In light of this recent post right here on the Metroid 2002 / Metroid HQ Forum, we, several important members of the Speed Running community, have decided that runs created using any form of emulator (e.g. NESticle, ZSNES, and especially Visual Boy Advance) will no longer be accepted for hosting on Metroid 2002 or Speed Demos Archive. Said runs may still be hosted inside individual user accounts on Metroid 2002, but will not be converted to MPEG-4 or any other format for distribution as if they were real runs.
We have several reasons for this decision. Firstly, as the above post demonstrates, at least one prominent Speed Runner saw no problem with using settings while recording that are known to cause massive slowdown on all existing computers. Playback of such VMU files will not demonstrate the same level of slowdown as was observed on the recording computer unless the same emulator settings are used on a similar system. Obviously, any boost to a player's accuracy due to slowdown not present when playing the actual game is unfair and should be considered cheating.
Further, said slowdown cannot be entirely eliminated even with optimal settings. Certain unavoidable rooms in both Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission will slow the emulation down no matter what settings the player uses, and so any complete run through either of those games using an emulator is automatically cheated.
Third, alternatives exist to emulators for recording runs. Using a VHS VCR, anyone can record themselves playing any video game, and sending that tape to me (address available upon request), whether it is NTSC, PAL, or SECAM, will result in a full data video of the legitimate run, which Radix and I can then post on M2K2 or SDA. We realize that the small size of emulator videos is an advantage to those who still use dial-up connections, but we are also aware that several individuals on dial-up connections have downloaded Radix's 100% in 1:37 Metroid Prime run in its entirety, which is over 500 Megabytes in size. The longer time dial-up users will have to wait to watch Speed Runs is simply the price we have to pay to insure that all available runs were fairly produced. As an added bonus, virtually anyone with a computer can watch these so-called "full data videos," as opposed to emulator-based runs, which are currently limited to playback on <i>some</i> computers running Microsoft operating systems.
Fourth, the illegality of emulated runs is not in question: unless the player and all viewers of the run physically copy their cartridge's ROM to their computer, the law is broken every time an emulator-based run is recorded or watched. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act it is illegal in the United States to copy games unless you physically own the original cartridge and desire to make one backup copy of the cartridge on your computer. Since both Metroid 2002 and Speed Demos Archive are based in the United States and are run by United States citizens, we cannot legally condone emulated runs.
Although it is theoretically possible to submit cheated runs based on consoles, we feel that this does not in any way allay the above listed points. There is simply too much going against emulated runs to allow them to be treated as if they were legitimate.
Again, we sincerely regret this decision, but in light of the above evidence, we could no longer ignore the situation.
As a footnote, Sesshoumaru's 1% Showmanship Run, although emulator-based, will continue to be featured on Metroid 2002, as it is more of a technical demonstration of what is possible in Metroid Fusion, not a Speed Run (i.e. the final time of the run, whatever it may be, will not be added to any High Scores listing).
We have several reasons for this decision. Firstly, as the above post demonstrates, at least one prominent Speed Runner saw no problem with using settings while recording that are known to cause massive slowdown on all existing computers. Playback of such VMU files will not demonstrate the same level of slowdown as was observed on the recording computer unless the same emulator settings are used on a similar system. Obviously, any boost to a player's accuracy due to slowdown not present when playing the actual game is unfair and should be considered cheating.
Further, said slowdown cannot be entirely eliminated even with optimal settings. Certain unavoidable rooms in both Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission will slow the emulation down no matter what settings the player uses, and so any complete run through either of those games using an emulator is automatically cheated.
Third, alternatives exist to emulators for recording runs. Using a VHS VCR, anyone can record themselves playing any video game, and sending that tape to me (address available upon request), whether it is NTSC, PAL, or SECAM, will result in a full data video of the legitimate run, which Radix and I can then post on M2K2 or SDA. We realize that the small size of emulator videos is an advantage to those who still use dial-up connections, but we are also aware that several individuals on dial-up connections have downloaded Radix's 100% in 1:37 Metroid Prime run in its entirety, which is over 500 Megabytes in size. The longer time dial-up users will have to wait to watch Speed Runs is simply the price we have to pay to insure that all available runs were fairly produced. As an added bonus, virtually anyone with a computer can watch these so-called "full data videos," as opposed to emulator-based runs, which are currently limited to playback on <i>some</i> computers running Microsoft operating systems.
Fourth, the illegality of emulated runs is not in question: unless the player and all viewers of the run physically copy their cartridge's ROM to their computer, the law is broken every time an emulator-based run is recorded or watched. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act it is illegal in the United States to copy games unless you physically own the original cartridge and desire to make one backup copy of the cartridge on your computer. Since both Metroid 2002 and Speed Demos Archive are based in the United States and are run by United States citizens, we cannot legally condone emulated runs.
Although it is theoretically possible to submit cheated runs based on consoles, we feel that this does not in any way allay the above listed points. There is simply too much going against emulated runs to allow them to be treated as if they were legitimate.
Again, we sincerely regret this decision, but in light of the above evidence, we could no longer ignore the situation.
As a footnote, Sesshoumaru's 1% Showmanship Run, although emulator-based, will continue to be featured on Metroid 2002, as it is more of a technical demonstration of what is possible in Metroid Fusion, not a Speed Run (i.e. the final time of the run, whatever it may be, will not be added to any High Scores listing).
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