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The law is all about those technicalities.
I don’t agree with any of that noise around the DMCA for the record. I feel like we effectively lost our right to archival copies.
On a PC, what you said about copying the DRM along with the data is largely true. It is possible sometimes to copy the DRM and reproduce the image with the DRM intact. It also might not be depending upon the copy protection mechanism. Commercial video DVDs used to employ tricks with the storage sector that made it almost impossible to properly copy by a standard computer disc drive. You could get around this with additional program like AnyDVD, but that was only available for sale outside the USA because of the fact that it allowed you to bypass DRM.
And like you said, the content can be encrypted. Decrypting it is, IIRC, considered bypassing DRM - at least in the USA.
Again, I don’t agree that this is how things should be, but the legality of emulation is complicated depending upon what we’re talking about emulating.
The emulation itself is legal, assuming you’re not using any copyrighted code, BIOS, etc. to make work.
The backup copy of your game that you need can be made legally as well, but in the USA, if the source contains a form of DRM, then you cannot legally make a copy.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201
In the USA, it is illegal to make a backup copy of any of your media when the original contains any form of DRM.
On any media where DRM wasn’t used, you’re okay to create a backup copy.
The law is different everywhere though.
And AND it’s not as though we can expect another mainline Zelda game on launch day. Maybe Metroid Prime 4, sure, but that series has never moved units the way Zelda does (as much as I wish it did).
I agree with your assessment. That’s where I fall too. I’ve got a launch day Switch and an OLED Steam Deck. My Switch mostly gathers dust since I got the Deck.
There is no shame in looking at a guide if you hit a point where progress without one is so frustrating that you’re not enjoying yourself anymore.
Metroid II is my least favorite of the series, but it’s still a solid entry. AMR2 is a very good fan recreation, but don’t skip on Samus Returns on the 3DS if you enjoy Metroid II
So basically this is where I’ve landed on this after rooting, moding, etc. all of my electronics for the last 30 years: for devices where I want to customize everything, it’s going to be done with a Linux computer to begin with because there’s absolutely nothing standing in my way. For other things that I just need to work reliably and not become yet another chore, I buy some product. So I would buy a thermostat, but build my own NAS (with a 3D printed 7-bay case).
I’m beyond sick - as I think you might be too - of all the extra stuff I have to keep up with whenever I jailbreak/root/whatever a device just so I don’t fuck it up with some careless action or update. I just don’t have the same amount of free time and mental energy to dedicate to this stuff anymore. I wish I did though.
You can look for specific games on protondb.com to get a good idea of how they run.
I don’t chase high-end PC gaming anywhere near enough to name a single game that is known for realism.
I think it’s interesting that Capcom developed that one for Nintendo. They certainly did a great job!
I like, but don’t love, Link’s Awakening. I get that they had the limitations of the Game Boy to work around, so the idea that the map is confounding to navigate - just like a dream can be - was a creative choice that fit well. It just doesn’t resonate with me.
The GBA was definitely a better platform for a Zelda game than the OG Game Boy.
It’s worth discussing at least. I used to be a big fan of flashing custom software, kernels, recoveries, etc.
At some point though, it started becoming more and more of a hassle to get a phone with an unlockable bootloader to work with my mobile network operator. Limited choices of I even had one.
Then all the banking and p2p apps stopped being easy to use while rooted, so we had to hide root from those apps. Then that got harder and harder.
Meanwhile the custom features that I used to want became mostly standard within Android.
At this point, I don’t really bother with rooting anymore because there’s little that I need it for but lots of hassle involved in having it. Now Google is blocking RCS messages from being delivered to rooted phones.
So if Android is now basically iOS with how much it’s locked down from modification, why not just get an iPhone with better features I care about (their cameras and photo software) and better long-term updates? What is it that Google is even aiming for with Android now? If they’re going to be hostile to users owning their own hardware, then maybe the OS should see more than a single line item change for a major version (android 14). I don’t feel like Google has made any meaningful additions to the OS in a decade+ now.
I feel the same way, but part of that might be because back when we started gaming (that’s 35+ years ago for me), “achievements” meant finishing a game or getting a high score. Sure there were sometimes games with multiple endings or extra secrets to discover, but there was no laundry list of accomplishments for any game like there are now with achievements.
To me, trying to get achievements feels like homework, and my brothers and sisters, I played video games to avoid homework not do more of it!
BUT, as I’ve grown older I’ve realized that the human experience means that there is no lack of preferences out there that will be foreign to my own. People should just play how they want so they’re having fun. I don’t have to understand why getting 100% of the available achievements is fun to some, just that it is. I won’t be doing it, but the option being there doesn’t take away from anything for me. I don’t feel anxious about ignoring them.
Consoles live and die by their exclusives. Xbox hasn’t had the draw that Sony and Nintendo have.
Gamepass is still a good deal, but I wouldn’t buy a console for it.