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== Jpxtalkbackup ==
== ROM/ISO Sites Old Page ==
'''''“The best way to get games is often directly from the media or hardware itself, but even this is illegal in certain jurisdictions.”'''''
See [[Ripping Games]] for more details, and the [[Main Page]] for better information.
==Downloads==
===No limits===
* [http://emuparadise.me/ Emuparadise] Good for [http://www.epforums.org/showthread.php?56293 No-Intro sets (which require registration).] has cool Playstation 2 sets. Has amazing PS1 dumps. Official Nintendo titles are taken down and reappear occasionally. Since Emuparadise removing roms download links from view, [https://gist.github.com/Eptun/3fdcc84552e75e452731cd4621c535e9/raw/d1dcc00185085ce10df8bebcc2a640fd01ef9058/emuparadise.eptun.user.js a TamperMonkey/GreaseMonkey script] is currently required for downloading roms from it (outside of the forums).
* [http://www.portalroms.com/en Portal Roms] Torrent site for ROMs and ISOs. Mostly Nintendo stuff. Especially good for Wii U, Wii, and no-intro 3DS.
* [https://1fichier.com/dir/uExVcS2h Partial PS2 Redump (2016/03/19)] downloads likely slow. (5046/6863 games)
* [https://1fichier.com/dir/lUJzw9NH Partial Wii Redump (2016/03/19)] downloads likely slow. (602/1037 games)
* [http://club.tgfcer.com/viewthread.php?tid=7105827&page=4#pid24956243 Xbox Redump (2016/03/02)] downloads likely slow.
*[http://www.doperoms.com Doperoms] Has some Redump PSX/GCN among other things. Excellent for [http://www.doperoms.com Nintendo] games.
*[http://mamedev.org/roms/ MAME] Directly from the MAME site. Games that were released with permission for free and non-commercial use.
* [https://the-eye.eu/public/rom/ The Eye] has complete ROM sets for over 25 different consoles.
===Needs Registration===
*The Internet Archive. Add a slash (<code>/</code>) after the URLs to view the contents of compressed archives from the browser. This helps you avoid downloading upwards of 400 gigabytes just to get only a fraction of the contents. The archive also creates torrents of each entry (that are not the same as any original torrents the user may have uploaded) that you can use to speed up your downloads.
*If downloads are restricted (greyed out), copy the file name and append it to the end of the URL (ie: https://archive.org/downloads/NameOfPack -> https://archive.org/downloads/NameOfPack/ROMPack.zip)
**No Registration Required
***[https://archive.org/details/messmame?sort=-publicdate MAME and MESS] sets.
***[https://archive.org/details/NoIntroNintendoDsNumberedDecrypted No-Intro Nintendo DS] set (2017-02-13). File names are organized by scene release order.
***[https://archive.org/details/3DO_2017_Reference_Set_Redump_Validated_ROMs Redump 3DO] set (2017-04-04).
***[https://archive.org/details/almstcmpltdrmcst Redump Dreamcast] set (2015-09-20). Missing lots of games. Includes [https://archive.org/details/almstcmpltdrmcst Redump manuals].
***[https://archive.org/details/NEC_PC_Engine_CD-ROM2_System_and_TurboGrafx-CD_2016_Reference_Set_Redump_Validated_ROMs Redump PC-Engine CD/Turbografx CD] set (2016-11-06)
***[https://archive.org/details/tosec?sort=-publicdate TOSEC] (The Old School Emulation Center) sets.
***[https://archive.org/details/vintagesoftware Vintage Software] Many DOS collections and older games.
**Registration Required <small>(If you do not have an account at the Internet Archive, you can use <abbr title="Email: [email protected] | Password: emugen">these credentials</abbr>.)</small>
***[https://archive.org/details/No-Intro-Collection_2015-03-03 No-Intro Collection] for most cartridge-based systems (2016-01-03).
***Redump GameCube ([https://archive.org/details/NintendoWiiFullRomCollectionReuploadByDataghostFullSet Part 1], [https://archive.org/details/NintendoWiiFullRomCollectionReuploadByDataghostFullSet2 Part 2], [https://archive.org/details/NintendoWiiFullRomCollectionReuploadByDataghostFullSet3 Part 3]) USA sets (2016-05-27).
***[https://archive.org/details/gamecubenaiso Complete North American GameCube Collection].
***Redump PS2 ([https://archive.org/details/RedumpSonyPS2NTSCU Part 1], [https://archive.org/details/RedumpSonyPS2NTSCUPart2 Part 2]) USA sets (September 2016). Game IDs are used for file titles. CD-based games are .bin files, DVD-based games are .iso files.
***[https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22John+%28Mr%29+Smith%22 Redump PS1] NTSC-U and PAL sets.
***[https://archive.org/details/SgaStrCmplt Redump Saturn] set (2015-09-13). Includes manuals and magazines.
***[https://archive.org/details/Sega_Mega-CD_and_Sega_CD_Reference_Set_-_Redump_ROMs_BIN_and_CUE Redump Sega CD] set. Includes DAT files to verify with ClrMamePro.
*[http://www.romulation.net Romulation] Useful for Wii, GameCube, NDS, PS2 etc, may be no-intro rips. (account required - use bugmenot or make one with a temp email account) Excellent for [http://www.romulation.net Nintendo] titles.
*[http://www.pleasuredome.org.uk Pleasuredome] Great private tracker for getting full sets of many systems (No-Intro, Goodsets, Trurip, Redump, TOSEC). Does not allow newer systems. Strict ratio site that requires you to maintain a positive upload to download ratio.
Use some common sense while downloading!
===User Uploaded Direct-Download (Forum post) Sites (Registration Required)===
Use some common sense while downloading!
*[http://psvitaiso.com/ psvitaiso.com] Vita, PSP and PS1 games.
*[http://wiiso.com/ wiiso.com] Mostly Wii games, but also other Nintendo games.
*[http://www.ps3iso.com/forum.php ps3iso.com] Many 'premium-only' links.
*[http://www.3dsiso.com/forum.php 3dsiso.com] 3DS games.
**[http://www.3dsiso.com/showthread.php?275949-1FICHIER-shared-folder-decrypted-3ds-roms-for-citra-and-others-28-06-2017 Decrypted 3DS games] for Citra.
*[http://wehackwii.pbworks.com/w/page/21164709/WiiWare WeHackWii] Great source of Wii/WiiWare downloads.
*[https://www.wii-passion.xyz/-dc26.html WiiPassion] Wii/Wiiware/Virtual Console downloads. Has some rare stuff.
*[http://www.gbatemp.com Gbatemp] GBA/DS ROM releases and a thriving modding community.
===BitTorrent===
:<small>''Note: [https://github.com/ngosang/trackerslist Here's a list of public trackers you can use] to increase the amount of peers you can reach.''</small>
*[http://rutracker.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=548 RuTracker] Account required for some stuff, site entirely in Russian, use [https://translate.google.com/ translate] if you really need to.)
**Redump PS1 sets: [magnet:?xt=urn:btih:6C5088295FAE49B5F2D92EF70B31F0377C05D824 USA], [magnet:?xt=urn:btih:DD381766675FBCE1204CFB4A260B2D97D43AD403 JAP], [magnet:?xt=urn:btih:3D41D4E6024AA4AB905BF0E6354D57F680C654F3 PAL]
**[magnet:?xt=urn:btih:4F8D3549E1B536D5B2B183592DC574404A9C5135 TOSEC Dreamcast set]
**[magnet:?xt=urn:btih:0e5ef752f78ccd368580467ed26edf2435ca1911 TOSEC SegaCD and 32X set] Format is .cue, .wav and .iso and therefore may not work with some emulators (bin/cue preferred)
**[magnet:?xt=urn:btih:6CCAAF9A361C6D2A0B79A1009322C0F8853BFB1D TOSEC 3DO set]
**[magnet:?xt=urn:btih:EE6BB932A4C451FD8DEB1B2C85CCDD3347C7C63A TOSEC CDi set]
**[magnet:?xt=urn:btih:0E7DE4C2E472ECB20265C95D4056BF6ACDEED442 Tru-Rip TurboGrafx-CD set]
**[magnet:?xt=urn:btih:8681F7465E7372E938BED103D3AE60C46254C706 DS/DSi 2014 Fullset]
*[magnet:?xt=urn:btih:3c9aaade428f69f09b722bbe4025063cd0f3cb58&dn=WiiWare+and+Virtual+Console+Complete+Collection+NTSC-U ALL NTSC WiiWare titles]
==Official Dumps==
===Playstation 3===
[https://psndl.net/packages PSNDL] - Playstation downloadable titles directly from the PSN store which can be installed by RPCS3
===Nintendo Wii U / 3DS===
Nintendo delivers games the same way Sony does with the PlayStation Network; the big ISO with all the data is useless without an authentication key. Unfortunately for them, these keys are much smaller than the game, and can be passed around easily provided people have broken into the console to get them in the first place.
You need a titlekey database, covering base games, updates and DLCs. Some notable ones include [http://wiiu.titlekeys.com/ this for Wii U keys] and [http://3ds.titlekeys.com this for 3DS keys]. '''Note''' you're still restricted to games that are on the eShop and that people bothered to upload their tickets to that titlekey site, so rare or retail-only games are excluded. You can likely still find these types of games from ROM sites above.
On real 3DS/Wii U hardware, you could also download a package of all tickets ever of all regions and trick the official eShop into thinking you own the game and can redownload it, but on real hardware, it has been reported some out-of-region tickets cause problems. freeShop will just install the tickets you need for the game you chose.
If you're using [[Cemu]] with physical dumps, you'll also need the Common Wii U Key, and individual game keys for games you're emulating. Some 3DS dumps also require seeds to play on real hardware.
Once you have the titlekey database including your game, you can download the game off the official servers using your tool of choice.
====NUS Downloaders (PC)====
You can get either 3DS or Wii U dumps this way. First of all get the NUS Downloader, for example [http://application.wiiuusbhelper.com/Updater.exe Wii U USB Helper]. Make sure to use the appropriate URL for the titlekey database.
Then, it's as simple as selecting the game you want to download, clicking "Get It" and then "Download Games". This will download the files for the game you chose (the same as the .tik's title). Choose your own region where possible, so the servers are closer to you.
Once the download is complete:
* '''Wii U dumps:''' You can either install the game to your Wii U by moving it to an SD Card and using [http://wiiubru.com/appstore/#/app/wup_installer_gx2 WUP Installer GX2], or if you're using the deprecated Loadiine (or [[Cemu]]), you can "Convert" it "to Loadiine/CIA". Simply right click your newly downloaded game, and then click "Prepare for Emulation". The .rpx file will be available in the game's folder, at /code/[yourgame].rpx.
* '''3DS dumps:''' Just "Convert to CIA" when the tool is done downloading it. That CIA file can then be installed to real 3DS hardware directly using [https://github.com/Steveice10/FBI/releases FBI], as long as you have enough free space on your SD card for '''double''' its size (if you are unable to fit this size, you can use freeShop instead; also worth noting you may delete the CIA files once they are done, as they are practically installers), or if you want to emulate them, you can instead prepare the game for emulation via Wii U USB Helper, or follow [https://citra-emu.org/wiki/dumping-installed-titles/ this guide] to convert existing titles on your device and prepare them for emulation.
Updates and DLCs can be downloaded the same way. Right click on a game's name to choose which to download. For 3DS games, they can be converted to CIA files, and for Wii U games for emulation on Cemu:
To install updates and DLC on Cemu:
* Run the game at least once.
* Check Cemu's log.txt file and look for a line that says "Mounting local storage (AOC): .\mlc01\usr\title\NUMBERS\NUMBERS\aoc\"
* Add (create) folders with the same name as the above (substituting the "NUMBERS" bit with the actual numbers) in your "CEMUFOLDER/mlc01/usr/title" folder.
* Add any updates (which must be added first) you want to the "CEMUFOLDER/mlc01/usr/title/NUMBERS/NUMBERS/" folder.
* Create a folder named "aoc" and put the DLC files into there. The "code", "content", and "meta" folders of the actual game itself also go in the "aoc" folder.
====Titlekey Downloaders (3DS)====
You'll need a 3DS with custom firmware installed (most commonly boot9strap + Luma3DS). If you don't have custom firmware, but want it, follow [http://3ds.guide Plailect's guide]. Video guides are not recommended, due to history of unsafe, outdated, and/or inaccurate instructions.
The most used downloader utilities are [https://notabug.org/Paul_GameDev/freeShop/releases freeShop]. freeShop is convenient since it only needs an encTitleKeys.bin from the titlekey site, and installs directly the games to your 3DS without the need to free up double the needed size. [https://github.com/llakssz/CIAngel CIAngel] can download particularly rare or obscure games only using a text file with the game's Title ID and its encrypted title key.
If you are interested in dumping your installed titles for use with Citra, you can follow [https://citra-emu.org/wiki/dumping-installed-titles/ this guide] to do so.
===Nintendo Amiibo===
Amiibo are special figurines that interact with a number of 3DS, Wii U and Switch games. Depending on how hard they are to find, they can either be bought at a local retailer, or on eBay for a fortune. NFC tags are dumped to binary files (.bin). Android users can use [https://github.com/HiddenRamblings/TagMo/releases TagMo] to read and write these files, provided they have the [https://pastebin.com/aV23ha3X appropriate encryption keys.]
Here's the most complete amiibo set from [https://mega.nz/#!pJtxWA4Y!Ox56svPorOQdeacnQEtT5Qaa9nvJm9mfMPFoubafapM March 2017] and [https://mega.nz/#!pJtxWA4Y!Ox56svPorOQdeacnQEtT5Qaa9nvJm9mfMPFoubafapM May 2017].
==Verifying Good Dumps==
{{Main|File_Hashes#Determining_Good_Game_Dumps}}
==Game Recommendations==
Game recommendations are highly subjective, but big lists like these usually cover the worthwhile games for each system.
*[http://vsrecommendedgames.wikia.com/wiki//v/%27s_Recommended_Games_Wiki /v/'s Recommended Games Wiki]
*[http://retro-sanctuary.com/Top%20Games%20Main.html Retro-Sanctuary's Top 100 Lists]
*[http://www.racketboy.com/guide/games-that-defined-retro-gaming-machines Racketboy's Defining Games]
*[http://www.racketboy.com/guide/hidden-gems Racketboy's Hidden Gems]
[[Category:Recommendations]]
==Searching for ISOs==
A lot of the above sites have ISOs for disc-based games, but some of the more obscure titles can be hard to find. If you want to find these games, searching for their ID number is generally more effective than searching for their title. Both Mobygames and GameFAQs will list these under the game's release information. This number is region specific and is very useful if you want to find an ISO from a specific region.
===Search Engines===
* [http://bing.com Bing] and [http://google.cn Google]: You would be surprised what you can find with it. Simply type "GameName SystemName iso" or "GameName SystemName rom" on the search field to find everything you ever need, replacing GameName and SystemName with the game name and the system abrevation. This is especially effective with first-party Nintendo games. Google is not as good since it sometimes complies with MSX takedown notices but the same applies.
* Duckduckgo : also another average search engine that doesn't remove DCMA'd search results as much which helps delaying rom uploaders comeuppance.
* The Pirate Bay: Excellent ressources as well for disc based games.
* Kickasstorrents: Not as good as TBP but still serviceable.
* nyaa.se: Good for PS3/PSP games
* [http://rutracker.org/forum/index.php rutracker]: Account required for some stuff, site entirely in Russian, use [https://translate.google.com/ translate] if you really need to.
* reddit: r/Megalinks and r/Piracy among others.
==Download Managers==
Many resources we've listed will link to files called .DLCs that contain a list of urls to download. We've voluntarily listed some programs you can use in the event that you come across one and don't want to deal with the links manually.
*[http://jdownloader.org/jdownloader2 JDownloader 2] (Adware-free installer) - Written in Java, and quite possibly the most recognized tool for the job.
*[https://pyload.net/ pyLoad] - Written in Python under AGPL3, PyLoad is a good alternative.
== ROM/ISO Sites Old Page ==
'''''“The best way to get games is often directly from the media or hardware itself, but even this is illegal in certain jurisdictions.”'''''
See [[Ripping Games]] for more details, and the [[Main Page]] for better information.
==Downloads==
===No limits===
* [http://emuparadise.me/ Emuparadise] Good for [http://www.epforums.org/showthread.php?56293 No-Intro sets (which require registration).] has cool Playstation 2 sets. Has amazing PS1 dumps. Official Nintendo titles are taken down and reappear occasionally. Since Emuparadise removing roms download links from view, [https://gist.github.com/Eptun/3fdcc84552e75e452731cd4621c535e9/raw/d1dcc00185085ce10df8bebcc2a640fd01ef9058/emuparadise.eptun.user.js a TamperMonkey/GreaseMonkey script] is currently required for downloading roms from it (outside of the forums).
* [http://www.portalroms.com/en Portal Roms] Torrent site for ROMs and ISOs. Mostly Nintendo stuff. Especially good for Wii U, Wii, and no-intro 3DS.
* [https://1fichier.com/dir/uExVcS2h Partial PS2 Redump (2016/03/19)] downloads likely slow. (5046/6863 games)
* [https://1fichier.com/dir/lUJzw9NH Partial Wii Redump (2016/03/19)] downloads likely slow. (602/1037 games)
* [http://club.tgfcer.com/viewthread.php?tid=7105827&page=4#pid24956243 Xbox Redump (2016/03/02)] downloads likely slow.
*[http://www.doperoms.com Doperoms] Has some Redump PSX/GCN among other things. Excellent for [http://www.doperoms.com Nintendo] games.
*[http://mamedev.org/roms/ MAME] Directly from the MAME site. Games that were released with permission for free and non-commercial use.
* [https://the-eye.eu/public/rom/ The Eye] has complete ROM sets for over 25 different consoles.
===Needs Registration===
*The Internet Archive. Add a slash (<code>/</code>) after the URLs to view the contents of compressed archives from the browser. This helps you avoid downloading upwards of 400 gigabytes just to get only a fraction of the contents. The archive also creates torrents of each entry (that are not the same as any original torrents the user may have uploaded) that you can use to speed up your downloads.
*If downloads are restricted (greyed out), copy the file name and append it to the end of the URL (ie: https://archive.org/downloads/NameOfPack -> https://archive.org/downloads/NameOfPack/ROMPack.zip)
**No Registration Required
***[https://archive.org/details/messmame?sort=-publicdate MAME and MESS] sets.
***[https://archive.org/details/NoIntroNintendoDsNumberedDecrypted No-Intro Nintendo DS] set (2017-02-13). File names are organized by scene release order.
***[https://archive.org/details/3DO_2017_Reference_Set_Redump_Validated_ROMs Redump 3DO] set (2017-04-04).
***[https://archive.org/details/almstcmpltdrmcst Redump Dreamcast] set (2015-09-20). Missing lots of games. Includes [https://archive.org/details/almstcmpltdrmcst Redump manuals].
***[https://archive.org/details/NEC_PC_Engine_CD-ROM2_System_and_TurboGrafx-CD_2016_Reference_Set_Redump_Validated_ROMs Redump PC-Engine CD/Turbografx CD] set (2016-11-06)
***[https://archive.org/details/tosec?sort=-publicdate TOSEC] (The Old School Emulation Center) sets.
***[https://archive.org/details/vintagesoftware Vintage Software] Many DOS collections and older games.
**Registration Required <small>(If you do not have an account at the Internet Archive, you can use <abbr title="Email: [email protected] | Password: emugen">these credentials</abbr>.)</small>
***[https://archive.org/details/No-Intro-Collection_2015-03-03 No-Intro Collection] for most cartridge-based systems (2016-01-03).
***Redump GameCube ([https://archive.org/details/NintendoWiiFullRomCollectionReuploadByDataghostFullSet Part 1], [https://archive.org/details/NintendoWiiFullRomCollectionReuploadByDataghostFullSet2 Part 2], [https://archive.org/details/NintendoWiiFullRomCollectionReuploadByDataghostFullSet3 Part 3]) USA sets (2016-05-27).
***[https://archive.org/details/gamecubenaiso Complete North American GameCube Collection].
***Redump PS2 ([https://archive.org/details/RedumpSonyPS2NTSCU Part 1], [https://archive.org/details/RedumpSonyPS2NTSCUPart2 Part 2]) USA sets (September 2016). Game IDs are used for file titles. CD-based games are .bin files, DVD-based games are .iso files.
***[https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22John+%28Mr%29+Smith%22 Redump PS1] NTSC-U and PAL sets.
***[https://archive.org/details/SgaStrCmplt Redump Saturn] set (2015-09-13). Includes manuals and magazines.
***[https://archive.org/details/Sega_Mega-CD_and_Sega_CD_Reference_Set_-_Redump_ROMs_BIN_and_CUE Redump Sega CD] set. Includes DAT files to verify with ClrMamePro.
*[http://www.romulation.net Romulation] Useful for Wii, GameCube, NDS, PS2 etc, may be no-intro rips. (account required - use bugmenot or make one with a temp email account) Excellent for [http://www.romulation.net Nintendo] titles.
*[http://www.pleasuredome.org.uk Pleasuredome] Great private tracker for getting full sets of many systems (No-Intro, Goodsets, Trurip, Redump, TOSEC). Does not allow newer systems. Strict ratio site that requires you to maintain a positive upload to download ratio.
Use some common sense while downloading!
===User Uploaded Direct-Download (Forum post) Sites (Registration Required)===
Use some common sense while downloading!
*[http://psvitaiso.com/ psvitaiso.com] Vita, PSP and PS1 games.
*[http://wiiso.com/ wiiso.com] Mostly Wii games, but also other Nintendo games.
*[http://www.ps3iso.com/forum.php ps3iso.com] Many 'premium-only' links.
*[http://www.3dsiso.com/forum.php 3dsiso.com] 3DS games.
**[http://www.3dsiso.com/showthread.php?275949-1FICHIER-shared-folder-decrypted-3ds-roms-for-citra-and-others-28-06-2017 Decrypted 3DS games] for Citra.
*[http://wehackwii.pbworks.com/w/page/21164709/WiiWare WeHackWii] Great source of Wii/WiiWare downloads.
*[https://www.wii-passion.xyz/-dc26.html WiiPassion] Wii/Wiiware/Virtual Console downloads. Has some rare stuff.
*[http://www.gbatemp.com Gbatemp] GBA/DS ROM releases and a thriving modding community.
===BitTorrent===
:<small>''Note: [https://github.com/ngosang/trackerslist Here's a list of public trackers you can use] to increase the amount of peers you can reach.''</small>
*[http://rutracker.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=548 RuTracker] Account required for some stuff, site entirely in Russian, use [https://translate.google.com/ translate] if you really need to.)
**Redump PS1 sets: [magnet:?xt=urn:btih:6C5088295FAE49B5F2D92EF70B31F0377C05D824 USA], [magnet:?xt=urn:btih:DD381766675FBCE1204CFB4A260B2D97D43AD403 JAP], [magnet:?xt=urn:btih:3D41D4E6024AA4AB905BF0E6354D57F680C654F3 PAL]
**[magnet:?xt=urn:btih:4F8D3549E1B536D5B2B183592DC574404A9C5135 TOSEC Dreamcast set]
**[magnet:?xt=urn:btih:0e5ef752f78ccd368580467ed26edf2435ca1911 TOSEC SegaCD and 32X set] Format is .cue, .wav and .iso and therefore may not work with some emulators (bin/cue preferred)
**[magnet:?xt=urn:btih:6CCAAF9A361C6D2A0B79A1009322C0F8853BFB1D TOSEC 3DO set]
**[magnet:?xt=urn:btih:EE6BB932A4C451FD8DEB1B2C85CCDD3347C7C63A TOSEC CDi set]
**[magnet:?xt=urn:btih:0E7DE4C2E472ECB20265C95D4056BF6ACDEED442 Tru-Rip TurboGrafx-CD set]
**[magnet:?xt=urn:btih:8681F7465E7372E938BED103D3AE60C46254C706 DS/DSi 2014 Fullset]
*[magnet:?xt=urn:btih:3c9aaade428f69f09b722bbe4025063cd0f3cb58&dn=WiiWare+and+Virtual+Console+Complete+Collection+NTSC-U ALL NTSC WiiWare titles]
==Official Dumps==
===Playstation 3===
[https://psndl.net/packages PSNDL] - Playstation downloadable titles directly from the PSN store which can be installed by RPCS3
===Nintendo Wii U / 3DS===
Nintendo delivers games the same way Sony does with the PlayStation Network; the big ISO with all the data is useless without an authentication key. Unfortunately for them, these keys are much smaller than the game, and can be passed around easily provided people have broken into the console to get them in the first place.
You need a titlekey database, covering base games, updates and DLCs. Some notable ones include [http://wiiu.titlekeys.com/ this for Wii U keys] and [http://3ds.titlekeys.com this for 3DS keys]. '''Note''' you're still restricted to games that are on the eShop and that people bothered to upload their tickets to that titlekey site, so rare or retail-only games are excluded. You can likely still find these types of games from ROM sites above.
On real 3DS/Wii U hardware, you could also download a package of all tickets ever of all regions and trick the official eShop into thinking you own the game and can redownload it, but on real hardware, it has been reported some out-of-region tickets cause problems. freeShop will just install the tickets you need for the game you chose.
If you're using [[Cemu]] with physical dumps, you'll also need the Common Wii U Key, and individual game keys for games you're emulating. Some 3DS dumps also require seeds to play on real hardware.
Once you have the titlekey database including your game, you can download the game off the official servers using your tool of choice.
====NUS Downloaders (PC)====
You can get either 3DS or Wii U dumps this way. First of all get the NUS Downloader, for example [http://application.wiiuusbhelper.com/Updater.exe Wii U USB Helper]. Make sure to use the appropriate URL for the titlekey database.
Then, it's as simple as selecting the game you want to download, clicking "Get It" and then "Download Games". This will download the files for the game you chose (the same as the .tik's title). Choose your own region where possible, so the servers are closer to you.
Once the download is complete:
* '''Wii U dumps:''' You can either install the game to your Wii U by moving it to an SD Card and using [http://wiiubru.com/appstore/#/app/wup_installer_gx2 WUP Installer GX2], or if you're using the deprecated Loadiine (or [[Cemu]]), you can "Convert" it "to Loadiine/CIA". Simply right click your newly downloaded game, and then click "Prepare for Emulation". The .rpx file will be available in the game's folder, at /code/[yourgame].rpx.
* '''3DS dumps:''' Just "Convert to CIA" when the tool is done downloading it. That CIA file can then be installed to real 3DS hardware directly using [https://github.com/Steveice10/FBI/releases FBI], as long as you have enough free space on your SD card for '''double''' its size (if you are unable to fit this size, you can use freeShop instead; also worth noting you may delete the CIA files once they are done, as they are practically installers), or if you want to emulate them, you can instead prepare the game for emulation via Wii U USB Helper, or follow [https://citra-emu.org/wiki/dumping-installed-titles/ this guide] to convert existing titles on your device and prepare them for emulation.
Updates and DLCs can be downloaded the same way. Right click on a game's name to choose which to download. For 3DS games, they can be converted to CIA files, and for Wii U games for emulation on Cemu:
To install updates and DLC on Cemu:
* Run the game at least once.
* Check Cemu's log.txt file and look for a line that says "Mounting local storage (AOC): .\mlc01\usr\title\NUMBERS\NUMBERS\aoc\"
* Add (create) folders with the same name as the above (substituting the "NUMBERS" bit with the actual numbers) in your "CEMUFOLDER/mlc01/usr/title" folder.
* Add any updates (which must be added first) you want to the "CEMUFOLDER/mlc01/usr/title/NUMBERS/NUMBERS/" folder.
* Create a folder named "aoc" and put the DLC files into there. The "code", "content", and "meta" folders of the actual game itself also go in the "aoc" folder.
====Titlekey Downloaders (3DS)====
You'll need a 3DS with custom firmware installed (most commonly boot9strap + Luma3DS). If you don't have custom firmware, but want it, follow [http://3ds.guide Plailect's guide]. Video guides are not recommended, due to history of unsafe, outdated, and/or inaccurate instructions.
The most used downloader utilities are [https://notabug.org/Paul_GameDev/freeShop/releases freeShop]. freeShop is convenient since it only needs an encTitleKeys.bin from the titlekey site, and installs directly the games to your 3DS without the need to free up double the needed size. [https://github.com/llakssz/CIAngel CIAngel] can download particularly rare or obscure games only using a text file with the game's Title ID and its encrypted title key.
If you are interested in dumping your installed titles for use with Citra, you can follow [https://citra-emu.org/wiki/dumping-installed-titles/ this guide] to do so.
===Nintendo Amiibo===
Amiibo are special figurines that interact with a number of 3DS, Wii U and Switch games. Depending on how hard they are to find, they can either be bought at a local retailer, or on eBay for a fortune. NFC tags are dumped to binary files (.bin). Android users can use [https://github.com/HiddenRamblings/TagMo/releases TagMo] to read and write these files, provided they have the [https://pastebin.com/aV23ha3X appropriate encryption keys.]
Here's the most complete amiibo set from [https://mega.nz/#!pJtxWA4Y!Ox56svPorOQdeacnQEtT5Qaa9nvJm9mfMPFoubafapM March 2017] and [https://mega.nz/#!pJtxWA4Y!Ox56svPorOQdeacnQEtT5Qaa9nvJm9mfMPFoubafapM May 2017].
==Verifying Good Dumps==
{{Main|File_Hashes#Determining_Good_Game_Dumps}}
==Game Recommendations==
Game recommendations are highly subjective, but big lists like these usually cover the worthwhile games for each system.
*[http://vsrecommendedgames.wikia.com/wiki//v/%27s_Recommended_Games_Wiki /v/'s Recommended Games Wiki]
*[http://retro-sanctuary.com/Top%20Games%20Main.html Retro-Sanctuary's Top 100 Lists]
*[http://www.racketboy.com/guide/games-that-defined-retro-gaming-machines Racketboy's Defining Games]
*[http://www.racketboy.com/guide/hidden-gems Racketboy's Hidden Gems]
[[Category:Recommendations]]
==Searching for ISOs==
A lot of the above sites have ISOs for disc-based games, but some of the more obscure titles can be hard to find. If you want to find these games, searching for their ID number is generally more effective than searching for their title. Both Mobygames and GameFAQs will list these under the game's release information. This number is region specific and is very useful if you want to find an ISO from a specific region.
===Search Engines===
* [http://bing.com Bing] and [http://google.cn Google]: You would be surprised what you can find with it. Simply type "GameName SystemName iso" or "GameName SystemName rom" on the search field to find everything you ever need, replacing GameName and SystemName with the game name and the system abrevation. This is especially effective with first-party Nintendo games. Google is not as good since it sometimes complies with MSX takedown notices but the same applies.
* Duckduckgo : also another average search engine that doesn't remove DCMA'd search results as much which helps delaying rom uploaders comeuppance.
* The Pirate Bay: Excellent ressources as well for disc based games.
* Kickasstorrents: Not as good as TBP but still serviceable.
* nyaa.se: Good for PS3/PSP games
* [http://rutracker.org/forum/index.php rutracker]: Account required for some stuff, site entirely in Russian, use [https://translate.google.com/ translate] if you really need to.
* reddit: r/Megalinks and r/Piracy among others.
==Download Managers==
Many resources we've listed will link to files called .DLCs that contain a list of urls to download. We've voluntarily listed some programs you can use in the event that you come across one and don't want to deal with the links manually.
*[http://jdownloader.org/jdownloader2 JDownloader 2] (Adware-free installer) - Written in Java, and quite possibly the most recognized tool for the job.
*[https://pyload.net/ pyLoad] - Written in Python under AGPL3, PyLoad is a good alternative.
