This is during the era when the N64, PS1, SNES, Dreamcast or Sega Genesis were popular. Games back then were released physically via disc or cartridge, meaning distributors or publishers would’ve implemented anti-piracy (like Lenslok) measures onto physical copies but some knew how to tamper with anti-piracy if they have a computer using other sources of capturing data (floppy disks).
Also, games at the time were ‘simple’ to torrent but with a catch (dial up was still a thing at the time meaning downloads could take a while if you have a PC). Discs were more straight forward than “torrenting” cartridges (unless you have connections with the manufacturer on smuggling circuit boards). Like with movies, games that came on discs were “torrented” through CDs by using a PC.
It was a struggle to get the right combinations of plugins going for pj64. I never had the console myself so I was happy with whatever I could get. Zelda64 and Majora’s mask were really all I was interested in. The SNES NES and PSX were really where I spent most of my time emulating. PC piracy was another beast. Cdcopyworld and all the DRM cracks or mini-iso files loaded up with daemon tools or alcohol to bypass cd checks. What a time to be alive.