Console Classix

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Console Classix Inc.

Type of Company	Private
Founded	2000
Headquarters	North Carolina
Key people	Aaron Ethridge, CEO & President
Industry	Rental
Products	Video games for video game consoles
Website	ConsoleClassix.com

Console Classix is a United States online video game rental subscription service, whose niche is in providing console games legally for emulation on a home computer system. The company was originally launched as a free alternative to illegal console emulation and was popularized in the early year 2000, with programs such as ZSNES and Snes9x providing the average user with a simple method of pirating commercial console videogames by playing the ROM image on their home computer.

Console Classix currently offers an unlimited play subscription for $5.00 or credit for donations of old game cartridges mailed to their headquarters. The paid subscription allows you to play premium consoles such as Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy whenever there is a copy available. Users who do not have a paid subscription can still play NES and Atari 2600 games for free provided no single user is playing the game.

1 Legal Workaround
2 Proven Method
3 Supported consoles
4 Requirements
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Legal Workaround

While emulation of videogame consoles isn't illegal, the mainstream method of downloading ROM images ripped from the original game cart involves duplicating the original game and distributing it illegally across the internet. Console Classix has avoided the method of duplication by destroying the original game cartridge the ROM is removed from. When a user attempts to download the copy of the game the server locks out the ability for other users to download the same file, eliminating the ability to duplicate the ROM image. When the connection between the user and server is broken the ROM is automatically destroyed from the client's cache and the server allows another person to play.

[edit] Proven Method

The legality of Console Classix was established when the company received a cease and desist letter from Nintendo of America.^[1] A single reply letter was sent to NOA's legal staff as well as several phone calls in which the company claimed to be "considering their options".^[2] Beyond the incident in 2003 Console Classix has received no legal threats from the companies they offer through their services regardless of the lack of communication existing between any of them.