Language…
19 users online: AmazingChest,  AmperSam,  Anorakun, apache,  Eden_, elegist, Fozymandias, GRIMMKIN, Heitor Porfirio, NTI Productions, Null42, OEO6, Rykon-V73,  Telinc1,  Thomas, tOaO, Tulip Time Scholarship Games, underway,  yoshi3706 - Guests: 287 - Bots: 448
Users: 64,795 (2,373 active)
Latest user: mathew

The Ethics of Repro Carts

  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 2
Honestly, I don't know how this hasn't even come up yet, but... how many of these hacks crash when played on a SNES? Were the carts even tested properly?
This is indeed an interesting and complex topic. Here are my thoughts.

Case 1: A company makes a game from scratch and sells it


If a company like Nintendo makes and sells a game then this is 100% legal and legit. It's ethical since this is a normal business practice. Interestingly some of the business practices that Nintendo did with the NES in the 80's were ethically questionable since they tried to have a monopolistic hold on the video game market with their developers.


Case 2: A person makes a hack and its free to download


Many companies have disclaimers on their products warning about the legality of making illegal copies of the game and/or tampering around with their products in ways that the product was not designed to be tampered with. If a company really wanted to bust someone for making a hack of their game then legally they have the right to do this. But the question is should they?

Companies are looking to make sales simply put. This is their primary goal. Taking legal action against a person who made a rom hack isn't necessarily in the best interest of a company who can spend time and energy working on their next big product. That being said companies can still excessive their right to do so. Not too long ago Nintendo took down a website which allowed players to play the first level in Super Mario 64 in HD which was free to play online. If they see it as a big enough threat they will take it action.

While companies can legally do this I honestly think it gives them nothing more than bad press. If a company starts acting like a dick to its customers and upsets its fans then ultimately the company will loose sales in the end. So the best way for a company to view these works is just to smile at them and move on.

Fan creations can have positive impacts on a company too. Look at all the free advertising and publicity Nintendo gets from fan made films and Mario flash movies on youtube. As long as the work is free to everyone then there isn't any real harm done and I do not see anything ethically immoral here.


Case 3: A person sells their own hack


Let's say that a person made their own hack and sells it. Well firstly, it may be a legal violation if they even make such a hack and then secondly they are now making money off of a product that isn't even 100% theirs. While this may not be legal, is it actually unethical? I think it really depends on the specifics of the situation. It depends on how much work was put into the hack and how much money they are profiting from it. If a person makes only a few slight changes to the original game and tries to pass it off as the original and makes an incredible amount of money in the process then it might be unethical. However, if a person spends years of their life creating an absolute masterpiece game hack that is truly a work of art and everyone loves it and the person gets compensated for their work in the form of profit from selling it then maybe it's not that bad ethically to do this.


Case 4: Selling another person's hack


I think it mainly depends on whether the author of the hack has given permission to allow other people to use their work or not. If a person made a hack and clearly stated that others can use it then so be it. But if a hacker clearly states that they do not want their work sold in any way then for someone else to sell it anyway is pretty sketchy. But ethics really just depend on the situation at hand. What if there was an SNES collector out there who just had to have a hack on a physical cartridge and the author of that hack clearly stated that selling their hack is forbidden, but there just so happens to exist a company that will do this for a price so that this ultimate collector can rest in peace by having this cart? Maybe it's unethical for some OCD collector to not be able to have this in their SNES collection because maybe it might bring them pain and misery.
What about hacks with custom music? Would it play properly or just make screeching sounds?
Originally posted by TRS
Honestly, I don't know how this hasn't even come up yet, but... how many of these hacks crash when played on a SNES? Were the carts even tested properly?

Originally posted by IanBoy141
What about hacks with custom music? Would it play properly or just make screeching sounds?


Only thing preventing smw hacks to run on real hardware was the old addmusic tool, and its been fixed years ago, although some old hacks has never been updated to fix it, so they dont work(it works fine until the level that uses custom music that doesn't work on real hardware, it kind-of plays, then after beating level or going to sublevel it crashes, or just crashes straight away).

Source, I have Super EverDrive, and 99% hacks I've tired works fine even with custom music(as long as its not interested with ancient addmusic tool).
Originally posted by KDeee
Only thing preventing smw hacks to run on real hardware was the old addmusic tool, and its been fixed years ago, although some old hacks has never been updated to fix it, so they dont work(it works fine until the level that uses custom music that doesn't work on real hardware, it kind-of plays, then after beating level or going to sublevel it crashes, or just crashes straight away).

Actually, not only is the music the problem but also many more stuff. Incompatible musics are the most common problems but using registers at the wrong time (which is often used on e.g. old versions of the NPC sprite, message box DX and VWF dialogues) can cause some glitches too. Just my two cents.
Originally posted by MarioFanGamer
Originally posted by KDeee
Only thing preventing smw hacks to run on real hardware was the old addmusic tool, and its been fixed years ago, although some old hacks has never been updated to fix it, so they dont work(it works fine until the level that uses custom music that doesn't work on real hardware, it kind-of plays, then after beating level or going to sublevel it crashes, or just crashes straight away).

Actually, not only is the music the problem but also many more stuff. Incompatible musics are the most common problems but using registers at the wrong time (which is often used on e.g. old versions of the NPC sprite, message box DX and VWF dialogues) can cause some glitches too. Just my two cents.

Interesting, I didnt know that since I avoid any story-"heavy" hacks for many reasons, but I know that the newer info box DX works fine on SED(since I use it on my hack in the tutorial level).
I consider repro carts unethical in general. You're taking a work with questionable legality as it is, then putting it on a cart without the permission of anyone involved in the mod or the original game or anyone who's contributed resources to it.

They also bring unwanted attention to game mods/ROM hacks, which we don't need (especially not in the 'some people are selling these' context).

Either way, if any large company finds out about these guys, all hell will probably break loose.
For gaming news and Wario discussions, check out Gaming Reinvented and Wario Forums respectively.

As for Mario's Nightmare Quest? Well, it's currently on Fusion Gameworks, ROM Hacking.net or the GCN at the moment.
I find it fascinating to see my hacks out there on repro carts as it seems to serve as proof that they work on hardware. It also shows how popular they have gotten over the years since their release. Recently, aterraformer asked me why I don't seek a cut of the profits from the sales of these repros. I told him it's something I never thought about, but after thinking about it and reading some of the posts in this thread, it might not be such a great idea since it would give Nintendo more of a reason to take action against me. I don't want to be sued or locked up, which my trigger my religious side to believe that I'm going to hell.
Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)
Can I just say one thing make your own is asm license

that is mine nobody will steal it will when it has a license created

this idea will help all of you people
The cognitive dissonance is astounding here.

Now then, reproduction carts are inherently illegal because they run afoul of copyright laws and conventions and that repro carts are unethical because of its use going beyond copyright infringement into selling warez (piracy). Its a bit hypocritical to draw moral/ethical lines on that just because of the effect of the market may not be as bad as it is in another when you are making x amount of copies of games you own and passing it off as either repro or authentic... they are still unquestionably illegal.

While we are at it, can we stop using the word "repro" because its a very inaccurate word to desecribe the specific aftermarket goods we are discussing? Reproduction by nature is to reproduce an original work and its illegal for anyone else but the copyright holders to do.
Modern Redrawn Mario Bros. 1.5 (last update - February 14, 2023, some new bonus frames, tons of minor touchups to various poses)

On Pixel Art Requests: Depends on what it is and if I have the time for it. If its complex and I don't have the time, don't expect me to accept it.

Projects I support:


If someone found a way to profit off my stuff, I'd probably be able to out compete them once I realized there was an actual market for it.

Who's going to buy "Kai's hack v0.56" from some random person when they can buy "Kai's hack v1.00 GOLD FINAL" directly from the author?
  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 2