Emulation has died for me

[Ed Oscuro]

...along with my old hard drive.

I used to have more space dedicated to ROM images for MAME than your average current day DVD-ROM PC game requires for installation. I don't think I played most of them. I had a ton of screenshots but had no real use for them.

I can't say I ever really felt that emulation was something I absolutely relied on, but it was nice to have for a while. Now, though, I only see it being useful for perhaps some fan translated games that I couldn't understand otherwise.

Emulation - you were good to me but now I've moved on.

...anybody else here had a similar decreased interest in emulation?

P.S. Yes, there's the emulation forum, and this doesn't belong there ;)

[Anthony1]

I've tried my hand at emulation. At one point, I thought that I might convert totally over to the Emulation side of the coin. Even to the point of getting rid of all my physical systems and games, and just going 100 percent emulation.


But there is just one major problem for me.


RGB


I love to play my games in "TRUE" rgb whenever it's possible. TG-16, Genesis, SNES, Sega CD, Jaguar, 32X, Saturn, PSX and N64. I play all those systems in RGB, and computers can't simulate "TRUE" rgb output.

RGB is pure.

Emulation isn't.

So while emulation is cool to check out games that are too expensive, and to determine whether or not you really want to pay a bunch of money for game, it's no substitute for the Real McCoy.

And then of course there is the controller issue. Although if you really bust your ass, you can get just about any "REAL" controller for a system modified to work with a PC.

[Daniel Thomas]

I can totally see how the diechard DP crowd wouldn't be as keen to emulation, since, after all, you can just go and plug in the real thing in your rooms 'o doom. For someone like me, however, who loves games but missed out on a lot, emulation is a Godsend.

Also, I don't even have a television, and not much space. Emulators are a practical alternative for someone like me. Again, not for everyone, and the real deal is always better (oh, how I wish the Gens emulator would play full-screen without pixelating).

I'd just think of it as another option.

[Ed Oscuro]

Anthony going off on a videophile tangent as usual :) I have a couple damn good monitors and there's no difference between those and the real thing. Maybe I'm missing something here...

Daniel, I can't even play many (if not most) of my games, if that makes you feel any better :) Right now I don't feel like the hassle of emulation is worth it.

I don't mind keyboards much, but it feels completely wrong to be playing a Capcom beat-em-up-mech game or a Neo Geo fighter on a keyboard (and this is coming from a kid who can probably count on one hand the hours he spent in arcades when younger). I don't like fullsize joysticks, but d-pads are the best thing ever.

Savestates are a convenience (and pretty much the only option most people, including me, can beat certain games) for time but it's quite easy to destroy the feel of a game using them.

As far as Gens pixellating in fullscreen mode..? I don't like the look of video card blurred images at all :P

[DigitalSpace]

I had NES and SNES emulators about a year ago. I wasn't into collecting back then. I mostly played hacks of SMB1 and SMB3 on the NES one. I never played the SNES emulator much for some reason, and stuck to my SNES for the most part, even though my SNES emulator had about 30 roms of games I didn't own at the time. My brother spent a lot of time playing FF3, Tetris/Dr. Mario and Biker Mice From Mars on it, though.

Around last summer, my computer crashed, and I had to reboot it and lost the emulators. I never bothered to download them again, I had started buying SNES games for the first time in a few years, so I had gone that route.

A few months ago, a friend asked me why I preferred to spend money on SNES stuff when I could just download an emulator and play whatever I wanted for free. I told him that I felt it was ten times better to play the real thing.

Emulation was a passing trend for me. Other than those SMB hacks, there wasn't much going for it for me. It's probably that I prefer playing the games the way they are meant to be played. I now own most of the 30 games I had on my SNES emulator (the ones I don't own are either sports titles I have no interest in, or RPG's that I haven't found a copy of where the asking price isn't too expensive).

[Azazel]

For me it depends on what kind of game it is. My interest in emulation kind of has it ups and downs for me

Fighting games are almost impossible to play through emulation so I only play those on the real systems. Unless the game desn't have a lot of special moves and most of them aren't quarter circle, half circles, SPD etc.

For action, shooters, beat em up etc. I generally like to play those on the real system. The only exception is if it's a game I know I'll never be able to beat, or I don't want to or don't have the time to get good enough at the game to beat it. The control issue is another big reason why I prefer to play these on a real system with a real control pad. I die so much more often when I play the same game through emulation versus playing it on a system.

As for RPGs I almost always play those through emulation. The fact that you have a lot of fan translation lot there gives you a lot more games to chose from to play. Also for games that have a lot of leveling up frame skipping can be a godsend. I can play through a game through emulation 50% to 75% than I could ever play through it if I played it on a system. Also save states are nice for games that don't let you save anywhere other than in a town or something. Especially helpful for games with big dungeons.

Ed I kind of went through something samilair over the past 2 month like you did so I know where your coming from. I can't play a fair amount of my own stuff although it's proably not as bad as it is for you. I have alot of non gaming stuff related that I can't use anymore. My computer works even worse now than it did a few months back. I basically play everything that isn't RPGs on a system now.

I did think about just selling my 500 games or so and just play everything through emulation but with all my computer problems I have now I'm probably not going to do that anytime soon.

[Sylentwulf]

I don't have any console emulators I don't think. But I do have a full mame set, and I'm starting to build my mame cabinet in may (already have parts coming in) and that may change things very quickly.

Once mame is all set up and going on it, it's only a matter of time before console games are put on there too

[Berserker]

For me theres just no comparison. The feel of the actual game controller in your hand, again, theres just no comparison. Of course for things such as MAME and stuff like that, until I get around to building that Supergun I probably will have a use for emulation yet.

[calthaer]

If you don't even have a decent PC controller then I can understand why you'd hate emulation. There are great joysticks you can buy (even arcade-style ones) that plug in. I personally love the MS Sidewinder (the original one), and Kreed's SuperEagle mode blows away the original SNES, IMO - RGB or not.

And in terms of losing all those ROMs and whatnot - that's what a CD burner is for...

VGA > RGB

[leonk]

RGB

I love to play my games in "TRUE" rgb whenever it's possible. TG-16, Genesis, SNES, Sega CD, Jaguar, 32X, Saturn, PSX and N64. I play all those systems in RGB, and computers can't simulate "TRUE" rgb output.

RGB is pure.

Emulation isn't.

Anthony1,

you missed the point. He was talking about arcade emulation.. i.e. MAME. All the other systems you have listed can fit on a single CD.

As far as RGB goes, you are no further from the truth.

I run MAME on a real arcade machine. It's a real arcade monitor (not a TV, not a PC screen) with real arcade joysticks and real arcade buttons. I'm using the ArcadeVGA card (the only one of its kind). It outputs true RGB arcade video in the original arcade resolution, arcade color, and arcade refresh rate.

You will never EVER be able to tell it's not the real thing. In fact, it looks more realistic than the real arcade PCB running on a supergun! (since the supergun converts RGB -> NTSC!)

Yes, I hate playing MAME on my PC.. cuz it looks real bad, and the keyboard feels funny. With a lot of time (and $$$) you can make it look and feel like the real thing. Visit www.arcadecontrols.com for more info.

[Flack]

...anybody else here had a similar decreased interest in emulation?

Nope.

The reasons I enjoy emulators and emulation haven't changed, and I still enjoy them as much as I used to. I've posted most of this before, but since we're rehashing an old topic, I'll rehash my old points.

Portability

I travel quite a bit for my job. When I travel, I get bored, and when I get bored, I like to play games. I can easily put every SNES ROM on my laptop and play them while I'm flying over America or sitting in my hotel room. I also have emulators on my GP32. When my wife had surgery last year, I played Atari 2600 games on my GP32. Occasionally when we have downtime, I play MAME at my desk at work. Now I am sure there are some of you who would prefer to hook up a real SNES on an airplane, a real Atari 2600 in a doctor's office waiting room, and install an arcade cabinet in your cubicle at work, but for me, I'd prefer emulation in those instances.

Features

Save States, Downloading Saved Games, LAN Play, ROM Hacks ... Emulators do a lot of things that you can't do on a standard console.

Practicality

There are many games I would like to try for systems that I will never own. I am not willing to pay hundreds of dollars for rare carts, but I don't mind downloading them and checking them out. I have never personally seen a Chase the Chuckwagon ROM, but I've tried the game out on my PC.

--

Playing games on my laptop gives me more flexibility than a console ever could. Those who complain about monitors not looking like televisions should invest in a $40 video card with TV out. Likewise, I didn't realize anyone still played games using their keyboard. I picked up a PS2 knock-off USB controller for about $10 at the mall. You can pick up an adapter to use a real PSX controller for about the same price. As far as complication goes, yes, some emulators are complicated, but most of the ones for older systems are as easy as it comes.

I'll say the same thing I said before. If you had a Shinobi cabinet in the same room with a PC running MAME and the Shinobi ROM, I think everyone would pick the Shinobi cabinet. However, if I have to choose between NOTHING and a PC running MAME and the Shinobi ROM, I'll pick the emulator every time. Emulation is not and never was intended as a replacement for console gaming, no more than MP3's were not intended to replace CD's and eBooks were not intended to replace their paper based counterparts. What these things all offer is CONVENIENCE.

[QBert]

I don't have any console emulators I don't think. But I do have a full mame set, and I'm starting to build my mame cabinet in may (already have parts coming in) and that may change things very quickly.

Once mame is all set up and going on it, it's only a matter of time before console games are put on there too

This is me pretty much. I made my mame cab, and I love it. Then got my console emulators too but I dont play them near as much. Still cool for the games you dont have, but you do lose that original feeling. As long as Im playing a emulated version of an arcade game, on a cabinet(that I made) I happy.

just my .02

[Sanada78]

I have agree totally with Flack on this one.

Although I still love to have the original thing, it just isn't always possible sometimes. For instance, I'd love to have a 32X along with some of the rare games, but they're are usually hard to find (although eBay usually has them, but sometimes they go for stupid prices most of the time). I only remember ever seen one 32X in my life, and that was in Toys 'R' Us about 9 years ago in a glass cabinet when I was about 8 - 9. As for the games, I don't remember even seeing any, probably because I wasn't interested at the time.

Emulation allows me to plays the games I can't get or have, and for me, that's better than not getting to play the game at all.

[Nature Boy]

I have grown tired of emulation a bit - but only console emulation. As has been pointed out already, I've got the systems in a room already setup. It's just not as much fun playing it on a computer.

I haven't grown tired of MAME though. I'll never have a room full of arcade cabinets. And I do love the portability I have with my laptop. Yeah I won't play most of the roms I have, but it's just hard drive space. As long as I can fit Civ 2&3 on there (and maybe a SimCity) I don't even notice it.

I'm keeing all my console stuff on CD though. There will come a time I'll want to try before I buy, and it's comforting to know I'll be able to do so.

[chadtower]

I don't have any console emulators I don't think. But I do have a full mame set, and I'm starting to build my mame cabinet in may (already have parts coming in) and that may change things very quickly.

Once mame is all set up and going on it, it's only a matter of time before console games are put on there too

Same here... I mean, what else am I going to do with that 50" RGB monitor?