Where, how and what do you emulate?

[Cmtz]

I like to emulate different old school games, but not just anywhere. I can't sit in front of my computer and play them with the keyboard that is just plain frustrating. For some reason I don't like to play emulated games on the TV via Dreamcast or Xbox. I don't like playing them on my PSP, DS, GBA or Gpark. I like to play emulated games in front of my laptop with a Logitech controller in the dinning room while doing some work. If my MAME cabinet was up and running(haven't finished it yet) I think I would love to play them there. I can't emulate everything thougth. I hate to emulate N64 I would perfer to play it on the actual system. I can't stand to see anything SEGA emulated. They just don't feel the same. Games I can emulate are SNES, NES and Playstation. What about you guys?

[roushimsx]

Stuff I like to emulate:

Playstation via SSSPSX and pSX Emulator on my PC. If a game isn't yet playable with pSX Emulator (which is just a wonderfully streamlined emulator that aims to recreate a more accurate experience) then I fire it up in SSSPSX with PEOpS GPU for some software rendered love. Sure, I have my PS2 sitting right here that I can, and occasionaly do use (for video capturing, especially when trying to show differences between how a game looks/behaves when emulated vs on a real console), but abusing save states really does make some games a hell of a lot more fun (such as the Syphon Filter trilogy).

Gameboy Advance via VisualBoyAdvance on my PC (and sometimes via BoycottAdvance on my Powerbook, when I'm on the road). The GBA is a nice little system, but I just don't like having to put up with the tiny little screen. I try to play games more on my GBA SP or DS, but inevitably I find a reason to just play the same game in VBA instead. Most recently I decided to play Rebelstar Tactical Command in VBA so that I could speed the game up during the "dead time". Loading screens are 4x faster, movement phases are a lot quicker, and the alien turns that I never get to see anyway are over in the blink of an eye. Hell, I can even record videos without needing to buy an addon for my Gamecube (which would require me to use that shittastic GC controller, which works great for 3d games but is piss poor for GBA games).

Genesis/SegaCD/32x via Kega Fusion on my PC. Mainly because I don't have room to have all of the stuff hooked up, but also because I can't find all of my cables. If I need to record some gameplay videos of something, then I'll use a modified build of Gens (until Kega adds support, of course).

NES via VirtuaNES on my PC. While NEStopia is technically better and other emulators (like UberNES) offer some really neat crazy as fuck features, VirtuaNES has the best balance of accuracy and features. Custom pallete support is great and I love the video recording capabilities of it. My entire NES collection is sitting in my parents' basement over a thousand miles away, so this is really the only way I can play my NES games right now.

SNES via ZSNES and SNES9x Improvement on my PC and SNES9x on my Powerbook. I like ZSNES' graphic filters, but SNES9x supports AVI output, and when you want to record things like the opera scene and ending in Final Fantasy VI for everyone to watch, AVI output is kind of important Mainly I use them to play translated SNES games (such as SMT1 and 2) or games that were just never released in the US (Terranigma). Occasionaly I'll hook up the Super Wildcard DX2 and play the games on the real hardware just for shits n grins

DOS via DOSbox (only on my PC, because performance on a Powerbook is laughable at best). You just can't deny the awesomeness of early-mid 90s DOS games, and DOSbox helps me relieve them all. Wing Commander, X-Com, Space Hulk, Under a Killing Moon, etc...good times.

Arcade games via MAME (PC and Powerbook). A brother needs to get his shmup love, and while the offerings for the PS2 are quite nice (especially for Cave fans!), there's still a lot of stuff that's isn't available. Some games, like Gigawing and Mars Matrix I have on Dreamcast but still prefer to play in MAME since I can play them on the road that way (no really, fuck the Treamcast).

[Cmtz]

I'ved always used JNES it's simple, great and supports almost all the games I play. ZSNES for the SNES. I just can't find any flaws in it.

[Wolfrider31]

I emulate pretty much everything, with the exception of current consoles. It's generally a space issue. I like just being able to carry my computer and have access to my entire library.

Nothing beats having an actual copy though.

[Push Upstairs]

I use a version of Gens on my PC. The bulk of my emulation is either playing betas, insanely expensive Japanese games*, or taking screenshots to use on custome covers.


*As much as i love owning the actual game, i'm not going to drop close to $100 to some guy on Ebay. To buy from the publisher/designer is one thing, to buy from "Gamer_d00d_69" is something else.

[Flack]

On my downstairs Xbox, I emulate NES, SNES, Genesis, and MAME pretty regularly. Most of the games I emulate I own on cartridge, but all that stuff's upstairs so it's more of a lazyness factor than anything.

On my GP32, I emulate NES and C64. Either of those could keep me entertained for weeks.

On my GBA, I emulate the NES also. I have a big chunk-o-roms on my flash cart that I can pull up in case I'm bored.

On my PC, the only thing I regularly emulate is the C64. Again, I've got a real '64 hooked up and prefer it to emulation, but it's kind of hard to bring my C64 to work on a daily basis, so emulation fills that need.

On my laptop I have emulators for most major systems installed for the purpose of doing screen shots to go along with reviews.

Oh, and for arcade stuff I either play MAME on one of my Xboxes, my laptop, or my MAME cabinet.

[GarrettCRW]

I primarily emulate MAME, while RockNES and SNES9X are used by me for research (read: finding games to buy). The same will likely happen for other systems when I start seriously collecting them, as well. Now if NBA Jam would just work at full speed on my machine....

[Julio III]

Currently I do Game Boy and NES through the GBA part of my DS and also Neo Geo CD on the Dreamcast.

Have used loads of things in the past, primarily ZSnes, a load of GB emulators (used for pokemon and thats it), a bit of Mame but not much.

There was a good time when we plugged 4 PS2 controllers into a laptop via a USB multitap that wouldn't work on the PS2 to emulate N64 because we only had 3 N64 controllers for the real thing. It felt such a wierd way to do things.

[anagrama]

In about the past 5 years, the only times I've used emulators has been a) using Gens to double-check the appropriate Style/Genre categories in the DP database for the handful of MegaDrive games I was unsure about, and b) using Meka to play the unreleased Dinobasher (SMS) after Bock dumped & released the ROM last year.

[InsaneDavid]

For MAME I use my main PC, just because it's the fastest system I have. I don't play around with MAME as much as I once did and I only retain the games I play semi-frequently on my harddisk. (the full sets are archived to CD media) I use a PlayStation family to USB2 conveter with a PS1 DualShock controller for all emulation on my PC. (sometimes I swap it out for a stick) I also run emulators as needed to take screenshots for reviews and the like. (as some have said) From time to time I'll play through a Gameboy Advance game via emulation or translation patched console games on my PC. Again, because that's the best platform (next to burning to a cartridge) to do so.

Concerning the emulators I use for emulation on the PC - NEStopia for NES, Gens (original flavor) for Genesis, ZSnes for Snes, Visual Boy Advance for all Gameboy games, MagicEngine (just pay for it, I use an older version but it is my licensed version, no openGL support means I have to run v0.9.5) for TurboGrafx-16 / PCEngine / TurboDuo / SuperGrafx games - beautiful emulator.

However when I don't need to take screenshots or anything like that, I use my Dreamcast. Don't get me wrong, I love my cartridges but some longer games I like playing via emulation with savestates, even battery backed up games - then I can just resume exactly where I left off last. It's also nice to have VMU's full of saves right at the final boss battle or end of tons of games. So I can play a mock final boss rush mode of like all three Ninja Gaiden games, River City Ransom, and LifeForce together. Also my MAME cocktail (with a model railroad atop it currently) is in front of my shelf o' NES archive so getting to the games currently is sometimes a hassle. Still, when I write reviews I play the original version on the original hardware - then go do the techical stuff via emulation. It will eventually also be my main outlet for playing NeoGeo MVS games once the AES port of Neo4ALL (Neo4ALL/AES) progresses a little further and we have a better information database built.

Concerning the emulators I use for emulation on the Dreamcast - NESterDC v7.1 (I don't like the proprietary compiler or all the missing scans and information of the SE flavor) for NES / Famicom and Famicom Disk System, DCGNUboy (a little buggy with semi-frequent audio glitches, but it can be overcome with a savestate and reload when it comes up) for Gameboy and Gameboy Color, and SMSPlus v0.2DDD (amazing emulator) for Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear. A new port of HuCAST is supposed to be on the way soon, then the Dreamcast will pick up the bulk of the TurboGrafx-16 / PCEngine emulation.

It may not count as emulation but I use ScummVM to run my old LucasArts adventure games (namely Loom and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis). Runs on pretty much every computer I have. It has been ported to the Dreamcast but they keep porting the stupid autosave version - so like every 5 minutes your VMU will chime in and a prompt will come up on screen saying your progress was autosaved - which kills gameplay flow and destroys the cutscenes in the 265 color version of Loom.

I have a MAME cocktail cabinet I've been working on for awhile. Honestly it's just the cabinet itself, I was going to lose the space needed for early construction so I got that all taken care of last year and it's just been sitting in here since. Nice conversation piece "yeah, this is going to be an arcade table eventually" but not much else. I have decided on the hardware (although that may get boosted but I really want to use that PII 350 MMX I've had for awhile since it's the most stable motherboard and chipset I've ever had) and the install of MAME. I've also built the romset, front end, and the like how I want it and archived that all away for the day when it's done. The audio system has been installed and I've worked out the placement and layout for everything, but the money to jump in and complete it just hasn't been there. As I said above, it's basically being used as a normal table right now with my current model railroad sitting above it. (proving you can have a full service twin loop layout with a yard all within the confines of a standard N-Trak module - 2'x4' - very few of you probably know what I'm talking about , just ignore me) When it is finally done I'll do all my cocktail and a good deal of my vertical shooter emulation on it.

[Cambot]

I have a few ROMs on my PC. Nothing much, really. Mostly, it's just fun to play Super Tetris or see what all the fuss is about when it comes to those rare, classic games you always hear about. I have a Microsoft plug-n-play game pad which has all the same buttons as the SNES pad. So it works well ro NES, Sega Genesis and Master System, too.

[zektor]

As most probably already know, I have been into emulation for years...but I don't play emulated games all that much honestly. Maybe some Mame on occasion, or perhaps checking out the novelty of emulating older game systems on new game systems.

I am of a different breed that actually uses emulation as a tool. I use ZSNES for example, to see how a certian game is before bidding on the actual cartridge on ebay. For me, no matter how close the emulation is (and some are darn perfect), there will never be a way of emulating the actual thing. There's a whole lot going on with the experience that involves more than just playing the game.

[diskoboy]

I use MAME of course, FCEU (NES), Stella (VCS), Bliss (INTV), Daphne (Laserdisc), and Chankast (a damn good Dreamcast emulator)

And I'm one of those rare people who actually use MAME to diagnose my Pac-Man machine when it acts up. Of course, I play other games, but I do use it for comparisons.

[Pantechnicon]

Well, I've got my MAME cab, which I've had for 5 years now. It's my baby. Once I got it running I pretty much gave up arcade emu everywhere else i.e. - sitting at a desk. I've got a bunch of console emus on it, too, but hardly ever use them in lieu of the real deals sitting not but six feet away.

All my console emu is pretty much done on my laptop: Atari 2600/5200/7800/Lynx, NES/SNES/GBC, SMS/GG/Genesis. I keep a Gravis 10-button gamepad in the laptop case which sucks for 2600 due to the hand orientation but works fine for everything else. It really simplifies things when one is travelling and wants to to keep the game lovin close by.

Another perc to using my laptop for emu is that it gives me a chance to "try before I buy" carts at the Wi-fi enabled game shop/cafe I hang out at every week. If there's some interesting looking loose Genny cart for sale, as an example, I just pull down the ROM and try it out. If the game looks fun then I buy it. Otherwise I just delete the ROM. How's that for legitmate ROM use?

I'd really like to get more into emulating different consoles on my Dreamcast, but the only emu disc I've successfully managed to make was an Atari 2600 one which works great. But it must have been blind stupid luck that I got this to work because every subsequent emu disc I've made for DC has been a coaster

[Damaramu]

MAME/Kawaks- PC and Laptop: Too many great arcade games I enjoyed as a child. Plus these allow me to play those expensive NeoGeo games.

ZSnes- PC: I fool around with this one from time to time. I've got a hefty SNES collection (a real one that is) but some games are just hard to come by. Love SFC games too!

Sega CD: Ok, I've actually downloaded a ton of SCD roms and burned them to playable discs on my X'Eye. Cheap Bastard syndrome at work there.

[GaijinPunch]

I finally got off my ass and got my emulation computer working, using an Ultimarc Arcade Video Card, and an RGB monitor. For the games that have perferct, or near perfect emulation, the difference between them and the real thing is completely undiscernable with the original 15khz output. It's amazing, and I'm glad I spent the time and money on the setup. I highly recommend everyone to look into this option. Looks way better than any results you can get from filtering on a high res monitor.

[Slate]

Most of the time, I use my PSP to emulate.

On my PSP i have a:

SNES Emulator (I use this one most of the time)

NES Emulator

Genesis Emulator

Game Boy/Game Boy Color Emulator

SMS/Game Gear Emulator

I have rarely used any emulated game on my PSP other than Super Punch Out. It's the only emulated game i have used on it for weeks, or months.

I also have some emulators on my PC, but i rarely use it to emulate.

[incubus421]

I haven't used emulation in months now. That's an all-time high for me. Used to emulate a lot, only for a ouple systems though. Still have all my emulation stuff though. All of it is on my Dell PC as I don't own a PSP.
The emulators I use are:

NES = NEStopia
SNES = SNES9X (used to use ZSNES)
GB/C/A = Visual Boy Advanced

Also, while we're on the emulaion/ripping topic. Anyone ever heard of or use the program MUGEN? I would say this program is a Fighting game lovers dream come true....besides the newest KoF game.

[InsaneDavid]

I'd really like to get more into emulating different consoles on my Dreamcast, but the only emu disc I've successfully managed to make was an Atari 2600 one which works great. But it must have been blind stupid luck that I got this to work because every subsequent emu disc I've made for DC has been a coaster

The Atari one (DCStella) is actually harder to make than some of the others. I've PM'ed you some help.

[Bloodreign]

MAME - for my arcade needs, mainly for games that I've grown to like.

NES (variable emus, FCEUXD, and Virtua NES)- everything possibly ever dumped from Famicom to NES, helps me in my Ebay purchases when it comes to buying NES games.

Genesis (Fusion35)- again mainly used to determine my purchases on games I may have never played or heard of.

VisualboyAdvance (GBA,GB/GBC) - this has helped me on a few occasions for purchase decisions, Gradius Galaxies and Super Ghouls N Ghosts GBA are just a couple purchases I made thanks to this emulator.

WinUAE- the only way to fly for Amiga play.

Basically while I do have fun playing games on emulators, in the end it helps influence exactly what I put my money on.