Ebay

Yesterday, I won a bid on Ebay for a copy of Jet Grind Radio. It cost me 13.50, including shipping. This is the first time I have ever bought anything on Ebay, let alone a game. It prompted me to post about what I think about buying old games and clarifying my position on emulators.

I've mentioned this one before

I've never owned a Dreamcast, but I played this game at a friends home. Now I've said before that I never owned what would be considered a "classic" console; my first system was a Playstation. If I wanted to play old video games they way they are meant to be played, I would have to spend several hundred dollars buying the systems and accruing the games I want to play. And that's just the basics, some more popular games can run several hundred dollars by themselves on Ebay. The guy I bought Jet Grind Radio from was also selling a copy of Earthbound for roughly $200.

It's a great game, but not $200 dollars great. I mean, look at it.

So for the most part, I prefer to emulate old games. Emulation is, by definition, illegal. It's downloading copyrighted games for free. But when you consider that most of these games are not for sale anymore, it becomes obvious that you aren't stealing anything; it wasn't being sold. Some have been remade on virtual consoles, but not nearly all the classics. And its the classics that demand outrageous prices on Ebay. When I emulate, the only people I am stealing money from are the people selling the games on Ebay. I don't feel sorry for those people.

The reason I had to buy Jet Grind Radio was because the Dreamcast emulator I got failed to work correctly. I looked at the price of a Dreamcast on Ebay, but it was more than I was willing to spend at the time. Fortunately, I have a way of borrowing one for free.