Gemdation's Piracy Guide

Welcome to this brief personal guide on how I pirate media, what I pirate, and what I don't. Red flags, jackpots, and the gambling. Maybe not the gambling but we'll see!

Precautions

Anti-piracy fellows will say a risk is that you might end up with a virus or some scary pop-ups! These are true but you can guard your browser with the amazing adblock known as uBlock Origin! (And Microsoft Defender.)

uBlock Origin

is a content blocker that is known for it's amazing ad-zapping abilities. It can even turn a news article's Times Squares amount of advertisement into a simple webpage. If you browse on TV/Movie piracy sites, pop-ups and advertisements will also cease!

Microsoft Defender

if you aren't on a Windows machine, don't worry about this, worry instead about how to use your operating system. :tro:

Just kidding, Linux has been worry-free in the virus side of things and I'm sure macOS does a good job of that as well. The websites I go to are reliable or are trust worthy enough. So Microsoft Defender is a little safe gaurd for your browsing and downloads. Keep in mind that you might run into false positives.

Pirated Windows

Just kidding this isn't a real precaution but I'm adding it here for fun, massgrave.dev is what I used to get my Windows 11 LTSC operating system. I have mixed feelings about Linux since WINE is not the best for all old games and tools.

Sources

Myrient

The Myrient has an amazing collection of old titles and is my go to for any console games, it has nice speeds along with it's...kinda weird navigation? Granted I do find what I want but I'd wish they had a better directory system in place.

for older console games and more!

Internet Archive

My would-be favorite if the download speeds weren't so slow, the Internet Archive has the world's most massive user-uploaded content repository. From PopCap Games to an entire SpongeBob SquarePants catalog, the digital library likely has something for you!

This and Wikipedia are the only websites I have donated to.

and look around for something you like!

My Abandonware

A little thing I like to do is play weird obscure games! This website seems like it has quite a nice collection. This is where I rediscovered SpongeBob PC games, Marble Blast Ultra, and Viva Pinata. Occasionally some games aren't activated.

for older PC games and more!

MarioCube

This is a group that hosts Wii, Wii U, Nintendo DS(i), and GameCube ROMs on Google Drive. I'm not a fan of what they make people do to get access to the bigger ROMs. For instance, WiiWare ROMs are in a public repository while Wii disc games require you to be a member of their Google Drive group. This idea doesn't sit well with me as the group owner will see your Google Account's name and email. Not to mention the owner... which is a whole different thing.

for a handful of Nintendo games!

The Pirate Bay and 1377x

During the early years of this computer (2020-2022) I used to torrent a lot with qBittorent, so there's this. I must add that if anyone is actually following this guide and is also tech illterate, do not let this be your first choice. Seeding 24/7 without a VPN could get you a letter sent to you from your ISP (heh).

I used magnet sites like these for full season collections of cartoons like SpongeBob SquarePants and The Amazing World of Gumball. Some collections had combined episodes in one file so I had to manually split them, ew.

for...2020s nostalgia!

Tools

YouTube (Music) ReVanced Extended

For ad-free, sponsor-free, dislike-returning YouTube clients, ReVanced Extended applies an amazing assortment of patches to APK files. Note for the Music app you won't be able to switch between Audio and Video like you are with a genuine Premium subscription.

Fun Fact: I use to manually download music as MP3s until I found out I could use a client like this. (YouTube Music Vanced at the time)

to get started!

NUSspli and 3hs

These are simple yet handy homebrew tools for downloading free games directly on the (homebrewed) console, hopefully you aren't impatient. NUSspli is for the Wii U, and 3hs is for the Nintendo 3DS. 3hs is a client for the hShop team, which is also owned by Erista, the group behind Myrient.

3hs: and install it with the FBI app!
NUSpli: to get started! Aroma and Tiramisu are supported.

qBittorent

If you're heading to torrent sites, I greatly recommend this program. That's all.

to get started!

Notes

Here are some little notes from my experience on the Internet.

Adblocker

uBlock forever! Whether it is the original Origin version or the Lite one, it's fine. Just make sure it's on.

Redirects

If a website redirects you, it's likely fine. Websites don't always host their own listings but sometimes it's important to look at the URL bar. If you see that you are getting tossed around with 3 or more redirects, it is best to close the tab and others that have opened due to it.

Verification

Occasionally you will run into some verification windows, these are normal and are commonly used to prevent bots from spamming the website's servers. You might even see this screen.

If a verification website requires you "activate" from a notification permission, or any other browser permission, try to look somewhere else for your content. If you do need whatever site it is, remember to take away the site's permissions afterwards.

Summary

So basically:

Date written: 1/21/2025