For many years, people have referred to "the paradise site" as one of the best places to obtain ROMs of games. From the NES, to the GBA, to the PS2, and more, this site hosted thousands of games. Of course, doing so will bring about the ire of video game developers, and it appeared that Nintendo might have led to the site having to remove many of its ROMs from Nintendo systems as of last year. Now, after 18 years, things seem to be more dire, as Emuparadise will no longer host illegal content or ROMs. The site itself will still be around, and you'll be able to participate on their forums and download emulators, however all "warez" will be removed. The owner of the site plans to have Emuparadise be a retro gaming community, heavily changing how things have been for nearly two decades.

Many of you are aware that the situation with regards to emulation sites has been changing recently. What you probably don't know is that we at EmuParadise have been dealing with similar issues for all 18 years of our existence.

From receiving threatening letters in the early days to our hosts suddenly shutting down our servers due to complaints, we've seen it all. We've always complied with takedown requests but as you can see, that is no guarantee of anything.

I started EmuParadise 18 years ago because I never got to play many of these amazing retro games while growing up in India and I wanted other people to be able to experience them. Over the years, many folks have joined in and contributed to this vision and I think I can say that we've been successful in spreading our passion for retro games far and wide.

Through the years I've worked tirelessly with the rest of the EmuParadise team to ensure that everyone could get their fix of retro gaming. We've received thousands of emails from people telling us how happy they've been to rediscover and even share their childhood with the next generations in their families. We've had emails from soldiers at war saying that the only way they got through their days was to be lost in the retrogames that they played from when they were children. We've got emails from brothers who have lost their siblings to cancer and were able to find solace in playing the games they once did as children. There are countless stories like these.

It's been a long and beautiful journey with many ups and downs. When I started EmuParadise things could have gone either way. But right now the direction they are going in could not be more than clear.

So where does that leave us?

It's not worth it for us to risk potentially disastrous consequences. I cannot in good conscience risk the futures of our team members who have contributed to the site through the years. We run EmuParadise for the love of retro games and for you to be able to revisit those good times. Unfortunately, it's not possible right now to do so in a way that makes everyone happy and keeps us out of trouble.

This is an extremely emotional decision for me after running this site for so many years. But I believe it is the right thing for us at this point of time.

Thus, we have decided to make a new start. We will continue to be passionate retro gamers and will keep doing cool stuff around retro games. But you won't be able to get your games from here for now. Where we go with this is up to us and up to you.

We'll still have our emulators database, the community, and everything that comes along with that.

We have already made several plans of what is going to happen next. It's going to be a fun new beginning and there's going to be lots to come! We'd also love to hear from you in the comments about what you think we should do. But for now, we need to make this change. We've served the community for 18 glorious years and it's been a hell of a ride!

But every end is a new beginning and we're excited to find a way forward to continue being your #1 emulation destination.

Thank you for supporting us through this journey. We could not have done so much without you visiting us, telling your friends about us, uploading screenshots and descriptions, telling us when something was wrong, letting us know when we messed up, and more. Thank you for being a part of our community and encouraging us through all these years.

 

[Gon Freecss]

There's always The Bay...

 

[FAST6191]

Except, that's impossible because not every single game can be legally purchased on a digital storefront. How the bloody hell do you expect people to buy every single damned game in existence? You can't, because there are only small fractions of games digitally available, so please, keep on bitching about piracy ad infinitum.

How does the thing being in downloadable format or not play into things?

 

[BiggieCheese]

Shelling out 100 dollars bucks a pop to some rando on eBay for a old game that’s been out of production for several years with no digital release in sight that he also had no hand whatsoever in making doesn’t sound very appealing to me, to be frank.

 

[the_randomizer]

How does the thing being in downloadable format or not play into things?

The fact that there is no legal avenue to legally obtain most old game, what the hell are people supposed to, sit idly by and hope Nintendo offers their entire library? Sorry, but the way Nintendo's been handling
the ROM site closures but then not offering games besides NES games is bullshit. Hate me for my opinions if you must, but until Nintendo offers a good system to download and keep games, instead of the stupid rental paid online, I'm downloading
whatever the hell I please.

It shouldn't matter the reason why people get ROMs.

 

[ShadowOne333]

The fact that there is no legal avenue to legally obtain most old game, what the hell are people supposed to, sit idly by and hope Nintendo offers their entire library? Sorry, but the way Nintendo's been handling
the ROM site closures but then not offering games besides NES games is bullshit. Hate me for my opinions if you must, but until Nintendo offers a good system to download and keep games, instead of the stupid rental paid online, I'm downloading
whatever the hell I please.

It shouldn't matter the reason why people get ROMs.

Amen.
Not to mention the stupid fact that they keep offering the same fucking games they always do for each console.
Less than 5% of the goddamn library of the system, and one clear example of this is the N64.
Good fucking luck trying to make Nintendo offer something outside the usual Super Mario 64, Zelda and Pokemon, because god forbid they offer something outside those.

Sorry but fuck Nintendo and their bullshit service.
I will continue using ROMs.
I don't have to pay for a game I already have with every new fucking console they release, and with ROMs I don't have to pray to see if a certain game I have from a specific console will be added to their usual bullshit library they always offer.

 

[FAST6191]

The fact that there is no legal avenue to legally obtain most old game, what the hell are people supposed to, sit idly by and hope Nintendo offers their entire library? Sorry, but the way Nintendo's been handling
the ROM site closures but then not offering games besides NES games is bullshit. Hate me for my opinions if you must, but until Nintendo offers a good system to download and keep games, instead of the stupid rental paid online, I'm downloading
whatever the hell I please.

It shouldn't matter the reason why people get ROMs.

The second hand market seems to be doing fairly well these days and is plenty legal.

I still don't know why people seem in any way concerned about these ROM site closures as well. If they want to note it then so be it, to get any kind of worried seems so very strange. ROM site decides legal pressure is too much and closes is on par with "sun rose today".

 

[ShadowOne333]

The second hand market seems to be doing fairly well these days and is plenty legal.

I still don't know why people seem in any way concerned about these ROM site closures as well. If they want to note it then so be it, to get any kind of worried seems so very strange. ROM site decides legal pressure is too much and closes is on par with "sun rose today".

I think the most aggravating thing about all of this is not Emuparadise walking away from ROM and BIOS sharing, but rather the fact that this marks like the 5th romsite that's been taken down within these last months, that kinda raises some red flags towards people.

 

[the_randomizer]

The second hand market seems to be doing fairly well these days and is plenty legal.

I still don't know why people seem in any way concerned about these ROM site closures as well. If they want to note it then so be it, to get any kind of worried seems so very strange. ROM site decides legal pressure is too much and closes is on par with "sun rose today".

Yes, but overpriced as hell; old games in digital format are way more convenient than lugging around clunky carts. Nintendo has been overly litigious and is launching a service with only 20 NES games we've seen a million times before. Sorry, but I refuse to pay for price-gouged secondhand games and for NES games with online that you can't even keep.

 

[FAST6191]

I think the most aggravating thing about all of this is not Emuparadise walking away from ROM and BIOS sharing, but rather the fact that this marks like the 5th romsite that's been taken down within these last months, that kinda raises some red flags towards people.

I on the other hand would see a ROM site go down and figure it business as usual. There are a million others, and a million more will take their place when they are gone. Update your bookmarks and carry on with life.

old games in digital format are way more convenient than lugging around clunky carts.

True, nothing stopping you from having a cart and playing a copy of it.

 

[the_randomizer]

I on the other hand would see a ROM site go down and figure it business as usual. There are a million others, and a million more will take their place when they are gone. Update your bookmarks and carry on with life.


True, nothing stopping you from having a cart and playing a copy of it.

I mean, I have what I consider the best possible Snes setup. Analogue Super NT with an SD2SNES flashcart (and now that it has both GSU-1/2 and SA-1 support), HDMI scaling for 1080p signals, it's perfection.

 

[Deleted User]

lol everyone is overreacting roms are not going anywhere.

 

[Deleted User]

lol everyone is overreacting roms are not going anywhere.

I agree. There are many romsets archived on the Internet. They are easy to find and the download speed is very fast.

 

[Mrperson0]

Except, that's impossible because not every single game can be legally purchased on a digital storefront. How the bloody hell do you expect people to buy every single damned game in existence? You can't, because there are only small fractions of games digitally available, so please, keep on bitching about piracy ad infinitum.

Uhh, have you not seen ACTUAL collectors who have done things such as obtain every N64 game and whatnot? People who devote the time and money to do that are the same ones who would truly be "preserving history".

 

[the_randomizer]

Uhh, have you not seen ACTUAL collectors who have done things such as obtain every N64 game and whatnot? People who devote the time and money to do that are the same ones who would truly be "preserving history".

Good for them if they have the money, but cartridges wear out, CDs wear out, physical media has a finite lifespan. Can't preserve games that are inoperative.

 

[ShadowOne333]

Uhh, have you not seen ACTUAL collectors who have done things such as obtain every N64 game and whatnot? People who devote the time and money to do that are the same ones who would truly be "preserving history".

Those are people that have a very good income to actually put into these kind of things.
Collector's usually have way too much money on their hands to actually collect things which tend to be high value.
90% of the people won't have that kind of money nor effort, but sure, go for that as an example.

And physical stuff has a cycle of life too, it will wear out over time, not to mention CD's are so easy to scratch, and hardware gets eaten over time due to moisture.

 

[Mrperson0]

Good for them if they have the money, but cartridges wear out, CDs wear out, physical media has a finite lifespan. Can't preserve games that are inoperative.

You can literally buy a backup device to back them up. This is not illegal to do AFAIK, just sharing your backups or downloading others' backups is.

Once again, it's amazing how pirates will try to defend piracy as much as they can.

 

[the_randomizer]

Those are people that have a very good income to actually put into these kind of things.
Collector's usually have way too much money on their hands to actually collect things which tend to be high value.
90% of the people won't have that kind of money nor effort, but sure, go for that as an example.

And physical stuff has a cycle of life too, it will wear out over time, not to mention CD's are so easy to scratch, and hardware gets eaten over time due to moisture.

Hate to break it to him, but physical games only last so long, connector pins oxydize/wear out, cartridge slots wear out, games in digital form simply last a lot longer. Drives can be backed up/cloned easily so yeah.

You can literally buy a backup device to back them up. This is not illegal to do AFAIK, just sharing your backups or downloading others' backups is.

Uh, no duh, I know that, but very few people have the means to pay for some secondhand copy some jackass on eBay marked up to $100 for rare games. ROMs are really only hurting the secondhand sellers, boo freaking hoo.


Edit: Gee, hundreds of rare games, 100 dollars a piece, wow, I can afford that in fifty years!

 

[Mrperson0]

Uh, no duh, I know that, but very few people have the means to pay for some secondhand copy some jackass on eBay marked up to $100 for rare games. ROMs are really only hurting the secondhand sellers, boo freaking hoo.

Very few Nintendo games reach that $100+ mark unless it's one of those NES championship ones. At that point, I highly doubt people would be willing to play them.

And ROMs hurt Nintendo as well since people would be less likely to buy the actual game on the eShop (normal game or Virtual Console). You cannot deny this.

Also, for some reason, people are blaming Nintendo when it was literally Emuparadise who truly jumped the gun. They didn't need to remove non-Nintendo (Arcade, Sony, etc.) roms/isos/etc. I doubt Nintendo even cared about the strategy guides.

 

[the_randomizer]

Very few Nintendo games reach that $100+ mark unless it's one of those NES championship ones. At that point, I highly doubt people would be willing to play them.

And ROMs hurt Nintendo as well since people would be less likely to buy the actual game on the eShop (normal game or Virtual Console). You cannot deny this.

Also, for some reason, people are blaming Nintendo when it was literally Emuparadise who truly jumped the gun. They didn't need to remove non-Nintendo (Arcade, Sony, etc.) roms/isos/etc. I doubt Nintendo even cared about the strategy guides.

No shit, Sherlock, but you have to realize not all of the Nintendo games are on the VC, for those games, no one is losing anything. Who is getting hurt by ROM downloads for games that aren't available? No one. Yes, Emuparadise should have kept the non Nintendo ROMs, but they went full pussy and dived off the deep end. But until every single Nintendo game is digitally available for purchase, they can kiss my ass. Screw the illegalities, they're not hurting much at all from lost ROM sales, the numbers don't figure. There's not even a VC on Switch and Wii U, abandoned.

I download whatever the hell I want, and no one, not even Nintendo, is going to stop people from doing it. If you don't like what I do, and we can't agree to disagree, I am done, so cut the white knighting please. I don't get why people blindly defend Nintendo.

 

[Mrperson0]

But until every single Nintendo game is digitally available for purchase,

Here's the thing you and many other whiners do not understand. Many, many Nintendo games had third parties from back in the day that Nintendo to deal with, and it is impossible for Nintendo to reach out to them for a re-release. That is why only the popular games keep on getting re-released.

I download whatever the hell I want, and no one, not even Nintendo, is going to stop people from doing it. If you don't like what I do, and we can't agree to disagree,

There's is no ifs, ands, or buts about it. What you and many others are doing is illegal. It's safe to say that if you could, you would download every Switch game for free if possible.

I am done, so cut the white knighting please.

How is saying "X company has the right to protect their copyright" considered to be white-knighting?