbed hardware. THAT was the kind of customer service you got from Nintendo in the 90's.

I have a ROM for each of my vintage game carts. Did I dump them myself or did I download them? You'll never know because a well made digital copy will be as sharp as the original.

I’ve never had any moral reservations about emulation. In most cases, the only way I can “own” the game is to buy an old console, and buy a used copy of the game, both on Craigslist or the like. My money going to some guy that bought this hardware years ago provides zero benefit to Nintendo. Yes, original hardware is better and arguably more fun, that’s where the value is. Locking down old IP doesn’t really help anyone, and the fact so many are willing to use sketchy websites and often technical programs to have a nostalgic experience should tell these companies that there should be a better alternative. Take my damn money so I can play on my switch, but don’t yell and scream that I downloaded something you no longer sell.

1:58 I know that game very very very very well. Thats Phantasy Star II. One of my childhood favorites.

14:00 This makes me sad to hear. That is a true classic of a game and deserves a better fate. If LTT doesn't have anyone on staff who is comfortable swapping the SRAM, I would be happy to do so next time I am in the local area (assuming I have any a donor board that is compatible in my collection).

I love the enthusiasm you bring to your videos. Never fails to brighten my day 😂

Great video thanks for posting and so knowledgable.

best video so far thanks for the info I'm a retro collector its good to know about this little machine.

I'm loving these retro videos! can't wait for the day we can watch Anthony upgrade an Amiga 500 with some chip RAM and a CF adapter

Problem is, as you say in 'So is this legal?', Nintendo will still say you're pirating by ripping games for personal use. It's taking a long way round and spending a lot of money to just end up in the same place as just pirating the games. The retro games library is basically all dumped now anyway. The only case I can see for this thing is Kickstarter retro game campaigns like CheetahMen II: The Lost Levels and Jay and Silent Bob Mall Brall.

Thanks to the pirates i can actually play some old game i used to play back in the days. i cant find any copies of those game in stores so its actually helpful in many cases

wow awesome stuff in this vid and you certainly know about its arounds. Kudos.

Would really like to see more retro game content on LTT, yes I know there's a lot out there but it's become clear over the years that especially Anthony has a passion for it and I would personally love to see a series of him covering that stuff!

I remember when the EULA encouraged you to make a BACK UP copy of software as the working original was your license and proof of purchase and needed to be put in a safe place.

His voice is so soothing. Great narration!

Hey Anthony, I'm not sure if there's an input latency feature on emulation station you can change. But I know you can change it on retroarch which always has it set to "late" whenever you first install it I always switch it to normal. Might have been your issue on controller timing.

As an IT professional, I'm just amazed that oracle sponsored this already.

I expected a good video on an interesting product, but I certainly was taken aback by how thorough and measured this video became on tackling the subject of game preservation and the importance of media perservation in general when factoring in the fact that as great as physical media is and always is, nothing lasts forever if you let something get lost. Definitely one of the best videos on the entire channel, kudos.

This man needs his own channel and a raise

I primarily use the retrode for all carts with the adapters. I use the sanni for snes, but specifically for games that have the special chips (needs emulation through PIC). But later i did get another adapter for the retrode as well. The version i built at the time only supported snes. For nes i use the kazzo board.

great video. Lots of useful information. More please! This is so much more interesting that new TV reviews for thousands of dollars, which nobody will ever buy. This video and all the DIY stuff you guys do is way more cooler!

Protip: Even though the cartridges were different between the Japanese Famicon and the American SNES, if you remove the cartridge case, the Japanese boards will fit and run in an American SNES

The original battery on my 1989 Dragon Warrior cartridge still works.

1:25 To be fair, you can recoat the contacts to work like new. For those interested, you can find UKposts videos on restoration if you're that hardcore. I will also say that at 1:40 you're not wrong for most carts but not all use batteries and you can now mod them to not use batteries but that can destroy any value it might have had. Again, tutorials can be found on UKposts for those interested.

that sponsor was incredibly specific, i am pretty well rounded when it comes to tech but that flew over my heard harder than a Turboencabulator

Love these vids man, you're amazing

Anthony has come a long way as far as presenting to the camera goes. Way more comfortable than the early videos.

This is cool. I dig what Xbox is doing with disc to digital access as well. I’m so stoked I ended up saving all my game discs. I know nothing about this world. Has no one built a rom archiver / catalog app with checksum or hash matching against a DB to name / store roms? Maybe able to transfer/copy to SD card / USB storage? LTT video series on app design and coding on the above? I mean, you have Oracle as as a sponsor already for the DB backend. ;-)

I support piracy of old games whether they're still being sold or not. Copyright lasting forever is an abomination created by Disney, and I think something closer to the length of patents (20 years) would be more reasonable. This would encourage companies to create updates for those old games instead of milking them forever without any effort.

I recently went through the process of dumping all my physical and digital games from my past two decades of Nintendo systems for backups and use on the Steam Deck. It's super cool to see new life breathed into older games via emulation. Even with the weird snags the Steam Deck sometimes runs into, it's been a great system to replay some of my old favorites in a portable form factor and actually hitting their target framerates.

Anthony is by far one of my favorite hosts on lmg

The cut off scream around 6:12 was 👌

I love the fact that the one video Oracle sponsored is law-related. At least they know where their true expertise lies

Thank you guys for the content, stay Awesome

The perfectly cut scram while dripping something got me

I'm watching this on June 28th, 2023. Nintendo announced a Super Mario RPG Remake

Great video, I found it relied on or showcased specific products too frequently though. Would also be interested in a followup for optical disc games.

Anthony is the most well-spoken person on this channel. He should be a full time tutorial instructor or teach CE or CS at a university. Anthony would make a fantastic teacher.