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Downloading ROM images from the Internet is copyright infringement in most notable* cases. Even if you own the cartridge, cartridge readers are illegal under anti-circumvention statutes in some countries.

* Freeware NES games made by hobbyists exist, but few if any been reviewed by multiple reliable sources.

Let them get an emulator, and let them get a homebrew ROM. Just stay away from infringing copies of games published by Nintendo itself.

Unfortunately, a lot of the examples you cite won't be helpful to an HTPC maker trying to compete with Xbox One and PlayStation 4. "WinXP under a VM" requires Windows XP retail install media and a Certificate of Authenticity, which a lot of people don't already have. Users would end up confused as to which games work in Wine and which don't. Nor can an HTPC maker advertise compatibility with ROMs for Nintendo platforms without running the risk of getting sued for inducing copyright infringement. An Ubuntu HTPC maker would have to stick to games in Ubuntu's apps directory, NES homebrew, Steam for Linux, GOG, Humble Bundle, and what else?

in a way there are very very few Tetris clones that are "good." Considering most either have the "NES Bug" (impossible to play after a certian level because the tetrominos cannot reach the edges of the playing field before the last 2-3 rows at the bottom)

Does LJ65 for NES have the "NES bug"?

They could have at least included a demo ROM to run.

Take your pick.

Jailbreak a mobile and you can run emulators on it. A NES or SNES in your pocket.

For one thing, few smartphones have a D-pad and physical buttons designed for gaming. A multitouch surface doesn't cut it because without tactile feedback, it's hard to tell whether your thumb is properly aligned over the buttons. For another, there are very few good homebrew games for NES and fewer still for Super NES. It's easier for a programmer to write a native Android or iOS app than to write an NES game in assembly language, even though that doesn't stop some people. Or are you talking about making infringing copies of commercial video game ROMs?

Jailbreak a mobile and you can run emulators on it. A NES or SNES in your pocket.

For one thing, few smartphones have a D-pad and physical buttons designed for gaming. A multitouch surface doesn't cut it because without tactile feedback, it's hard to tell whether your thumb is properly aligned over the buttons. For another, there are very few good homebrew games for NES and fewer still for Super NES. It's easier for a programmer to write a native Android or iOS app than to write an NES game in assembly language, even though that doesn't stop some people. Or are you talking about making infringing copies of commercial video game ROMs?

So basically he claim that if it can run Amiga Bratwurst in 1080 there's not need to upgrade the hardware because hey, it's 1080p?

Omg the graphics! http://www.mobygames.com/game/amiga/bratwurst/screenshots/gameShotId,192350/ ;D

(Actually it's very fun, zooming in and out as you approach each other.
Amiga Roketz looked better but played worse.
And then there was Gravity Force of course.)

The people who hacked hypervisor didn't give two shits about "getting games for free." It was about getting linux running with full hardware access.

The people who hacked the PSP didn't give a shit about "getting games for free" either. They did it because they wanted to get their programs and code to run freely - things like a proper browser that didn't suck ass (come on Sony, would it have KILLED you to allow space for a swap file from the memory stick?).

GBA and DS - I could believe you, or I could look at the library of fully freely available homebrew games only loadable via flash cart.

Now, do these eventually get co-opted by those who want to "get games for free"? Probably so. All systems get hacked over time, it's in the nature of systems. Depending on how prevalent the system, and whether there are options otherwise, it can take a short or long time. Sony knew, when they killed OtherOS, that they were immensely speeding up the process, and anything else they do from this point is just the result of their being too paranoid, senile, or incompetent to know better.

A Pandora.

This page suggests that there's a lead time of several months to buy the hardware.

And though Wikipedia has a list of games for the major video game consoles, its article about Pandora lacked such a list. Nor could I find a corresponding with Google games for pandora or list of pandora games. Google pandora release list turned up this list of a bunch of emulators (without any licensed ROMs) and source ports of M-rated first-person shooters developed by Id Software. Do you expect original games with production values comparable to those of well-known PSP games to be produced for the Pandora? Or do you expect people to buy one device exclusively for major-label games and a second device exclusively for indie games?

Other than emulators can anyone point me to a homebrew game for ds, iPhone or psp that doesn't suck or is a port?

Shameless self-promotion here, but my action-adventure game Anguna, while a bit short, doesn't, in my opinion, suck. It's available for DS and GBA.

Other decent DS homebrew includes:
Twin Isles
A touch of war
Crocodingus in Cube Island
Tales of Dagur

Of course, none of these are commercial quality, but they're fun.

Other than emulators can anyone point me to a homebrew game for ds, iPhone or psp that doesn't suck or is a port?

Shameless self-promotion here, but my action-adventure game Anguna, while a bit short, doesn't, in my opinion, suck. It's available for DS and GBA.

Other decent DS homebrew includes:
Twin Isles
A touch of war
Crocodingus in Cube Island
Tales of Dagur

Of course, none of these are commercial quality, but they're fun.

Other than emulators can anyone point me to a homebrew game for ds, iPhone or psp that doesn't suck or is a port?

Shameless self-promotion here, but my action-adventure game Anguna, while a bit short, doesn't, in my opinion, suck. It's available for DS and GBA.

Other decent DS homebrew includes:
Twin Isles
A touch of war
Crocodingus in Cube Island
Tales of Dagur

Of course, none of these are commercial quality, but they're fun.

I happen to agree with the GP, and I've written tons of games in the past 40 years. Here's my Atari 2600 version of Lunar Lander:

http://www.pdroms.de/files/73/

Run it through an emulator like Stella to play.

I later ported the game to Flash, but it's not quite as fun as the 60Hz 2600 version. However, you can play it on a Wii! (Use S for thrust if you're on a PC.)

http://www.wiicade.com/gameDetail.aspx?gameID=692

ASUS isn't in the content business, so I'm not sure where the software is going to come from.

Apart from the free and non-free games that work on GNU/Linux, Asus could start with ports from the GP32, GP2X, and (soon) Pandora communities, or perhaps an emulator that can run homebrew games.

You mean like the Gameboy Player addition for the GCN?

Yeah, but you'll probably still have to leave your GameCube hooked up, as the Revolution isn't expected to have the GameCube High Speed Port through which the Game Boy Player sends input, video, and audio data. In addition, a lot of Game Boy titles don't work on the Game Boy Player; most notably, these include 8-bit games that use an external keyboard, 8-bit games that use the early 4-player adapter, those that use a tilt sensor, sun sensor in the Game Pak, and a few titles that rely on FMV. Details in Game Boy Player@E2.

Given the Revolution's aim to be able to emulate many (or most) of the older games for their older systems, I suspect you won't have much of a problem with your desire.

For one thing, only NES, Super NES, and N64 were announced, not Nintendo arcade systems nor handheld systems, and even among those, only games published by Nintendo were announced, as Nintendo may be having trouble getting other publishers signed on to re-release their games on Revolution Live Arcade. And will I be able to play homebrew?

My point was even the SNES is a hell of a lot easier.

Not especially. They use almost the same CPU, and for scrolling-background type code, the programming model is nearly the same. In fact, it's harder to get sound going on a Super NES because you have to learn two instruction sets and communicate between the two through a really narrow channel.

Most people who are "developing" for the NES are just hacking existing ROMS

Sure, the ROM hacking community overshadows the original development community, but it still exists. Heck, I've made a Free tetris clone for the NES.

I should point out that the original Xbox also works great as a game player -- an emulation game player.

How much better at emulation is an Xbox than, say, my 866 MHz PC with a USB gamepad and TV-out? And how did you manage to dump all your original Game Paks into computer files for use by your emulator, or are you using these ROMs?

Those Slashdotters amongst you and those curious should check out the following sites for the latest in Nintendo DS Emulation and Homebrew news and downloads PDroms.com - Legal Rom Download and news site.
Drunken Coders - DS Homebrew News Site.
Nintendo DS Emulation News - Nintendo DS Emulation and Homebrew News and Downloads Site/Archive.
DS Development Forums - The Hub of the DS Development Scene.
All those sites provide you with everything you need to know about the Nintendo DS and its Legal Homebrew Community.

[This modified NES] has a CD drive so you just throw in a cd full of roms and you can play any of them on the console on the TV in the living room. Is that legal?

No reason why it wouldn't be.

PDRoms Coding Competition 3.33 is going on right now, check it out if you want. I'm too busy to participate this time, myself.

The yearly MiniGame Compo is great too. I've written 1kB and 4kB games in previous years, they didn't rank too well but they were a lot of fun to write.

I'm just dreaming but my idea of a revolution would have the capacity to program GBA carts with games I download.

Here's your revolution, and here are the free games.

The problem with a GameCube competition is that the standard of production quality on a system with 3D capability is often too high for a project produced by an individual. That's why there's the PDROMS competition designed for simpler systems such as the NES, Game Gear, Genesis, Game Boy Advance, etc., where an individual project could still compete.

And if you find groceries to be too expensive, just take them!

I plant an apple tree on my property and license the general public to just take one apple per person.

Or I write a GBA video game, put it on my web site, and license the general public to download it. There are a lot of free and Free GBA programs, many of which you can download at pdroms.

How about the Gizmondo (released by Tiger Telematics)?
Sure it's not the same company, but hey... you've seen one tiger, you've seen them all right?

PDRoms also has some nice Game&Watch stuff (here's a list from the comp).

Failing that, go buy a DS and all the Game & Watch carts ;)

How about the Gizmondo (released by Tiger Telematics)?
Sure it's not the same company, but hey... you've seen one tiger, you've seen them all right?

PDRoms also has some nice Game&Watch stuff (here's a list from the comp).

Failing that, go buy a DS and all the Game & Watch carts ;)

Now, there's likely was that a multi-platform emulator can step around this limitation, like requiring the user to declare which emulation mode is to be used

Two words: Filename extension. On my computer, I have .nes set to launch FCE Ultra, .bin set to launch a DGen, and .gba set to launch VisualBoyAdvance.

I don't think there are any freeware Game Boy Advance games in circulation yet.

You think wrong. In fact, I myself have made some and have run them on hardware.

You can legally copy your cartriges to your computer (if you can) to make a backup copy that could later be used to restore a lost or damaged cartrige

I can also make copies and adaptations necessary to run a program on a given computer (17 USC 117).

The moral justifiation that you can download from the internet what you legally have another copy of is not a legal one.

The defense of owning a lawful copy (that is, an original Game Pak) does shift the burden of proof to the copyright owner to prove that the alleged infringer was not capable of making the copy, which raises a question of fact that can preclude summary judgment. The seventh amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that civil suits where at least $20 is at stake will go before a jury, which brings into the picture jury nullification of copyright technicalities such as the DMCA.

Of course, nothing you read on Slashdot is legal advice; only your attorney can provide that.

Robotron is cool, but I think that Llamatron is even cooler. It had humour and a gameplay that was very similar to RoboTron anyways. Thumbs up.
Anyways, PDRoms.de is having a Llamatron-style competition(rules ), so take a look if you loved the game. The entries will be up very soon after the deadline, if I know the webmaster well enough :)

And for the ultimate survival game? Max Payne 2 ;)

Robotron is cool, but I think that Llamatron is even cooler. It had humour and a gameplay that was very similar to RoboTron anyways. Thumbs up.
Anyways, PDRoms.de is having a Llamatron-style competition(rules ), so take a look if you loved the game. The entries will be up very soon after the deadline, if I know the webmaster well enough :)

And for the ultimate survival game? Max Payne 2 ;)

The rules they laid out were pretty overly harsh IMO. Rules No copyrighted material _at all_, no ports, remakes or updates of existing work. They should have allowed it, but marked up people for originality instead. Its not exactly encouraging to the newer coders. Maybe thats why they only got 19 submissions. One of them even got disqualified for using a music track from some obscure dance artist.

It does not play GBA games. It plays Gameboy Games, and to limited extent, Gameboy Color Games. There is an entire world of difference.

While I will give credit to the GP32 for being a nice machine, I will definately say I have seen no proof that the machine is actually THAT much superior to the GBA, and it's main real advantages come from having a vast amount more memory.

The GP32 prides itself on being an opened platform to develope for, and that's a good thing. Yet, if you take a look at the homebrew dev scene on the GBA, you will see that it appears quite some degree more active than the GP32 ( See for yourself. )

Taking a look at PD roms available from just one good source you see that the GP32 has 115 while the GBA has a whopping 521. That's not counting GB/GBC roms as well (302).

Given that the GP32's strong point is the opened developement that it relies on, even that advantage doesn't weigh in well when you consider that the scene is much larger on the GBA.

The GBA also has a much stronger commercial following, and a whole slew of other advantages (GC connectivity, lower price, and easier availability, etc) it isn't so easy in the end to say that the GP32 is "superior" to the GBA.

A great machine, yes, but not a GBA killer. Not by far.

It was used to play roms, end of story.

And how does this make emulator software automatically illegal? First of all, not all ROMs are illegal to redistribute. Some ROMs are even free software under the FSF's definition. Second, the owner of a genuine copy of a work who dumps the copy and adapts it for use on another machine does not infringe the copyright in the work (17 USC 117).

You know full damn well the primary purpose of this product will be to play illegally-downloaded roms.

How again is it an infringement of copyright to download GPL'd or otherwise freely redistributable ROM images?

Looking at the specs it only appears to emulate the GB and GBC not the GBA.

However, even if it isn't possible to emulate the whole GBA on the GP32, it would be straightforward to source-port free GBA software by partially emulating the graphics and sound hardware.

I cant wait for someone to come out for an emulator!

Download GBA freeware (or dump your GBA cartridges with a "Flash Linker" sold at gbax.com or gamegizmo.com), and then play the games with VisualBoyAdvance.

The graphics are most definitely comparable to a mid-1990s SNES, the 16 bit one, not the NES (the 8 bit).

I'd compare the GBA's graphic power to a Super NES with an overclocked Super FX chip, or perhaps some of the really early PlayStation stuff. Look at graphic demos such as "Beyond the Limits", "fr018: aGb", "Period Of Revolutionary Transform", "VIT 2", "Kilken", "Bunnykost", and "Lollipoop". Download them at pdroms.com and run them on VisualBoyAdvance.

game play were always unbeatable

Only because you sucked ;-)