The retro-gaming movement continues apace, but some people simply play older games on their computers because their old system has become unreliable or they don’t want to spend the cash for the latest Nintendo DS games. Whatever the reason, roms may be the answer.

Nintendo DS Roms of all sorts suffer from a sort of marginal legality. Essentially, like old fashioned computer games, owning a copy of something you already own breaks no copy right rules, nor does playing a game made for a system you already own. On top of that, most roms have an online license permitting a temporary trial. The difficulty in that games made for Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Gameboy, et al. may simply and easily be copied to a computer with no possibility of verifying whether the copier owns or has even ever seen the system or game in question. The issue becomes even more muddied with the advent of Japanese game translations. Many of these games never were released outside of Japan, which means that technically owning one in the states infringes on international copy right laws, but no other way to enjoy the game exists. For this reason, many rom sites exist in a kind of tenuous no questions asked environment where they carefully mouth the words of the law, while actively pursuing agendas at least tangential to the spirit of the law.

This can make searching for roms a dangerous proposition as unsavory individuals uninterested in the well being or preservation of society sometimes promulgate bugs, viruses, and malware. Before looking for your favorite Nintendo DS games, check out the best in firewalls and anti-virus protection, lest your computer become terminally ill.