EmuParadise

EmuParadise was founded in 2000 by MasJ, an Indian video game enthusiast. MasJ was inspired to create the website after he had difficulty finding ROMs for old video games he wanted to play.{{Cite web |title=MasJ profile info |url=https://www.emuparadise.me/staffinfo/MasJ.php |website=Emuparadise |language=en}}

EmuParadise quickly became one of the most popular websites in Gaming platforms. In 2010, the website had over 10 million unique visitors per month. By 2015, that number had grown to over 20 million unique visitors per month.{{Cite web |title=Emuparadise is gone., page 9 - Forum - GOG.com |url=https://www.gog.com/forum/general/emuparadise_is_gone |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=www.gog.com}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=September 2024}}

In 2017, Nintendo filed lawsuits against two websites that hosted ROMs, including Emuparadise. Nintendo argued that the websites were infringing on its copyrights.{{Cite news |date=2018-08-13 |title=Nintendo cracks down on retro games downloads |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-45169817 |access-date=2023-10-11 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}

In 2018, Emuparadise voluntarily shut down its ROM hosting service.{{Cite web |last=Justice |first=Kim |date=2018-08-08 |title=Emuparadise latest ROM site to shut down |url=http://retronauts.com/article/925/emuparadise-latest-rom-site-to-shut-down |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=Retronauts |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Yin-Poole |first=Wesley |date=2018-08-09 |title=Worried about legal action, 18-year-old emulation site pulls ROMs |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/under-threat-of-legal-action-long-running-emulation-site-pulls-roms |access-date=2023-10-11 |work=Eurogamer |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Good |first=Owen S. |date=2018-08-15 |title=A major hosting site took down all its ROMs. What's going on? |url=https://www.polygon.com/2018/8/15/17693556/emuparadise-roms-shut-down-threat-nintendo |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}} However, the website continued to host other gaming-related content, such as emulator software, game guides, and walkthroughs. Emuparadise offered ROMs for a wide variety of gaming platforms, including consoles, handhelds, and arcade machines. The website also offered [https://switchromz.com/ ROMs] for translations of games, which are games that have been translated into a different language than the original language.

Accounts of more than 1 million gamers in 2019 were reportedly leaked after EmuParadise suffered a data breach, according to multiple reports. Some of those impacted by the data breach of the retro gaming site, which used to host ROMs, said that over the weekend, they started receiving notices that their accounts had been compromised in a data breach.{{Cite web |last=Zurkus |first=Kacy |date=2019-06-10 |title=Data of 1m Users Lost in EmuParadise Breach |url=https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/data-of-1m-users-lost-in-1-1/ |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=Infosecurity Magazine |language=en-gb}}

The website was a valuable resource for gamers who wanted to play classic video games on their computers or other devices.{{Cite web |last=Maxwell |first=Andy |date=2018-08-09 |title=Nintendo ROM Fallout: EmuParadise Terminates All Game Downloads |url=https://torrentfreak.com/nintendo-rom-fallout-emuparadise-terminates-all-game-downloads-180809/ |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=TorrentFreak |language=en}}

Over the course of 18 years of its operation, Emuparadise went from a single-page website to a sprawling website distributed via content delivery networks around the world. At its zenith the website had an Alexa global rank of 1304 and a rank of 696 within the US.{{Cite web |date=2018-08-14 |title=Emuparadise.me Traffic, Demographics and Competitors |url=https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/emuparadise.me |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814074109/https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/emuparadise.me |archive-date=2018-08-14 |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=Alexa |language=en-US}}

• {{annotated link|KissAnime}}
• {{annotated link|Limewire}}
• {{annotated link|Media preservation}}
• {{annotated link|Napster}}
• {{annotated link|The Pirate Bay}}
• {{annotated link|Video game preservation}}
• {{annotated link|Warez scene}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{website|https://www.emuparadise.me/}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20110623133415/https://www.emuparadise.me/ oldest archived version])

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Category:Indian entertainment websites

Category:Internet properties established in 2000

Category:Video game distribution

Category:Video game websites