• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Eurogamer: Did Nintendo download a Mario ROM and sell it back to us?

F

firelogic

Member
Based on the information gathered, it looks like it's true. Someone was too lazy to get the game from their archive and just went to a ROM site. Or Nintendo really doesn't have an archived copy of their own game. I chalk it up to Nintendo being Nintendo.
 
The Elite

The Elite

BOSS
I don't really care if they sold a ROM back to us. It's their IP and as long as it runs as good as a retail cartridge I am fine with that.
 
L

lazygecko

Member
Can't watch the video at the moment. Is this about the header in the file being viewed in a hex editor and saying the same thing as the old pirate ROM dump?
 
wvnative

wvnative

Member
I don't really see the issue with this. VC games and PS1/2 classics have always just been iso/rom dumps anyway. Does it matter where they got the ROM from?
 
P

pa22word

Member
Not exactly uncommon for the industry.

It used to be pretty common for people to find pirate group messages hidden in steam games because publishers just downloaded the nocd key off the Internet and hit publish.
 
P

purseowner

Member
wvnative said:
I don't really see the issue with this. VC games and PS1/2 classics have always just been iso/rom dumps anyway. Does it matter where they got the ROM from?
Click to expand...

You could play devil's advocate and argue the same for people illegally downloading ROMs of games they own.
 
F

feint_ruled

Member
wvnative said:
I don't really see the issue with this. VC games and PS1/2 classics have always just been iso/rom dumps anyway. Does it matter where they got the ROM from?
Click to expand...

It's not professional. It says they don't archive their own stuff properly. And how can they be sure the ROM has not been altered in anyway? Obscenities added, for example. It's a very silly and risky move on their part, if true.
 
L

lazygecko

Member
pa22word said:
Not exactly uncommon for the industry.

It used to be pretty common for people to find pirate group messages hidden in steam games because publishers just downloaded the nocd key off the Internet and hit publish.
Click to expand...

I mean, even if the executable has been fiddled with, it's still the property of the rights holder and they should be able to do what they want with it. So why reinvent the wheel when working on a rerelease that shouldn't require a disc?
 
Dr. Zoidberg

Dr. Zoidberg

Member
Is this on the Wii/Wii U or from the NES Classic?

If it's the latter, didn't they farm that development out?

feint_ruled said:
how can they be sure the ROM has not been altered in anyway? Obscenities added, for example.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure they playtest the games before they are published to the console. Even VC games.
 
F

firelogic

Member
lazygecko said:
Can't watch the video at the moment. Is this about the header in the file being viewed in a hex editor and saying the same thing as the old pirate ROM dump?
Click to expand...

Yes it's about the header info that was found but it goes a little further questioning Nintendo's stance on emulation and ROMs in general and how they're against all emulation but the VC is an emulator.
 
N

Nibel

Member
Download all the roms Nintendo

Download them all BUT make them available to your users in some way that makes sense
 
F

farisr

Member
lazygecko said:
I mean, even if the executable has been fiddled with, it's still the property of the rights holder and they should be able to do what they want with it. So why reinvent the wheel when working on a rerelease that shouldn't require a disc?
Click to expand...
Because of this:
feint_ruled said:
And how can they be sure the ROM has not been altered in anyway? Obscenities added, for example. It's a very silly and risky move on their part, if true.
Click to expand...
 
P

pswii60

Member
feint_ruled said:
It's not professional. It says they don't archive their own stuff properly. And how can they be sure the ROM has not been altered in anyway? Obscenities added, for example. It's a very silly and risky move on their part, if true.
Click to expand...

We're talking about the early 90s, and there's a good chance they didn't archive their stuff well back then. It's not just Nintendo, Sega infamously lost the Panzer Dragoon source code.

But clearly they're a bit better at it these days, with remasters of N64 and Gamecube games released in recent years.
 
R

rav

Member
I always check out headers and fileformats people have made when working in fileformats. Why create a new fileformat that's proprietary when there is already a standard?

In the video they say they internally developed it, if they dumped the rom, and for rom chip 2 use the same handling as an already established digital format for a hardware rom, or could have used other tools (open source) that were already established for decades.

edit: I think Eurogamer is trying to make a big deal out of nothing, and trying to use the argument to power an argument about piracy.
 
C

corn_fest

Member
Funny how some people are anal about wasting time ripping their own bitwise-identical ROMs of games they own when even Nintendo doesn't give a fuck.
 
prag16

prag16

Banned
Eh, as long as it works who cares. They own the IP. Hell, it took 10 years for anybody to notice. You can say lolnintendo but other than that, meh.
 
N

NolbertoS

Member
Well, when Nintendo owns the IP, its not considers piracy is it. It would be like saying Walt Disney selling consumers a bootleg version of their animated movies to consumers, when they own that IP of the movie
 
P

pa22word

Member
lazygecko said:
I mean, even if the executable has been fiddled with, it's still the property of the rights holder and they should be able to do what they want with it. So why reinvent the wheel when working on a rerelease that shouldn't require a disc?
Click to expand...

I honestly don't care either way.

It was just always amusing to see links to the specific Torrent they got it from hidden in an ini, or skidrow links in unencrypted readme's.
 
P

Princess Viola

Member
I don't mind this, it's their IP after all.

Hell, wasn't there like an iOS or other mobile version of one of the Genesis Sonic games that Sega released that literally had the 'RIPPED BY [person]' text still on the title screen or something?
 
wvnative

wvnative

Member
feint_ruled said:
It's not professional. It says they don't archive their own stuff properly. And how can they be sure the ROM has not been altered in anyway? Obscenities added, for example. It's a very silly and risky move on their part, if true.
Click to expand...

I'm sure the games are extensively tested before they click upload.

I mean I agree its unprofessional but it doesn't really affect anyone does it? As long as its indeed the original game and not a ROM hack who cares how they uploaded it to the store? Its their property.

Seems like they (eurogamer) are just trying to stir people up over nothing. It's nothing.
 
B

BigDes

Member
feint_ruled said:
It's not professional. It says they don't archive their own stuff properly. And how can they be sure the ROM has not been altered in anyway? Obscenities added, for example. It's a very silly and risky move on their part, if true.
Click to expand...

Most videogame companies never archived their stuff properly especially back in the NES/SNES days, it probably still goes on.

I read a story of how SE lost their FF7 masters a few years ago, for instance.

It is amazingly shitty but its not unique
 
P

pswii60

Member
I wonder if they downloaded it over P2P, newsgroups or a file sharing site?

I've no idea what any of these things are btw.
 
C

captmcblack

Member
I mean...I dunno if there's a more pure way of providing a "legit dump" of the game than a clean ROM of the game. No need - or even a way - to reinvent the wheel.

Like, how else would they provide a copy of that game, short of literally reprogramming it?

That said, it's hilarious if true.
 
C

Catvoca

Banned
wvnative said:
Seems like they (eurogamer) are just trying to stir people up over nothing. It's nothing.
Click to expand...

It's hardly about stirring people up, it's more about promoting a discussion about emulators, piracy and videogame conservation. That's what most of the video is talking about.
 
V

Version 3.0

Member
Doesn't matter in practice, but it's does expose hypocrisy on Nintendo's part if they are benefiting from the community's archiving efforts, which they consider 100% theft.
 
C

Caelus

Member
Whatever.

Really, this just means they should release more VC games since the process isn't as painstaking.
 
R

rav

Member
NolbertoS said:
Well, when Nintendo owns the IP, its not considers piracy is it. It would be like saying Walt Disney selling consumers a bootleg version of their animated movies to consumers, when they own that IP of the movie
Click to expand...

Except that the data / content is actually bit for bit identical to the rom? (or movie frames in your analogy) Using the term bootleg usually refers to some other way of manufacturing a likeness or near copy rather than an identical copy. (Early DVD era most bootlegs were from Inverse-Telecine (Camera 30fps source to 24fps output.) And to make an argument here, it's hard work to digitize things, especially from another format.

The identical bits they're talking about are for a header container format that doesn't exist in the NES cartridge. But exists because of a file format from the original guys working on nes file formats for PC.

IOW: One way or another they were going to have to solve the same problems with rom chip 2( or more) and have some sort of way to differentiate between different chips, My main point is why make a new standard when one already exists.
 
ReyVGM

ReyVGM

Member
Pssst, guys. You've seen all those Arcade collection packages companies like Taito, Konami, Atari, etc. make?

All ROM dumps, and some even use MAME.
 
H

hivycox

Member
Why is it that now after the switch event even the smallest things are used to create a negative buzz around Nintendo? Why is there so much hate?

On topic: it's their IP so they can do what they want!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Mario vs. Donkey Kong | Review Thread
Analysis Review
15
1K
Chittagong replied
Nintendo DMCA Notice Wipes Out 8,535 Yuzu Repos
2
96
4K
CuteFaceJay replied
Super Mario Bros Wonder. | Final Early Access Preview are Up
Community Analysis Hype 2
76
5K
gooner4life_uk replied
The Last of Us knock off removed from Nintendo eShop as Sony stakes copyright claim
News
44
3K
Kerotan replied
Bloomberg: Microsoft Buying Nintendo Would Have Been a Disaster
Analysis Hardware Platform 2 3
131
8K
Unknown? replied
Top Bottom