Game backup device

A game backup device, informally called a copier, is a device for backing up ROM data from a video game cartridge to a computer file called a ROM image and playing them back on the official hardware. Recently flash cartridges, especially on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS platforms, only support the latter function; they cannot be used for backing up ROM data. Game backup devices also make it possible to develop homebrew software on video game systems. Game backup devices differ from modchips in that modchips are used in conjunction with systems that use generally available media such as CDs and DVDs, whereas game backup devices are used with systems that use cartridges.

Video game companies consider these devices as a tool for reverse engineering to facilitate copyright infringement. Most of the devices are made in China, but they are available globally. Recently,^[when?] legal action has been taken by companies such as Nintendo to remove these devices from the marketplace, but the easy dissemination of information and selling of products over the Internet has made it difficult to eradicate this problem. Hobbyists argue that these devices are legal and shouldn't be illegal because they fulfill the need to back up games in case the original is illegally sold or lost; and because they permit the private development of new software on the device.

In Japan, these devices are known as magicom (マジコン, "magic computer"), an umbrella term for any device that enables backups on game consoles.^[1]