What Is a VBA Emulator?

The legality of VBA files depends on how you use them.

After the successful release of its Game Boy and Game Boy Color systems, Nintendo released a new handheld system in 2001 named the Game Boy Advance, or GBA. Although this system has since been replaced by the Nintendo DS series, the GBA lives on through the Visual Boy Advance, or VBA, emulator.

Emulators

Emulators recreate the hardware and software components of video game consoles, computer operating systems and many other software-based devices. In order to run, emulators use Read Only Memory, or ROM, files, which are digital backups of software like GBA games. VBA recreates the GBA operating system, allowing you to play GBA games on your computer or other handheld gaming devices. The current version of VBA, as of the date of publication, is VBA GX.

VBA System Requirements

VBA requires a Windows operating system with the most recent version of Microsoft DirectX. If you have an older version, update Microsoft DirectX by going to microsoft.com or by running Windows Update from the Start menu on your computer.

Legality

Nintendo and other video game publishers cite the Fair Use Act and the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 in support of creating ROM backups of video games that you already possess, in the event that your original copy is damaged or destroyed. However, while it is legal to create a backup of your video games, there is no law requiring publishers to make the technology to copy your video games available.

Acquiring ROMs

Though backing up the video games in your possession is legal, downloading and distributing ROMs is considered piracy, and is illegal. This means that it is illegal to download any VBA ROM through a torrent site, IRC server or download site, even if you are only downloading ROMs of games that you currently own.

References

• NG Emu: Visual Boy Advance
• Emulator Zone: Visual Boy Advance
• Nintendo: Company History
• Nintendo: Legal Information Copyrights, Emulators, ROMs, etc.
• Copyright.gov: Fair Use
• Copyright.gov: Copyright Law of the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code
• Microsoft: DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer