Originally posted by: pegboy

It's no different from making bootlegs of Japanese games and calling them "reproductions" (which apparently is just fine on NA).

Originally posted by: pegboy

It's no different from making bootlegs of Japanese games and calling them "reproductions" (which apparently is just fine on NA).

Originally posted by: deathrock83


This isn't meant to start a shitstorm since I don't know all the ins and outs but don't you own 25+ pirate carts? What's the difference, in that case?

Originally posted by: tracker465

A lot of people ask this question to me when these topics arise. In reality, I own hundreds of pirated carts on Famicom (not NES format but playable on NES with an adapter).  Some are multicarts, some are just single carts.  But there are a few things that make these pirated game cartridges much more acceptable to some folks than the stuff that is being discussed in this thread:

1)  The pirated carts that I own were made by Chinese / Taiwanese / Hong Kong game companies back during the Famicom era, namely the 1980s and 1990s.  These weren't made by single people who set out to defraud collectors of millions; rather, these were made by software companies that wanted to make some quick cash via piracy.  Back in the day, interestingly enough, many retailers in Asia actually preferred selling these bootleg games to the originals, as there was a bigger profit margin for the store.  While the consumers certainly knew about whether the game was a fake or not, most didn't care.  

2)  The carts I have are not close replicas, by any means.  Once in awhile I find a bootleg / pirate game that is so close to the original, that most people would have no idea that it was a counterfeit; however, most of the stuff that I have is clearly not an original, with many clearly distinctive signs depicting it for what it is, a bootleg.

3)  The carts that are in my collection were made back during the NES era.  They may be copies of original Nintendo software, but they are period authentic and not modern.

The bootleg Famicom games have always been around, from the start.  No one in the Famicom collecting scene cares about the bootleg copy of Recca that I found and own, nor do they care about the bootleg Little Sampson (Lickle) I have (though I also have a real one), the bootleg Gimmick, etc.  These carts are not being made by collectors or sleazy resellers, and they are easily distinguishable from the official releases.  Many famicom collectors do get up in arms, however, when fans make "reproduction" carts of Recca, for example.  Those carts closely mimick the real game, can be easily confused with the real version, are being made in the modern times, etc.  And that would be the same reason why something like this Flintstones 2 I find to be garbage and quite damaging towards the community, whereas one of the countless pirated carts from back in the day would not be.

 

Originally posted by: dra600n

Morality aside, they're both the same thing with the exception reproductions are more likely to be placed inside of North American shells with North American artwork, both intended to make money off of someone elses IP. The delivery method doesn't make it any better or worse. People are paying high dollar for fake famicom games and getting burned just as bad, if not worse, than the repro makers. I can't really see how you can even justify saying that Chinese bootlegs aren't attempting to deceive. What other purpose do they have?

The thing that annoys me are the people who feel as though there really is a difference between a pirate/bootleg from the 90's and reproductions of today. The only difference is there's more available knowledge now, otherwise they're the same thing. If you're going to lament on one, you should be doing it on both. Both are illegal, both are "morally wrong", both are "stealing from the big guys" (and sometimes the small guys), and so on. Hate both or hate neither, quit trying to justify one type of piracy because "they were around in the hey day and aren't using authentic period pieces" (which, 99% of the eproms and such to make these repros are, well, made in the 80's and 90's, so they would still fit the same criteria).

Originally posted by: cradelit


No, bootlegs make money of someone's IP, counterfeits make money off the deception.  People buy bootlegs for the IP, people buy counterfeits because they are duped into thinking they are the originals (edit: or because they think they can make money off duping others).  Counterfeiting and copyright infringment are not really even related problems.


edit:
Counterfeiting is a consumer issue (which is why you will see consumers get pissed off about it) while copyright infringment is an issue with the copyright holder.