This is not a rant against nintendo. This is a comment on their seemingly intentional destruction of historic software.
In the PC world, there are websites. Websites like BetaArchive, which holds 84 terabytes of historic PC software and games some of which is only available on their private FTP server and if it went down would mean the loss of dozens of rare pieces of software, as well as beta versions of many operating systems and other piecse of software. And two other sites, WinWorld and VetusWare, which have open download systems but far less software than BetaArchive. In fact, there are only about 4 websites with comprehensive archives of PC software that I can think of:
- betaarchive (http://betaarchive.com, private)
- winworld (http://winworldpc.com)
- vetusware (http://vetusware.com)
- old-dos.ru
So if all four of these sites went down, it would be far harder to find historic software and some would be lost.
Now let's apply this to video games.
There are many rare and classic video games where the developers went bankrupt and disappeared as early as the 1980s and there is no IP left and the game cannot be printed - or even worse, beta versions of software, such as the recently discovered SpaceWorld 1997 demo of Pokemon Gold and Silver, where the software was not complete so no support was required.
As loveroms and emuparadise shut down, this leaves only one site that even gives the option to download it without a virus-filled installer - ---.
If this one site goes down, games will be far harder to find and even be lost permanently. There was an infamous case of this in BetaArchive, when someone accidentally scratched what was the potentially only disk of that piece of software in the world remaining, as well as someone trying to rip Windows Longhorn Build 4007 (a build sofar not found) where the CD destroyed itself during ripping.
Nintendo in its mostly vain quest to destroy ROMs has inadvertently (or maybe maliciously) damaged history PERMANENTLY.
What if --- goes down?
What if TCRF goes down?
So here is my message to you emuparadise:
Restore the non Nintendo part of the collection, if you feel like sharing Nintendo games will be too risky.
It will benefit us all.
