Should I just emulate?

[DeadPark]

Honestly i think most people are looking at the wrong part of the emulator ethical problem.

i understand that using an emulator is technically stealing. but with retro games, when you buy it off ebay, that's not helping nintendo or sega or whoever any. they already sold the game once, and they never see any more money off it. by buying a retro cart, you're only helping whoever the reseller is. so the ethical dilemma is basically moot.

if it actually bothers you, you should be considering buying on the virtual console, but that's also basically an emulator, you're just paying for it.

Personally, i feel the companies have made their money off the older games already and have moved on, so go ahead and emulate. that doesn't mean i don't still collect the physical copies. but for me, the collection and the playing are two separate hobbies.

[MrPopo]

But it's crazy what gets complained about when it comes to this topic. I have actually seen people complain because their SNES emulator didn't replicate the slowdown in some game when it happened on a real SNES console. REALLY!?!? Since when is slowdown a GOOD thing?

Ever play a Cave game? When Deathsmiles got released in the US they removed some of the slowdown and it so changed the play experience that there are separate high score lists for the US version and other versions that have the proper slowdown.

And how many glitchy NES consoles are out there these days? Hell, from what I remember a lot of them were pretty glitchy back in the 1980s!

Just the connector. The console itself is just fine.

I've found that every instance of emulation always has sound that's just not quite right. It massively bothers me.

[marlowe221]

Ever play a Cave game? When Deathsmiles got released in the US they removed some of the slowdown and it so changed the play experience that there are separate high score lists for the US version and other versions that have the proper slowdown.

Fair enough on the bullet hell shooters. You're absolutely right - sometimes slowdown is intentional and actually helps game play.

But honestly, if every SNES developer from the 1990s whose games suffered from slowdown could have waived a magic wand and eliminated it, don't you think they would have done so?

Just the connector. The console itself is just fine.

I've found that every instance of emulation always has sound that's just not quite right. It massively bothers me.

Regarding the NES, yes it is often a dirty connector or bent pins that are to blame. Fortunately, those things aren't that hard to fix most of the time. That said, most of us had no idea about that stuff in the 1980s and just put up with it.

As far as sound in emulation goes, all I can say is that it has never bothered me to the point of distraction and I am a musician with a decent ear for sound/tone/pitch. Then again, some emulators (on some platforms) are certainly better than others in this regard. I do virtually all of my emulation on the PC so I can have my choice of which to use.

When I have noticed a difference in the sound, I have typically felt it was an improvement. Of course, it could also be because my modern headphones are much better quality than the tinny speakers on my old CRT from the 1990s.

[Jmustang1968]

Really with me it's a battle between playing the game as it was originally designed to be played and putting more wear on consoles that are getting up there in years.

Really I'd like to keep my hours down on my nearly 30 year old NES as much as possible so it stays in the box unless I run into a game which takes issue with the Retron.

One thing I never got was people who are against emulation and spend a fortune modding their original console. To me modifying your hardware above and beyond what it was intended to do is no different then just going ahead and emulating on newer hardware.

Most console modding is just tapping in to what the console or chip has the potential to do, but just wasn't manufactured that way. These were usually cost cutting things for features or outputs that wouldnt have been widely utilized at the time.

Even so, console modding is much different than emulation.

[flash1987]

For me it's never been worth the expense to play original and looks like it never will be. I'm from the UK so my original games are PAL, I now live in Asia and the missus is American so will probably end up there. Emulation removes all problems with regions and translations and gives me access to an insane library, especially when I see someone here mention a game in passing I can have it up and running in minutes. I guess historical accuracy isn't my thing and I just enjoy games

[Xeogred]

But it's crazy what gets complained about when it comes to this topic. I have actually seen people complain because their SNES emulator didn't replicate the slowdown in some game when it happened on a real SNES console. REALLY!?!? Since when is slowdown a GOOD thing?

When you're playing shmups.

I noticed a big difference when I was playing the Gold editions of Thunder Force on the Saturn... they didn't have the lag the Genesis versions did, and wow! It made it a weird experience and much harder.

EDIT: I guess Popo beat me to it on shooters.

Anyways, yeah I think you guys have me sold on the Retron. The black one is pretty nice. Plus, being able to backup saves is very appealing.

How do controllers work in regards to GBA/GB games? Can you assign and use an SNES controller for them or something?

Anyways, I weirdly don't really care to emulate much thesedays and haven't for years, yet at the same time I fully support it and a lot of piracy in general... for simply preserving a lot of history.

[Tanooki]

With the Retron 5 (not to mention future Retrons that have the potential to be even better) there's a chance that I may not touch an actual NES, SNES, Genesis, or Master System ever again.

It's interesting you're one of the ultra retro advocates here, but so pro Retron 5 as well haha. Guess I'd usually expect otherwise in a case like this.

I'm the same way. As it stands I have my perfect SNES DK Super Set system boxed up nice and safe and the rca, stereo, led modded toploader NES stored as well. Yet I recently got a Genesis launch system and use that over the R5 and usually prefer to use Gameboy anything not on it as well but sometimes I will. The R5 handles stuff so well it just doesn't feel fake even if it does just download the ROM off the cart and require it in there to work. I don't really need the original hardware, I prefer it, but if the replacement isn't a foul system on a chip that jacks stuff up like all clones of the past so it feels, looks and sounds normal to me I'm good.

Lately though I've been thinking flash carts are looking more attractive, but I haven't had one in a good while but when you can get one for like a $100 (everdrive stuff) or buy something like Aerofighters for $500 it seems like a no brainer if you don't mind losing the collection aspect of it, AND show self control not to load it up with ROMs and never play stuff more than once and for a few minutes getting all ADHD about it.

[KalessinDB]

But it's crazy what gets complained about when it comes to this topic. I have actually seen people complain because their SNES emulator didn't replicate the slowdown in some game when it happened on a real SNES console. REALLY!?!? Since when is slowdown a GOOD thing?

Since certain games were programmed taking the slowdown into effect and become difficult or impossible to play without that slowdown.

Edit: beaten to the punch x2

[BoneSnapDeez]

How do controllers work in regards to GBA/GB games? Can you assign and use an SNES controller for them or something?

Yes.

In fact, you can use any controller for any game - though theoretically certain controllers won't work properly with a given game if they lack a sufficient amount of buttons to properly play said game (playing a SNES/Gen game with a NES controller, for example).

Any controller that's plugged in is automatically "active."

Button layouts can be remapped. You can save multiple configurations. Say you want to use nothing but an SNES controller (which has a sufficient amount of buttons to play everything). You can create configurations for "SNES controller with Genesis games", "SNES controller with NES games", and so on.

My personal system - I use NES/Gen/SNES controllers with their respective systems. For GB, GBC, and Master System I use an NES controller. For GBA I use an SNES controller (because it has L and R) though I remap the A/B layout for a more comfortable experience.

[Xeogred]

^ Sold.