AkelisRain
Member
People must not remember the court Cases Sony lost over Bleem and other emulators that allowed PS1 games to be played.
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Microsoft Has Now Banned Game System Emulators from the Windows Store
- Thread starter PGamer
- Start date
guybrushfreeman
Unconfirmed Member
How is it not? Seriously, the level of copyright infringement is exactly the same. It is 100% percent the same from a legal perspective. Why not ban all video players? There's so much pirated video content out there right?
I can tell you it has jackshit to do with any legalities.
It's almost like the Windows store continues to be shit or something, how dare someone say that , poor MS.
Legally yes, it is the exact same. I mean, video players primary purpose is playing videos, but you don't see video player makers getting into court because their video players allow piracy, do you?
ONLYUSEmeFEET
Member
I agree with his talk!
He's behind the new Disney Afternoon Collection, right? If not him, then friends of his? I doubt they'd be thrilled that people can easily play the six games in their collection for free on Xbox. And it's not entirely about legality. If NES emulators were left up, Xbox would not be the preferred platform for the game. Which Microsoft would not be okay with and do what they can to get equal marketing. See if the game is pushed on Steam as hard as console. It won't be.
Other than my OP, I've not been talking about legalities.
RichiRamjag
Member
It certainly makes my day anytime I see it. I'm not even kidding. I chuckle every time.
Vestal
Gold Member
There is a difference in were the source material for content on both a video player and an Emulator comes from..
Any average joe out there with a phone can make a video to watch on their xbox.. How many people in the world can honestly say they can sit down and create a game to run in one of these emulators? Better yet how many actively developed games are there out there from SNES, NES emulators that are not infringing on Copyright?
Apples and Oranges.
AzureSkies
Member
It's an amazing avatar.
guybrushfreeman
Unconfirmed Member
Not every ROM is illegal. It's just as legal to rip a ROM as it is to rip a DVD. It's Apples to Apples. People are fooling themselves to think there's any difference. You're just more comfortable with copyright infringement of videos because it's more common. It is not in any way more legal.
Microsoft's store has always been shitty but they should've taken this opportunity to improve the store on Xbox not restrict the store on PCs
that argument is weak as hell. I suppose you are just playing HomeBrew on emulators?
This isn't th same. MS has every right to not allow an app on their store for any reason.
Vestal
Gold Member
We would first need to see a publisher do it. Besides, I am guessing Microsoft wants to control that channel as far as gaming goes with their own services on the xbox.
I also wonder if they are concerned from a security perspective. I know Appstore Apps are pretty well locked down, but I wonder if there are risks to this since the emulator is basically loading code that has not been reviewed by Microsoft to run.
I don't think you actually watched his talk with any kind of attention.
Interesting that you think that the Disney collection, a digital only 20$ title will get more "push" on console. Can you explain that statement? It really doesn't make any kind of sense at all. They are not going to give it less marketing because of emulators.
You can play your own backed up games. Amazing, i know.
Rare Replay is filled with games running on emulators of Nintendo systems.
I suspect it's more that they don't want anyone playing games that weren't licensed by MS.
Don't play Megaman on an emulator, buy the Legacy collection.
Don't play Perfect Dark and Conker on an emulator, buy Rare Replay.
Don't play Resident Evil on an emulator, buy Resident Evil HD Remastered.
Etc.
AkelisRain
Member
I was referring to the people claiming it was illegal, I am aware they can police their store as they please.
Head.spawn
Junior Member
It's kind of fucked up to be a business partner with Nintendo on one hand, they have games on their console, have released titles on their portable in the past, and have openly talked about other things that haven't come to fruition; and then on the other hand have an emulator, which they are strongly against for some reason. All it probably took was Nintendo to ask them as a courtesy.
Lol Google isnt some hero here. Them being trash at pulling emulators off of their store doesn't make grant them a 'win' by any means. Im pretty sure they dont care for emulators on their store either, they just have shittier removal history vs other stores.
? You make no fucking sense at all. They are not "trash at pulling emulators off" or "shitty removal history"
Emulators are fucking completely legal products that can be distributed and sold. There's zero fucking reason for them to remove it. They are not breaking any laws or terms of service.
LukasTaves
Member
Yes, but requires a dev account.
But now that emulators can't even be published into the store I doubt many will even bother with uwp (which is a shame, it was starting to pick interest)
Fucking fuckity fuck shit!
Dude, chill out. People are disagreeing and stuff but you're the only one dialing it to 11 and being incredibly rude. It's just games and emulators, man. Relax.
Edit: here you go
Spladam
Member
I think Frank would make the case that the folks running the emulators are the exact consumer you are targeting, and the ones that are buying these releases. Yes, it was his company that released the Dinsey Afternoon Collection, and if you had watched the video, you'd see that he makes the case that if you package these collections right, allowing for both accurate emulation and the choice of added features, folks will buy it even if they already emulate the game, even for a premium price, which is largely true.
I play games in collections more than I play said titles in emulation.
Google is well aware of emulators, and I believe they have taken some down for impoper wording int he EUA or some such, I might be wrong, but I know they are aware of their exisence. Some of them are quite popular.
Easy mate, I know you feel strongly about this, and I agree with you, but don't allow the discussions to bait you into getting excited, even if the poster begins there statement with a facetious and smug "Lol". I hate the fact that people no longer use LOL to actually express laughter and use it primarily as a smug retort.
You also know there ARE some reasons for them to remove it, the most likely being on strong suggestion from their legal department, but there are many others. Could they just leave them up for us, yes, but we have not come that far yet, and it looks like we are far away from that kind of consideration towards emulators.
Until then, we will continue to do what we do. We have better emulators than the ones on the app store anyway, even if they don't allow for touch controls.
Kazuo Hirai
I really want everyone to know how much more Titanfall 2 sold than Nioh. It was a staggering amount.
Is pirate the emulators legal? the CEMU add anti-piracy and there is r/cemupiracy
It's hilarious.
It's hilarious.
There is nothing to disagree about Google Play "failing to remove emulators". There are no reasons to remove emulators to begin with!Fucking fuckity fuck shit!
Dude, chill out. People are disagreeing and stuff but you're the only one dialing it to 11 and being incredibly rude. It's just games and emulators, man. Relax.
Edit: here you go
Bernardo, I know! I agreed with you earlier! Im just saying... relax your blood pressure!
It's perfectly legal for a person to use a ROM of a game that they created from a legally-purchased source on an emulator, same as it is perfectly legal to download and use an emulator. Microsoft wouldn't have gotten in legal trouble for hosting emulators in the same way
It's also perfectly legal for Microsoft to remove content from their store to protect their image despite the fact that they won't face legal repercussions from it.
So this mainly comes down to image (and, as Vestal mentioned, potentially security as well). To put it bluntly, the vast majority of those who use emulators aren't using them alongside entirely legally obtained content (i.e. homebrew or back-ups), so hosting emulators on your service brings with it a certain image. Microsoft has active business relationships on the Xbox & UWP platforms with companies whose games can be pirated incredibly easy for use on emulators such as NESbox, and likely because of this they decided to ban such emulators from their platforms. The potential financial and social ramifications of, say, Capcom disapproving of NESbox being on Xbox whilst they release the Disney collection, are very likely higher than the ones from the general consumer.
Now we can get in to whether this is good for the consumer or not, or whether MS is being too forceful here, but in truth there's many legitimate reasons, in Microsoft's eyes, to block emulators on their store and none of them have anything to do with the legality of the emulators themselves.
It's also perfectly legal for Microsoft to remove content from their store to protect their image despite the fact that they won't face legal repercussions from it.
So this mainly comes down to image (and, as Vestal mentioned, potentially security as well). To put it bluntly, the vast majority of those who use emulators aren't using them alongside entirely legally obtained content (i.e. homebrew or back-ups), so hosting emulators on your service brings with it a certain image. Microsoft has active business relationships on the Xbox & UWP platforms with companies whose games can be pirated incredibly easy for use on emulators such as NESbox, and likely because of this they decided to ban such emulators from their platforms. The potential financial and social ramifications of, say, Capcom disapproving of NESbox being on Xbox whilst they release the Disney collection, are very likely higher than the ones from the general consumer.
Now we can get in to whether this is good for the consumer or not, or whether MS is being too forceful here, but in truth there's many legitimate reasons, in Microsoft's eyes, to block emulators on their store and none of them have anything to do with the legality of the emulators themselves.
The reason why MS took the emulators down from the Windows Store is most likely because they prefer to get 30% profit off of games being played on XB1. If you are using an emulator, then no matter if it is a pirated ROM or a legal homebrew or dumped game, that's a game that MS isn't getting any profit off of and playing content ported from other platforms is what emulators do by definition.
This pretty much sums it up in the best way possible.
Kazuo Hirai
I really want everyone to know how much more Titanfall 2 sold than Nioh. It was a staggering amount.
Scorpio is powerful enough to emulate X360, so it sounds reasonable
guybrushfreeman
Unconfirmed Member
I believe this has been their outwardly stated reason in the past. Games in general are not allowed to be apps on Xbox and the Windows Store. Despite Microsoft's bluster about 'every Xbox being a dev kit' once upon a time you can't make and distribute games as freely as apps on Xbox One.
Emulators are 'games' to Microsoft rather than 'apps' I expect. There's no legal reason to restrict them but Microsoft won't allow you to publish a game as an app in the store in the first place
Blam
Member
Honestly tho I'm pretty sure I know a way to get a store client working pretty damn well. If I can get a few issues out of the way.
Miniature Kaiju
Member
This is the kind of shit that I think about when I see someone talking UWP/Windows Store up. Nope, not today, Satan.
This represents an important win for Microsoft shareholders and should be applauded by responsible consumers who understand that these regulatory and legal frameworks exist in order to further the market interests of corporations, their shareholders, and thus by natural extension, the interests of individual consumers.
This is a win-win-win for all parties involved.
This is a win-win-win for all parties involved.
You heard the man Nintendo, do not port Mario Run to xbone
What's so hard to understand? For all intent and purposes, these apps would be used illegally by practically everyone (with a rather low margin of error).
MSFT has no obligation facilitating infringement of their direct partners products.
Google doesn't give a shit because they don't give a shit and don't have explicit contracts with publishers who would be less than happy about MSFT basically condoning "stealing" from them.
This is less about Nintendo and more about Capcom/Konami/Square-Enix and co.
Emulators can be used legally with approval of all parties involved, see Megaman Legend Collection, Rare Replay, Super Mario All Stars, etc.
MSFT has no obligation facilitating infringement of their direct partners products.
Google doesn't give a shit because they don't give a shit and don't have explicit contracts with publishers who would be less than happy about MSFT basically condoning "stealing" from them.
This is less about Nintendo and more about Capcom/Konami/Square-Enix and co.
Emulators can be used legally with approval of all parties involved, see Megaman Legend Collection, Rare Replay, Super Mario All Stars, etc.
Spukc
always chasing the next thrill
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
This. Maybe they got a letter from one of Nintendo's lawyers.
Here's a newsflash: people can use swears casually without being actually angry. Crazy, I know
Murgatroyd
Banned
Makes sense. But if anyplace were to get enraged over this news, it's here.
I literally laughed out loud. Would be extremely funny if this happened.
What about Mario running on a Windows machine? Because this is about the Windows store, correct?
What would be wrong with a Windows user downloading an emulator from the Windows store and using it to play their old carts via Retrode or whatever?
Yeah because we all know the majority of people using emulators are going to get on that site where they no longer sell stuffs to do that.
Sure you can use a gun to hunt roaches but that's nowhere near the most common use.
Next you're going to claim that r4 carts were all about people making backups of their hard earned physical copies!
e: and Mario running on xbox is not ok?
What year is it? Is this some kind of dumb console war BS?
LukasTaves
Member
There were a few emulators on Xbone that were disguised as a pdf viewer as a loophole to the "primary gaming experiences must go through id@xbox) I wonder if they removed those.
Fake edit: Just checked and they are still there.
Isn't that completely arbitrary though, including to the point where they just might add to them that they won't allow emulators?
(I dunno if it's on Ms store's TOSes, but for iOs for instance I believe it does)
Fake edit: Just checked and they are still there.
Isn't that completely arbitrary though, including to the point where they just might add to them that they won't allow emulators?
(I dunno if it's on Ms store's TOSes, but for iOs for instance I believe it does)
Chill Penguin
Member
Even if emulators are legal the majority of the people who use them play illegally downloaded roms. Good on MS for not dealing with that minefield.
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