RetroN5: Hands on first look

[treismac]

So too I think there might just be a correlation to the schools of thought that are behind those who state that something is lost when you emulate vs those who feel like there is only gains.

I think the Myers & Briggs' Thinker/Feeler dichotomy works well with emulation/hardware line of thinking (or feeling) and is going in a very similar direction to where you were heading, Satoshi.

http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-p...or-feeling.asp

Mind you, the categories aren't absolutes- they're more like degrees or a spectrum, so it is more of a matter of how much of a thinker or feeler are you rather than someone being 100% a thinker or feeler.

The cold, hard math (thinker) of the matter points to the superfluous of physical media. Once I start playing a game, does it really matter if I popped in a cartridge or selected a rom? However, humans are not 100% rational or objective observers or partakers of experiences. We are no where close. I believe that wine tasting has a great deal in common with retro gaming with it's rituals, labels, accoutrements, levels of expertise, etc., which all effect one's perception of the experience of wine tasting. If someone thinks a bottle of wine costs $750, they are going to experience the exact SAME wine radically differently than if they think it's a $5 bottle of cheap piss. Repeated tests have born this truth out. Perception is key. Likewise, I think the intangible nature and free cost of roms contributes to the perception of their undesirability to many retro gaming purists. Just as a wine purist truly does enjoy the $24 glass of wine more than the $4 one (regardless of if they are the SAME wine), the purist, also, enjoys the cartridge game more. I think our subjectivity is thrown way further out of wack than wine snobs because we have nostalgia thrown into the equation, as well, which affects our perception even greater.

Here is an article (there are many on the interwebs) about wine and perception:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/katiebel...pensive-wines/

Interesting, so a virtual console game via the online store and emulated on the Wii is fine but modding a wii for emulation and playing that exact same game is different?

Not to be a bastard by jumping on the "that's inconsistent bandwagon," but yeah... Apart from clicking a video game's channel/square/whatever on the Wii home screen rather than scrolling through a list of game names on a Wiibrew emulator, how is there any difference? I actually prefer Wiibrew as it affords me more options with most emulators than is available with the official Wii emulation: multiple save states, filters, remapping buttons, etc.

Retron5 exists for the exact same reasons why vinyl records are making a comeback. Sure they're big and fugly, but there's something about watching a 12" LP spin around and around on a turntable, just like there's something about the whole "insert cartridge into system and play" vibe.

I agree. All of the superfluous ruffles and lace heighten the perception of the experience but don't change the actual experience. Regardless, we're tactile, sensory creatures (for now. Hurry up, Singularity :P ), so if watching a record spin makes Johnny Be Good sound better than when you listen to it on your mp3 player, relish it, but don't look too far down your nose at those who don't share your enthusiasm for the "authentic" experience, okay?