Those who emulate (you know who you are) don't you miss the box/instructions/artwork?

[courtesi96]

Title says all.

I don't want to turn this into a philosophical debate on the ethics of emulation. I am just curious to hear whether people who do it are in any way disappointed by not having the artwork/instructions.

I'd also be interested in those who emulate but purchase instructions and/or boxes off ebay.

[skaar]

Depends on the game. Usually I'll buy a copy eventually if it something I want to own. If I just feel like playing Sonic 2 and don't want to dig out the Genesis... it doesn't really NEED instructions now does it?

[pugmagician]

I usually emulate in order to see if I like the game before I buy, also for systems like Saturn it so I have a copy of the game to play until I can purchase to buy. I mainly play RPGs so the games I like tend to be quite high in price.

[Sudo]

Having the box and manual is nice, but I just don't have the money to buy the majority of the games I emulate at the moment. Once I find a decent job I'll start rebuying the NES, SNES, Genesis and Sega CD games I sold ages ago, but for now it's either emulation or just play my newer systems exclusively.

[dlopez9069]

Well emulating dosen't really matter. I mean if you just collect the cart and no box, whats the difference? I have mabye 2 boxes out of my 300+ games and only about 10-15 manuals. So I don't see how emulating effects missing out on the art & instructions.

[Nodtveidt]

For games I can't afford, emulation is a great way to getting to experience them. But yeah, not having the box really does suck. I like to have games as complete as possible.

[Poofta!]

one of the reasons i got into collecting, is because i missed the artwork/boxes.

after beating some snes rpgs via emulation, i was really hankering for a 'physical' copy. so i started collecting. to this day i rarely play a rom (not for moral reasons at all), i do to test games or simply avoid hassle, or just to be able to try hundreds of games wihtout spending a penny, if a game speaks to me ill seek it out. as such i do not have a single loose game in my collection (gb/gbc IS an exception, however i dont activily collect those)

[boatofcar]

I rarely emulated until I moved overseas. Now I use SNES9x all the time. It's no substitute for the real thing, but it's more than adequate for playing all the games I have back home.

[Greg2600]

I've found that I quickly grow tired of systems and games I do not physically have, when emulating them. Probably why I never bought them! One exception of course are arcades. I'm not a fan of the multitudes of PC and Console releases/updates of arcade favorites. I prefer the original, and with the scarcity of arcades, emu is all I have. Now, most classic systems have their manuals online, not to mention scans of everything else. But there is nothing like taking the cart, dropping it into the slot and flicking the power button. As for the box/instructions/artwork of games I love, no, I don't miss them. In fact, IMO, flashy artwork on carts have been missing for 20 years. Konami had some great stuff on NES, but really the 2600 was the console for artwork.

[alexkidd2000]

Real games, not unlike real music cds etc just take up too much physical room.

[Leo_A]

I don't care about the cardboard boxes, gamers that keep their games in the boxes and line their shelfs with them confuse me, I find it a waste of time to get a game out of its original box and return it later (And don't they worry about wearing out the box when it wasn't intended for such a use unless its a Genesis box?).

I do miss instruction manuals, but the vast majority of them are useless and I can find most online easily when I require one.

I'm a gamer interested in enjoying the game, not the box it shipped in. I keep what I have and hope someday to display them on a shelf mounted along the walls just below the ceiling in my dream gaming room of the future (Especially the boxes my consoles shipped in), but I think its pointless to basically make a library out of cardbound game boxes.

Unless I luck into a Atari 2600 store demo kiosk someday where I'd like to have game boxes stored under it for cosmetic purposes since it was intended for such a use (If I'm remembering how it was designed correctly), I won't go out of my way to get more boxes. The Atari 2600 through to the 7800 had some nice looking game boxes though, if I were to go after boxes someday it would be for those systems.

I don't do a whole lot of emulation on my PC though for some reason, though I'm a big fan of classic collections on modern consoles. I prefer the real deal on it's original system, I just don't care if the games I'm buying are cart only or complete.

[ThoughtBomb]

I only really emulate older games/systems and arcades, anything involving disc systems I just seek out and play. It gives a player the opportunity to play things that he/she never even knew existed or were released in America (I'm hooked on Famicom Detective Club right now, a game that wouldn't even be possible for me to play without some dedicated individuals who decided to put a translation patch through). But to answer the question simply, I don't miss the boxes or manuals unless I own the system and I personally think that the game is worth owning.

[calgon]

I WISH that I could be satisfied playing games on emulators. :/ I'd save so much...

[Daria]

I'd also be interested in those who emulate but purchase instructions and/or boxes off ebay.

What? Why? Why would you collect empty boxes? That's just... asinine. o.O

That said I emulate translated ROMs that I can't otherwise play in english. I could emulate games I don't own yet, but generally I have enough games to play that I can wait until I buy them.

[Nodtveidt]

What? Why? Why would you collect empty boxes? That's just... asinine. o.O
Actually, that makes perfect sense. With the large number of loose games floating around auction sites, any collector on the prowl for complete games can sometimes save some money by buying boxes, instructions, and loose carts independently or in lots. While not everyone understands the mindsets of a collector, just know that they have their reasons and that's just that.:dance:

[carlcarlson]

Actually, that makes perfect sense. With the large number of loose games floating around auction sites, any collector on the prowl for complete games can sometimes save some money by buying boxes, instructions, and loose carts independently or in lots. While not everyone understands the mindsets of a collector, just know that they have their reasons and that's just that.:dance:

I think Daria is saying that buying a box and manual to go with your ROM would be asinine. And I agree.

Personally I don't emulate because I don't find it nearly as enjoyable as owning the physical copy. So I guess to answer the original question, yes, I miss the physical items.

[Nodtveidt]

I think Daria is saying that buying a box and manual to go with your ROM would be asinine. And I agree.
In that case, yeah...that would be a bit weird.@_@

[dogbowl2]

I LOVE finding auctions that are just for game boxes. I just like the way they look on the shelf - and I know that the boxes are inherently rarer than just the carts.. My main boxed collection is for the 2600 . and to the guy who wondered about wearning the cardboard out, thats why I keep a complete, boxed copy as well as a loose copy to play.

But anyway, just because you emulate, who says you don't have the boxes and manuels? It takes a little work, but you can have all instructions and all boxart to go along with those complete rom sets...

[Daria]

Actually, that makes perfect sense. With the large number of loose games floating around auction sites, any collector on the prowl for complete games can sometimes save some money by buying boxes, instructions, and loose carts independently or in lots. While not everyone understands the mindsets of a collector, just know that they have their reasons and that's just that.:dance:


Ummm...


I think Daria is saying that buying a box and manual to go with your ROM would be asinine. And I agree.

Yeah.

[Nodtveidt]

In that case, yeah...that would be a bit weird.@_@
@_@@_@@_@@_@

[ssjlance]

Most emulators can be configured to use a frontend that includes box artwork and/or manuals. Although I use screenshots, as they tell me more about the game.

Also, I don't emulate that often, but I do have a complete MAME, NES, SNES, and Genesis romset on my laptop. They don't get played that often, but I love having the option to play any game I want, whenever I want to.

[James8BitStar]

The box and manual aren't absolutely essential (except arguably for MS-DOS games, and some console games with unorthodox control schemes) but I DO enjoy having them, greatly.

I used to be an emu-holic, but really the packaging and documentation are a huge part of the experience. For me, boxes are kind of a nostalgia thing. I look at things like those purple boxes Capcom used for NES games and I'm like "Holy ****, I remember when Sears used to stock these. Man that brings me back!" Manuals are fun, and make good bathroom reading material--nothing like getting caught up on the history of Ganondorf's ascention while on the john (some people play portables while they do their business, but that's just anethema to me).

I used to just collect games cart-only, but somehow I find that a game becomes far more satisfying if I have the box and documentation as well.

[Cryomancer]

You can download large packs of manuals and covers, which in some ways are superior to having a hard copy, as you can have the artwork at your disposal to edit into backgrounds or what have you. Obivous there are benefits to both. I like having hard copies, but I also like having a library of covers I can browse through or manuals I can flip around in wihtout having to actually find the specific locaiton of the hard copy. If that makes any sense.

[tom]

for collecting, box and instr/artwork are an absolute must, after all, when collecting music cds you keep the jewel case, lyrics, artwork. games are just the same.

for emulating, which i try it sometimes, but after a little while i miss the box...etc

[DefaultGen]

.....

[Oobgarm]

No, I don't. Most of my classics(pre-PSX) are loose anyway.

[mr.soul]

The reason I don't emulate is mainly because I want to play the games on the original hardware. If it wasn't a pain in the ass I would probably mod my NES with a hard drive and store all the roms on it to play that way. I don't care too much about boxes or manuals, but when the game comes with them it's nice.

[zemmix]

To be honest I wouldn't miss any of my boxes or manuals. For one you only look at them maybe once and for two they end up just cluttering your life.

[cyberfluxor]

Arcade games aren't something I'm worried about when it comes to paperwork. Although right now it isn't feasible to own an arcade, when an MVS cab comes my way I'll be fine with cart and shock box without pack-ins. Most information is available on-line and contol layout is shown at start-up.

When it's about console titles it's all about discovering favorable games. I don't rely on emulation to just play a game unless it were unattainable. There are too many games to choose from on my shelf to sit infront of a computer monitor without playing a PC game instead.

[Xizer]

Welp, I guess it's kind of disappointing not to have a physical copy, but y'know, if I ever need access to the manual all I have to do is open up the emulation menu, select "manual," and I have a full copy on my screen. There's also a boxart option that's pretty sweet.

[guitargary75]

Well emulating dosen't really matter. I mean if you just collect the cart and no box, whats the difference? I have mabye 2 boxes out of my 300+ games and only about 10-15 manuals. So I don't see how emulating effects missing out on the art & instructions.

I agree. Although, some games I do like to have the box and manual for. I guess it just depends on the game.

[NE146]

Miss? Miss what?

If I'm playing Phantasy Star 2 via emulation and enjoying savestates and speeding up the battles, and then all of a sudden get the urge look at it's box and cart I just go to the closet and pull it out :p

[Ed Oscuro]

No, because I buy the actual games. Emulation saves wear and tear on the originals.

Usually these materials are less of an issue than the emulation itself. When did you ever see an emulator that competently mimics a TV screen?

[Xizer]

No, because I buy the actual games. Emulation saves wear and tear on the originals.

Usually these materials are less of an issue than the emulation itself. When did you ever see an emulator that competently mimics a TV screen?

What does this even mean? Why would you need an emulator that mimics a TV screen?