FTA:
Ultimately, Anbernic should really consider discontinuing the sale of their devices with pre-loaded pirated games. Yes, this is commonly seen by some as a grey area. Yes, we’re talking about this on a website that promotes the purchase and use of handheld devices for the sake of retro game emulation.
However, selling devices that come with pre-loaded ROMs is much less grey, and should the US classify Anbernic as a ‘superfake’, it could lead to the halt of some or all sales of the companies devices to and within the United States.
I’d prefer if they removed the preloaded ROMs to keep regulatory eyes off of the hobby altogether. In any case, half the fun is building your collections and figuring out how to navigate the internet.
I feel the same, but apparently there’s a quite a few people buying handhelds off of Tiktok and Amazon who get super pissed when they get something that requires set up and ROM loading, which encourages manufacturers to pre-load.
Oh god, the tech illiterate ignoramuses will ruin piracy for us all
They are always the ones who mess it up. It becomes popular because its “easy.”
The final paragraph of the recommendation is grasping at straws.
" The harm extends beyond substitution for authorised game sales. Anbernic normalises hardware based piracy…"These retro games are not available to purchase so there is no substitution issue. Unless the substitution definition is being extended to include alternative new games. As for normalising piracy, predatory business practices and mercenary pricing models are doing far more work there…
The fact the industry is going digital only with licenses that allow purches to disappear with no reimbursement I don’t ever see them filling the hole retro gamers are looking for. Personally I have no justification to buy a AAA system. They don’t make anything I want. Maybe that is what they should focus on.
