I'm confused about the legality of emulation. Some sources say that emulation is legal, other sources say you must own a copy of the game, and others say that it's not legal. So what is it?!
Its a weird gray zone, technically it is illegal unless you have a copy of the game you are emulating in your possession, but most older games are so hard to come by (thousands have yet to be sort of reissued on like a sales platform like PS now/Nintendo virtual console) that the only way to play them is through emulation. Its mostly a distribution problem.
So short answer: Yes its sort of illegal if you don't have a copy in your possession.
Long answer: its complicated
just dont talk about it to the cops and you'll be fine.
What i understand is that emulation is legal if you own an original copy of the game.
It´s like the R4 cartridges for the Nintendo systems. They are cartridges that fit into the nds slot and the cartridge itself has a micro sd slot to put in Roms. They told me at the shop when i bought one that i should only use it as backup.
Yeah ... what he said.