[toast0]

> There is no way in hell Nintendo still makes significant revenue from selling, say, the Super Mario Brothers NES cartridge, or its software image.

I mean, I bought it for the Wii Virtual Console, I got the mini NES, I got the mini SNES (that has all-stars right? although that's a port not the ROM, I suppose), I've paid for switch online from time to time which provides it. Mario 35 was pretty neat and I'd pay for it to return if it was offered; again, that's not really the ROM, but still.

It's not yet 40 years old, which is pretty young to be considered an old work, IMHO.

All that said, in terms of just copying, there's not much meaningful enforcement: the roms are out there. You can get them all over the net; you can buy unlicensed hardware devices that include them at all your favorite bazaars, etc. Not much in the way of unlicensed derivative works (other than some unlicensed ports or reimplimentations to similar hardware back in the day), but trademark most likely prevents broad commercial reach of derivative works anyway.

[croon]

> > There is no way in hell Nintendo still makes significant revenue from selling, say, the Super Mario Brothers NES cartridge, or its software image.

> I mean, I bought it for the Wii Virtual Console, I got the mini NES, I got the mini SNES (that has all-stars right? although that's a port not the ROM, I suppose), I've paid for switch online from time to time which provides it. Mario 35 was pretty neat and I'd pay for it to return if it was offered; again, that's not really the ROM, but still.

Sure, but to reiterate how I read GP:s post, did you buy it "to get the game" or did you buy it to play it on your Wii? I think that's the crux of it. Even if the old games were in public domain, Nintendo could still sell it to you in a product/service that makes it playable on the Wii, which it otherwise would not be, and that would still be worth it to some people.

> It's not yet 40 years old, which is pretty young to be considered an old work, IMHO.

IMHO your HO is likely based on learned behavior, not how things should (whatever that means) or could be.

[toast0]

I didn't have a licensed copy or a good way to play unlicensed copies at the time, so I'll say I paid to get the game. The mini NES has HDMI and is easier to travel with than my aging Wii, so that's nice. I've also now taken possession of the family NES from when I was young, so I can play the game as intended. I also picked up a super famicom recently to play super mario world properly (even with international shipping, it was much less expensive than a north american market SNES), but Nintendo doesn't get new revenue from that.