(Discussion) Is Emulation of Retro Games Good or Bad? - Retro Bird
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ค. 2024
- If you're somebody who plays retro games, there's no getting away from the possibility of emulation. It used to be seen as more a negative method, but over the years it has been gaining more and more credibility.
Is Emulation of Retro Games Good or Bad? - Retro Bird / Is Emulating Retro Video Games Good or Bad? / Benefits, Downsides, Pluses, Minuses, Positives, Negatives, Emulate
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Also without emulation, retro game prices would probably be even more out of control than they already are.
Hard to say. Emulation increases interest so it might be making them worse. The mini consoles seem to have made certain games cheaper but probably also got more people into the hobby to compete with.
@@classicpctinker5070 That's a good point. Though there are other factors like rarity that contribute to pricing. Guess it's more accurate to say thankfully emulation is an option, otherwise we'd potentially have to rely only on pricey copies of games to play them.
This is definitely true!
great point
I really see absolutely no downside to emulation. It allows translation patches, save states, and the accessibility of incredibly rare/obscure games. If my game collection ever got lost/stolen I’m going full emulation, emulating old games is absolutely morally right.
The translation patches is huge. In the case of something like Seiken Densetsu 3 the company itself can even profit from it.
Especially when systems are region locked!!!
@@benevans7564 Exactly. I bought the Mana collection specifically to own a translated version of Seiken Densetsu 3. That would have never sold in the US if it wasn’t for the cult following that game has from emulation. I absolutely purchase legit versions of games when it’s possible, emulation is a last resort for me personally.
Speed running
There are some issues with Nintendo 64. Donkey Kong 64, Glover, Zelda, and even Mario 64 can be unplayable sometimes. It can be tough to emulate N64 because these games pushed the hardware to its limits. However, most games do seem to run fine and these games aren't very expensive to buy anyway.
Emulation is sometimes all we have... No shame here for ALL of the emulating I have done over the years... At least I'm preserving the days of yesterday!!!
Yeah, it really is a resource.
Yep! You can still play roms on actual consoles via an Everdrive cart. I have a model 1 Genesis, and I'm considering finding an old Sony Trinitron crt just for the Genesis.
@@moviemania1137 This /\
I have an oldschool [1st gen] Everdrive with my Model 1 hooked to a Sony PVM-1350. It's especially nice to be able to play things like TMNT of Rage, or Sonic 3 Complete!
You’re not preserving shit
Well said!
I agree with the 'morality' objections to piracy. Yet, I've owned 3 copies of Super Mario 3, and 3 NES consoles. Those consoles are now dead, all of them. They were from my youth, and are now dead from lack of parts to repair them (controller port on 2, capacitor leak equaling a PCB trace lift on the other, that internally shorted the Ricoh 2A03).
I'd buy a new one tomorrow if I could, yet all are older than my children on the used market.
Yet, when I look at my 3 copies of SMB3, 2 Metriod, 47 other NES and cartridges and accessories...and a Mac Mini, into a 4K TV, and a copy of OpenEMU.
...I feel no shame in playing the rom I already own, some times 2 and 3 purchased, physical copies, in emulation. I do NOT get roms I do not own physical copies of, yet when my old PS1, ORIGINAL Wing Commander 3 discs got rot, I'll play my backups, and if they die, I'll get the game I own 2 times over, online, played in emulation, on MacOS 10.13...instead of my dead PS1, that's CD rom drive's laser is dead, with no replacement.
Don't even get me started on my Wing Commander 2 floppies' death! When the IBM POS machine STILL WORKS!!!!!!!🥵
Love emulation. The only down side for me is too many games to play. Never could finish one.
I have the same issue with it. It makes it too hard to commit to a game from start to finish.
It really tests your attention span :)
If you own a Flashdrive same problem happens.
There is also another option on the buying. As an example, you want a PS2 game, but the American copy is through the roof, where as there is a PAL version more in line with your budget. The PS2 is region locked, but with the power of emulation you get a PAL bios for the emulator and boom, there you go. You're off playing your PAL PS2 game. You don't have to buy a PAL region console, or any extra stuff just to hook it up and power it on.
Another benefit is playing with what ever controller you want. Although if someone wanted close to hardware controllers there is 8bitdo. For original hardware controllers there are adapters that allow for them to be connected to computers.
😎🤘
I agree!
Emulation got me back into Nintendo and Sega a few years ago, leading to the purchase of their consoles. Ironic considering Nintendo's stance and approach when it comes to emulators.
Great way to get back into the hobby.
It's how i played Pulseman and Monster World IV. Those games were Japan only or never had a physical cart and were from the Sega Channel. That was before Nintendo brought them to the Wii anyway. XD
@tiggy wiggo bingo! If I can buy it within reasonable methods, dont emulate it. Thats my take
I think your "Get ON My Lawn" hat is going to naturally over time unofficially become official Retro Bird apparel.
id buy one for sure
Save states are a requirement for me to play through lots of retro games. I don't have the time to memorize every level like I did as a kid. If that's the only way to complete it, I just won't play it. But with save states, I can work my way through anything and I've experienced a ton of awesome games as a result.
I totally agree with you. 3 lives & limited continues for majority of retro games isn't fun. Save states make me play games from start to finish in 1 sitting without having to restart the whole game over.
In some ways emulation can actually improve the experience. There's translation patches for games that never came out in the US. There's also stuff like save states which really helps overcome artificial and unfair difficulty.
It was the easiest way for me to get my son to experience the games I grew up with.
All right!
@@RetroBirdGaming he's 6, but he's sucked into Minecraft, Human Fall Flat, and Roblox on the Xbox, and he expects all games to be that easy and monotonous. He doesn't want the challenge of beating the game. It saddens me. But sometimes, he'll play Turtles in Time or Mario with me.
*Side Note
These new games are nowhere near as hard as the ones we grew up with.
Emulation saved my sanity once. About ten years ago we had a really bad winter where I live that culminated with me being snowed in for pretty much the entire month of January. To keep from being bored out of my skull I downloaded several emulators and rom sets and spent the whole month just playing different stuff. That reignited my love of video games that had been waning and that's when I started to build a collection.
Emulation is really important for preservation, and I don't see a problem with people playing emulated games, especially when some companies flat out refuse to re-release/remake/remaster them. Or worse, they "remaster" them with minimal changes, and still charge 60 smackaroons!
Me personally, it just feels weird to play old console games on a computer, so I try to buy as many legit retro games as I can for as cheap as I can. Although, I have no issue downloading extra SNES games onto my SNES-mini, and even NES, GB, and GBA games, just because the experience still feels right, sitting in front of the TV with that wonderful, wonderful D-pad under my thumb.
I can personally relate to it feeling weird to play old console games on a computer :) Doesn't seem to bother a lot of people though.
I like older games but some of them are just impossible to play without a save feature. There are so many games that force you to play the same first few levels over and over if you don't have a game guide. I loved Aladdin for the Sega genesis but getting passed the magic carpet part without exhausting all my lives was a rare feat. When it did happen, I could only get so far before I had to start the game from level 1 all over again.
That last point of "trying before buying" is what sealed the deal on emulation for me. Mega Man X and Chrono Trigger are both games I emulated before owning since I didn't have a SNES.
Also, the guy who disowns you over the sky being a different blue because you're emulating Super Mario Bros.? Pretty sure you just described Joe from Game Sack to a T.
I’ll always prefer the real deal on OG hardware and don’t think I would ever default to emulation (too many choices leaving a “hollow” feeling when playing for me) but when it comes to extremely rare/expensive games and “try before you buy”, I’m all for it. And I have nothing against anyone who chooses to emulate as default. I get that the collecting side of gaming isn’t for everyone.
I personally don't have an issue with emulation for games where it is no longer possible to legitimately pay. As a collector though I prefer original hardware because emulation is not 100% accurate, but in many cases 100% isn't necessary. Emulation also dissuades normies from becoming competing collectors themselves. More original copies for the rest of us. ;)
Well IMO it's just nicer to have the real thing if you are into the hardware.
On the subject of preservation - what happened to Near, the author of bsnes and higan - is completely unacceptable and a major loss for the community.
Emulating a retro game is a lot like looking up a picture of let's say the Mona Lisa, sure, you're not giving the museum that owns it any money nor are you getting exactly how it looks in person because of minor changes that occur in uploading the picture online but at the very least you can appreciate the overall work and craft that went into that piece of art without having to dedicate an otherwise expensive venture to go and actually see it in-person
that get on my lawn hat is the absolute best
I love the feel of the emulation provided by my hacked nes, snes, and genesis minis and unhacked tg-16 mini.
Right? It just feels that much more legit playing SNES roms through the SNES Classic.
Emulation introduced me to so many games I missed when I was younger that I would not be able to afford the physical hardware for. If the devs themselves don't want to sell their games anymore I have no issue emulating on my little Retroid so I can play all the classics on my neat little pocket device. I'll throw my money at companies who will take it but not some guy on Ebay overpricing oldies.
Sometimes when Nintendo port there old game's to latest consoles it looks different and something is wrong
That's more of a recent problem. Wii U had Earthbound for instance.
That’s never true
@@jakedematteo2172 it was even emulators is better
@@joandarc441 it was running on an emulator. And it looked fine.
@@jakedematteo2172 actually there was a video about it
I think you should do an emulation video on the Bittboy, I love it, I have access to so many games now I'd never have access to normally
I'm playing through the original Legend of Zelda which I've wanted to play for years!
Great video! I’m all In favor of emulation so people can play classic games and we can have a form of game preservation. I’m against people selling roms or people pirating new games. I forget to comment on most videos but just wanted to say how much I enjoy your videos and I so happy your channel keeps growing because it’s very enjoyable/great content that everyone should see. Keep up the great work.
Well said, I feel that's the view of 98% of the emulation community.
When I was younger it was the only way for me to play games. No disposable income, to play or purchase the games I grew up on. And now maybe I do now but no space so I say get what you can and emulate the rest of you can.
Just my two cents, keep up the great videos and thank you for not using profanity in them very refreshing.
Emulation is what got me back into retro gaming. I got the bug and wanted to play some NES games again. One thing lead to another and I went ahead and bought an actual NES and some games. I see no reason why someone would hate emulation when the developer is no longer making money off the game.
It's a great way to test the waters. I've heard this story from others as well.
Another great video and discussion. I love your friendly tone with every perspective. Ill say it again: this channel is one of the best youtube channels about retro gaming
A fellow Cadillacs & Dinosaurs fan! "GO! GO! GO!"
I emulate a lot but I do rebuy a lot of games when they are available and at a fair price. For example I bought the genesis collection, all 4 Mega man legacies and the castlevania collection. All of these were already on my retropi. And so many games I repurchased because of an HD update
Yeah, I did the same with the Castlevania Collection, and more recently Tomb Raider The Last Revelation
There is absolutely nothing wrong with emulation
Congrats! You have the shittiest take!
@@jakedematteo2172 no
@@jakedematteo2172 nope, you did
@@antusFireNova no, he did
@@jakedematteo2172 why
Emulation and the mini consoles are great. Has really allowed me to relive some great games and share those games with my daughter. I see no problems with it.
I started emulation in the 00's, finally one could experience many SNES games that were simply unavailable through normal means. I don't regret it one bit, emulation opened many awesome games for me, like Super Metroid, The 7th Saga and Chrono Trigger. Buying a retro game or a new game on an original console is still my first priority and doing so creates a festive atmosphere, yet emulation has its place too, for me it is some sort of digital gaming paradise. I used to play old games in two player mode with a friend and were just venturing back and forth through many NES/SNES games, having a blast playing them. It was like time traveling into the 80s, early 90s.
Love your videos, matey!
Always informative, never annoying always entertaining. Keep up the good work!.
Love & peace from Liverpool, England. 👍
Your videos are really nice. You've got yourself a new subscriber! Also, would the singing in your outro song happen to be a mimicking of Limozeen from Homestar Runner? It sounds a lot like them.
I'd have to ask my friend who sings it. I don't think so though :). Also, glad to have you on the channel!
My SNES everdrive has given me the chance to play all the expensive classics. While I can focus my $$$ on my N64. Some things I just wanna collect and others not so much. But I still need my SNES to fully enjoy SNES games on my everdrive. Can't bring my self to play a console game on a computer.
The only problem I see with emulation is the people that try to make you feel bad for emulating or buying reproductions. They just need to get off their high horse. Otherwise, just enjoy the games any way you can however you can. I prefer to buy games I actually like, and emulate games I don't care too much about or they are just too expensive to justify purchasing.
I only take objection to reproduction games that are cheap or don't funtion quite like the actual original games. I have a repro copy of Pokemon Emerald that is not only grossly inaccurate in physical qualities, but also doesn't have a battery, the sound glitches out after you save (goes away after a reboot), and Gen 4 games can't detect it to transfer Pokemon up.
I can only think of one person who is against emulation (pat the nes punk). I run into people that say emulation is superior a lot more personally.
There are plenty of problems with emulation. Hundreds
@@jakedematteo2172 Such as?
@@c08o.prkiua46 legality, piracy, taking money from the company, I could go on and on all damn day
I emulate 99% of the time, and its almost always games i own physically. But its not just for the convenience of having my entire collection playable in one place, it increases the longevity of my collection. Unless im specifically in a nostalgic mood for OG handware, every hour emulated is an hour not spent putting wear and tear on my games and consoles.
It is great for saving wear and tear on the metal cartridge contacts. However capacitors will eventually fail on consoles regardless of whether you use them. But if you know soldering and work on electronics, you are good to go for a long time. 🙂
New to the channel - your content is right in my wheelhouse - Can’t stop watching - Love it!
Hey! Thank you :) Glad to have you on the channel and glad you're enjoying it :)
I feel that emulation itself helped fuel the need to own games. I've slowed heavily on putting as many games I can into rom folders. Instead I just have a select few that I really enjoy playing (and also own). And yes I think it's more of a convenience to bust out my laptop and play versus hooking up one of my older consoles. As of the past few years I rarely felt the need. Got my trusty Sega Nomads for Genesis play and SupaBoy for my SNES cravings.
You get a lot more game library. Also, no 3 line game genie limit :)
I'm ok with emulation for the sake of preservation and demoing games.
I just prefer the original hardware.
I remember when they announced the Retron 5 like 7-8 years ago; I was so excited to get one. I didn't realize it was emulation at first, but even after I got my hands on it, it was certainly good enough to play all of the games I collected I rarely played due not having a solution for clear picture/audio from the original consoles. So in a way emulation was the spark to actually playing my original carts again, especially my gameboy line of games. That was an awesome experience to play them on the TV instead. Now I've moved on to slowly going back to original hardware and what a nostalgic dream that has been getting them working on high end cables or hdmi solutions. That in turn made me look into the Analogue products and purchase the Super Nt and the Mega Sg FPGA consoles that mimic near perfect 1:1 compatibility. I forgot how pixel perfect the controls can be with zero latency like when I was younger playing on CRTs. It truly changes the entire experiences of some games. So in the end, emulation is a great tool to garner interest in the consoles/games of these older systems. I appreciate it greatly because that's how I discovered/played many titles I couldn't buy growing up due to being in a low income household, but nothing beats the feeling of original/1:1 hardware. On a side note, thank goodness we had rental stores back then at least.
Just buy ever drives. That beats originals because you are playing 100's of games on original hardware & crt tv.
I live in Costa Rica. Here most people buy 60.000 in 1 consoles.
Bad part about those virtual stores is that they too won't be around forever either. Especially if companies like Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo like money. Which seems pretty apparent they do. And apparently even if you 'buy' a game from one of these stores. You still don't technically own the games, so even if you bought them, but decide to download it later down the road or remove it for whatever reason and download it again, might not be able to if these systems don't want you to buy these games or these games just become 'unavailable' down the line and this prevents you to even download the game you 'bought'.
I got both Sega Smash Packs for PC back in the day for 10 bucks each. Those games were emulated and were super fun. That was how i discovered Shining Force. :D
You hit on my exact opinions on emulation! While I will always prefer to play on original hardware, I have tested games out on emulation before deciding to pony up the funds for those pricier games. Conversely, I have passed on some that I either didn't enjoy or felt the price point didn't match up with my expectations. Preservation is another salient point. With high prices, licensing issues or scarcity, sometimes it's just not easy to get your hands on an original copy.
After all the whole concept around games is to play them. So I am always going to be in favor of the experience being maintained even if it's not in the original state.
Another great video thanks. I never have emulated. Nothing against those who do - more power to you - but for me playing is intrinsically linked to owning, the art, the manual, the act of putting the game in etc. I’m a collector as much as a gamer. Computers have always been work to me. I don’t normally do e purchases either for the same reasons. Expense is definitely the downside!
As long is the emulation is accurate I think it's fine
It's so much better now. omg. It was BAD when it started out. lol
Awesome video man! I don't mind emulation that is done right on a Mister console. Plus I love being able to use save states with games using emulation.
Big emulation fan, but also big original hardware guy too. I recently modded my Vita as well as my friend's. It is like the perfect portable emulation device. I had done that in the past with my various PSPs back in the day but the Vita is way more robust.
I also went all in on one of my ten or so Dreamcasts last year after the drive failed. Custom everything, the only untouched component is the motherboard. I'm glad I did it at the time I did, since you can't even get GDemu boards right now really, and what I have seen on the market are like 1k. Even though I have about 30ish physical DC games I want to preserve the lasers in the rest of my consoles. But it sure is nice to have like 100+ games, bluetooth controllers and a backlit VMU...
For reference, I tested all of my games across the other 9 or so systems I have. Almost all of them had trouble reading a few certain games. All but one of my black Sega Sports systems (I have two). That was the only console that played every game without issues. The games weren't scratched or anything either.
I'm pretty positive toward emulation for the preservationist aspect alone. Thinking about all the early films that were lost or partially lost, including Erich von Stroheim's Greed which is considered to be one of the best films of the time, it's good to have the ability to avoid that now with video games. It suits my preference to play on the original hardware since I was lucky enough to have kept all my systems and nearly all my games, and so I haven't used an emulator since NESticle, but I'm quite happy with the practice in general.
Emulation is what got me back in retro gaming years ago. I Like emulation to play those 80's arcade game of my teens years. And play emulated genesis games for nostalgia and i can try those sega-cd and 32x games that i could not have in those days.
Then when the genesis mini came out i bought it when you could add essential games missing on it. And loved it so much that i bought me back a Genesis Model 1 HD like i had then...plus almost all the games i had and more.
But i still play lots of time Arcade and Sega games Emulated on pc cause its Fun and convenient and i have access to more games that way and its the best way to discover and try games you hear about on the internet and didn't know. :0)
Love your Videos Retro Bird ! thanks
Since I already own original hardware, I prefer to play on said hardware. However video game prices are ridiculous and I am a uni student so money is tight, emulation is a good alternative to spending your life away on ever increasing prices
*Although I do spend a lil too much on video games heheh
The collector inside of you is not so easily convinced to go emulation 100% :)
There should be a video game museum that you just see how the games look without owning it
Just look Gallope Ghost in chicago, they have every single arcade cabinet in one place
I've heard about that arcade! Sounds pretty awesome :)
Emulation got me into N64 games and Nintendo games! I started collecting because I fell in love with those games and I started to buy retro and new games because of it
I'm always down for talking about the big E. Emulation the the only reason I get threw many old games that are inconsiderate to my time or just too hard in some cases. Plus the potential to make ugly games look nice is just cool! It's also insanely convenient. Great video Retro Bird!
Great topic. I emulate arcade games at home. But I do have a rasberry Pi I use at work to play retro games at work during my lunch break. My boss was like "Thats a good idea."
I emulate all the time. I built an arcade cab last summer with a Pi 3, might up grade to a pi 4 soon. And also I don't want to deal with a huge amount physical games.
i did a bunch of research on making my own retropie. still ended up shelling out the $215 for a brand new snes classic off ebay last night. not too bad i guess in 2021. didint have to wait in line for hours and still not get one on launch day 1. im sure someone waited in line for hours and still gave a scalper $250 plus
Emulation is also cool to try different shaders and see how your beloved game would've looked like with AA, for example. Also accelerating a game, like R-type on the SMS.
Great video! I totally agree! Case in point, one of my favorite Gamecube games is Gacha Warriors. I remember renting it and I thought it was a fun game but I'm not willing to pay $400 to play it now. I was lucky enough to find an old Gamecube at a yard sale with Pikmin, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and Resident Evil Zero for $20. I doubt Gacha Warriors will ever get a rerelease or a HD remake or anything like that. And I doubt Nintendo will ever get Capcom to release it for the Switch. I'd gladly pay the price for it if it was rereleased officially. One downside to emulation is hardware limitations or emulators that just don't work as good as original hardware. But for what it's worth I appreciate the work programmers put into making emulators. I strongly believe in the preservation of retro video games as they haven't been lost to the sands of time.
Cool vid and definitely topic that comes up all the time. I prefer rwal hardware, but a lot of games being made of unobtanium makes it totally understandable. I generally get my classic Nintendo, TG-16, and Neo Geo fix this way by using Virtual Console, Arcade Archives, mini consoles, and etc. If more people get to enjoy some great classics that's all that matters imo.
Emulate and enjoy the games.
something i find weird is that so many people on the internet seem to have a disdain for emulation,but i have almost never even seen a video arguing against it,and definitely not a well-edited one.
good video
Emulated games, as you touched on in the video, are crucial to the preservation of the art. Hardware wears out and who knows how long we have before replacing components becomes cost prohibitive for all but the most die hard and cash loaded among us. That being said, I can and do play my original copies but try to do so sparingly so as to stretch out the lifespan of the media.
IMO, what would be the ideal scenario is for Sony, Nintendo, SEGA, et al. to license out (or something similar) the proprietary aspects of their hardware so that some entity can take up the mantle of preserving the ability to run games in their intended environment. It would be nice to do the same for the games themselves but my guess is the IP headache would be too much for the bulk of the various system catalogue.
It’s alright if you’re playing Earthbound or Crusader of Centy considering their price now…
I was so excited to discover Crusader of Centy in a youtube vid, a game I never heard of back in the day. Then I took a look at the prices... XD
@@classicpctinker5070 I picked up a high quality repro from EBay. It was only $30 and played great.
Can't believe how high Crusader of Centy has gotten.
Thanks to emulation, I just played through Crusader of Centy recently after seeing it on a video and really enjoyed it.
Emulation is the reason that obscure games are finding new life. Games like Kickmaster, Fighting Layer, and The Last Blade, have become popular because people have played the emulated roms.
heh...
i started with N64, then PS2, then Wii, then Xbox 360 and PS3.
After this, i played on PC only, not caring about collecting. Also Emulated everything i could think of.
But seeing those great collections everywhere made me rethink. Also started collecting some time ago, cause i feel like owning the physical copy of the game and playing it on original hardware gives the nostalgic feeling you just can not get from emulation. The only exception for me is Nintendo Gamecube and Wii. I Softmoded my Wii over a decade ago before i started collecting and still had the Harddrive with a crap ton of games, including gamecube games, on it. Since i am not planing to collect for Wii or Gamecube (Focus is on Playstation 1,2,3,4,5, Nintendo Switch and Xbox 360), i see no reason not to play those games on the harddrive. At least it still is originial Hardware+Backwards Compatibility.
The only thing I don't like about emulation on PC, is the learning curve. For people who are used to just putting the game in the console and playing, it can be a pretty frustrating experience to set up an emulator just right. There's so many options, many of which are not self-explanatory, and even the controller setup isn't always the most straightforward. Also, without prior knowledge, you can't be 100% sure whether your setup is good or not.
For instance, when I first opened Super Mario 64, a few visual effects were off, and there were no shadows. It was playable, but felt wrong. I had to change some setting to make all the effects work properly. But a new player may not even know that something is wrong, just like when plugging in a Famicom with RF into a HDTV and observing how crap it looks.
All that said, emulation is still the way to go, but I wish it was more standardized, better documented and user friendly.
You are correct about the learning curve. It is the biggest flaw of emulation on PC. This issue can be overcome I'm sure. Perhaps, in the future, emulators will have a standard feature that allows a user to auto-apply a settings preset, for the best possible settings, for each individual rom. I can see that being a huge feature in RetroArch. The user could scan their roms and be prompted to apply the best-known, thoroughly-tested emulator settings for those roms. So yeah, in time, it should get easier and easier to approach emulation. RetroArch is on the right track, but right now it's still pretty rough for newcomers. Things could be a lot different in a few years.
I love emulating for a variety of reasons, even though I'll always prefer the original hardware. Just something nostalgic about hooking up a controller, sticking in a cartridge and flipping the power switch just like when I was a child. My SNES Classic is how I'll play Earthbound and Chrono Trigger solely because of the prices however.
The thing is that without emulation, the amount of people having access to these games would be limited by how many consoles were actually produced at the time. So for the Snes, without emulation, there wouldn't be more than 49 million possible players (even less, considering that a portion of these machines probably stopped working)
Emulation is what refueled my retro obsession. I dug all of my older systems out of the closet got a crt and here we are.
As I am a handheld enthusiast I fell in love with the Rg351V from Anbernic. All the retro emulation goodness in your pocket. I think to emulate games that are not (not really) on the market is not morally wrong.
And talk about the advantages of saving states. Oh mamma!
Emulaton should be 100% legal and right IF:
- The console the game was released on was discontinued by the creator and is no longer being sold on the market.
- The specific emulated video game is out of print and is not and/or hasn't been released on any currently running digital storefronts.
- You aren't selling the game's ROM image, Disk ISO or a copy of either one for a profit.
- That you support and pay for the official release of the game on a digital storefront should it be made available on said storefront.
I emulate for convenience sake. I have a ton of nes games, but save states, and the cycle accurate emulator, mesen. “Cycle accurate” means it is 100% accurate. My computer is always on, and it makes it very hard to go back to original hardware.
I own the original hardware (NES, Genesis + 32X, Dreamcast) and use emulators (NesTopia / Kega Fusion / ReDream).
I don't have a problem with opening up the wallet on purchasing the original games I really liked if they're typically $50 or less, but when they go into the triple digits and possibly beyond, I'm not above using emulation. I also like some of the import games, but can't read a lick of Japanese, so emulation is the only realistic way to play fan-translated cartridge games. I'm not a collector, so I don't really care about owning a console's entire collection. I'd rather just buy the games I loved playing, or the ones I never got around to playing or ever finished when I was younger.
I love games, but I also have bills to pay at the end of the day, and I'd rather not feel like I have to go into debt in order to enjoy certain video games.
To get around this, I'm likely going to get the Mega EverDrive Pro so I have a way to play the uber-expensive Genesis/32X games on original hardware.
P.S. Love your channel. It's a real breath of fresh air from all the other retro channels I've seen. Keep it up! :D
I love collecting Retro Games but I also like emulation due to the accessibility to the SUPER HIGH PRICED games that are out there that I'd like to play. In the past, we could all go to the rental store and rent a game to see if it was good enough to possibly buy and now we have emulation to help us do the same thing. Games are fun on the original equipment and modern emulation too. Games!
If you want to just play the games, emulate. If you want to be a collector buy the authentic copies. Prices make it hard for “normal” everyday 40hrs a week parents to just throw hundreds on an authentic copy. So this is a good way to play them. Games were made to be played, so i think it’s fine
Hi man :)
Try before you buy is my main emulation use. I made sure I wanted to gba fire emblem games that way. Also, it was kind of cool to play retro games on my phone. I even got gamecube games running on an s9+. Twilight princess frame rates were pretty horrible, but wind waker and super mario sunshine played as well as if it was on OG hardware, with a wireless controller of course. I had even used screen cast to play wind waker through my phone on my TV with an 8bitdo controller. Casting it gave more lag than I like, but it was still very playable.
I've got myself a gamecube now though, so none of that nonsense.
Wow. Didn't know GameCube was possible that way.
@@RetroBirdGaming yeah, flagship phones have some pretty good power to them and can run dolphin well in many instances. My phone is 2 or 3 years old now so I would expect they can do even better now.
I love twilight princess and I wanted to be able to play it portable so I looked for a phone that could potentially handle it. Unfortunately TP was pretty much the only game that didn't run well, due to the large environments. Funny enough though, I did actually play through it enough to make it to the water dungeon and dungeons play at 30 FPS no problem since they are basically little rooms. Try running through hyrule field and you'll see it at 4-7 FPS.
I think the PSP is the perfect device to emulate thousands of retro games, especially since soft modding is so easy. It handles SNES/Genesis and older emulation seemingly flawlessly, can emulate a decent selection of N64 games, and natively supports most PS1 ROMs. You can get a component cable for like $5 or an HDMI for $30 and plug it into your TV. It's like the Nintendo Switch, but a decade before the Switch.
Regardless of how you play the game (emulation or OG hardware), at the end of the day, we all talk about the games we play, without questioning how we play it, and I find it beautiful.
As a speedrunner i really appreciate emulation. Because without it speedruns would be set years back. Thanks to Tassers who were able to break down games and come up with new strats using emulation. Me myself i always played on original hardware. But where would we speedrunners be without emulators.
In my mind, I have no problem with emulating if A) the game are too outrageously expensive or B) You can't afford or have the space to collect for a particular system(s).
Little samson goes for nearly $3000 loose cart and $7000 cib now. I bought one with the box and inserts in 2019 for $2500, and I keep it in an acrylic case. I never actually play it, because it’s too expensive. When I want to play the game for fun, I pop in my multi-rom cart with Little Samson emulated on it.
Ah, games kept in acrylic cases--just as they were intended to be. Like keeping wild animals in captivity. Poor Shamu and Little Samson.
i just did a mame playthrough of Cadillac's and dinosaurs the game is great
I picked up the Megaman Legacy Collection 1 for the Switch recently and I think its a brilliant way to get all the old games together and on up to date hardware that I can play on the go too. I even bought 2 mod kits for my nes controllers so I can play them wirelessly with it. Sure it might not be the exact same but the space it saves and the convenience it gives is worth it in my mind anyway
I really enjoy emulating on OG or the “classic” series hardware… then I can use the original controllers and get the same feel. I appreciate emulation because it gives me a chance to try games I’ve never heard of before which in turn could get me excited about a series that would bring me to buy the newer games in that series.
I game for the love of gaming. I'll play a good game any way I can. I do have 15 consoles hooked up in my game room so I can pretty much play anything on original hardware with an everdrive, but I get why people would play emulated versions. Heck, I enjoyed the SNES Classic in my living room over the pandemic, and beat Final Fantasy 3, Chrono Trigger, and Dragon's View while my wife watched TV next to me. :)
Love emulsion, it's the future for the old hardware that's dying out everyday and for younger folks to play these games without taking a loan out for original hardware. While technology improves everyday so will emulation and it'll come to to a point where it's near 1:1 accuracy
What's amazing to me is 15 yrs ago I was emulating off an old PC and now Its a PS3HEN on an big tv. I have a Retron HD NES to scratch my nostalgia itch but the game cost means I think harder about if I want the cart (Jackal) or am happy emulating off my PS3 (Punisher). Great time to be a gamer for sure.
We gamers are a contentious bunch. We shouldn't shame those that use Emulation - we should just be happy they're playing at all.
Games are meant to have fun and be played - if you are worried about what someone else is doing and how they are playing then you're stealing your own joy
I think it can actually be a really good thing to try games you may want to buy or ones you can’t afford.
Exactly!
Emulation was the reason I found and played so many retro games in my life. I had so much fun! I'm a happy monster, because I don't feel bad at all.
When I was playing Bucky'O'Hare on the NES emulator NESten back in 2003 it was an eye opening experience. Absolutely emulation is a wonderful thing to have and not only is it the present it shall continue to be our future. There will come a point where nobody will be able to afford or even find old games fifty years from now. But, emulation will continue to exist and probably be the only way for the human race to preserve the video game history of our past. Imagine if emulation didn't exist, we would have games that are lost for all time and then even beyond that in the future no emulation would mean everything is lost. It's not only "Good" for gaming but a necessity.
I think that while phisical can be so cool, emulation is a necessary option to have
La emulación es el santo grial, la ultima salvación para los que no nacimos a lado de esa consola legendaría, sea por la epoca o por el dinero. En mi caso yo tuvé una PSX y aún la recuerdo con mucho cariño pero nunca gastaría 500 dls solo por la consola + una tv crt + 3 juegos.
En vez de eso decidí emular la consola con una colección de 200 juegos + filtro CRT con un control PSX original con adaptador usb. Más feliz no puedo estar.
At this point in the retro game collecting market it's the only way to go. Emulation on it's self can be a hobby, getting a Raspberry pi to run smoothly or setting up and updating a Mister can be a lot of fun.
I personally feel the opposite. At first I was a fan of emulation, now, I can't stand it! No matter how the emulation is, there is always something, wether its is the color palette of the games or as usual the sound, no matter what the sound is like, is NEVER the same on emulators. Even on FPGA emulators, sound DOES not work accurately most of the times.
I'm in the vast minority of gamers that is more into the having (for nostalgia) rather than the playing (although I also play). When I do play retro games, I prefer the feel of the original controller (especially for N64) and the glitch-free experience that only the original hardware/software can provide. However, I can't keep buying CRT TVs! This is why I love what Analogue is doing with their FPGA consoles. I completely understand why people opt for emulation, though. As always, loved what you had to say in this one!
Update: The friend about the emulated sky color in Super Mario Bros. That'd be me. However, I wouldn't end the friendship over it. 🤣
Hahah you're a good friend!
"having" rather than "playing" is why all the prices are skyrocketing. Don't create demand for stuff you aren't going to play, don't buy games just to sit them on your shelf. Some of us actually want to play the games.
If you can't find it or buy it digitally definitely emulate. Some publishers may not like it & others will be glad their creations & labors of love haven't been forgotten.
My only negative experience with emulation was with a rom on a modded wii i got with every snes game on it that i didnt even know it had at time of purchase...anyway, was playing chrono trigger and at pretty much right after you get frog, the game would give me an absurd amount of currency after every battle. To the point where you could afford everything in the game 10 fold at any time. Some may like that glitch but to me cheapened the experience and I just ended up getting an original cart of the game