Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
So they can lose in court for the 3rd time? Sony and Nintendo can say whatever they like about emulation, it doesn’t make it legally true.
Nintendo didn’t go to court. A popular lagdroid emulator took itself completely off play store after Nintendo sent them a dmca notification.

So I’m hoping they do the same with emulators on iOS. Leave it for lagdroid.
 
Personally, I think Apple is doing the right thing. There is nothing inherently illegal about game emulators, just like there isn’t with the torrent protocol or bitcoin.
True, forbidding emulators is like forbidding knives or since people could go out and do illegal stuff.

Me too
It's ludicrous that back catalogs from the likes of Nintendo just sit and rot (officially)
Also, I don’t see the point to spend more of hundreds on a 10-20 yrs old console as well as the same amount of money per game (if the game is rare). So yea, digitally is just fine. But please not that subscription ****
 
It will be interesting to see how Apple controls access to the EU version of iOS. If I use my EU address for an Apple ID will I be able to upgrade to it and will apps work and update outside the EU? If that is the case, the EU's new requirements will be pretty much available globally.
It's already been clarified that they pretty much require gps confirmation/physical presence as one of the flags, with the whole disabling app updates and download features if you leave for 30+ days or whatever it was.
 
It's already been clarified that they pretty much require gps confirmation/physical presence as one of the flags, with the whole disabling app updates and download features if you leave for 30+ days or whatever it was.

Whole thing is so ridiculous
Roll out the changes worldwide Apple, my goodness.

Geo locking "installing Apps on your handheld computer"
Good lord

Just absolutely inappropriate gatekeeping and over control nonsense

I can't believe this is where this once great company has ended up
 
I don't disagree, and I infact wonder if the EU will have something to say about the travel restrictions and such, or even the potential privacy violations if location enablement checking is a requirement .. I kind of hope so. As it's perfectly possible to leave for more than 30 days at a time and still be an EU resident. My mother infact currently spends about 4-5 months of year in UK whilst still being an EU resident.
 
I don't disagree, and I infact wonder if the EU will have something to say about the travel restrictions and such, or even the potential privacy violations if location enablement checking is a requirement .. I kind of hope so.

It just feels so beyond the pale

What business is it of Apple's "where you are" and "for how long" ... and what should mean with how and what you do with your own phone?

They are so ridiculously out of line -- it's insane

Calling this "late 90's MSFT behavior" almost doesn't do it justice
 
Nintendo, who is notorious for going after game emulators, is going to HATE this. If they’re smart, they’ll get ahead of this and offer a virtual console for $$$ on the App Store.

Personally, I think Apple is doing the right thing. There is nothing inherently illegal about game emulators, just like there isn’t with the torrent protocol or bitcoin.

It’s ultimately up to how people use it. Some people use a knife in the kitchen, some people use a knife to kill people. That’s not the fault of the knife.
But how many percent of people use bittorent for downloading pirated content vs actually using it for legitimate stuff? Same with bitcoin. Compared to the proportion of people who use a knife for cooking vs stabbing people?

If you know the overwhelming vast majority of people visit piratebay just to download the latest movies and shows so they can watch them without actually paying, are we going to handwave the biggest enabler of all this just because 1 or 2 people use it to distribute software legally? Seems like the better solution would be to move them to a better solution and then shut down the website.
 
Yes. And unless you have explicit permission from the copyright holders to break encryption and safeguards to dump your own ROMs, it’s also a legal grey zone.
Many game systems didn’t encrypt anything. The first Nintendo system that did was the Nintendo DS and Wii.

Prior to that it was just a matter of finding a way to rip or dump the cartridge/disc
 
Game emulators seem to go against the IP holders of the games since the ROMs are readily available with no way for the owners to be paid. They are created knowing the users will use ROMs they are not entitled to use. There is a reason emulators do not come with games, except manufacturers who have licensed the ROMs from the IP owner.
False. Emulators that do not use the BIOS, firmware, or any other proprietary asset of the stakeholder are entirely legal. ROMs are a separate matter.
 
Several games on the App Store are actually ROMs in wrappers. Download the Sega games and you will see.

The App Store did allow emulators in the early days. There was a C64 emulator for example that included in-app purchases for some classic games they got permission for.

As for the people above saying some old games are no longer sold, they are sometimes sold in bundles. The ROMs are wrapped in a new interface and published in collections like ‘Sega Megadrive Collection’ which is available on almost all consoles. Game houses could do this for their entire backlog if they wanted to.

Will you be able to install Retroarch? I don’t know, but the mobile version tends to be very buggy and flawed and some of the emulators will eat your battery for lunch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Saturn007
So what would this mean to, say, a parallels or VMWare? Could this potentially open up the door for getting a Mac or Windows emulator on the AppStore? Opening my iPad and just working out of MacOS or Windows via Paralles would be the absolute dream here.
 
So what would this mean to, say, a parallels or VMWare? Could this potentially open up the door for getting a Mac or Windows emulator on the AppStore? Opening my iPad and just working out of MacOS or Windows via Paralles would be the absolute dream here.

Opens up Windows in a VM on iPad.

Calls fire and rescue service for help.
 
Emulator thing is interesting because I think there’s a legal case for Nintendo or sega etc to sue either Apple or the emulator makers to stop them from doing this. Mainly because there is really no other use for this product than to play illegally distributed roms. This also denies these companies from selling their own emulated games.

I’m not sure this has ever gone to court but I can’t imagine the emulator apps could even deal with the legal paperwork (even if they could win eventually).

Maybe I’m wrong and these emulators already available on androids App Store? I have no idea.
 
What if this just turns out Nintendo are about to release the Virtual Console on iOS? And you need a Switch online subscription to play it? o_O

Or maybe it’s to stick to fingers up at the guy who’s creating the AltStore in Europe just so he can release GBA4iOS on it?
 
I'm feeling brave - I'm going to update my ZX81 app today and submit to Apple with the option enabled to allow tape files to be loaded and state that this has been done unequivocally to the reviewer in the notes and see what happens. I'll keep you guys/gals posted.

Update: submitted app update - waiting on the review response
 
Last edited:
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.