I havent done it myself but isnt it simply to buy a ROM reader for a "few" bucks, remove rom from machine to the reader and dump it with software in a minute or two? Should be a simple process as long as the physical ROM is of a type the reader supports.

It depends on type of ROM. New rom programmers often don't support the old obsolete types anymore, particularly those that require three different supply voltages. Also if the game doesn't have separate ROM but a mask programmed MPU, reading can be impossible.

What manufacturer and games are we now talking about?

maybe they are aware of how rare their game is and dont want to risk turning it into a brick

it is rarely about money, it is about trust and friendship
if I had ROMs to read, there is only a handful of people I would trust to know how to do it properly

Sometimes it's as easy as dropping it in the burner, sometimes you need to make a custom adapter, sometimes it's impossible.

If the person reading the ROM knows what they're doing, it's not.

Sort of OT, but I am reminded of the silly old lady I worked with at Motorola Microcomputer way back when, who considered herself a "programmer" because she sat all day mass "programming" EPROMs!

I guess if the nomenclature had been different, she could have been a "writer"!

burner

I don't remember if programming erasables was called burning, burn sounds so permanent. I know one burns a ROM.

But probably, yeah. Dunno what she would have made of having a job title of "burner"! Sounds up there with "raper" and "pillager"!