A middle-point between playing original games on original hardware and the ease of emulation, is a flash cartridge that can play game roms (like an emulator) on original hardware. You get the original hardware feel and experience, but without the (sometimes steep) cost of buying the increasingly-rare physical copies. Some even have save state features!
And even if the game has a gimmick there are mods that can remove that gimmick so you can play on flash cards. Boktai and Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble have one. I also soft modded my PS2 so I can play repros on it. Blood Will Tell is expensive but I got a repro for a fraction of the cost.
Agreed. ISO emulators too (like Rhea for Saturn, GDEmu for Dreamcast etc...) or soft (or hard) mods like for Xbox are great options. The trick is to not have every single game on it and just what you want to actually want to play (otherwise, decision paralysis/overchoice rears it's ugly head). I used to have this problem when I loaded every single SNES game on to my SD2SNES (Time is more of a factor these days too what with work, having a kid and technically having to be an adult). But when I cleared a bunch of games, it made things so much better. Let's face it - who is going to sit down and actually play something like Fifa 95 or Mahjong or anything like that?
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I just bough a controller similar to the original and the experience is the same and don't use save points is exactly the same experience. Emulation is the best way to play nowadays specially for old hardware with emulators that have a lot of work behing like higan for snes or dolphin for GameCube and Wii.
Its an interesting conundrum for me because I play these retro games for work. I have a ton of them physically and love playing them on original hardware, but most of the time cant because emulators look a lot crisper, so I have to play them on a computer for higher quality footage. The only exceptions to this rule are DS and 3DS games because a lot of those games require the actual hardware's touch screen, and thankfully people have built capture cards into those handhelds. One day I'll be able to play these retro games properly without having to worry about recording them 😅
You could also use an emulator handheld like the Anbernic or Retroid line with an hdmi out, it's extra steps to get good footage, but at least you can enjoy recording with actual hardware.
I've been playing most of these consoles since they were new and having flashcarts for almost everything is such a game-changer. Don't have to drop hundreds for a single game a bubble, can get savestates on a lot of consoles, can play fan translations and romhacks on real hardware, in some cases it lets me avoid hard to find or flaky hardware add-ons entirely
Hdmi mods, no cd or cart mods, ran replacements and sound upgrades … yes please! Maybe even use a updated 8 bit do controller as many of the old ones are very mushy now or have damaged cables etc
Even saw a ps2 slim hard drive mod before with a ssd, part of the phat ps2 third party hard drive bay and it was all soldered with custom ribbons to the mobo, they even took out he disk tray and made a custom smaller case for it.
Screen upgrades awesome 👍 but totally against SD card mods , they cheapen and ruin classic hardware , , you really should OWN classic Hardware ,I do enjoy and support Emulation but when I pickup a handheld it better play cartridges or UMD disc media it's made for , otherwise it's contaminated/compromised , if solders were questionable it could end up becoming worthless brick later , , always remember that , , ,🤔🎃🤔
When visiting stores with classic stuff such as cassette, VHS, Vinyl, old magazines and books and things like that it's always a fun experience and brings back so many memories, you can feel the decades coming back to you. I wonder, though, how many of us actually listen to music or watch classic films, cartoons and even analog-era TV content using "original hardware" as we certainly have more convenient ways of enjoying them. Sure, they have a tactile feel and it's a joy being able to interact with them physically, but if anything, the digital era came to show us how and what media, that is, written works, imagery, videos, music and software-programs really are and how they don't require being locked to a specific format or device tree to be reproduced infinitely and thus, enjoyed or utilized as such. Sometimes I wonder, are we, because of the above, enjoying more of these classic games, from the Atari to the PS2 eras more due to their accessibility than ever compared to their heyday, what do you think?
Classic films and cartoons are typically on 35mm right? Or 16mm dupes - either way you'll have to use a film reel set + projector, but then you need sound insulation because regular moviegoing audiences back then almost certainly didn't want to actually hear noisy projectors.
I've heard this argument that "You don't appreciate games as much if you don't own them physically" so many times and it grinds my gears so much cuz it's just plain wrong... I had a GBA in my childhood, still have it in fact, and I played on it *A LOT*, but I just didn't have very many games for it, the overwhelming majority of my GBA experience has been emulated/digital, and guess what? That's one of my favourite libraries in all of gaming! I have SO Many precious memories with SO Many GBA games! Games that I still go back to regularly! Furthermore, my entire 3DS library is digital, I don't own a single physical copy of any 3DS game, it was all eShop, and that too has become one of my favourite libraries in all of gaming! The 3DS is my single most played piece of hardware and I still play on it regularly to this day, not stopping anytime soon, and I'm not letting ANYONE tell me I appreciate these lovely wonderful games any less than a game they bought a physical copy of, played maybe once, and then left it on a shelf to rot... I've had physical copies of games that I loved, and I've had physical copies of games that I played maybe once and never touched again, and that was while being poor and not having many games... Playing games in the form of ROMs or digitally purchased copies has not affected my enjoyment or appreciation of games at all, I'd feel exactly the same about them if I had them physically, because what I care about is being able to play the games, not owning a physical manifestation of the ROM...
You are totally right. Probably what people really think when they claim so, is that by buying so many games digitally, for a few bucks, and having so many of 'em, you're basically drowning in choice. This means that focusing on just one game becomes harder if you don't have as much spare time as when you were a child. This happened to me for example, and by just focusing on one game at a time, and restricting myself to buying them physically, I've at least partially recovered a passion that I felt was lost!
@@blaz7678 I get that whole 'drowning in choice' thing, it's why I don't like to download entire romsets for any system, and if having physical copies helps you focus on what games you want to play, then by all means. What I don't like is this kind of elitism that exists in the retro gaming community surrounding physical copies, where they like to stereotype people who emulate games as just pirates who don't really care about the games, or not real fans, or whatever, without considering the MANY reasons why someone may not be able to have physical copies of games, like lack of space, poverty, regional availability, and so on... Some people also like to pretend that because the 3DS eShop closed I don't own my games anymore, which is a load of rubbish, they're all still here and 100% playable, and for as long as I keep backing up my SD card, I can always transfer the backups to a new SD card if the old one goes bad... What I CAN'T do is buy new 3DS games, but at this point noone but resellers is making money off 3DS games anymore, so uhh... Yeah, I don't really care, I'll get whatever new games I want however I can...
I don't think it about physical vs digital. I would say it's more about buying a copy vs downloading a ROM. You can easily discard a pirated copy than coping with buyer's remorse.
@@Wesmoen He literally said it was about physical copies in the video, and mentioned massive steam/switch digital libraries as contributing to 'too much choice'
I'd like to point out that for most cartridge based systems you can get a flash cart with a SD card for $60 and play any game like you would with emulation while having the benefits of original hardware and consoles that don't often have a mod where you can load games off a USB drive for the same effect
I agree with you, around the time I had Gba I always dreamed about having many games but I couldnt afford it and years later, when I got an emulator with every game I wanted I just played a few minutes of a few dozens of games and never finished any of them, these last couple of years I have been buying some of the games I always wanted to play and I realized that playing on original hardware gave me the motivation to actually finish the games, and it is a great feeling when I finally did (It took me basically 18 years to finish Megaman Zero but man, it was worth it) . I know this is not for everyone but your video is great at explaining why its a very different experience from emulation, and why some should try it.
I had a terrible habit of not finishing games growing up for some reason. I’m talking playing a ton and getting overpowered and stopping before the final goal/boss. I really want to go back and finish a good 6 or 7 ps2 and ps3 games. Also marjora’s mask. I’m low key afraid my memory cards might be corrupted because I haven’t dug it out the closet in many years
I think you make good points for both sides. I lost my consoles (SNES, GN, GG, PS1/2, OG Xbox, only the Dreamcast survived) in Hurricane Katrina and to try to buy back what I lost including the games will be very expensive but at same time I do miss, putting the cartridge or CD in sitting down and enjoying the game and seeing it through and that is what is missing from emulation as well as not having the safety net of save states and readily available cheats. Great Job on the video, I'll subbing to your channel and look forward to more from you.
The thing for me is that retro hardware is expensive, the prices have gone up a lot and also I just don't have the room for all the consoles. I emulate games on my PC but use original controllers with USB adapters. It feels like the real thing and you can make the games look way better be rendering them at higher resolutions.
I'm 36 and have been emulating since 1999 when a friend of mine burned me a CD with SNES, Mega Drive, and Game Boy emulators and a bunch of ROMs. It practically broke my brain at the time!
I never truly appreciated mgs1 until I got a ps1 and eventually got a crt. I had played the game on an emulator but the ps1 + crt combo made it one of the best games I have ever played.
Though I wouldn't call it "retro" yet, this is one reason why I just bought a Wii U on ebay. My PC can run Cemu just fine (32GBs of RAM, 9900K, 2080 Ti). I can even utilize a second screen with either a portable monitor or my Android tablet using SuperDisplay. But it's just the odd quirks and occasional incompatibilities here and there, like using a mouse to emulate touch functionality, or having to change various settings if a game isn't running well, that made me want to have the actual hardware. No having to keep in mind which games prefer DirectX, OpenGL or Vulkan and their various sub settings. Following the instructions for installing custom firmware is a one time thing, and the games just work as you expect them too.
2 screens hadn't really been seen on consoles at the time, except that Nintendo started off with 2 screen consoles called 'Game&Watch' Most of the gimmicky features on the DS were things they had been experimenting in previous consoles and cartridges before, but now all rolled into 1 on the console itself. ♥
Ive been emulating for the last 10 years thinking i didnt want to spend the time and money for less convenient waysbto play... then i missed my real Sega Genesis and bought a system and hookup and dug out my few games i had left and controller thinking id just get a taste back. Even bought my mother in laws boobtube we used to use when our son was born... Booting up that sega brought tears to my eyes and i knew i needed to rebuild that collection and play with my kids. I also stopped using save states and fast forward functions anymore. I disable them since i still emulate to practice my games. Beaten way more games and legitimately too because of this. I got both worlds now and im not turning back
Awesome video! I'm very partial to gba and ds lite - I completely agree with you about emulation versus OG - I pick OG personally if I'm able. Gained a sub here :)😊
Millennial here. I still have my old consoles. There's a certain feeling of euphoria when you actually accomplish beating a hard game or a hard boss battle in some of these older games, rather than just savestate/rewinding to realign your attacks to win at a game. And maybe I just liked punishing myself to keep trying to win no matter how long it took, and get my full money's worth out of a game I bought. It's not like I kept getting new games dropped on my lap every other week; usually I'd get a new game once every 6 months or so, where I'd get something like Donkey Kong 64, and then 6 months later (after 100% it), I get Zelda: Majora's Mask. Each game at their original retail value, which was something like $70 CAD. In today's age, a similar game to something like Super Mario 64, but made by an indie dev, would end up being $30 on release, then go on sale for $15-$20 a year later. Granted, Nintendo still pumps out games with AAA game costs, and some are rather justified, but I could just get a similar experience with an older game at a fraction of that cost (or free if ya sail the seas), or spend $10/month for game pass, and have access to more games than you know what to do with, then just default back to playing whatever F2P, MMO, mobile gacha, or whatever.
I have a retropie setup on a crt for retroachievements but I found myself just going back and hooking up my NES and genesis because I don't have to worry about overhead or input lag using run ahead etc. My genesis has an everdrive I want one for my nes but it's more expensive. Cheaper than collecting though. Ever drive is amazing to keep original hardware alive
100% agree. using the right controller att he right scale and speed can chnage games so much. some games I hated on emulators but loved on original hardware!
Personally for me it depends on the system. Cartridge consoles for some reason even when I have all the games in the world to emulate, there’s something magical about playing with the controller and plugging the console in. But once the discs came out, it’s not quite the same. When the emulator is solid and you can play it on a tv, so long as you can use some sort of USB or Bluetooth adapter to use the original controller, it feels pretty much the same as using the console, though a bit less magical.
Hey, I'm a retro repair technician. Here is my take. People can be sorted into 3 categories: the Collector, the Nostalgia Chaser, and the Causal Gamer. The collector has their dedicated unit and then a wall of show units. The Nostalgia gamer is a mix, they want the original hardware and may have OEM games but also will get flash cards like EZFlash or Everdrive. Lastly, there is the causal and they only emulate. I personally say emulate at your own risk. Roms can fail or glitch and I've gotten to the end of a game before just to have to crash before the final boss. OEM doesn't do that. For the Nostalgic Collector, emulate to try then buy. Either way, if you are not a collector and want to play on the original hardware please upgrade the screens. Don't torture yourself. Upgrading isn't that hard but if you are unsure there are techs out there to help. Happy Gaming. P.S. Save states for shut down > jump back in or speed run practice only...no cheaty! 😂
The biggest benefit of original hardware is that for a good chunk of these consoles, you have both the options of playing these games physically and homebrewing the system. I find this to be particularly useful with the PS2 and Wii.
Excellent video and reasoning used throughout. One suggestion I have for individuals who don't feel like purchasing retro consoles and software individually is to purchase things such as an everdrive where you can load roms of original games and play them on original hardware while not having to paying for original software. I understand some people may not have the funds to purchase expensive games however many retro consoles truly aren't that expensive and that could allow people to experience games on the original hardware without having to take up as much space with original software and break the bank for it either. I myself prefer using original software however there are occasions where Ill use emulation or things similar to an everdrive.
I'm with you on the feeling of that original experience. Case in point, playing N64 games on Nintendo Switch online with a Switch Pro controller or Joy Cons feels off. With retro game prices being so high, like you I'm happy emulation is an option, but also I'm glad for stuff like the Mister project, Flashcarts, Softmods and ODEs, as well as new retro inspired controllers. The retro-bit Saturn pad is a personal favourite for that particular library.
I find that for home consoles that don’t have gimmicks like motion controls, emulation is just a straight upgrade. Try using a PS2 on an HD TV. It’s hell. But when it comes to handheld consoles, original hardware is just always the way to go. I started by playing GBA games on my 3DS, but the games were blurry and didn’t fit right on the screen. So I bought a modded GBA (backlight so I could actually see the screen lol). And I played some game boy and game boy color games on this GBA, but they’re so small on the GBA screen, and they stick out of the console. So I bought a modded game boy color after that. I find that backwards compatibility on handheld games always have a big drawback that makes it an unideal experience. For me, it’s not even about nostalgia. I grew up with a wide GBA and a DS, I never owned the SP that I now use or the game boy color. The experience is just better on the original hardware.
Using a PS2 on an HD TV is fine if you have component cables and your TV can display 480P... It won't look as nice as on a CRT, but that's true of pretty much an standard definition console.
@@LunarShift you’re forgetting that not every game uses 480p. For many ps1 games and even some ps2 games the resolution drops down to 360p or even 240p, which is literally too low for most HD TVs available today to even display at all. Also, none of the TVs in my house have component ports, meaning I have to use an adapter for my component cables, and adapters come in two varieties: terrible but cheap, and good but waaaay too expensive. And if you don’t go with the expensive option, expect very distracting input lag, letalone poor image quality. On top of all that, the PS2 just doesn’t look good outside of a CRT. Tons of games use blur filters that look fine on CRTs but horrible on HD screens. That’s why there’s a “skip draw” feature in ps2 emulators to literally gut those filters out of games. If you have an old HD TV that has component in and supports 240p you won’t have as many issues. But almost any TV from at least the past 5 years is a non-starter.
@@Arcad3n I haven't forgotten this lol. I'm just saying in the best case, you're using component cables and a TV with a scaler that works for those affected games. It's definitely not always as simple as plugging in and going, and that's why solutions like retrotink and OSSC are so popular.
Honestly I think handhelds make the biggest case for emulation, aside from portability and sentimentality there is no argument I can see where playing portable games on original hardware is actually better. I don't see the appeal of playing games hunched over on a 3 inch screen when I can have a much bigger screen on my PC with a controller in my hand with all sorts of visual and audio enhancements that come with it. And then the ability to easily play rom hacks or apply translation patches to games not released in the US which can require a bit of work on OG hardware.
@@LunarShiftThe vast majority of PS2 games will only display 480i even with component cables, which can be a bit flaky even with the good scalers. With interlacing there's always a trade-off when it comes to games, better quality deinterlacing will always cause more lag. Luckily it's mostly a PS2 (and Dreamcast) issue, on the N64 480i is somewhat rare and laggy, and GC/XBOX have better/near-perfect high resolution support, respectively.
you can also get flashcarts/mod consoles to get more games on the real hardware, still getting the authentic experience without selling your left kidney for them. for my dreamcast i play a lot of burned cds for games, or on my ps2 i play them off an ide hdd, and that in and of itself imbues a sense of nostalgia even though im not playing a manufactured copy
The best part about playing on the original hardware is the modding community. It's possible for me to play my gameboys,sega handhelds and others with the everdrive, im able to mess with mapping, save states, graphics options, and the ability to pull up cheats and many other options. Expensive yes but so sooo worth it. Not only do I get my nostalgic feeling, but it's amplified x2 or more having those options at hand bringing in modern features.
"Save states ruin hard games." No, that's where you're absolutely wrong. If a game is only good because it's frustratingly hard, then it isn't really all that good. Remember, these old games were modeled after coin-op arcade machines that were designed to eat another quarter every 2 minutes, and they didn't always adjust for that when designing or porting to the home market. Difficulty was even weaponized to artificially inflate the replay-ability of certain games so you couldn't beat them on a rental weekend. Why do you think Nintendo Power and the Game Genie did such bonkers sales numbers? We were desperate for every little tip or tool that would make these games easier for us to beat! Example: Bayou Billy is way harder than Mega Man 2, but not remotely better, nor is it worth your time to find out why. Contra, however, is hard as hell, but it's so damn fun that its difficulty doesn't matter - most Gen-Xers' memories of this game coexist hand-in-hand with the Konami Code, yet it still easily ranks as one of the best 8-bit games ever released. Battletoads is honestly straight trash - if you actually LIKE it, you're better off investing your time into TMNT2, River City Ransom, Double Dragon 2, or Mighty Final Fight - same type of game, but way better, regardless of difficulty. No need to guilt-trip yourself over using save-states, because you'll still get 100% the same fun experience I did as a kid.
As someone who was born in 91, had a lot of the original consoles on the original hardware when they were still on the market, nowadays I just prefer emulating. I moved overseas so almost the entirety of my collection is thousand of kilometers away from me and I can't play them. Not only that, but with emulators I don't have to carry around a lot of stuff whenever I have to move, it is just really practical. Besides, I am so used to playing on the original hardware that I don't use save states (unless it is a game with no save at all and I have to stop playing) or fast forward. The emulator features I really look up to are enhancement features, things like giving colors to original Game Boy games, adding CRT filter, upscaling the internal resolution of 3D games to 1080p, etc... So in the end emulators feels like I am playing a remaster of said game. I also like the fact that I can play games I never had the chance before because I couldn't find them to buy. I am originally from a country where games used to go for crazy prices when I was a kid (I still remember my dad paying the equivalent of $150 dollars for Wind Waker to me back in 2004) and I am against piracy of consoles that are still available on the market, so I had no choice but to play few games. Either way, great video, keep up the good content.
I agree - flashcart/R4 with GBC, GBA SP, and 3DS are my definitive ways to play!
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I though the same too but is just necessary in the case where the hardware has something to do with the gameplay for example dreamcast with the vmu functionality or Wii U gamepad, in the other cases just find the controller for that console and connect it to the pc and that's all, same experience.
I agree that original hardware is superior in almost every case. But I end up emulating more games than I could on original hardware simply due to convenience. The time it takes to go to a store and buy a game, or wait for it to be shipped, clean the game, hook up the console and controller, and then sit down to play adds up. It's much easier to just pick up one wireless controller and turn on one console to play everything.
Opposite end for me. Emulation seems too tedious having to set up thus and that, keeping track of save files, something slowing down, frame pacing going to shit, etc. Real hardware is much easier in my book
I like hearing about your experiences. When I missed working on my Atari Home Computers I had to turn to emulation to recover the experience. It was OK, but somehow just not the same. I finally had to get a USB adapter for my old CX40 joystick so I could play the games the way I used to. I recently got back all my old Atari computer stuff after thirty years. My beloved Atari 800 still seems to work OK but the keyboard doesn't work at all. This is a known problem and just requires some repair. My 1200XL is wonky and prints wrong characters on the screen. I don't know what's going on there, but I have a spare keyboard if I need it. The Atari 400 I bought used for $20 in 1985 still works just like the day I bought it because I thought it looked cute. At the time, I upgraded its RAM to 48K so it could run all the software my 800 could. The disk drives and cassette drive need work to run correctly again, but the cartridges I had still work just fine. At about the same time I got all my old hardware back I also bought the new Atari VCS game console and the 400 mini with several included fully licensed games. But these new Atari machines include new versions of controllers that I'm finding troublesome. And, yes, both of these new machines actually run emulators that will allow me to add my own games if I have them on a USB drive. When I was a kid we didn't have video games. I had already graduated high school before I started playing pinball machines. I did get to play the first video arcade game, Computer Space, in a pop-up pinball arcade tent at the Ohio State Fair (we called the game "Rockets and Saucers" but it was the first commercially available video arcade game). I was interested in computers and fascinated by Pong, Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Pac Man. I shoveled pocketfuls of quarters into Missile Command, Breakout, Lunar Lander, BattleZone, Centipede and Dig Dug. I was never interested in the original Atari VCS (2600) because of its primitive graphics. Also, I couldn't program it. But when my wife let me buy my Atari 800 on closeout for $299 after the 1200XL was released, I got as many of those old games that I could for my computer. I had turned my emulator down to 70% speed so I could better beat Missile Command, but it was unsatisfying. I think I would feel the same way about the Save States and Fast Forward that you mention. But actually playing games at all on my emulator is unsatisfying. On my new game Atari systems, the new controllers frustrate me. My new Atari VCS had the arcade version of Missile command that looks just like it did in the arcades, but the Classic Joystick is just too "hot" to work well with the game. I find it hard to control because it sends the cursor to the far corners of the screen at the slightest touch. I'm having trouble getting the Modern Controller to work with it at all. I tried using my old Atari CX22 Trak Ball Controller with my USB adapter, and it works MUCH better at controlling the cursor (Missile Command was the first arcade game that offered a Track Ball controller), but the trigger only launches missiles from the center missile base, not from the missile bases at either side of the screen. As it is, I'm back on my old Atari 400 (the membrane keyboard isn't nearly as bad as everyone says), largely because I find the gameplay more satisfying. I would like to have a handheld game system, but they all seem to be aimed at Nintendo and I don't get it. The Atari systems are less processor intensive and so, easier to emulate. But everyone seems to only want to emulate the 2600 games. I also have an old Atari 7800 that came with almost two dozen game cartridges. I had to buy a power supply through eBay for it, but the game controllers don't work. I'll have to wait until new ones are released on Amazon, like the CX30 paddle controllers. My old ones don't work anymore, so I can't play breakout on my old machines or on my new ones, and I need to get new controllers. Amazon says these will be released in June. Both of these controllers have a "+" after the model number so I'm guessing we might be getting a new Atari 7800+ to go along with the Atari 2600+. I would be reluctant to look for hardware as old as this on eBay, even though I did buy a power supply and that was OK. I'm not looking to buy more game cartridges because they've become collectors items, even if they don't work right. Don't forget to check Goodwill and thrift stores. Often they don't realize what they have. Even more so for the consoles and game systems needed to play these cartridges. "Original hardware" in good working order is getting harder and harder to find, and much more expensive. I'm lucky to have what I already bought thirty and forty years ago. Some of it even still works. I got a modern device for my Atari 400 that will let me load software from a Micro SD card, so I can load all my emulator games onto my original hardware.
imo n64 and up is fine on an emulator, but the first time playing SNES on a CRT was a revelation for me. It legit felt like I was taken back to my friends house (who had the SNES in my childhood).
I've got an AV Famicom, SNES Jr, Genesis Model 1 w/ Sega CD Model 1, PC Engine white model w/ SSDS3, and original Sony PlayStation, all RGB-modded and sitting in storage, because the MiSTer replicates them perfectly and even allows me to use the original controllers for all these consoles. I don't bother with save states myself, I play as if I was using a console. and then I've got Analogue Pocket for handheld games. These more modern solutions to replicate these old games and consoles on a transistor level via FPGA are much more preferable to me, even when I have the real hardware available.
I only play on og hardware I never sold my old games and just kept them now ny collection has grown and its pretty huge valued at like 15k on price charting
I think that using the original controller is important to replicate the feel of the game however some systems have multiple controllers so I don't know which one to go with. This applies to handhelds as well when someone says play on original hardware do they mean you have to use an original Gameboy advance and not an SP or an original DS over a DS lite? What counts as "original hardware" do I have to use one of the Xbox 360s that don't have HDMI? Etc
To me original hardware is if it doesn’t use any sort of emulation to play the game. Like using a ps2 to play ps1 games to me is still original hardware.
Some parts I can agree with. However there are quite a few things here I don't share the same opinion on. For example personally buying a game doesn't really encourage me to play them more then otherwise. Hell... Crazy enough to say that sometimes the opposite is even true where I feel odd pressure on playing games I paid for, and instead I'll just go play free games I gotten. Furthermore I have some games from my younger years that I still never touched somehow... and it isn't as if I had tons and TONS of games back then either.
As far as original ds emulation goes, about five years ago I found the perfect solution. Emulate on an android phone with a Bluetooth controller. I personally use an old snes30 from 8bitdo though they don’t make them anymore, feels just like the original Super Nintendo controller which makes it feel like you’re playing on the game boy. 8bitdo makes an attachment so you can put your phone on the top of the controller, which makes it feel even more like a game boy/ds. However when you have your phone sideways, it has the screens side by side which can be a little weird when there’s cut screens, but the android emulator runs flawlessly on 8 year old android phones so any new device should have no problem. The touch screen works too. Played Pokémon heart gold that way and it was about as close as I could come, I was immersed! Obviously this works for game boy/advance games too. It’s the next best thing. As far as a controller though since 8bitdo stopped making the snes controllers, opting to put two joysticks on them, if you want a wireless snes controller just buy an old snes controller that the buttons still work on, and buy 8bitdo’s Bluetooth mod kit for snes controllers. Cheaper than Nintendo’s Bluetooth snes controllers and actually has Nintendo branding too.
I agree with most of this video. Emulation is a great tool but it does change the way you play the games. Not to mention that the vast majority of emulators have a noticeably higher input latency than original hardware. Only thing I disagree with was that a Wii U is worth getting, I got one launch week and will go to war over hating the system :P
From what I understand of the wii u it was at least a good system but the marketing/name is what killed it honestly even to this day I'm still kinda confused on what it actually is on if its just the tablet or if it had the actual console with it or if it was just like an extra piece of hardware for the wii
@@BorderFreak I got a Wii u launch week. It's not a good system. Library was very weak, backwards compatibility and Virtual Console had issues, OS was slow af, it was underpowered, controller was clunky and useless. The marketing was a problem but even with perfect marketing it was a bad console.
@@GhabulousGhoti I also got my Wii U on launch day, and I don't think the library is weak. Most of it has been ported to the Switch nearly as-is and was met with great success. The main issue always was that all of theses great games released too late into the console life-cycle (I remember we had to wait nearly 2 years between launch and the first true wave of anticipated first party games like MK8). Backwards compatiblity worked perfectly for me (Wii games worked exactly like on original hardware, just like Gamecube game worked on Wii) and Gamecube games worked like a charm through Nintendont. That's the main strength of the Wii U hardware: it's basically an overclocked Wii CPU with 3 cores instead of 1 combined with a much more powerful GPU (which includes the full Hollywood GPU from the Wii for backward compatibility) and 2 GB of RAM. As for the Virtual Console, I remember that some systems like the NES were awful, but others ran great like SNES games. N64 was not the best but fine, maybe better than the Switch Online emulator (to be fair the N64 was never really emulated well, and I personally recommend playing on original hardware if possible). The OS was indeed very slow, especially for the first couple of years. It was optimized a bit over the years but even now it remains one of the slowest console OS ever. The CPU was indeed underpowered, that's the Achilles'heel of the hardware. I suspect Nintendo wanted to stay as close as possible to the architecture and instruction set used for the Wii and Gamecube to enable perfect backward compatibility, but as a result the CPU is not powerful at all (a bit slower than the 360's Xenon and PS3's CELL). The GPU however holds itself pretty well (more powerful than the 360's Xenos and PS3's RSX). My biggest gripe with the Gamepad is the weigth but overall it is much more ergonomic than one would think seeing it from afar. The integrated screen served me well when playing while the TV was used, even if it was never really used effectively as a second screen in game. The Pro controller was missing the rumble feature but it has one of the best battery life of all controllers I've ever used (I mesured it at more than 70 hours, which is kind of insane). The Wii U in itself was not a terrible system hardware-wise (except for the slow-ish CPU), the main issue was marketing and the game library taking ages to release in the first half of the console life-cycle (just like on 360 and PS3 from 2005/2006 to the end of 2008).
I'm very pro-emulation, but I'm also against save states and speed-up features (at least for myself). I want to play the game as originally intended...but I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for that experience. Because not only are the games and consoles often expensive, but so are the CRT TVs needed to view a lot of retro games "properly"! Instead, I'd rather throw up some fancy effects on an emulator! lol
I've got the frontlit SP. While the screen is kind of bad, I still really like it. I'm on the hunt for a flashcart to play the games I got off of the Wii U virtual console as well as some homebrew and a decompilation hack of Pokemon FireRed that I'm working on. If I have to use an emulator then I perfer cycle accuracy over performance and I actively try to avoid using savestates since I think they're cheating. If real hardware isn't an option, then why not try something like a MiSTer? It's an FPGA-based system that simulates the legacy systems using a dedicated reprogrammable chip, so the emulator is able to just feed the code through that instead of needing to simulate an entire computer in software. That way you don't get as many Emulatorisms(TM) born from innacurate emulation along with a MUCH lower input delay (trust me on this one, accurate emulators have way too much input lag)
More importantly, I desire not just the original hardware, but also the original media, i.e. original cartridges. Flashcarts and disk simulators are absolutely a life-saver for budget reasons, but sometimes they create gaps in the saving process (carts). I'm not into arguing about period-accurate displays or TVs, so I exclusively collect handhelds with built-in screens, but ultimately the TVs and external displays will become something no self-respecting retro gamer can avoid.
If you put a CRT filter on an emulator, you are getting the retro experience you wanted without dragging a CRT tv or spending hundreds on an upscaler that applies a crt filter the same as the emulator does. Try retro games on a projector, the image ends up looking similar to CRT due to imperfections.
I prefer emulation devices for multiple reasons: can have more games, larger screens (the Gameboy color i have with the backlit screen mod is nice but geez, my poor eyes) also ergonomics for more adult sized hands.
Modded Original Hardware is the way to go. Incase the games become more expensive. Also Flashcarts. Modding a Xbox Original, GameCube, or PS2, helps ALOT in playing the games. And on in its original forms. And the fact that you could through in SNES and stuff too on them if you can't afford a SNES. And if you got SNES and other Cartridge consoles. Flashcarts are the best way to have all your games to play through.
About DS emulation, there are newer smartphones that have two screens, like the Samsung Galaxy Z-Fold. You can emulate DS games as if you were playing them on an actual DS. Look up the Android emulator, DraStic.
Yes, make a video on the Wii U as it seems a great console to play Virtual console these days (idk if this falls under Emulation) Without owning a Wii U back in the days I wouldn't have been introduced to games like Earthbound I also played the shit out of first party titles such as Mario Kart 8, Splatoon, Mario Maker and the Zelda remasters
I still doing both download the emulation try it out on my anbernic and play but i still prefer playing on a original. Same goes to my 2ds which I've mod but kept my 3ds original and I play on that. Like yesterday eve as on my sp :)
I'd say some consoles are worth it, but when it comes to nintendo handhelds, I'd recommend just getting a 3ds and softmodding it to play all the old games, or a vita to play psp and ps1 games. They both have that "official hardware" feel, and are better than the older consoles. Especially with nintendo, considering a 3ds can play every ds game perfectly and almost every gba game besides like 1 or 2
Emulation is pretty great now . Anbernic and Miyoo making hardware around it is only making things better. With WATA Games ruining retro game prices, I don’t think the original hardware experience matters much anymore
I collect games digitally, or should I say - have collected most of them. I love emulation for emulations sake, but yes, I prefer to play my copies on modded original hardware when I can - and with almost all original consoles.........I can.
as far as portable emulation goes, modded 3ds for game gear, gb, gbc, gba, psp, ds, ps vita and of course pirated 3ds games, steam deck for just about any main console it can run and you're good to go. as for home emulation, pc is king
I'll gladly play on original hardware, but I'm using Everdrives, Flash Carts, burned CDs and homebrew because there's absolutely no way that I am giving a single cent to scalpers who sell used games.
No problem with Everdrives either! And yeah I hate scalpers too. But they're not the only people who sell retro games. A lot of people on FB Marketplace will give you some great deals. And then there's yard sales, flea markets, and even asking your friends.
Obviously all subjective. As an adult I do wanna have an actual game boy tho. About save states, i love them. They’re a net positive for me. Being able to save just before a boss fight begins instead of back tracking each time is great. I can relate with being able to use them in ways that cheapen the experience, but that’s why I don’t want to use them that way, and to someone else it could make it better rather than cheapen it.
I have been gaming since I received my first console the Nintendo 64 for Christmas when it released. my son these days acts as if the game is not brand new then the graphics are terrible and not worth his time... I know he's just a kid so I'm cutting him some slack but that's crazy how you change over time 😮
I probably didn't pay attention ot missed some things but the pros of original hardware is Nostalgia sake and some consoles like the DS, Wii, and 3DS are better because it's hard to emulate some things on these consoles. (Motion controls, dual screens etc) though I don't believe it because many smartphones do a good job and Wii games can be emulated by a PC with adding and syncing controls and the sensor bar.
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A middle-point between playing original games on original hardware and the ease of emulation, is a flash cartridge that can play game roms (like an emulator) on original hardware. You get the original hardware feel and experience, but without the (sometimes steep) cost of buying the increasingly-rare physical copies. Some even have save state features!
Best option. Everdrive ftw.
100% this
And even if the game has a gimmick there are mods that can remove that gimmick so you can play on flash cards. Boktai and Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble have one.
I also soft modded my PS2 so I can play repros on it. Blood Will Tell is expensive but I got a repro for a fraction of the cost.
Agreed. ISO emulators too (like Rhea for Saturn, GDEmu for Dreamcast etc...) or soft (or hard) mods like for Xbox are great options. The trick is to not have every single game on it and just what you want to actually want to play (otherwise, decision paralysis/overchoice rears it's ugly head). I used to have this problem when I loaded every single SNES game on to my SD2SNES (Time is more of a factor these days too what with work, having a kid and technically having to be an adult). But when I cleared a bunch of games, it made things so much better. Let's face it - who is going to sit down and actually play something like Fifa 95 or Mahjong or anything like that?
I just bough a controller similar to the original and the experience is the same and don't use save points is exactly the same experience. Emulation is the best way to play nowadays specially for old hardware with emulators that have a lot of work behing like higan for snes or dolphin for GameCube and Wii.
14 seconds in, says "original hardware" to video of a modded Game Boy Color.
Its an interesting conundrum for me because I play these retro games for work. I have a ton of them physically and love playing them on original hardware, but most of the time cant because emulators look a lot crisper, so I have to play them on a computer for higher quality footage. The only exceptions to this rule are DS and 3DS games because a lot of those games require the actual hardware's touch screen, and thankfully people have built capture cards into those handhelds. One day I'll be able to play these retro games properly without having to worry about recording them 😅
You’re everywhere Nathaniel. Keep up the great vids 😃
You could also use an emulator handheld like the Anbernic or Retroid line with an hdmi out, it's extra steps to get good footage, but at least you can enjoy recording with actual hardware.
the DS/3DS emulators allow for mouse to be used as a touch-screen counterpart, wdym?
I've been playing most of these consoles since they were new and having flashcarts for almost everything is such a game-changer. Don't have to drop hundreds for a single game a bubble, can get savestates on a lot of consoles, can play fan translations and romhacks on real hardware, in some cases it lets me avoid hard to find or flaky hardware add-ons entirely
original hardware. but upgraded - yes please.
Hdmi mods, no cd or cart mods, ran replacements and sound upgrades … yes please! Maybe even use a updated 8 bit do controller as many of the old ones are very mushy now or have damaged cables etc
Even saw a ps2 slim hard drive mod before with a ssd, part of the phat ps2 third party hard drive bay and it was all soldered with custom ribbons to the mobo, they even took out he disk tray and made a custom smaller case for it.
Screen upgrades awesome 👍 but totally against SD card mods , they cheapen and ruin classic hardware , , you really should OWN classic Hardware ,I do enjoy and support Emulation but when I pickup a handheld it better play cartridges or UMD disc media it's made for , otherwise it's contaminated/compromised , if solders were questionable it could end up becoming worthless brick later , , always remember that , , ,🤔🎃🤔
And waste hundreds to thousands of dollars, lol No Thanks Bro.
When visiting stores with classic stuff such as cassette, VHS, Vinyl, old magazines and books and things like that it's always a fun experience and brings back so many memories, you can feel the decades coming back to you.
I wonder, though, how many of us actually listen to music or watch classic films, cartoons and even analog-era TV content using "original hardware" as we certainly have more convenient ways of enjoying them. Sure, they have a tactile feel and it's a joy being able to interact with them physically, but if anything, the digital era came to show us how and what media, that is, written works, imagery, videos, music and software-programs really are and how they don't require being locked to a specific format or device tree to be reproduced infinitely and thus, enjoyed or utilized as such.
Sometimes I wonder, are we, because of the above, enjoying more of these classic games, from the Atari to the PS2 eras more due to their accessibility than ever compared to their heyday, what do you think?
Classic films and cartoons are typically on 35mm right? Or 16mm dupes - either way you'll have to use a film reel set + projector, but then you need sound insulation because regular moviegoing audiences back then almost certainly didn't want to actually hear noisy projectors.
I've heard this argument that "You don't appreciate games as much if you don't own them physically" so many times and it grinds my gears so much cuz it's just plain wrong...
I had a GBA in my childhood, still have it in fact, and I played on it *A LOT*, but I just didn't have very many games for it, the overwhelming majority of my GBA experience has been emulated/digital, and guess what? That's one of my favourite libraries in all of gaming! I have SO Many precious memories with SO Many GBA games! Games that I still go back to regularly!
Furthermore, my entire 3DS library is digital, I don't own a single physical copy of any 3DS game, it was all eShop, and that too has become one of my favourite libraries in all of gaming! The 3DS is my single most played piece of hardware and I still play on it regularly to this day, not stopping anytime soon, and I'm not letting ANYONE tell me I appreciate these lovely wonderful games any less than a game they bought a physical copy of, played maybe once, and then left it on a shelf to rot...
I've had physical copies of games that I loved, and I've had physical copies of games that I played maybe once and never touched again, and that was while being poor and not having many games... Playing games in the form of ROMs or digitally purchased copies has not affected my enjoyment or appreciation of games at all, I'd feel exactly the same about them if I had them physically, because what I care about is being able to play the games, not owning a physical manifestation of the ROM...
You are totally right.
Probably what people really think when they claim so, is that by buying so many games digitally, for a few bucks, and having so many of 'em, you're basically drowning in choice.
This means that focusing on just one game becomes harder if you don't have as much spare time as when you were a child.
This happened to me for example, and by just focusing on one game at a time, and restricting myself to buying them physically, I've at least partially recovered a passion that I felt was lost!
@@blaz7678 I get that whole 'drowning in choice' thing, it's why I don't like to download entire romsets for any system, and if having physical copies helps you focus on what games you want to play, then by all means.
What I don't like is this kind of elitism that exists in the retro gaming community surrounding physical copies, where they like to stereotype people who emulate games as just pirates who don't really care about the games, or not real fans, or whatever, without considering the MANY reasons why someone may not be able to have physical copies of games, like lack of space, poverty, regional availability, and so on...
Some people also like to pretend that because the 3DS eShop closed I don't own my games anymore, which is a load of rubbish, they're all still here and 100% playable, and for as long as I keep backing up my SD card, I can always transfer the backups to a new SD card if the old one goes bad...
What I CAN'T do is buy new 3DS games, but at this point noone but resellers is making money off 3DS games anymore, so uhh... Yeah, I don't really care, I'll get whatever new games I want however I can...
I don't think it about physical vs digital. I would say it's more about buying a copy vs downloading a ROM.
You can easily discard a pirated copy than coping with buyer's remorse.
@@Wesmoen He literally said it was about physical copies in the video, and mentioned massive steam/switch digital libraries as contributing to 'too much choice'
this randomly showed up in my recommendations, and i gotta say, this is a great video man!
Simplest answer: To play it the way it was intended.
Couldn’t agree more
Si a huevo i agree 2 pal...
I'd like to point out that for most cartridge based systems you can get a flash cart with a SD card for $60 and play any game like you would with emulation while having the benefits of original hardware and consoles that don't often have a mod where you can load games off a USB drive for the same effect
I feel like this is a good middle ground. Original hardware but without the thousands of spending for these older games.
I agree with you, around the time I had Gba I always dreamed about having many games but I couldnt afford it and years later, when I got an emulator with every game I wanted I just played a few minutes of a few dozens of games and never finished any of them, these last couple of years I have been buying some of the games I always wanted to play and I realized that playing on original hardware gave me the motivation to actually finish the games, and it is a great feeling when I finally did (It took me basically 18 years to finish Megaman Zero but man, it was worth it) . I know this is not for everyone but your video is great at explaining why its a very different experience from emulation, and why some should try it.
I had a terrible habit of not finishing games growing up for some reason. I’m talking playing a ton and getting overpowered and stopping before the final goal/boss. I really want to go back and finish a good 6 or 7 ps2 and ps3 games. Also marjora’s mask. I’m low key afraid my memory cards might be corrupted because I haven’t dug it out the closet in many years
Haven't the prices been ridiculous though? You must be rich!
"Endearing" is one way to describe the Wii's motion controls...
I think you make good points for both sides. I lost my consoles (SNES, GN, GG, PS1/2, OG Xbox, only the Dreamcast survived) in Hurricane Katrina and to try to buy back what I lost including the games will be very expensive but at same time I do miss, putting the cartridge or CD in sitting down and enjoying the game and seeing it through and that is what is missing from emulation as well as not having the safety net of save states and readily available cheats. Great Job on the video, I'll subbing to your channel and look forward to more from you.
The thing for me is that retro hardware is expensive, the prices have gone up a lot and also I just don't have the room for all the consoles. I emulate games on my PC but use original controllers with USB adapters. It feels like the real thing and you can make the games look way better be rendering them at higher resolutions.
MAD respect for still having the South of Heaven album. Such a classic.
why not do both with a flash cart plus original hardware
You definitely can. Especially for rom hacks.
Title: Why you should play Retro Games on the Original Hardware
Thumbnail: OG Pokemon on a Gameboy Color
I'm 35 and I grew up playing on emulators before they went mainstream, so using my retroid pocket 3+ actually does evoke nostalgia for me.
I'm 36 and have been emulating since 1999 when a friend of mine burned me a CD with SNES, Mega Drive, and Game Boy emulators and a bunch of ROMs. It practically broke my brain at the time!
I never truly appreciated mgs1 until I got a ps1 and eventually got a crt. I had played the game on an emulator but the ps1 + crt combo made it one of the best games I have ever played.
I absolutely loved this video, talks to me to a very personal level
Really enjoyed your thoughts on this one. Articulate & insightful, great stuff! 👍
Thank you ! That means a lot
Though I wouldn't call it "retro" yet, this is one reason why I just bought a Wii U on ebay. My PC can run Cemu just fine (32GBs of RAM, 9900K, 2080 Ti). I can even utilize a second screen with either a portable monitor or my Android tablet using SuperDisplay. But it's just the odd quirks and occasional incompatibilities here and there, like using a mouse to emulate touch functionality, or having to change various settings if a game isn't running well, that made me want to have the actual hardware. No having to keep in mind which games prefer DirectX, OpenGL or Vulkan and their various sub settings. Following the instructions for installing custom firmware is a one time thing, and the games just work as you expect them too.
2 screens hadn't really been seen on consoles at the time, except that Nintendo started off with 2 screen consoles called 'Game&Watch'
Most of the gimmicky features on the DS were things they had been experimenting in previous consoles and cartridges before, but now all rolled into 1 on the console itself. ♥
You made really interesting points and the video is very well made and understandable. Thanks m8.
Ive been emulating for the last 10 years thinking i didnt want to spend the time and money for less convenient waysbto play... then i missed my real Sega Genesis and bought a system and hookup and dug out my few games i had left and controller thinking id just get a taste back. Even bought my mother in laws boobtube we used to use when our son was born...
Booting up that sega brought tears to my eyes and i knew i needed to rebuild that collection and play with my kids.
I also stopped using save states and fast forward functions anymore. I disable them since i still emulate to practice my games.
Beaten way more games and legitimately too because of this.
I got both worlds now and im not turning back
the pokemon touchscreen menu was always the coolest
Awesome video! I'm very partial to gba and ds lite - I completely agree with you about emulation versus OG - I pick OG personally if I'm able. Gained a sub here :)😊
Millennial here. I still have my old consoles. There's a certain feeling of euphoria when you actually accomplish beating a hard game or a hard boss battle in some of these older games, rather than just savestate/rewinding to realign your attacks to win at a game. And maybe I just liked punishing myself to keep trying to win no matter how long it took, and get my full money's worth out of a game I bought. It's not like I kept getting new games dropped on my lap every other week; usually I'd get a new game once every 6 months or so, where I'd get something like Donkey Kong 64, and then 6 months later (after 100% it), I get Zelda: Majora's Mask. Each game at their original retail value, which was something like $70 CAD. In today's age, a similar game to something like Super Mario 64, but made by an indie dev, would end up being $30 on release, then go on sale for $15-$20 a year later. Granted, Nintendo still pumps out games with AAA game costs, and some are rather justified, but I could just get a similar experience with an older game at a fraction of that cost (or free if ya sail the seas), or spend $10/month for game pass, and have access to more games than you know what to do with, then just default back to playing whatever F2P, MMO, mobile gacha, or whatever.
I still prefer playing PS1 games with geometry correction and 4K upscaling.
I have a retropie setup on a crt for retroachievements but I found myself just going back and hooking up my NES and genesis because I don't have to worry about overhead or input lag using run ahead etc. My genesis has an everdrive I want one for my nes but it's more expensive. Cheaper than collecting though. Ever drive is amazing to keep original hardware alive
We would if it were still easily available.
100% agree. using the right controller att he right scale and speed can chnage games so much. some games I hated on emulators but loved on original hardware!
Modern FPGA consoles are the sweet spot
Awesome video! I use original hardware when it comes to handhelds (PSP, Gameboy etc.) but any console I gotta hook up to a TV I tend to emulate.
Yep this is me too !
Personally for me it depends on the system. Cartridge consoles for some reason even when I have all the games in the world to emulate, there’s something magical about playing with the controller and plugging the console in. But once the discs came out, it’s not quite the same.
When the emulator is solid and you can play it on a tv, so long as you can use some sort of USB or Bluetooth adapter to use the original controller, it feels pretty much the same as using the console, though a bit less magical.
Hey, I'm a retro repair technician. Here is my take. People can be sorted into 3 categories: the Collector, the Nostalgia Chaser, and the Causal Gamer. The collector has their dedicated unit and then a wall of show units. The Nostalgia gamer is a mix, they want the original hardware and may have OEM games but also will get flash cards like EZFlash or Everdrive. Lastly, there is the causal and they only emulate.
I personally say emulate at your own risk. Roms can fail or glitch and I've gotten to the end of a game before just to have to crash before the final boss. OEM doesn't do that.
For the Nostalgic Collector, emulate to try then buy.
Either way, if you are not a collector and want to play on the original hardware please upgrade the screens. Don't torture yourself. Upgrading isn't that hard but if you are unsure there are techs out there to help.
Happy Gaming.
P.S. Save states for shut down > jump back in or speed run practice only...no cheaty! 😂
Love playing on my new shell, back lit GBC, modded GBA SP, and enjoying N64 with the Brawler 64 controller.
The biggest benefit of original hardware is that for a good chunk of these consoles, you have both the options of playing these games physically and homebrewing the system. I find this to be particularly useful with the PS2 and Wii.
Excellent video and reasoning used throughout. One suggestion I have for individuals who don't feel like purchasing retro consoles and software individually is to purchase things such as an everdrive where you can load roms of original games and play them on original hardware while not having to paying for original software. I understand some people may not have the funds to purchase expensive games however many retro consoles truly aren't that expensive and that could allow people to experience games on the original hardware without having to take up as much space with original software and break the bank for it either. I myself prefer using original software however there are occasions where Ill use emulation or things similar to an everdrive.
I'm with you on the feeling of that original experience.
Case in point, playing N64 games on Nintendo Switch online with a Switch Pro controller or Joy Cons feels off.
With retro game prices being so high, like you I'm happy emulation is an option, but also I'm glad for stuff like the Mister project, Flashcarts, Softmods and ODEs, as well as new retro inspired controllers. The retro-bit Saturn pad is a personal favourite for that particular library.
I find that for home consoles that don’t have gimmicks like motion controls, emulation is just a straight upgrade. Try using a PS2 on an HD TV. It’s hell. But when it comes to handheld consoles, original hardware is just always the way to go. I started by playing GBA games on my 3DS, but the games were blurry and didn’t fit right on the screen. So I bought a modded GBA (backlight so I could actually see the screen lol). And I played some game boy and game boy color games on this GBA, but they’re so small on the GBA screen, and they stick out of the console. So I bought a modded game boy color after that. I find that backwards compatibility on handheld games always have a big drawback that makes it an unideal experience. For me, it’s not even about nostalgia. I grew up with a wide GBA and a DS, I never owned the SP that I now use or the game boy color. The experience is just better on the original hardware.
Using a PS2 on an HD TV is fine if you have component cables and your TV can display 480P... It won't look as nice as on a CRT, but that's true of pretty much an standard definition console.
@@LunarShift you’re forgetting that not every game uses 480p. For many ps1 games and even some ps2 games the resolution drops down to 360p or even 240p, which is literally too low for most HD TVs available today to even display at all. Also, none of the TVs in my house have component ports, meaning I have to use an adapter for my component cables, and adapters come in two varieties: terrible but cheap, and good but waaaay too expensive. And if you don’t go with the expensive option, expect very distracting input lag, letalone poor image quality. On top of all that, the PS2 just doesn’t look good outside of a CRT. Tons of games use blur filters that look fine on CRTs but horrible on HD screens. That’s why there’s a “skip draw” feature in ps2 emulators to literally gut those filters out of games.
If you have an old HD TV that has component in and supports 240p you won’t have as many issues. But almost any TV from at least the past 5 years is a non-starter.
@@Arcad3n I haven't forgotten this lol. I'm just saying in the best case, you're using component cables and a TV with a scaler that works for those affected games. It's definitely not always as simple as plugging in and going, and that's why solutions like retrotink and OSSC are so popular.
Honestly I think handhelds make the biggest case for emulation, aside from portability and sentimentality there is no argument I can see where playing portable games on original hardware is actually better. I don't see the appeal of playing games hunched over on a 3 inch screen when I can have a much bigger screen on my PC with a controller in my hand with all sorts of visual and audio enhancements that come with it. And then the ability to easily play rom hacks or apply translation patches to games not released in the US which can require a bit of work on OG hardware.
@@LunarShiftThe vast majority of PS2 games will only display 480i even with component cables, which can be a bit flaky even with the good scalers. With interlacing there's always a trade-off when it comes to games, better quality deinterlacing will always cause more lag.
Luckily it's mostly a PS2 (and Dreamcast) issue, on the N64 480i is somewhat rare and laggy, and GC/XBOX have better/near-perfect high resolution support, respectively.
you can also get flashcarts/mod consoles to get more games on the real hardware, still getting the authentic experience without selling your left kidney for them. for my dreamcast i play a lot of burned cds for games, or on my ps2 i play them off an ide hdd, and that in and of itself imbues a sense of nostalgia even though im not playing a manufactured copy
Bro im not going to collect and fill my room. New way of living is here
Your whole take on fast forwarding JRPG's is on point. It turns it into a completely different game, usually for the worse.
The best part about playing on the original hardware is the modding community. It's possible for me to play my gameboys,sega handhelds and others with the everdrive, im able to mess with mapping, save states, graphics options, and the ability to pull up cheats and many other options. Expensive yes but so sooo worth it. Not only do I get my nostalgic feeling, but it's amplified x2 or more having those options at hand bringing in modern features.
Nuh uh I aint playing MK Wii On 480i when dolphin exists
"Save states ruin hard games." No, that's where you're absolutely wrong. If a game is only good because it's frustratingly hard, then it isn't really all that good. Remember, these old games were modeled after coin-op arcade machines that were designed to eat another quarter every 2 minutes, and they didn't always adjust for that when designing or porting to the home market. Difficulty was even weaponized to artificially inflate the replay-ability of certain games so you couldn't beat them on a rental weekend. Why do you think Nintendo Power and the Game Genie did such bonkers sales numbers? We were desperate for every little tip or tool that would make these games easier for us to beat!
Example: Bayou Billy is way harder than Mega Man 2, but not remotely better, nor is it worth your time to find out why. Contra, however, is hard as hell, but it's so damn fun that its difficulty doesn't matter - most Gen-Xers' memories of this game coexist hand-in-hand with the Konami Code, yet it still easily ranks as one of the best 8-bit games ever released. Battletoads is honestly straight trash - if you actually LIKE it, you're better off investing your time into TMNT2, River City Ransom, Double Dragon 2, or Mighty Final Fight - same type of game, but way better, regardless of difficulty. No need to guilt-trip yourself over using save-states, because you'll still get 100% the same fun experience I did as a kid.
As someone who was born in 91, had a lot of the original consoles on the original hardware when they were still on the market, nowadays I just prefer emulating.
I moved overseas so almost the entirety of my collection is thousand of kilometers away from me and I can't play them. Not only that, but with emulators I don't have to carry around a lot of stuff whenever I have to move, it is just really practical.
Besides, I am so used to playing on the original hardware that I don't use save states (unless it is a game with no save at all and I have to stop playing) or fast forward. The emulator features I really look up to are enhancement features, things like giving colors to original Game Boy games, adding CRT filter, upscaling the internal resolution of 3D games to 1080p, etc... So in the end emulators feels like I am playing a remaster of said game.
I also like the fact that I can play games I never had the chance before because I couldn't find them to buy. I am originally from a country where games used to go for crazy prices when I was a kid (I still remember my dad paying the equivalent of $150 dollars for Wind Waker to me back in 2004) and I am against piracy of consoles that are still available on the market, so I had no choice but to play few games.
Either way, great video, keep up the good content.
I agree - flashcart/R4 with GBC, GBA SP, and 3DS are my definitive ways to play!
I though the same too but is just necessary in the case where the hardware has something to do with the gameplay for example dreamcast with the vmu functionality or Wii U gamepad, in the other cases just find the controller for that console and connect it to the pc and that's all, same experience.
I agree that original hardware is superior in almost every case. But I end up emulating more games than I could on original hardware simply due to convenience. The time it takes to go to a store and buy a game, or wait for it to be shipped, clean the game, hook up the console and controller, and then sit down to play adds up. It's much easier to just pick up one wireless controller and turn on one console to play everything.
Get a cartridge with an sd reader and play the emulated games on the original hardware. Best of both worlds.
@@BigTrees4ever Flash carts aren't emulation
@@geoffgero6081Bad Form
Opposite end for me. Emulation seems too tedious having to set up thus and that, keeping track of save files, something slowing down, frame pacing going to shit, etc. Real hardware is much easier in my book
@90sNath Right on man 👍
I like hearing about your experiences.
When I missed working on my Atari Home Computers I had to turn to emulation to recover the experience.
It was OK, but somehow just not the same. I finally had to get a USB adapter for my old CX40 joystick so I could play the games the way I used to.
I recently got back all my old Atari computer stuff after thirty years. My beloved Atari 800 still seems to work OK but the keyboard doesn't work at all. This is a known problem and just requires some repair. My 1200XL is wonky and prints wrong characters on the screen. I don't know what's going on there, but I have a spare keyboard if I need it.
The Atari 400 I bought used for $20 in 1985 still works just like the day I bought it because I thought it looked cute. At the time, I upgraded its RAM to 48K so it could run all the software my 800 could.
The disk drives and cassette drive need work to run correctly again, but the cartridges I had still work just fine.
At about the same time I got all my old hardware back I also bought the new Atari VCS game console and the 400 mini with several included fully licensed games. But these new Atari machines include new versions of controllers that I'm finding troublesome. And, yes, both of these new machines actually run emulators that will allow me to add my own games if I have them on a USB drive.
When I was a kid we didn't have video games. I had already graduated high school before I started playing pinball machines. I did get to play the first video arcade game, Computer Space, in a pop-up pinball arcade tent at the Ohio State Fair (we called the game "Rockets and Saucers" but it was the first commercially available video arcade game).
I was interested in computers and fascinated by Pong, Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Pac Man. I shoveled pocketfuls of quarters into Missile Command, Breakout, Lunar Lander, BattleZone, Centipede and Dig Dug.
I was never interested in the original Atari VCS (2600) because of its primitive graphics. Also, I couldn't program it. But when my wife let me buy my Atari 800 on closeout for $299 after the 1200XL was released, I got as many of those old games that I could for my computer.
I had turned my emulator down to 70% speed so I could better beat Missile Command, but it was unsatisfying. I think I would feel the same way about the Save States and Fast Forward that you mention. But actually playing games at all on my emulator is unsatisfying.
On my new game Atari systems, the new controllers frustrate me. My new Atari VCS had the arcade version of Missile command that looks just like it did in the arcades, but the Classic Joystick is just too "hot" to work well with the game. I find it hard to control because it sends the cursor to the far corners of the screen at the slightest touch. I'm having trouble getting the Modern Controller to work with it at all. I tried using my old Atari CX22 Trak Ball Controller with my USB adapter, and it works MUCH better at controlling the cursor (Missile Command was the first arcade game that offered a Track Ball controller), but the trigger only launches missiles from the center missile base, not from the missile bases at either side of the screen.
As it is, I'm back on my old Atari 400 (the membrane keyboard isn't nearly as bad as everyone says), largely because I find the gameplay more satisfying.
I would like to have a handheld game system, but they all seem to be aimed at Nintendo and I don't get it.
The Atari systems are less processor intensive and so, easier to emulate. But everyone seems to only want to emulate the 2600 games.
I also have an old Atari 7800 that came with almost two dozen game cartridges. I had to buy a power supply through eBay for it, but the game controllers don't work. I'll have to wait until new ones are released on Amazon, like the CX30 paddle controllers. My old ones don't work anymore, so I can't play breakout on my old machines or on my new ones, and I need to get new controllers. Amazon says these will be released in June. Both of these controllers have a "+" after the model number so I'm guessing we might be getting a new Atari 7800+ to go along with the Atari 2600+.
I would be reluctant to look for hardware as old as this on eBay, even though I did buy a power supply and that was OK. I'm not looking to buy more game cartridges because they've become collectors items, even if they don't work right. Don't forget to check Goodwill and thrift stores. Often they don't realize what they have.
Even more so for the consoles and game systems needed to play these cartridges. "Original hardware" in good working order is getting harder and harder to find, and much more expensive. I'm lucky to have what I already bought thirty and forty years ago. Some of it even still works.
I got a modern device for my Atari 400 that will let me load software from a Micro SD card, so I can load all my emulator games onto my original hardware.
imo n64 and up is fine on an emulator, but the first time playing SNES on a CRT was a revelation for me. It legit felt like I was taken back to my friends house (who had the SNES in my childhood).
I've got an AV Famicom, SNES Jr, Genesis Model 1 w/ Sega CD Model 1, PC Engine white model w/ SSDS3, and original Sony PlayStation, all RGB-modded and sitting in storage, because the MiSTer replicates them perfectly and even allows me to use the original controllers for all these consoles. I don't bother with save states myself, I play as if I was using a console. and then I've got Analogue Pocket for handheld games. These more modern solutions to replicate these old games and consoles on a transistor level via FPGA are much more preferable to me, even when I have the real hardware available.
I only play on og hardware I never sold my old games and just kept them now ny collection has grown and its pretty huge valued at like 15k on price charting
How do you feel about the Analog that uses original cartridges but not original hardware?
I think that using the original controller is important to replicate the feel of the game however some systems have multiple controllers so I don't know which one to go with.
This applies to handhelds as well when someone says play on original hardware do they mean you have to use an original Gameboy advance and not an SP or an original DS over a DS lite? What counts as "original hardware" do I have to use one of the Xbox 360s that don't have HDMI? Etc
To me original hardware is if it doesn’t use any sort of emulation to play the game. Like using a ps2 to play ps1 games to me is still original hardware.
i can emu ds on my pc with a touchscreen. you can also do 3d with red blue 3d glasses
Some parts I can agree with. However there are quite a few things here I don't share the same opinion on. For example personally buying a game doesn't really encourage me to play them more then otherwise. Hell... Crazy enough to say that sometimes the opposite is even true where I feel odd pressure on playing games I paid for, and instead I'll just go play free games I gotten. Furthermore I have some games from my younger years that I still never touched somehow... and it isn't as if I had tons and TONS of games back then either.
As far as original ds emulation goes, about five years ago I found the perfect solution. Emulate on an android phone with a Bluetooth controller.
I personally use an old snes30 from 8bitdo though they don’t make them anymore, feels just like the original Super Nintendo controller which makes it feel like you’re playing on the game boy.
8bitdo makes an attachment so you can put your phone on the top of the controller, which makes it feel even more like a game boy/ds. However when you have your phone sideways, it has the screens side by side which can be a little weird when there’s cut screens, but the android emulator runs flawlessly on 8 year old android phones so any new device should have no problem. The touch screen works too.
Played Pokémon heart gold that way and it was about as close as I could come, I was immersed! Obviously this works for game boy/advance games too. It’s the next best thing.
As far as a controller though since 8bitdo stopped making the snes controllers, opting to put two joysticks on them, if you want a wireless snes controller just buy an old snes controller that the buttons still work on, and buy 8bitdo’s Bluetooth mod kit for snes controllers. Cheaper than Nintendo’s Bluetooth snes controllers and actually has Nintendo branding too.
ds emulation is perfect on a wii u or a steam deck. 3ds emulation is perfect on my steam deck paired with a 3d tv and some upscaling
@@TheRetroGamerBayWait, does the 3DS 3D work on a 3D TV?
@@user-vi4xy1jw7e citra has an option for SBS 3d which my TV supports
I agree with most of this video. Emulation is a great tool but it does change the way you play the games. Not to mention that the vast majority of emulators have a noticeably higher input latency than original hardware.
Only thing I disagree with was that a Wii U is worth getting, I got one launch week and will go to war over hating the system :P
From what I understand of the wii u it was at least a good system but the marketing/name is what killed it honestly even to this day I'm still kinda confused on what it actually is on if its just the tablet or if it had the actual console with it or if it was just like an extra piece of hardware for the wii
@@BorderFreak I got a Wii u launch week. It's not a good system. Library was very weak, backwards compatibility and Virtual Console had issues, OS was slow af, it was underpowered, controller was clunky and useless. The marketing was a problem but even with perfect marketing it was a bad console.
@@GhabulousGhoti I also got my Wii U on launch day, and I don't think the library is weak. Most of it has been ported to the Switch nearly as-is and was met with great success. The main issue always was that all of theses great games released too late into the console life-cycle (I remember we had to wait nearly 2 years between launch and the first true wave of anticipated first party games like MK8).
Backwards compatiblity worked perfectly for me (Wii games worked exactly like on original hardware, just like Gamecube game worked on Wii) and Gamecube games worked like a charm through Nintendont. That's the main strength of the Wii U hardware: it's basically an overclocked Wii CPU with 3 cores instead of 1 combined with a much more powerful GPU (which includes the full Hollywood GPU from the Wii for backward compatibility) and 2 GB of RAM. As for the Virtual Console, I remember that some systems like the NES were awful, but others ran great like SNES games. N64 was not the best but fine, maybe better than the Switch Online emulator (to be fair the N64 was never really emulated well, and I personally recommend playing on original hardware if possible).
The OS was indeed very slow, especially for the first couple of years. It was optimized a bit over the years but even now it remains one of the slowest console OS ever. The CPU was indeed underpowered, that's the Achilles'heel of the hardware. I suspect Nintendo wanted to stay as close as possible to the architecture and instruction set used for the Wii and Gamecube to enable perfect backward compatibility, but as a result the CPU is not powerful at all (a bit slower than the 360's Xenon and PS3's CELL). The GPU however holds itself pretty well (more powerful than the 360's Xenos and PS3's RSX).
My biggest gripe with the Gamepad is the weigth but overall it is much more ergonomic than one would think seeing it from afar. The integrated screen served me well when playing while the TV was used, even if it was never really used effectively as a second screen in game. The Pro controller was missing the rumble feature but it has one of the best battery life of all controllers I've ever used (I mesured it at more than 70 hours, which is kind of insane).
The Wii U in itself was not a terrible system hardware-wise (except for the slow-ish CPU), the main issue was marketing and the game library taking ages to release in the first half of the console life-cycle (just like on 360 and PS3 from 2005/2006 to the end of 2008).
I'm very pro-emulation, but I'm also against save states and speed-up features (at least for myself). I want to play the game as originally intended...but I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for that experience. Because not only are the games and consoles often expensive, but so are the CRT TVs needed to view a lot of retro games "properly"!
Instead, I'd rather throw up some fancy effects on an emulator! lol
Love the modded Game Boy Color
I've got the frontlit SP. While the screen is kind of bad, I still really like it. I'm on the hunt for a flashcart to play the games I got off of the Wii U virtual console as well as some homebrew and a decompilation hack of Pokemon FireRed that I'm working on. If I have to use an emulator then I perfer cycle accuracy over performance and I actively try to avoid using savestates since I think they're cheating.
If real hardware isn't an option, then why not try something like a MiSTer? It's an FPGA-based system that simulates the legacy systems using a dedicated reprogrammable chip, so the emulator is able to just feed the code through that instead of needing to simulate an entire computer in software. That way you don't get as many Emulatorisms(TM) born from innacurate emulation along with a MUCH lower input delay (trust me on this one, accurate emulators have way too much input lag)
5:59 Quest 2 + citra + PC can literally emulate 3D "gimmick" perfectly in HD huge screen!
Fun fact: The original AGB-001 Game Boy Advance can stand up on its own
More importantly, I desire not just the original hardware, but also the original media, i.e. original cartridges. Flashcarts and disk simulators are absolutely a life-saver for budget reasons, but sometimes they create gaps in the saving process (carts).
I'm not into arguing about period-accurate displays or TVs, so I exclusively collect handhelds with built-in screens, but ultimately the TVs and external displays will become something no self-respecting retro gamer can avoid.
Best combo imo is a new 2dsxl or 3ds xl with an analogue pocket 👌
If you put a CRT filter on an emulator, you are getting the retro experience you wanted without dragging a CRT tv or spending hundreds on an upscaler that applies a crt filter the same as the emulator does. Try retro games on a projector, the image ends up looking similar to CRT due to imperfections.
I prefer emulation devices for multiple reasons: can have more games, larger screens (the Gameboy color i have with the backlit screen mod is nice but geez, my poor eyes) also ergonomics for more adult sized hands.
SLAAAAYEEEERRR!!!!!
I like playing 3D games in hd which is why I stick to emulation and yes there is some glitches but I don't care.
Dude! I just did a retro console collection on my channel. I just subbed to you today.
Try an Analogue Pocket
Great video
Modded Original Hardware is the way to go. Incase the games become more expensive. Also Flashcarts. Modding a Xbox Original, GameCube, or PS2, helps ALOT in playing the games. And on in its original forms. And the fact that you could through in SNES and stuff too on them if you can't afford a SNES. And if you got SNES and other Cartridge consoles. Flashcarts are the best way to have all your games to play through.
About DS emulation, there are newer smartphones that have two screens, like the Samsung Galaxy Z-Fold. You can emulate DS games as if you were playing them on an actual DS. Look up the Android emulator, DraStic.
That’s awesome! I gotta look into that
Yes, make a video on the Wii U as it seems a great console to play Virtual console these days (idk if this falls under Emulation)
Without owning a Wii U back in the days I wouldn't have been introduced to games like Earthbound
I also played the shit out of first party titles such as Mario Kart 8, Splatoon, Mario Maker and the Zelda remasters
Great video. But I feel so old now. 😂
I still doing both download the emulation try it out on my anbernic and play but i still prefer playing on a original. Same goes to my 2ds which I've mod but kept my 3ds original and I play on that. Like yesterday eve as on my sp :)
So true to play on original hardware 👍 if only I could afford a AES to this date 🤣😂 but I do have a MvS 😗😘😍😙😚
its true bro
Flashcarts are a great solution for using retro consoles
I'd say some consoles are worth it, but when it comes to nintendo handhelds, I'd recommend just getting a 3ds and softmodding it to play all the old games, or a vita to play psp and ps1 games. They both have that "official hardware" feel, and are better than the older consoles. Especially with nintendo, considering a 3ds can play every ds game perfectly and almost every gba game besides like 1 or 2
Look what your doing to poor Mario 😂
I play whatever I can afford on old consoles, if I can’t afford a certain game, I’ll emulate it
It feels like these prices need to be forcibly smacked down
I have NEVER emulated a single game!
Emulation is pretty great now . Anbernic and Miyoo making hardware around it is only making things better.
With WATA Games ruining retro game prices, I don’t think the original hardware experience matters much anymore
I would agree for dual screen and wii systems but everything else is better with emulation imo
I collect games digitally, or should I say - have collected most of them. I love emulation for emulations sake, but yes, I prefer to play my copies on modded original hardware when I can - and with almost all original consoles.........I can.
as far as portable emulation goes, modded 3ds for game gear, gb, gbc, gba, psp, ds, ps vita and of course pirated 3ds games, steam deck for just about any main console it can run and you're good to go. as for home emulation, pc is king
I'll gladly play on original hardware, but I'm using Everdrives, Flash Carts, burned CDs and homebrew because there's absolutely no way that I am giving a single cent to scalpers who sell used games.
No problem with Everdrives either! And yeah I hate scalpers too. But they're not the only people who sell retro games. A lot of people on FB Marketplace will give you some great deals. And then there's yard sales, flea markets, and even asking your friends.
Obviously all subjective. As an adult I do wanna have an actual game boy tho.
About save states, i love them. They’re a net positive for me. Being able to save just before a boss fight begins instead of back tracking each time is great.
I can relate with being able to use them in ways that cheapen the experience, but that’s why I don’t want to use them that way, and to someone else it could make it better rather than cheapen it.
2:33 Holding something this old in your hands
PS Vita was just a couple years ago right...
wait that was 2012 >.>
I have been gaming since I received my first console the Nintendo 64 for Christmas when it released. my son these days acts as if the game is not brand new then the graphics are terrible and not worth his time... I know he's just a kid so I'm cutting him some slack but that's crazy how you change over time 😮
i agree with you i own all retro consoles i only use emulators for arcade games
2:45 Who is she? Asking for a friend.
I probably didn't pay attention ot missed some things but the pros of original hardware is Nostalgia sake and some consoles like the DS, Wii, and 3DS are better because it's hard to emulate some things on these consoles. (Motion controls, dual screens etc) though I don't believe it because many smartphones do a good job and Wii games can be emulated by a PC with adding and syncing controls and the sensor bar.
Dude just get an Everdrive, sheesh.
Emulatores aint bad but original hardware well always be the best