Retro consoles with preloaded games: the ad disguised as news
Illegal ROMs, affiliate links and a El Mundo article: this is how the business of 'preloaded' retro consoles works. Legal alternatives for less…
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The great retro console deal with thousands of games that hides an ad
Would you buy a retro console because a newspaper says it's the shit? An article in El Mundo has spotlighted a 'gamestick' with thousands of games at a bargain price. Among retrogaming fans, the warning is twofold: the purchase link is an affiliate link and the console includes unlicensed ROMs. They sell you something illegal and on top of that someone earns a commission for it.
The deal with a catch
Connecting a device with tens of thousands of classic games to your TV seems like a steal. The fine print is ugly: those ROMs are not authorized. And the media outlets that present it as an opportunity don't clarify that their links are referrals. If a YouTuber did it, FACUA or the competition would come down on them; with the press, absolute silence.
Alternatives that won't get you in trouble
Want to play the classics? A second-hand PSP or an Anbernic (the RG35XX SP went from 50 to 57 euros) do the job without fine print. The more handy ones go for a thin client: for 30 euros you have a serious emulation station, and a CRT monitor from back in the day costs 10-20 euros. There's no affiliate code or risk of buying a paperweight with pirated games. The only disinterested recommendation in this whole matter comes from digital word of mouth, not from a media outlet's front page.
And the underlying question remains: if a media outlet pushes you to buy something with hidden links, what else could they be hiding?
Would you buy a retro console because a newspaper says it's the shit? An article in El Mundo has spotlighted a 'gamestick' with thousands of games at a bargain price. Among retrogaming fans, the warning is twofold: the purchase link is an affiliate link and the console includes unlicensed ROMs. They sell you something illegal and on top of that someone earns a commission for it.
The deal with a catch
Connecting a device with tens of thousands of classic games to your TV seems like a steal. The fine print is ugly: those ROMs are not authorized. And the media outlets that present it as an opportunity don't clarify that their links are referrals. If a YouTuber did it, FACUA or the competition would come down on them; with the press, absolute silence.
Alternatives that won't get you in trouble
Want to play the classics? A second-hand PSP or an Anbernic (the RG35XX SP went from 50 to 57 euros) do the job without fine print. The more handy ones go for a thin client: for 30 euros you have a serious emulation station, and a CRT monitor from back in the day costs 10-20 euros. There's no affiliate code or risk of buying a paperweight with pirated games. The only disinterested recommendation in this whole matter comes from digital word of mouth, not from a media outlet's front page.
And the underlying question remains: if a media outlet pushes you to buy something with hidden links, what else could they be hiding?
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (40 replies).
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