6-11-07 #795 "You have come across a wild slime!"

[Caswin]

Does this mean Amber is Doctor Doom?

[Jack McSlay]

As far as I know, NES roms are legal, and what is illegal is whatever rom of games nintendo made themselves.

If people are pirating roms of ancient Dragon Quest games, that's Square-Enix's problem, not Nintendo's, if any.

[Charey]

No NES, Sega Genesis, SNES, and N64 ROMs are not even in the grey aera anymore. Nintendo is selling them so they are not abandonwere. even games not made by Nintendo, case to point:Castlevania is made by Konami and is sold over the VC.

[Rafe]

You didnt own a Nintendo?

You still HAVE to own a Nintendo.  It's the only system with decent wallaby-related games:

[Kenji]

Fun as that game was, it would be far less annoying if Rocko would just pick Spunky up and take his butt home. >.>

[Vidar]

Technically speaking, nes roms are not legal, but Nintendo promised not to sue anyone for downloading them anymore.

[kazzellin]

Also technically speaking, you don't have to own a NEs or SNES to play those games anymore - there's an emulator out on the market that can read those games, and it's for sale legally. There's one that does only NES, and one that does both NES and SNES. One of the games at a mall nover here had both models on display and functioning, playing Ninja Gaiden and one of the Zelda games. Alas, they're about $100, so still out of my price range.

Back on topic, weren't those slimes also in the "Breath of Fire" games?

[terrycloth]

Violating copyright is usually a civil offense -- you can't get sent to prison for it. Instead, the company who holds the copyright can sue you. There might be some recent laws that change this (like the DMCA), but that's the general rule.

For a lot of old games, no one knows who holds the copyright now, so no one can sue you. That's the *real* abandonware.

Normally, the fact that something's not on the market would make it hard for the company to prove they lost money because you violated their copyright and make it impossible to sue over it, but unfortunately there's a set amount you can sue for for a copyright violation instead of showing damages and it's VERY HIGH. $250,000 or something, I think? Maybe that was just for distributing it.

Oh, services like Gametap are offering legal emulation of a lot of the old games, meaning Nintendo is getting money from Gametap for the right to let people play those games. And there've been several waves of compliations of old games sold for the PS2 and the like by Capcom and other companies. So there's a good chance that there *is* a legal option to play the games that you're choosing not to pay for when you emulate instead.

[Aleolus]

Best way to deal with a slime/group of slimes?  KASIZZLE!

[Alondro]

Actually, the best way to deal with slimes is from the "The Blob".  Liquid nitrogen.  Then ship them to the center of Antarctica.   

*Charles wonders if phasers would destroy the blob...*  Looks like it's time for Science! 

[Akisohida]

Would you believe, when I first played Dragon Quest: Journey of The Cursed King, I did not know it was in the Dragon Warrior series untill I ran into a Slime and heard the victory music? I was like 'waiiiit a minute! That is Dragon Warrior stuff!' then I found out Dragon Warrior was called Dragon Quest in Japan.

[rabid_fox]

Back on topic, weren't those slimes also in the "Breath of Fire" games?

I distinctly recall the KingSlime that whalloped you six ways from Sunday in BoFIII (legendary game. The world needs saving from all sorts of nasties and nastiness and craziness but first, lets go fishing and catch blue whales with a small rod).

[Kenji]

Back on topic, weren't those slimes also in the "Breath of Fire" games?

I distinctly recall the KingSlime that whalloped you six ways from Sunday in BoFIII (legendary game. The world needs saving from all sorts of nasties and nastiness and craziness but first, lets go fishing and catch blue whales with a small rod).

"Aw you weady?"  "Aw, thass too bad"

[rabid_fox]

Not to mention the anthropomorphic pickle.

[Azlan]

'Hug' is the only viable option when using Mab in this situation.

[superluser]

I'd just like to point out a couple of copyright misconceptions.  The rule of life+70 is only true for works created by a single author.  Works created by a group (like most video games) are typically protected for 95 years from the date of creation.  These terms are for works created in the US or the EU after 1978.  Your country may have different laws.

Copyright violation can be pursued in the civil courts and/or the criminal courts (if you can get a prosecutor to take the case on), and it can result in prison time, but I think you have to distribute more than $1000 worth of copyrighted stuff before it's a criminal matter.

As to orphan works (works whose copyright owners no longer exist or cannot be found), the US Copyright Office has addressed the issue.  Abandonware apparently got an exception to the DMCA, but it's still illegal to distribute it.

(trying desperately to shut up about copyright...)

there's an emulator out on the market that can read those games [...] Alas, they're about $100, so still out of my price range.

Go to your local used console game shop.  They'll usually have used (S)NES consoles for sale.

Actually, the best way to deal with slimes is from the "The Blob".  Liquid nitrogen.  Then ship them to the center of Antarctica.

That won't stop it.

[nikename2]

Hmm, I thought you defeated The Blob by throwing pies at it....or mabye thats the muppet version.

[kaskar]

          In the Ghost buster movies, the move would be to attack ( shoot ) the slime, and contain ( hug ? ) it into a special storage container. Do you use big guns, or just use magic ?  You pay a price each time you use magic ...

           ( out of curiousity, does Vista have an interperater so you can play all those old floppy disk games ? )

[Zedd]

I wouldnt reconmend playing the old NES Ghostbusters games if your life depended on it.

[Aridas]

coming from someone only taking his advice from a satirical online series...

[Manawolf]

Which shows actual gameplay that truly looks like utter ****.

[Aridas]

And yet this all has nothing to do with the topic at hand.

[bill]

Surprise!

[Zedd]

While going back onto topic..Now we know a few factors of this page...We know now watch out for Mab on the battlefiled..When shes serious or plan slap happy..You know someway she will get the entire party killed

[Netrogo]

We were supposed to learn all that from that one page? Wow I need to pay more attention.

Just kiddin. In all seriousness I wish Amber would do more Questions from the Readers like this, maybe one every other week or so. I find them an amusing little break and so much better then some other people's filler *cough cough dpd cough*

[bill]

Agreed. When there's a QFR, I always think "Cool, QFR!" instead of "FILLER WHAT THE F*** IS THIS S***".

[Ted Schiller]

"You have come across a wild slime!"

I play Hunter S. Thompson with a plus six pack of beer and the magical LSD.  Bad craziness ensues.   

With regards,
Ted

[kaskar]

'Hug' is the only viable option when using Mab in this situation.

You only see what is Presumably a fur fae in the game picture with the wild slime.
The purple head look to the wild slime could be of many different creatures,
depending on which level you have got to, and the color character you picked.
( If you were playing a real game ) Azlan wears purple, and is also a fae.
( do we get Neni in ? )  What happens if you undo your headband and show your patch ?
Or even undo the patch ?  Extra power points ?

[bill]

'Hug' is the only viable option when using Mab in this situation.

You only see what is Presumably a fur fae in the game picture with the wild slime.
The purple head look to the wild slime could be of many different creatures,
depending on which level you have got to, and the color character you picked.
( If you were playing a real game ) Azlan wears purple, and is also a fae.
( do we get Neni in ? )  What happens if you undo your headband and show your patch ?
Or even undo the patch ?  Extra power points ?

[Netrogo]

'Hug' is the only viable option when using Mab in this situation.

You only see what is Presumably a fur fae in the game picture with the wild slime.
The purple head look to the wild slime could be of many different creatures,
depending on which level you have got to, and the color character you picked.
( If you were playing a real game ) Azlan wears purple, and is also a fae.
( do we get Neni in ? )  What happens if you undo your headband and show your patch ?
Or even undo the patch ?  Extra power points ?

Are you freaking kidding me? Look closer, you can even see her forhead jewel sticking out! That and it's her hair style, and the whole hug thing is a direct reference to Mab's obsession with hugging everything with a pulse (and without). Also each Fae's jewel is freaking different, that we know of. It's. Freaking. Mab. Period. Exclamation Point! [/end of freaking argument]