For some, EmuParadise was more than a site with a wide assortment of ROMs. It was essentially a museum that celebrated retro gaming and even reminded us of certain games that are hard to come by in physical form. But, alas, it looks like Paradise just wasn’t built to last.

After 18 years of operation, EmuParadise is closing down, based on this report from Reddit. While we won’t link to the site itself, we were able to get our hands on a letter regarding its closure. You’ll find it verbatim below.

Many of you are aware that the situation with regards to emulation sites has been changing recently. What you probably don't know is that we at EmuParadise have been dealing with similar issues for all 18 years of our existence.

From receiving threatening letters in the early days to our hosts suddenly shutting down our servers due to complaints, we've seen it all. We've always complied with takedown requests but as you can see, that is no guarantee of anything.

I started EmuParadise 18 years ago because I never got to play many of these amazing retro games while growing up in India and I wanted other people to be able to experience them. Over the years, many folks have joined in and contributed to this vision and I think I can say that we've been successful in spreading our passion for retro games far and wide.

Through the years I've worked tirelessly with the rest of the EmuParadise team to ensure that everyone could get their fix of retro gaming. We've received thousands of emails from people telling us how happy they've been to rediscover and even share their childhood with the next generations in their families. We've had emails from soldiers at war saying that the only way they got through their days was to be lost in the retrogames that they played from when they were children. We've got emails from brothers who have lost their siblings to cancer and were able to find solace in playing the games they once did as children. There are countless stories like these.

It's been a long and beautiful journey with many ups and downs. When I started EmuParadise things could have gone either way. But right now the direction they are going in could not be more than clear.

So where does that leave us?

It's not worth it for us to risk potentially disastrous consequences. I cannot in good conscience risk the futures of our team members who have contributed to the site through the years. We run EmuParadise for the love of retro games and for you to be able to revisit those good times. Unfortunately, it's not possible right now to do so in a way that makes everyone happy and keeps us out of trouble.

This is an extremely emotional decision for me after running this site for so many years. But I believe it is the right thing for us at this point of time.

Thus, we have decided to make a new start. We will continue to be passionate retro gamers and will keep doing cool stuff around retro games. But you won't be able to get your games from here for now. Where we go with this is up to us and up to you.

We'll still have our emulators database, the community, and everything that comes along with that.

We have already made several plans of what is going to happen next. It's going to be a fun new beginning and there's going to be lots to come! We'd also love to hear from you in the comments about what you think we should do. But for now, we need to make this change. We've served the community for 18 glorious years and it's been a hell of a ride!

But every end is a new beginning and we're excited to find a way forward to continue being your #1 emulation destination

Thank you for supporting us through this journey. We could not have done so much without you visiting us, telling your friends about us, uploading screenshots and descriptions, telling us when something was wrong, letting us know when we messed up, and more. Thank you for being a part of our community and encouraging us through all these years."

More and more game companies, such as Nintendo, have been going after ROM sites with a vengeance — even to the point of potential legal consequences — So maybe EmuParadise is folding up shop just to be on the safe side.

Posted: Aug 11, 2018 9:18 am
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: http://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/08/08/massively-popular-rom-site-emu-paradise-shuts-down/