this is a post from gamefaqs:
I'm sure you've played ROMs before. It's about all this board ever wants to discuss it seems. But do you ever wonder how the ROMs come into being? They're exact duplicates of the data on cartridges of course. Generally, the day a game is released, or the day after, someone who has the right hardware buys or borrows the new game, copies it, and distributes it on the internet. EBGames has an interesting policy that lets you return a game within 7 days if you don't like it, so sometimes they can do this free of charge.
But... sometimes, the ROM appears on the internet before (sometimes -well- before) release date. This usually happens with high-demand games. They are shipped to stores early, and the stores aren't allowed to sell them before release date, or they get a strict fine. So the release group's representative, typically male, aged 14-17, has contacts who work at these stores who get the game early. All they have to do is go to the store at the appointed time with the hardware, go to the back room, meet the employee, and make a copy, without anyone knowing any better.
But in exchange for this privilege of dumping the game before street date, they are required to perform a favor to the employee who is risking his job to make this transaction. That favor is, generally, a blowjob. So the next time you play a ROM... take a moment to think about the teenaged boy who got down on his knees in the backroom of a Gamestop to bring this release to the masses on the internet.
