http://www.techradar.com/pro/linux December 2019 LXF257 77Retro-gaming TUTORIALS
card – if you ever want to convert the Pi back into a
regular computer.Roms and Emu
The term ROM stands for Read-Only Memory. This
reflects the fact that many video games used to be
available on cartridges containing a read-only memory
chip. Early developers of ‘emus’ or emulators –
software programs designed to mimic the functions of
video games consoles on computers – would use
technical wizardry to make a copy of these games to
their machines to allow them to be played. These digital
files were and are known as ROMs.
RetroPie contains emulators for around 70 different
platforms. These range from more familiar consoles
such as the Nintendo 64 to more obscure machines like
the Atari Lynx. The legality of creating, distributing and
downloading ROMs is highly dubious. For this reason,
RetroPie doesn’t come with any games preinstalled.A word on piracy
There’s a thriving online community of developers who
produce both software emulators to play games (some
of which are included in RetroPie) and who also reverse-
engineer ROMs. Although there’s nothing to prevent
you from searching out these websites online yourself,
many of the users there seem to be very comfortable
with creating and playing pirated games. Although they
claim not to condone software piracy, a good many
pirated and ‘homebrew’ versions of copyrighted retro
games are available for download on these sites.
The general feeling seems to be that it is lawful to
download a ROM provided you own the video game
cartridge itself. It’s not clear what legal basis there is for
this from region to region. In the UK, for instance, it’s
still technically illegal to copy music from a CD you own
into a media player like iTunes, although apparently no
one’s about to arrest you for doing so.
Other arguments in favour of creating and
downloading ROMs for games seem to be that many
are not currently sold by the publishers, so people
wishing to play games have no choice. They also argue
that emulation can actually improve the gameplay
experience and that the games were created so long
ago they can be considered to be in the public domain
and therefore free of copyright (not true–Ed).
The community also seems keen to stress that
creating, developing and playing with software designed
to emulate a video game console isn’t in itself illegal. In
fact, some consoles such as the Sony PlayStation 3include emulators to play titles for older consoles – in
this case, the PS1. However, this would seem to
undermine the argument that users have no choice but
to play with pirated ROMs, as stores such as the
PlayStation Store allow playing certain retro games like
Sonic the Hedgehog through an emulator.
Developers who have reverse-engineered ROMs to
work with their particular emulator may have had to
alter the game to some extent. This means that what
you are playing will not necessarily resemble the games
you remember. Some developers have deliberately
changed gameplay, such as the hacked version of
Super Mario Bros. where the famous plumber brothers
are sporting afro hairstyles.
Even for older video game titles, as Nintendo statesSome ‘read-
only’ cartridges
had writable
areas for saving
games. If you
have any old
cartridges, why
not plug them
in and see if you
can retrieve
your data?CREDIT:Martin Schouten,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9Njd8nymfUWHERE ARE THE GAMES?
The RetroPie site claims that if you have a legal copy of a game then it
is legal to download the corresponding ROM. It also maintains a page
of links to free and paid legal ROM sites (http://bit.ly/lxf257legal).
One of the recommended free ROM sites we visited during this
review led only to spammy-looking EXE files, so visit these at your
own discretion. Check copyright law in your jurisdiction carefully
before downloading.
RetroPie encompasses a vast number of emulators from the Amiga
to the ZX Spectrum. If you’re not sure whether a particular platform
or ROM file type is supported, check the Supported Systems of the
RetroPie User Guide (http://bit.ly/lxf257support).
If you still have any Sega Mega Drive/Genesis or Super Nintendo
cartridges, you can access their files over USB via a Retrode. While
these are no longer officially being produced, they are available from
third-party manufacturers such as http://www.dragonbox.de/en. You can
also buy a separate N64 adaptor.
Second-hand cartridges are freely available on sites like Amazon
and eBay. There are also websites dedicated to selling retro games,
though some, like RetroScene, have apparently fallen foul of copyright
laws. The Internet Archive also hosts a large collection (https://
archive.org/details/messmame) of ROMs of arcade classics such
as Space Invaders and Pac-Man. The website claims that hosting
these games is deemed as ‘fair use’ under copyright law, but check if
this is allowed in your country (it almost certainly won’t be – Ed).CREDIT:http://www.retrode.comThe Retrode supports SNES and Sega Mega Drive
games, as well as two controllers for each. Adapters to
support other consoles and controllers as needed.
Source:https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/ScraperThe RetroPie has a built-in scraper but for a more fully-featured one,
install Steven Selph’s Scraper.7776Decmbr rb6c2019b21Tunyo December 2019 LXF257 77Retro-gaming TUTORIALS
card – if you ever want to convert the Pi back into a
regular computer.Roms and Emu
The term ROM stands for Read-Only Memory. This
reflects the fact that many video games used to be
available on cartridges containing a read-only memory
chip. Early developers of ‘emus’ or emulators –
software programs designed to mimic the functions of
video games consoles on computers – would use
technical wizardry to make a copy of these games to
their machines to allow them to be played. These digital
files were and are known as ROMs.
RetroPie contains emulators for around 70 different
platforms. These range from more familiar consoles
such as the Nintendo 64 to more obscure machines like
the Atari Lynx. The legality of creating, distributing and
downloading ROMs is highly dubious. For this reason,
RetroPie doesn’t come with any games preinstalled.A word on piracy
There’s a thriving online community of developers who
produce both software emulators to play games (some
of which are included in RetroPie) and who also reverse-
engineer ROMs. Although there’s nothing to prevent
you from searching out these websites online yourself,
many of the users there seem to be very comfortable
with creating and playing pirated games. Although they
claim not to condone software piracy, a good many
pirated and ‘homebrew’ versions of copyrighted retro
games are available for download on these sites.
The general feeling seems to be that it is lawful to
download a ROM provided you own the video game
cartridge itself. It’s not clear what legal basis there is for
this from region to region. In the UK, for instance, it’s
still technically illegal to copy music from a CD you own
into a media player like iTunes, although apparently no
one’s about to arrest you for doing so.
Other arguments in favour of creating and
downloading ROMs for games seem to be that many
are not currently sold by the publishers, so people
wishing to play games have no choice. They also argue
that emulation can actually improve the gameplay
experience and that the games were created so long
ago they can be considered to be in the public domain
and therefore free of copyright (not true–Ed).
The community also seems keen to stress that
creating, developing and playing with software designed
to emulate a video game console isn’t in itself illegal. In
fact, some consoles such as the Sony PlayStation 3include emulators to play titles for older consoles – in
this case, the PS1. However, this would seem to
undermine the argument that users have no choice but
to play with pirated ROMs, as stores such as the
PlayStation Store allow playing certain retro games like
Sonic the Hedgehog through an emulator.
Developers who have reverse-engineered ROMs to
work with their particular emulator may have had to
alter the game to some extent. This means that what
you are playing will not necessarily resemble the games
you remember. Some developers have deliberately
changed gameplay, such as the hacked version of
Super Mario Bros. where the famous plumber brothers
are sporting afro hairstyles.
Even for older video game titles, as Nintendo statesSome‘read-
only’cartridges
hadwritable
areasforsaving
games.If you
haveanyold
cartridges,why
notplugthem
inandseeif you
canretrieve
yourdata?WHERE ARE THE GAMES?
The RetroPie site claims that if you have a legal copy of a game then it
is legal to download the corresponding ROM. It also maintains a page
of links to free and paid legal ROM sites (http://bit.ly/lxf257legal).
One of the recommended free ROM sites we visited during this
review led only to spammy-looking EXE files, so visit these at your
own discretion. Check copyright law in your jurisdiction carefully
before downloading.
RetroPie encompasses a vast number of emulators from the Amiga
to the ZX Spectrum. If you’re not sure whether a particular platform
or ROM file type is supported, check the Supported Systems of the
RetroPie User Guide (http://bit.ly/lxf257support).
If you still have any Sega Mega Drive/Genesis or Super Nintendo
cartridges, you can access their files over USB via a Retrode. While
these are no longer officially being produced, they are available from
third-party manufacturers such as http://www.dragonbox.de/en. You can
also buy a separate N64 adaptor.
Second-hand cartridges are freely available on sites like Amazon
and eBay. There are also websites dedicated to selling retro games,
though some, like RetroScene, have apparently fallen foul of copyright
laws. The Internet Archive also hosts a large collection (https://
archive.org/details/messmame) of ROMs of arcade classics such
as Space Invaders and Pac-Man. The website claims that hosting
these games is deemed as ‘fair use’ under copyright law, but check if
this is allowed in your country (it almost certainly won’t be – Ed).CREDIT:http://www.retrode.comThe Retrode supports SNES and Sega Mega Drive
games, as well as two controllers for each. Adapters to
support other consoles and controllers as needed.Source:
https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Scraper
The RetroPie has a built-in scraper but for a more fully-featured one,
install Steven Selph’s Scraper.