I played hours and hours on my psp just two years ago and now on steam deck ppsspp performs even better than the original, gives me around 6 hours, maybe even more, of active play on single charge and the input lag is close to none while on the original hardware it is noticeable. If only pcsx2 could be like ppsspp
The benefits of emulation are much,much more than their weaknesess.Having your entire childhood in one pc along with all these frontends and artworks, it really cannot be beaten, your eternally fun is quaranteed. What else can you ask for in the end? Eventually those emulators that are not perfect, they will be perfected anyway. And most of all you save money and spend them to other more important things in life.
You also have to consider that unofficial emulation is available for most hardware, I mean even the game boy advancecan emulate NES games, and there are unofficial emulators that you can download for most modern consoles (though you may need to jailbreak them first), as well as for android-based devices. And you can get a retroid pocket pro for like $200 and emulate almost everything that is less beefy than the switch, and that's a portable android-based device. You don't even need to be a PC guy to emulate.
For me, no. For others, yes. Just play how you want. Life is stressful and what’s really important is that everyone has a good time whenever they can. Play how you want. People already tell us how to work. No one should tell us how to play.
Sam, it is possible to run 60hz games through a 50hz TV, plug the console into a VCR and then into the TV, the VCR will convert the feed to PAL on the fly. That's how I used to capture import game footage when I was on TV back in the day. Also, a fantastic new feature I've seen on recent emulators are ones that will translate Japanese games to English in real time using augmented reality.
@@WebstersTH-cam Just use RGB scart cable for every pal console has this option (most of them do). 60hz ntsc games will play in full colour and speed on the pal tv (at least the (modchipped) Ps1/2 did that, other pal consoles would automatically convert the ntsc image/speed to pal - Saturn for example).
I have been using emulation since middle school and I haven't looked back. I loved the fact that I can play whatever games from any system and I can use whatever controller I want, the customization is endless. Emulation was a great opportunity for me to play games I missed out on as a kid. Also the fact I don't have a lot of space and having it all on a PC makes things convenient for me also saves me money on buying new games and systems. I don't want to build a collection I just want to play the games.
Exactly, real hardware is only interesting for collectors or traders trying to make a profit. For actually playing the games emulators are generally fine if not better than playing on original hardware
Sometimes im suprised at how durable old consoles are. You would think a Super Nintendo, a Sega Genesis or a PS1 would still be working 30 years later but they still are.
While PS3 and XBOX 360 consoles will destroy themselves the year they released lol. I just recently bought a fat ps3 and I'm worried that every time I use it will be the last even though it's clean and in a well-ventilated area.
A large portion of this comes from their MUCH lower complexity. You're talking about thousands vs BILLIONS of transistors. The smaller and smaller our electronics become, and more tightly integrated, the more likely for a single point of failure to cause full scale inoperability
@@WebstersTH-cam i think this is rose tinted glaases. inbuilt obsolescence and faults existed long before consoles. Remember the NES cartridges you had to keep blowing and PS laser disc reader? What about BIOS batteries, they can die and need replacing. Atari Jaguar CD with its shoddy cable connector? All hardware eventually ages, the parts and connectors can wear down and replacements and maintenance can be either hard to find and costly because they are no longer manufactured. 4th gen consoles maybe built sturdier but they are far and few as time goes buy and later consoles are more sophisticated and prone to have more technical breakdowns. PS2 disc error, Xbox360 Red Ring of Death? Emulation is not perfect, but it continues to improve and advance with enhancements and depending on how much of a "purist" a gamer is many can't tell the difference between emulated nes/snes/Genesis/ games from original hardware anyway. Emulation is also a solution to the issue of 'game preservation and to an extent "ownership" You can dump your disc based games to be played on a PC or phone and leave your disc collection for presentation and backups Sparring your original hardware being worn down. Also just playing nearly all your retro games on one device, especially if it is a retrohandheld designed for this very purpose or a powerful handheld gaming pc is just far more convenient than having multiple consoles plugged into one tv. Emulation just has far more benefits that outweighs its Negatives over original hardware
@@subtledemisefox At least they actually fixed those issues on later models. Meanwhile today, they still won't switch to hall effect sensors even though the Dreamcast did that 24 years ago
Lag is actually one of software emulation's greatest strengths. While most commericial emulators don't bother fixing their laggy game loop, RetroArch can match and even exceed the input lag of real hardware using a combination of frame delay and runahead. Runahead can even eliminate input lag inherent to the game itself, which is a really big deal in 30 FPS titles. For example, TMNT 1 for NES has 4-5 frames of input lag (easily measured with RetroArch's frame skip) and with 4 runahead frames it's as responsive as the likes of Mario and Mega Man. Pretty much every 3D 5th gen game runs at 30 FPS or less and is similarly laggy so using RetroArch is huge for PSX/Saturn.
Fun fact, if you were to download super mario world (or any other game) the publisher would not know it was you because they can't track people who download copyrighted material through direct download websites. Now if you were to torrent the game without a proper VPN then they would most likely know because they can track what IP's are using that torrent.
SEGA, Nintendo and others should sell official software emulators for all their older game consoles for use on pc and possibly even the software for fpga emulators for all their old game consoles and then sell all their old games as digital downloads
The problem with that is Nintendo, SEGA, etc, don't own the rights to most of the games and can't legally distribute them. You also have the added challenge of game companies that went out of business and the rights holders no longer exist, or movie licensed games where the license has expired.
I'm glad emulation exists as an alternative for when the hardware eventually dies or for many games that simply no longer exist, I like to use both and I tend to back up games I physically own rather than downloading everything. I also look out for official re releases of arcade games.
I'm a stubborn guy who loves the nostalgic enjoyment and feel of gaming with og hardware on CRT especially since I was lucky enough to pick a life partner who had a crt with component video ports, however, I enjoy taking old PCs, usually liquidation or office clear out models, or people's old barely runs anymore PCs, tinkering slightly with them, and installing a retroarch based operating system on them to turn them into couch emulation PCs that can be fully ran from a controller (minus loading the roms onto the PC but that's technically work time) I think that is probably the best solution for most retro enthusiast. Get an old PC and either have yourself or a friend make it an emulation console.
I hooked my gaming PC up to my TV and it's taken the place of pretty much all my old consoles. Yeah, you have to do a little tinkering to get all the things working, but once that's out of the way, it works like a dream. Plus, faster loading times is a huge boon for PS1 and PS2 games.
Don’t underestimate the feeling of playing on a MiSTer. I have for the most part retired my OG HW after getting into FPGA, something I couldn’t or wouldn’t do while only using software emulation. My interests are in the older systems though, that are all represented on the MiSTer.
I like both tbh. I like being able to hold the original controller and experience what it was like back in the day, having the physical copy, and I like the convenience emulation provides. Lately I’ve been shifting to emulation since it’s tedious to take a game out and clean them every time I want to play a game.
I think it's not really about one or the other, but both, original hardware has a unique charm, that no emulator can match, but its only worth it if you are a serious collector, for the nostalgia for the system you grew up with, if you are a speedrunner or if you are really interested in a particular console and it's games, if you are only interested in a single game or just a few, then emulation is probably good enough
I’ve enjoyed emulation over the years, but I’ve always found having an infinite list of games almost off putting, and there’s nothing like having physical games to browse and open.
I also had this problem initially and the way I got around it was simply by loading one or two games at a time and playing through them fully, or at least to the full extent of my enjoyment with them, before I allow myself to load another game to the hardware I'm using, which is basically what I do with modern release titles too
This is one of the best analysis videos I've seen on emulation. For me, I like emulating for portable gaming. I have an Ayn Odin and like playing games on the go. I also like being able to play the games I always wanted to try without dropping multiple 1,000s of dollars. I also see emulation this way: If the company who published the game makes it available for purchase legally, I'll gladly buy it. But many aren't and I would happily pay a corporation for an old game, but not a price gouging private seller. Emulation or buying used both result in no money going to the company. Imho
i dont think its a question of "if" but "when" these old systems arent getting any younger and as they become more rare theyre only getting more expensive. and with all the speclutation many games are wildly overpriced in the second hand market, even tho i own several classic consoles, ive had to switch to emulation as my default just because i cant afford buying old cartridges for every single new game i want to play
As an avid emulation user myself this is probably one of the bestnvideos on the topic to ever exist! You did a great job explaining the topic and while I may not agree with most of your opinions on emulaiton, I do however perfectly understand where you're coming from. Part of the reason why I rely on emulation is because I'm tired of bad re-releases or remakes that replace the original games with no re-releases in sight (Silent Hill 2 is a perfect example).
I use emulation similarity, more like a backup than outright pirating! But the big companies(Nintendo/Sony) don't think as an individual… much like Bill Gates and his letter to the Homebrew Computer Club in the later 19070's! 😭😭
I enjoyed this. Definitely agree on the nuance of different use case scenarios and I must admit if I could fit a CRT into my setup for older stuff and could find one I trust to last, I would. I think back to discussing the idea of Mega Drive games being designed with composite in mind with you and some others, particularly with stuff like Sonic 1's waterfalls. However on a flat screen we're outside the realms of what the game was designed for so that is a whole other tangent. I've recently been trying the 3DS version of MGS3 Snake Eater on Citra on the Steam Deck with a HD assets pack and a 60fps patch. The game on original hardware targets 20fps and I feel like the screen size and native resolution of 3DS is a bit too small for a game like MGS3. Apparently this release added crouch walking and some other new mechanics from MGS4 and Peace Walker. I've also found that using my Series X for supported 360 and Xbox original games has been my preference for experiencing that library where possible. Even outside of games with FPS boost, auto HDR and 4k support, having v-sync, 16x anisotropic filtering, constantly hitting the target frame rate and in instances with dynamic resolution scaling always hitting the max res there is quite pleasant. With regard to not wanting to play games at your desk, I get that. I definitely recommend getting the Steam Link app for your Smart TV to get some use out of your PC's games library in your living room. LAN network streaming has come along leaps and bounds and your use of ethernet would be beneficial for this too. Non-steam games added to your Steam list can work this well too and Steam has a very good UI for controller use these days. One of my use case scenarios for emulation is taking some of my console games on the go. The Anbernic RG35XX has been a neat little system for games of that era and pretty much lives in my bag for mostly messing about on Mega Drive romhacks.
I've always been curious about that MGS3 3DS port, but never tried it. Let me know how you get on with it. Gotta admit, if my Series X wasn't the best way to play a lot of my OG Xbox and 360 games, I would have probably sold the machine by now. Giving the Steam Link app a download today. :) Yes! Likewise, the Razer Kishi has transformed my phone into an emulation beast!
Why does this channel have so few subs? This is a really good video. The only thing I will add is that there's something called CRT Emudriver that allows you to run emulators on a CRT, as well as many adaptor options for retro controllers. It's practically unobtanium now unfortunately, but I have a Mayflash PS2, N64 and Saturn 3-in-1 adaptor.
So my rule has always been ill emulate something by less than legal means if either A.) Its not available in any reasonably affordable form as of the moment i want to play it (Arcade1up stuff doesnt count to me) 2.) I have a version of the game in some form already but want to play a different version thag i dont have (eg i have the arcade version of smash tv on ps2 via a midway arcade compilation but want to play the snes version as thats the one i grew up with but no longer own)
Something I love to do with Duckstation is emulating a game at high resolution then downsample to the original res. It still looks close to the original game but with much improve anti-aliasing basically. Just add PGXP perspective correction and a CRT shader on top of it and it looks stunning
the sweet spot for emulating early 3D games is 480p imo. 240 just doesn't look very good on a modern screen and higher resolutions have the issues you listed. 480 feels like the right middle ground
It's only a matter of time you have to use emulation over original hardware. - Companies can't do full backwards compatability - cost and licensing issues - console eventually is no longer manufactured and there is maintenance costs - retro physical disc game collecting is increasingly expensive Emulation is the best solution so far for Game Preservation.
Actually, you can mod original hardware to play games from images. My ps2 loads games from hdd and my gamecube loads games from and SD card, for example.
Video game emulation is one of the best things ever implemented. Nintendo, Sony and Sega probably don't acknowledge it, but emulation has helped popularity of their various characters and out-of-circulation titles that otherwise would have never been seen. I believe that current titles should not be emulated due to the fact that the creators and designers do not get paid for their hard work, therefore extreme caution should be used. Once again, I love emulation and imho the big corporations need to embrace it and capitalize on it much like they did with the mini-consoles. It's a win-win for everyone. Great video!
Emulation is a necessity for retro gaming, at some point all hardware is going to fail. I'm using RetroArch to play directly off the discs, so for anyone questioning legality, this is actually a great alternative. However I wish every emulator fully utilized this method more, I don't think we're there yet or advance enough, but I think it's a more legal solution than just using roms.
Short answer is _Yes, if you don’t care about latency._ (and, no, run ahead is not sufficient to overcome this completely). If you _do_ care, then MiSTer FPGA (hardware simulation) tackles that issue pretty handily. For your point on “deprecated programming languages”, as an ex game programmer, I can tell you this absolutely does not matter, even remotely. There’s compilers for every past system. Programmers interested in programming for a retro game system will just learn the language & architecture of the original system. It’s a WAY bigger project to refactor _everything_ in a newer language that isn’t going to buy you much in the end & has the major downsides of 1. Being a monumental task unto itself 2. Introducing inefficiencies into the code & its performance & 3. Gaining you virtually nothing over the original in the end. No sensible programmer with any modicum or experience is going to look at that situation & think refactoring is a net positive. Companies will usually just set up an emulator on the system to deal with this (another win for emulation). For remasters, they can just reproduce the functionality. It’s not exact, & original source code won’t make it exact in this scenario, but it’s usually close enough for most people to satisfy (EG - Bounding box for collision detection in the remaster of the Crash trilogy).
In my experience run ahead is close enough and much better than not using it at all of course the original hardware would be better or an FPGA solution like a mister but again that's an expense most people won't spend
I did laugh so much at that. But sadly i also know a few programmers that would say that because they don't care how things are working under the Hood. That what happend when programming and hardware engineering are getting separated.
My biggest arugment against emulation is always input latency. Project 64 has way too much to make Mario 64 fun, PCSX2 is notoriosly laggy, etc. It's a shame but the more sensitive you are to input latency, the less playable emulators will be for you. Also CRTs are awesome! Games look amazing on them, even if you don't have a lot of room a tiny 12 inch one is totally worth it! SD games and also movies and TV shows will look way better than you're used to.
One thing most people cannot afford and it was touched a little bit in the video is actually having the space and the money shell out in order to buy all these old consoles, games for them, and to maintain them. Most people will simply go for the convenience of emulating old games even if sometimes they're not perfectly being emulated. You don't need a very expensive PC to emulate most consoles on the market, and a PC at less than $1000 can go as far as emulate Nintendo Switch and PS3 or Xbox 360 games pretty well. On the flip side, you'd have to buy a PS3, an Xbox Series S (at least), a Switch, a Dreamcast, an NES, a Genesis, etc., if you really want to be as inclusive as possible, and not many can even afford to pay for all these systems (if we include the games too, we're talking about thousands of dollars - especially for certain rare physical copies). I personally have chosen convenience and minimal space over real hardware, for this reason.
On Dolphin, you can play some Wii games that didn't officially support the Classic or GameCube Controller with a traditional controller. You just gotta get a little creative with where to map the controls and use per-game control settings. I managed to play Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 with a regular controller. With N64 button mapping on Xbox/PS controllers, I map the C-Up and C-Down buttons to Triangle/Y and Circle/B, respectively, C-Left and C-Right to L/LB and R/RB, respectively, Z and R to L2/LT and R2/RT, respectively, and L to Select/Back. B and A are Square/X and X/A, respectively, and, of course, the analog stick and D-Pad are mapped to the left stick and the D-Pad. Much better than mapping the C buttons to the right stick, which makes absolutely no sense to me. And if I'm playing a game that uses the D-Pad for movement like a 2D game, I swap the Z and L mapping. For the THQ/AKI wrestling games specifically, I map the analog stick to the right stick and the D-Pad to both the left stick and D-Pad while everything else remains the same. And for GoldenEye and Perfect Dark, I use the 1964 GEPD emulator to play with mouse and keyboard. I actually prefer playing PS1 and N64 games at much higher resolutions because I'm not a fan of 240p polygons. 240p pixels/sprites look beautiful, especially with a proper upscaler or linedoubler, but 240p polygons from this era look really rough to me. As for the HUD and textures not looking HD in this case, there are HD and 4K texture packs for some games, and a lot of them look fantastic and capture the original texts perfectly. On the topic of compatibility, you also gotta take the hardware you're using into consideration. Like a regular office PC will not run PS3 or Xbox 360 games, but a high end gaming rig certainly will. God Of War 3 and Sonic Unleashed are both listed as "Ingame" instead of Playable, but I can run them at full speed on my rig.
Being able to map stuff to controller pretty much saved Sonic and the Secret Rings from obscurity, because it is nigh unplayable through motion.(playing with controller still has some major issues, but you can actually see what went right and what went wrong with the game when motion-misdetection does not obscure everything)
Emulation all day long and twice on Sundays. Its game preservation more than anything. Its giving me a chance to relive childhood memories and play games I never had growing up. Long live emulation.
I love emulation. I do regret selling off my physical collection, and I miss all my OG hardware, but it’s saved me so much space. Something also tells me that the original developers that worked on the games are probably happy that people still play these games, in all of their glory on powerful modern equipment that can work magic on their artwork, stories, and all of the work they put in to them. I doubt any developer of these old games is frowning on people restoring the games, and playing them with upgraded frame rates and resolutions. The only people mad about emulation are the publishers.
I turned a PC into a console by using steam big picture mode and emudeck windows to scan all my roms into steam. Its easy to do and leaves you with a convenient all in one system that i can just plug in 4 controllers and play any game.
It already has. Haven't used actual hardware in nearly 6 years, up to the 6th generation, and soon to be, 7th generation. People can whine and moan about "mah original hardware", but in the end, 1's and 0's, are 1's and 0's, and any digital computed console, can be reproduced in software. As computing continues to progress, so will emulation performance, and accuracy. Anything up to the 6th generation, is pretty stamped in emulation these days. 7th will come along in the next 2 - 3 years. This is all to say nothing of the mountain of features emulation offers that will never be possible on original hardware.
It literally doesn’t matter if you have nothing to compare it to side by side. As long as it works decent and satisfactory in terms of performance it’s fine.
I incorrectly guessed Original hardware, PC emulation then disc in PS3. I find emulation to be a rabbit hole with a lot of surprising issues when I've tried to go with it to save me loading up my physical consoles all the time. It got kind of frustrating, like a whack a mole. Ex... got your emulator setup, got the files, yata. OK too bad, latest Win 10 patch makes the emulator not be able to make the API? calls to go full screen or use D3D/Vulkan. etc. I've ran into so many annoying issues which really shouldn't exist.
Good point. Not all emulators are preconfigured or work "out of the box". You have to setup plugins, point it to a BIOS file, etc. before you can play them.
@@WebstersTH-camnot to mention the fact that certain games due to hardware hacks or other kinks require their own specialized distro of specific emulators, less of a problem for hardware that's older than ps360 though
Great video. I enjoy a good retro video game often. I started collecting for Sega Genesis and quickly realized i could never afford a satisfactory collection for the console. I stumbled across a product called super console x on a Chinese retail site for $49. It came with 50,000 roms plug and play. This product blew my mind because I've never owned or learned to use a pc. This plug and play console made emulation available to me for the first time. I have noticed a few problems although. My favorite game for nes, Mike Tyson's punch out is included with the super console x. Once i got about half way through the game i noticed i was unable to win the fights. There is just enough lag to make the games timing off. I was really disappointed in not being able to play some games properly through emulation. Over all i am still happy with the super console x and having the complete libraries of my favorite retro consoles is just amazing and at under $60 its a no brainer for a non pc user like myself. Just wanted to share my experience with emulation. Thanks fo the video
I will say when it comes to emulation lag at the moment if you're playing 16 bit or older you can use the The run ahead method That uses save states to lower the lag significantly
I'm gonna take a guess at the PS3 vs. PS1 vs. emulator question you have at the beginning. Picture 1 is PS3, Picture 2 is PS1, and Picture 3 is emulation. If I'm wrong, I'll edit this comment to reflect that. If you haven't finished the video yet, please do not read my edit. You will spoil yourself. EDIT: So I'm wrong. Picture 1 is PS1 and Picture 2 is PS3.
😂😂 I'd say you were partially correct! But who am I?! 😂😂 Also I didn't comment before finishing the video and I was STILL wrong about the order myself 😂😂
great video, congratulations! Just one detail, it is not necessary to use a dolphin-bar with dolphin-emu, there is the option of passthrough and motion controllers which are just as good.
In terms of unique control methods, that is not really an argument. At best you can buy a USB clone controller of whatever you need (trackballs, instrument controllers, dance mat, etc.) at worst, you can literally build a replacement (Virtual On Twin Stick).
My comment got deleted. But good video. I agree what you you mean. PS1 RE actually looked better to me due to how the others do the pixels. Let alone PSP tv component over emulation or upscaler devices.
I think it pretty much already has with FPGA’s, which is emulation on a hardware level. The Analogue Consoles, the Mister Project which has dozens of cores including Arcade Machines and Computers all the way upto the N64. But i think it’s going to be a struggle beyond that, Dreamcast maybe possible on a more powerful FPGA but beyond that you would have to rely on software emulation and original hardware using scalers. The PS2 era of consoles is going to get seriously complex but the good new is these sold a lot better than the console prior. The PS2 is the best selling console off all time discontinued in 2013, the Wii is super common and is backwards compatible with the Gamecube plus it can emulate a lot of other systems, the Og Xbox is pretty much a Pentium 3 PC and a lot of it’s games were ported over to PC. The PSP and DS are also incredibly common and cheap and all DS’s including the 3DS can natively play GBA games. The 360, PS3 and beyond are everywhere, it might even be sitting in your closet. Just give those consoles a dust with some new thermal paste and your good to go and they plug straight into your tv thanks to the HDMI standard which kicked in around then. I think the Dreamcast is the last true Retro Console that unfortunately didn’t sell well and if that gets put onto an FPGA then pretty much everything that is Retro has truly been preserved.
flip a keyboard upside down use arrows for frets and the space to strum and a few other keys for tilts and such and it works pretty well to "Keytar" a Guitar Hero game. I have done this even if I now use a 360 Guitar not sure my plans for a drum yet
I love emulation, but I do feel like the original hardware on CRT TV feels much better. Maybe it's the controllers, maybe it's the TV, I don't know, but it feels more responsive somehow. I still emulate, kinda depends on where I am and which hardware I have available, as I can only use my CRT on my gaming room.
Very relatable video. I prefer playing on original hardware too, but I don't buy old games due to cost, space limitation, and/or optical drives eventually failing due to wear and tear. Instead I went the route of Everdrives, ODE (Optical Drive Emulators) and Hardware/Software Jailbreaks. I have a CRT for light gun games but I'm perfectly aware that CRTs will eventually be gone for good, and consoles won't last forever even if carefully maintained, so I know emulation is the future. But until that day comes, I will enjoy the pleasure of the full original experience.
Glad to see someone else bringing that fact up. Emulation really is the future for these older retro titles. Reality is, as these game carts, discs, and consoles get older, they're less likely to function as intended, if at all. Save batteries eventually die in carts that have save features, disc drives eventually stop working, old capacitors burn out eventually and isn't something a average joe knows how to fix/replace, disc rot is a thing as well. Eventually, emulation will be the only way to play these games, period. It's just a matter of when now.
It’s just physically uncomfortable for me to emulate in front of a pc/laptop screen. It hurts my eyes and back. I’d rather play it on original/official hardware and kick back and relax on my couch.
Agreed. I would say that, since releasing this video, I have gotten a Steam Deck and a dock. It outputs to the TV, accepts a wireless Xbox Series controller, and installing emulators up to and including PS2 was surprisingly easy. I now have a pretty convenient emulation machine in the living room. That said, I still tend to fire up the original consoles for the intangible feel you get from the analogue video signal and original controllers.
One thing I always wondered with all the sequel stuff is. Do kids even know what war they are actually fighting in? Kill zone is a prime example. Do they know how it started and why they are fighting. Modern games are too serious games aren't fun anymore. I feel like they play the games because their friends are and don't play just for enjoyment or for a story to follow through generations.
This is a year old but I've been having a hard time recently with deciding to just emulate on my gaming laptop or to buy a clone console. I know people say emulators have lag and it seems petty but that's my main concern with deciding. I'll never spend the money on true retro consoles I don't already have or dedicate an area with an old TV or buy parts to get them to work with my new TV so which do you think is the better option?
Maybe I'm just not that sensitive to the input lag in emulators But I've never noticed it Could it just be something newer emulators nowadays have fixed but the stereotype stuck so people just keep repeating it? Or maybe those people just had weaker hardware/the enulator wasn't optimised and was very performance hungry
The thing is, for example nintendo didnt release smg2 for 3D all stars and not even wii emulation on nswitch online, so how i supposed to enjoy my childhood games if Nintendo does not let me to do that?
I'd say it can replace hardware unless you're Digital Foundry (meaning the emulator would need to run exactly like its real counterpart (framerate, resolution, and so on) and have a built-in recording function, just like RetroArch and SNES9X do) or if there's enough input lag. As of the middle of 2024, I still get input lag from Dolphin (about an eighth of a second) and see no reliable videos about how to fix it. It's a shame, because emulators are there when systems become harder to buy.
I find this video interesting, i really enjoy emulation. My comment is too late already but the only time I'm not fond of emulation is emulation of current games such as switch and ps4.. its killing the current gaming industry. Ps1 snes game boy advance ds are all fine because those are not always available anywhere
As a side note I don't think your opening comparison between RE2 really works and a better way to demonstrate what you're saying would be to overlay each video and swap between them at points without labeling them for viewers
@@Vanity0666also you can run on higher res on emu, showing emu on at 1x res makes emu look like it not even worth it. also fact that he refers to emulators as ilegal despite being legal. only pirating old games is ilegal but if it out of print then it hurts no one
Collections are worthless. You will be dead in a few decades and someone else will sell it and go on holiday for 3 weeks. Poof. May as well emulate, save space, time and money.
@@linktheordonianhero9098 no, this one is a PS2 exclusive remake of the Master System Phantasy Star. The 8 bit MS original is available on Nintendo Switch, but the PS2 remake never got a re-release.
I've had a new found love for emulation since getting a steam deck
Emudeck is a beautiful thing.
I played hours and hours on my psp just two years ago and now on steam deck ppsspp performs even better than the original, gives me around 6 hours, maybe even more, of active play on single charge and the input lag is close to none while on the original hardware it is noticeable.
If only pcsx2 could be like ppsspp
Honestly, that's why I got one. Once I saw that it could emulate PS2, I had to have it.
The benefits of emulation are much,much more than their weaknesess.Having your entire childhood in one pc along with all these frontends and artworks, it really cannot be beaten, your eternally fun is quaranteed.
What else can you ask for in the end?
Eventually those emulators that are not perfect, they will be perfected anyway.
And most of all you save money and spend them to other more important things in life.
You also have to consider that unofficial emulation is available for most hardware, I mean even the game boy advancecan emulate NES games, and there are unofficial emulators that you can download for most modern consoles (though you may need to jailbreak them first), as well as for android-based devices.
And you can get a retroid pocket pro for like $200 and emulate almost everything that is less beefy than the switch, and that's a portable android-based device.
You don't even need to be a PC guy to emulate.
For me, no. For others, yes. Just play how you want. Life is stressful and what’s really important is that everyone has a good time whenever they can. Play how you want. People already tell us how to work. No one should tell us how to play.
thank you!
I say yes
Sam, it is possible to run 60hz games through a 50hz TV, plug the console into a VCR and then into the TV, the VCR will convert the feed to PAL on the fly.
That's how I used to capture import game footage when I was on TV back in the day.
Also, a fantastic new feature I've seen on recent emulators are ones that will translate Japanese games to English in real time using augmented reality.
The VCR trick is a neat little workaround. Live translations sounds like a potential game changer! :O
@@WebstersTH-cam Just use RGB scart cable for every pal console has this option (most of them do). 60hz ntsc games will play in full colour and speed on the pal tv (at least the (modchipped) Ps1/2 did that, other pal consoles would automatically convert the ntsc image/speed to pal - Saturn for example).
HELLO, YOU! 😁
@@luisreyes1963 He's guru larry
I have been using emulation since middle school and I haven't looked back. I loved the fact that I can play whatever games from any system and I can use whatever controller I want, the customization is endless. Emulation was a great opportunity for me to play games I missed out on as a kid. Also the fact I don't have a lot of space and having it all on a PC makes things convenient for me also saves me money on buying new games and systems. I don't want to build a collection I just want to play the games.
Same. Started using emulation in middle school and haven't looked back. It's wonderful
@@MetalJody1990 awesome
Thousands of great games for maybe 1 or 2 gb
Exactly, real hardware is only interesting for collectors or traders trying to make a profit.
For actually playing the games emulators are generally fine if not better than playing on original hardware
Playing old games in 4k is crazy
Sometimes im suprised at how durable old consoles are. You would think a Super Nintendo, a Sega Genesis or a PS1 would still be working 30 years later but they still are.
Back in our day, things were built to last ;)
While PS3 and XBOX 360 consoles will destroy themselves the year they released lol. I just recently bought a fat ps3 and I'm worried that every time I use it will be the last even though it's clean and in a well-ventilated area.
A large portion of this comes from their MUCH lower complexity. You're talking about thousands vs BILLIONS of transistors. The smaller and smaller our electronics become, and more tightly integrated, the more likely for a single point of failure to cause full scale inoperability
@@WebstersTH-cam i think this is rose tinted glaases.
inbuilt obsolescence and faults existed long before consoles.
Remember the NES cartridges you had to keep blowing and PS laser disc reader?
What about BIOS batteries, they can die and need replacing.
Atari Jaguar CD with its shoddy cable connector?
All hardware eventually ages, the parts and connectors can wear down and replacements and maintenance can be either hard to find and costly because they are no longer manufactured.
4th gen consoles maybe built sturdier but they are far and few as time goes buy and later consoles are more sophisticated and prone to have more technical breakdowns.
PS2 disc error, Xbox360 Red Ring of Death?
Emulation is not perfect, but it continues to improve and advance with enhancements and depending on how much of a "purist" a gamer is many can't tell the difference between emulated nes/snes/Genesis/ games from original hardware anyway.
Emulation is also a solution to the issue of 'game preservation and to an extent "ownership"
You can dump your disc based games to be played on a PC or phone and leave your disc collection for presentation and backups
Sparring your original hardware being worn down.
Also just playing nearly all your retro games on one device, especially if it is a retrohandheld designed for this very purpose or a powerful handheld gaming pc is just far more convenient than having multiple consoles plugged into one tv.
Emulation just has far more benefits that outweighs its Negatives over original hardware
@@subtledemisefox At least they actually fixed those issues on later models. Meanwhile today, they still won't switch to hall effect sensors even though the Dreamcast did that 24 years ago
Lag is actually one of software emulation's greatest strengths. While most commericial emulators don't bother fixing their laggy game loop, RetroArch can match and even exceed the input lag of real hardware using a combination of frame delay and runahead. Runahead can even eliminate input lag inherent to the game itself, which is a really big deal in 30 FPS titles. For example, TMNT 1 for NES has 4-5 frames of input lag (easily measured with RetroArch's frame skip) and with 4 runahead frames it's as responsive as the likes of Mario and Mega Man. Pretty much every 3D 5th gen game runs at 30 FPS or less and is similarly laggy so using RetroArch is huge for PSX/Saturn.
I've always used stand alone emulators so are you saying if I use retro arch that the lag everyone always goes on about is reduced or even equaled?
Fun fact, if you were to download super mario world (or any other game) the publisher would not know it was you because they can't track people who download copyrighted material through direct download websites. Now if you were to torrent the game without a proper VPN then they would most likely know because they can track what IP's are using that torrent.
SEGA, Nintendo and others should sell official software emulators for all their older game consoles for use on pc
and possibly even the software for fpga emulators for all their old game consoles
and then sell all their old games as digital downloads
The problem with that is Nintendo, SEGA, etc, don't own the rights to most of the games and can't legally distribute them. You also have the added challenge of game companies that went out of business and the rights holders no longer exist, or movie licensed games where the license has expired.
I'm glad emulation exists as an alternative for when the hardware eventually dies or for many games that simply no longer exist, I like to use both and I tend to back up games I physically own rather than downloading everything. I also look out for official re releases of arcade games.
Hardware still important because you need to store it in your computer which is made of lots of hardware and software.
I'm a stubborn guy who loves the nostalgic enjoyment and feel of gaming with og hardware on CRT especially since I was lucky enough to pick a life partner who had a crt with component video ports, however, I enjoy taking old PCs, usually liquidation or office clear out models, or people's old barely runs anymore PCs, tinkering slightly with them, and installing a retroarch based operating system on them to turn them into couch emulation PCs that can be fully ran from a controller (minus loading the roms onto the PC but that's technically work time) I think that is probably the best solution for most retro enthusiast. Get an old PC and either have yourself or a friend make it an emulation console.
I hooked my gaming PC up to my TV and it's taken the place of pretty much all my old consoles. Yeah, you have to do a little tinkering to get all the things working, but once that's out of the way, it works like a dream. Plus, faster loading times is a huge boon for PS1 and PS2 games.
Don’t underestimate the feeling of playing on a MiSTer. I have for the most part retired my OG HW after getting into FPGA, something I couldn’t or wouldn’t do while only using software emulation. My interests are in the older systems though, that are all represented on the MiSTer.
You probably think monster cables make things look and sound better.
@@youtubesuresuckscock I don’t know. Do they?
I like both tbh. I like being able to hold the original controller and experience what it was like back in the day, having the physical copy, and I like the convenience emulation provides. Lately I’ve been shifting to emulation since it’s tedious to take a game out and clean them every time I want to play a game.
Stick to emulation brother! Original Hardware is aging and getting really expensive. Even flash carts are expensive…
I think it's not really about one or the other, but both, original hardware has a unique charm, that no emulator can match, but its only worth it if you are a serious collector, for the nostalgia for the system you grew up with, if you are a speedrunner or if you are really interested in a particular console and it's games, if you are only interested in a single game or just a few, then emulation is probably good enough
I’ve enjoyed emulation over the years, but I’ve always found having an infinite list of games almost off putting, and there’s nothing like having physical games to browse and open.
Decision paralysis can definitely be a factor
I also had this problem initially and the way I got around it was simply by loading one or two games at a time and playing through them fully, or at least to the full extent of my enjoyment with them, before I allow myself to load another game to the hardware I'm using, which is basically what I do with modern release titles too
But you could also have decision paralysis with physical copies as well
This is one of the best analysis videos I've seen on emulation. For me, I like emulating for portable gaming. I have an Ayn Odin and like playing games on the go. I also like being able to play the games I always wanted to try without dropping multiple 1,000s of dollars. I also see emulation this way: If the company who published the game makes it available for purchase legally, I'll gladly buy it. But many aren't and I would happily pay a corporation for an old game, but not a price gouging private seller. Emulation or buying used both result in no money going to the company. Imho
i dont think its a question of "if" but "when"
these old systems arent getting any younger and as they become more rare theyre only getting more expensive. and with all the speclutation many games are wildly overpriced in the second hand market, even tho i own several classic consoles, ive had to switch to emulation as my default just because i cant afford buying old cartridges for every single new game i want to play
there are always flashcart/ode/hdd solutions to playing games on real hardware without having to buy the original games
As an avid emulation user myself this is probably one of the bestnvideos on the topic to ever exist! You did a great job explaining the topic and while I may not agree with most of your opinions on emulaiton, I do however perfectly understand where you're coming from.
Part of the reason why I rely on emulation is because I'm tired of bad re-releases or remakes that replace the original games with no re-releases in sight (Silent Hill 2 is a perfect example).
I use emulation similarity, more like a backup than outright pirating! But the big companies(Nintendo/Sony) don't think as an individual… much like Bill Gates and his letter to the Homebrew Computer Club in the later 19070's! 😭😭
I enjoyed this. Definitely agree on the nuance of different use case scenarios and I must admit if I could fit a CRT into my setup for older stuff and could find one I trust to last, I would.
I think back to discussing the idea of Mega Drive games being designed with composite in mind with you and some others, particularly with stuff like Sonic 1's waterfalls. However on a flat screen we're outside the realms of what the game was designed for so that is a whole other tangent.
I've recently been trying the 3DS version of MGS3 Snake Eater on Citra on the Steam Deck with a HD assets pack and a 60fps patch. The game on original hardware targets 20fps and I feel like the screen size and native resolution of 3DS is a bit too small for a game like MGS3. Apparently this release added crouch walking and some other new mechanics from MGS4 and Peace Walker.
I've also found that using my Series X for supported 360 and Xbox original games has been my preference for experiencing that library where possible. Even outside of games with FPS boost, auto HDR and 4k support, having v-sync, 16x anisotropic filtering, constantly hitting the target frame rate and in instances with dynamic resolution scaling always hitting the max res there is quite pleasant.
With regard to not wanting to play games at your desk, I get that. I definitely recommend getting the Steam Link app for your Smart TV to get some use out of your PC's games library in your living room. LAN network streaming has come along leaps and bounds and your use of ethernet would be beneficial for this too. Non-steam games added to your Steam list can work this well too and Steam has a very good UI for controller use these days.
One of my use case scenarios for emulation is taking some of my console games on the go. The Anbernic RG35XX has been a neat little system for games of that era and pretty much lives in my bag for mostly messing about on Mega Drive romhacks.
I've always been curious about that MGS3 3DS port, but never tried it. Let me know how you get on with it.
Gotta admit, if my Series X wasn't the best way to play a lot of my OG Xbox and 360 games, I would have probably sold the machine by now.
Giving the Steam Link app a download today. :)
Yes! Likewise, the Razer Kishi has transformed my phone into an emulation beast!
CRT composite shaders exist in retroarch to get that desired look
Why does this channel have so few subs? This is a really good video. The only thing I will add is that there's something called CRT Emudriver that allows you to run emulators on a CRT, as well as many adaptor options for retro controllers. It's practically unobtanium now unfortunately, but I have a Mayflash PS2, N64 and Saturn 3-in-1 adaptor.
So my rule has always been ill emulate something by less than legal means if either
A.) Its not available in any reasonably affordable form as of the moment i want to play it (Arcade1up stuff doesnt count to me)
2.) I have a version of the game in some form already but want to play a different version thag i dont have (eg i have the arcade version of smash tv on ps2 via a midway arcade compilation but want to play the snes version as thats the one i grew up with but no longer own)
when i had a physical collection i liked to read the manuals sometimes. I miss that but nos as much as to buy them again
Something I love to do with Duckstation is emulating a game at high resolution then downsample to the original res. It still looks close to the original game but with much improve anti-aliasing basically. Just add PGXP perspective correction and a CRT shader on top of it and it looks stunning
the sweet spot for emulating early 3D games is 480p imo. 240 just doesn't look very good on a modern screen and higher resolutions have the issues you listed. 480 feels like the right middle ground
12:58 There are controller adapters for those, and there is USB port forwarding for others.
It's only a matter of time you have to use emulation over original hardware.
- Companies can't do full backwards compatability - cost and licensing issues
- console eventually is no longer manufactured and there is maintenance costs
- retro physical disc game collecting is increasingly expensive
Emulation is the best solution so far for Game Preservation.
Actually, you can mod original hardware to play games from images. My ps2 loads games from hdd and my gamecube loads games from and SD card, for example.
I know what's stopping you! "time sink" simple..
Video game emulation is one of the best things ever implemented. Nintendo, Sony and Sega probably don't acknowledge it, but emulation has helped popularity of their various characters and out-of-circulation titles that otherwise would have never been seen. I believe that current titles should not be emulated due to the fact that the creators and designers do not get paid for their hard work, therefore extreme caution should be used. Once again, I love emulation and imho the big corporations need to embrace it and capitalize on it much like they did with the mini-consoles. It's a win-win for everyone. Great video!
Or one can buy the games AND play it through unofficial means.
Emulation is a necessity for retro gaming, at some point all hardware is going to fail. I'm using RetroArch to play directly off the discs, so for anyone questioning legality, this is actually a great alternative. However I wish every emulator fully utilized this method more, I don't think we're there yet or advance enough, but I think it's a more legal solution than just using roms.
Short answer is _Yes, if you don’t care about latency._ (and, no, run ahead is not sufficient to overcome this completely). If you _do_ care, then MiSTer FPGA (hardware simulation) tackles that issue pretty handily.
For your point on “deprecated programming languages”, as an ex game programmer, I can tell you this absolutely does not matter, even remotely. There’s compilers for every past system. Programmers interested in programming for a retro game system will just learn the language & architecture of the original system. It’s a WAY bigger project to refactor _everything_ in a newer language that isn’t going to buy you much in the end & has the major downsides of 1. Being a monumental task unto itself 2. Introducing inefficiencies into the code & its performance & 3. Gaining you virtually nothing over the original in the end. No sensible programmer with any modicum or experience is going to look at that situation & think refactoring is a net positive.
Companies will usually just set up an emulator on the system to deal with this (another win for emulation). For remasters, they can just reproduce the functionality. It’s not exact, & original source code won’t make it exact in this scenario, but it’s usually close enough for most people to satisfy (EG - Bounding box for collision detection in the remaster of the Crash trilogy).
In my experience run ahead is close enough and much better than not using it at all of course the original hardware would be better or an FPGA solution like a mister but again that's an expense most people won't spend
"Depricated languages like assembly" possibly the least deprecated of all languages, depending on the processor platform.
He doesn’t know anything about programming clearly.
I did laugh so much at that. But sadly i also know a few programmers that would say that because they don't care how things are working under the Hood. That what happend when programming and hardware engineering are getting separated.
Certain models of PS3 is emulation, the OG PS3 had full hardware support
My biggest arugment against emulation is always input latency. Project 64 has way too much to make Mario 64 fun, PCSX2 is notoriosly laggy, etc. It's a shame but the more sensitive you are to input latency, the less playable emulators will be for you.
Also CRTs are awesome! Games look amazing on them, even if you don't have a lot of room a tiny 12 inch one is totally worth it! SD games and also movies and TV shows will look way better than you're used to.
Yeah but that's just n64 and maybe some others. Snes and genesis run perfect
One thing most people cannot afford and it was touched a little bit in the video is actually having the space and the money shell out in order to buy all these old consoles, games for them, and to maintain them.
Most people will simply go for the convenience of emulating old games even if sometimes they're not perfectly being emulated.
You don't need a very expensive PC to emulate most consoles on the market, and a PC at less than $1000 can go as far as emulate Nintendo Switch and PS3 or Xbox 360 games pretty well.
On the flip side, you'd have to buy a PS3, an Xbox Series S (at least), a Switch, a Dreamcast, an NES, a Genesis, etc., if you really want to be as inclusive as possible, and not many can even afford to pay for all these systems (if we include the games too, we're talking about thousands of dollars - especially for certain rare physical copies).
I personally have chosen convenience and minimal space over real hardware, for this reason.
On Dolphin, you can play some Wii games that didn't officially support the Classic or GameCube Controller with a traditional controller. You just gotta get a little creative with where to map the controls and use per-game control settings. I managed to play Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 with a regular controller.
With N64 button mapping on Xbox/PS controllers, I map the C-Up and C-Down buttons to Triangle/Y and Circle/B, respectively, C-Left and C-Right to L/LB and R/RB, respectively, Z and R to L2/LT and R2/RT, respectively, and L to Select/Back. B and A are Square/X and X/A, respectively, and, of course, the analog stick and D-Pad are mapped to the left stick and the D-Pad. Much better than mapping the C buttons to the right stick, which makes absolutely no sense to me. And if I'm playing a game that uses the D-Pad for movement like a 2D game, I swap the Z and L mapping. For the THQ/AKI wrestling games specifically, I map the analog stick to the right stick and the D-Pad to both the left stick and D-Pad while everything else remains the same. And for GoldenEye and Perfect Dark, I use the 1964 GEPD emulator to play with mouse and keyboard.
I actually prefer playing PS1 and N64 games at much higher resolutions because I'm not a fan of 240p polygons. 240p pixels/sprites look beautiful, especially with a proper upscaler or linedoubler, but 240p polygons from this era look really rough to me. As for the HUD and textures not looking HD in this case, there are HD and 4K texture packs for some games, and a lot of them look fantastic and capture the original texts perfectly.
On the topic of compatibility, you also gotta take the hardware you're using into consideration. Like a regular office PC will not run PS3 or Xbox 360 games, but a high end gaming rig certainly will. God Of War 3 and Sonic Unleashed are both listed as "Ingame" instead of Playable, but I can run them at full speed on my rig.
Being able to map stuff to controller pretty much saved Sonic and the Secret Rings from obscurity, because it is nigh unplayable through motion.(playing with controller still has some major issues, but you can actually see what went right and what went wrong with the game when motion-misdetection does not obscure everything)
I own multiple emulation handheld s and a steamdeck. Having my childhood on a few devices is amazing.
Emulation all day long and twice on Sundays. Its game preservation more than anything. Its giving me a chance to relive childhood memories and play games I never had growing up. Long live emulation.
10:18 I mean, you can also still emulate on a CRT
Yeah and CRT shaders have gotten pretty good
Of course.. Emulation is the way to go.
I have 66k games on a single windows pc client 250TB using iscsi protocol over 10GB lan using true Nas core.
I've only used 47TB using launchbox
I love emulation. I do regret selling off my physical collection, and I miss all my OG hardware, but it’s saved me so much space. Something also tells me that the original developers that worked on the games are probably happy that people still play these games, in all of their glory on powerful modern equipment that can work magic on their artwork, stories, and all of the work they put in to them. I doubt any developer of these old games is frowning on people restoring the games, and playing them with upgraded frame rates and resolutions.
The only people mad about emulation are the publishers.
I turned a PC into a console by using steam big picture mode and emudeck windows to scan all my roms into steam. Its easy to do and leaves you with a convenient all in one system that i can just plug in 4 controllers and play any game.
It already has. Haven't used actual hardware in nearly 6 years, up to the 6th generation, and soon to be, 7th generation.
People can whine and moan about "mah original hardware", but in the end, 1's and 0's, are 1's and 0's, and any digital computed console, can be reproduced in software. As computing continues to progress, so will emulation performance, and accuracy.
Anything up to the 6th generation, is pretty stamped in emulation these days. 7th will come along in the next 2 - 3 years.
This is all to say nothing of the mountain of features emulation offers that will never be possible on original hardware.
real har ware is good, emulation is good, making them fight is STUPID
Yes, everyone should embrace emulation. One day collectors will wake up and realize they’ve wasted so much time and money collecting.
The day everyone starts using emulators, is the day I will collect the most games I've ever collected
It literally doesn’t matter if you have nothing to compare it to side by side. As long as it works decent and satisfactory in terms of performance it’s fine.
I incorrectly guessed Original hardware, PC emulation then disc in PS3.
I find emulation to be a rabbit hole with a lot of surprising issues when I've tried to go with it to save me loading up my physical consoles all the time. It got kind of frustrating, like a whack a mole. Ex... got your emulator setup, got the files, yata. OK too bad, latest Win 10 patch makes the emulator not be able to make the API? calls to go full screen or use D3D/Vulkan. etc. I've ran into so many annoying issues which really shouldn't exist.
Good point. Not all emulators are preconfigured or work "out of the box". You have to setup plugins, point it to a BIOS file, etc. before you can play them.
@@WebstersTH-camnot to mention the fact that certain games due to hardware hacks or other kinks require their own specialized distro of specific emulators, less of a problem for hardware that's older than ps360 though
emulation is really helpful for those who are space limited, like an apartement for example.
We need to focus on emulation if we want to preserve these games for the future. How long are the original hardware and CRT TVs gonna last?
Great video. I enjoy a good retro video game often. I started collecting for Sega Genesis and quickly realized i could never afford a satisfactory collection for the console. I stumbled across a product called super console x on a Chinese retail site for $49. It came with 50,000 roms plug and play. This product blew my mind because I've never owned or learned to use a pc. This plug and play console made emulation available to me for the first time. I have noticed a few problems although. My favorite game for nes, Mike Tyson's punch out is included with the super console x. Once i got about half way through the game i noticed i was unable to win the fights. There is just enough lag to make the games timing off. I was really disappointed in not being able to play some games properly through emulation. Over all i am still happy with the super console x and having the complete libraries of my favorite retro consoles is just amazing and at under $60 its a no brainer for a non pc user like myself. Just wanted to share my experience with emulation. Thanks fo the video
11:02 Xbox is the hardest to Emulate
I will say when it comes to emulation lag at the moment if you're playing 16 bit or older you can use the The run ahead method That uses save states to lower the lag significantly
I'm gonna take a guess at the PS3 vs. PS1 vs. emulator question you have at the beginning. Picture 1 is PS3, Picture 2 is PS1, and Picture 3 is emulation.
If I'm wrong, I'll edit this comment to reflect that. If you haven't finished the video yet, please do not read my edit. You will spoil yourself.
EDIT: So I'm wrong. Picture 1 is PS1 and Picture 2 is PS3.
😂😂 I'd say you were partially correct! But who am I?! 😂😂 Also I didn't comment before finishing the video and I was STILL wrong about the order myself 😂😂
I like to play on original hardware but unlocked with a lot of plugins and home brews to improve the experience
great video, congratulations! Just one detail, it is not necessary to use a dolphin-bar with dolphin-emu, there is the option of passthrough and motion controllers which are just as good.
In terms of unique control methods, that is not really an argument. At best you can buy a USB clone controller of whatever you need (trackballs, instrument controllers, dance mat, etc.) at worst, you can literally build a replacement (Virtual On Twin Stick).
Really enjoyed this well thought out content. Australian fans like this stuff
Muh original hardware!
-plays on an LCD
Poser
Yup lol
My comment got deleted. But good video. I agree what you you mean. PS1 RE actually looked better to me due to how the others do the pixels. Let alone PSP tv component over emulation or upscaler devices.
That's weird. I don't manually delete comments. Must have been caught by TH-cam's automated system for some reason?
I think it pretty much already has with FPGA’s, which is emulation on a hardware level. The Analogue Consoles, the Mister Project which has dozens of cores including Arcade Machines and Computers all the way upto the N64. But i think it’s going to be a struggle beyond that, Dreamcast maybe possible on a more powerful FPGA but beyond that you would have to rely on software emulation and original hardware using scalers. The PS2 era of consoles is going to get seriously complex but the good new is these sold a lot better than the console prior. The PS2 is the best selling console off all time discontinued in 2013, the Wii is super common and is backwards compatible with the Gamecube plus it can emulate a lot of other systems, the Og Xbox is pretty much a Pentium 3 PC and a lot of it’s games were ported over to PC. The PSP and DS are also incredibly common and cheap and all DS’s including the 3DS can natively play GBA games. The 360, PS3 and beyond are everywhere, it might even be sitting in your closet. Just give those consoles a dust with some new thermal paste and your good to go and they plug straight into your tv thanks to the HDMI standard which kicked in around then. I think the Dreamcast is the last true Retro Console that unfortunately didn’t sell well and if that gets put onto an FPGA then pretty much everything that is Retro has truly been preserved.
for the Wii Yes.
you can easily pair a Wii mote + the quality is MUCH higher
flip a keyboard upside down use arrows for frets and the space to strum and a few other keys for tilts and such and it works pretty well to "Keytar" a Guitar Hero game. I have done this even if I now use a 360 Guitar not sure my plans for a drum yet
@@mopspear I saw a video in which someone did it and I think the idea needs spread around more not everyone has room for every peripheral.
I love emulation, but I do feel like the original hardware on CRT TV feels much better. Maybe it's the controllers, maybe it's the TV, I don't know, but it feels more responsive somehow. I still emulate, kinda depends on where I am and which hardware I have available, as I can only use my CRT on my gaming room.
20:00 in an instant, the PS3 went from looking the best to looking the worst in those 2 different examples.
I couldn't have got the re2 question more wrong lol, I really thought i had it too.
Emulation is mint
Especially for ps2 & psp
I use emulation for games no longer in circulation
it can also be a great way to try before you buy
Very relatable video. I prefer playing on original hardware too, but I don't buy old games due to cost, space limitation, and/or optical drives eventually failing due to wear and tear. Instead I went the route of Everdrives, ODE (Optical Drive Emulators) and Hardware/Software Jailbreaks. I have a CRT for light gun games but I'm perfectly aware that CRTs will eventually be gone for good, and consoles won't last forever even if carefully maintained, so I know emulation is the future. But until that day comes, I will enjoy the pleasure of the full original experience.
Glad to see someone else bringing that fact up. Emulation really is the future for these older retro titles. Reality is, as these game carts, discs, and consoles get older, they're less likely to function as intended, if at all. Save batteries eventually die in carts that have save features, disc drives eventually stop working, old capacitors burn out eventually and isn't something a average joe knows how to fix/replace, disc rot is a thing as well. Eventually, emulation will be the only way to play these games, period. It's just a matter of when now.
It’s just physically uncomfortable for me to emulate in front of a pc/laptop screen. It hurts my eyes and back. I’d rather play it on original/official hardware and kick back and relax on my couch.
Agreed. I would say that, since releasing this video, I have gotten a Steam Deck and a dock. It outputs to the TV, accepts a wireless Xbox Series controller, and installing emulators up to and including PS2 was surprisingly easy. I now have a pretty convenient emulation machine in the living room. That said, I still tend to fire up the original consoles for the intangible feel you get from the analogue video signal and original controllers.
One thing I always wondered with all the sequel stuff is. Do kids even know what war they are actually fighting in? Kill zone is a prime example. Do they know how it started and why they are fighting. Modern games are too serious games aren't fun anymore. I feel like they play the games because their friends are and don't play just for enjoyment or for a story to follow through generations.
What's the game name at 7:33? Looks like dynamite cop but not
This is a year old but I've been having a hard time recently with deciding to just emulate on my gaming laptop or to buy a clone console. I know people say emulators have lag and it seems petty but that's my main concern with deciding. I'll never spend the money on true retro consoles I don't already have or dedicate an area with an old TV or buy parts to get them to work with my new TV so which do you think is the better option?
Just give Emulation a try and if that doesn't work out you can always buy those clone consoles
which ones are you talking about btw?
Maybe I'm just not that sensitive to the input lag in emulators
But I've never noticed it
Could it just be something newer emulators nowadays have fixed but the stereotype stuck so people just keep repeating it? Or maybe those people just had weaker hardware/the enulator wasn't optimised and was very performance hungry
At the end of chapter 2. Is that a Big Box theme? If so, could you tell me what it's called, please?
Do you know, that some emulators can read original physical discs?
is 64 controller mapping really hard? I thought it was simple. just map c buttons to right analog stick. it's similar to gamecube controller.
The thing is, for example nintendo didnt release smg2 for 3D all stars and not even wii emulation on nswitch online, so how i supposed to enjoy my childhood games if Nintendo does not let me to do that?
I'd say it can replace hardware unless you're Digital Foundry (meaning the emulator would need to run exactly like its real counterpart (framerate, resolution, and so on) and have a built-in recording function, just like RetroArch and SNES9X do) or if there's enough input lag. As of the middle of 2024, I still get input lag from Dolphin (about an eighth of a second) and see no reliable videos about how to fix it. It's a shame, because emulators are there when systems become harder to buy.
Great video!
I used to use epsxe for ps1 for many years before i had a modern version of windows that can run duckstation
I find this video interesting, i really enjoy emulation. My comment is too late already but the only time I'm not fond of emulation is emulation of current games such as switch and ps4.. its killing the current gaming industry. Ps1 snes game boy advance ds are all fine because those are not always available anywhere
Name of the game at 4:36?
TRAG in the USA, Hard Edge in Europe. :)
@@WebstersTH-cam thanks! Looked familiar and possibly something I'd be interested in
As a side note I don't think your opening comparison between RE2 really works and a better way to demonstrate what you're saying would be to overlay each video and swap between them at points without labeling them for viewers
Cutting off 66% of each versions actual displayed scene doesn't make for accurate comparison material
@@Vanity0666also you can run on higher res on emu, showing emu on at 1x res makes emu look like it not even worth it. also fact that he refers to emulators as ilegal despite being legal. only pirating old games is ilegal but if it out of print then it hurts no one
Every time Nintendo DMCA something a new ROM site gets its wings.
It has for years now. Of course it can.
Here’s why I don’t use original hardware I’m poor😅
Emulation is the way to go
LONG LIVES EMULATORS AND ROMS FOR PRESERVATION!!!!!!!❤
to call assembly deprecated is really hilarious because its not deprecated its only one layer deeper then high languages like java and so on. xD
10:09 - Whats the name of this game? D:
8:45 what game is that
Same for 14:05
I find that the sereies x provides a fantastic mix btween emulation thats leagl and a plug and play experience once all set up
Wats the game at 7:35?
Emulation should be for old games only
No, too many games locked to consoles, MGS4, Bloodborne, plus delisted games like lollipop chainsaw and PT
Collections are worthless. You will be dead in a few decades and someone else will sell it and go on holiday for 3 weeks. Poof. May as well emulate, save space, time and money.
4:50 What game?
I play games only through emulation. I don't care about remakes/remasters for modern sensibilities.
What is the game at 7:18 ?
Phantasy Star Generation 1 on PS2 :)
@@WebstersTH-cam Thank you! Was it ever ported to another system?
@@linktheordonianhero9098 no, this one is a PS2 exclusive remake of the Master System Phantasy Star. The 8 bit MS original is available on Nintendo Switch, but the PS2 remake never got a re-release.
@@WebstersTH-cam Thank you very much for all the info!