Emulation Thread

Just out of curiosity mostly: But what are everyone's thoughts on Emulators? Suppose I'll make a questionnaire type thingy:


1. Do you emulate any games?

2. If yes, what programs/devices do you use?

If yes again, do you notice any noticeable issues when you're emulating vs. playing the real deal?

3. What are your general thoughts on Emulation? Is it wrong? Is there an alternative?

4. What consoles/games do you wish you could emulate?


Suppose I'll start with that, but I personally think emulation is worth talking about. Most forms of media there's always been one dominant method of storage so digging up old stuff isn't so hard but multiple consoles make experiencing old games more and more difficult. Not to mention newer TVs simply not supporting old inputs.

1. Do you emulate any games?
I used to emulate a lot. Not so much anymore, but I plan on going back to a few games once I have time

2. If yes, what programs/devices do you use?
Mostly snes9x for Super Nintendo and Project 64 for Nintendo 64. I've dabbled in emulating some other systems but the emulators are never as good and they don't have many games I want to try

If yes again, do you notice any noticeable issues when you're emulating vs. playing the real deal?
A few games have issues but I generally have little trouble. Some N64 actually games run better when emulating. You can actually get a tolerable framerate in Perfect Dark multiplayer

3. What are your general thoughts on Emulation? Is it wrong? Is there an alternative?
If you own the game or it's out of print I see nothing wrong with it. Re-releases for new systems are a good alternative but I'd rather not buy the same game twice unless there are extras. The only thing about emulating is that working out the controls can be annoying.

4. What consoles/games do you wish you could emulate?
Anything disc-based. Those systems always seem like a big hassle to emulate. And the Super Nintendo on 3DS. Damn you, Nintendo

1. Do you emulate any games?
I have done occassionally, mostly because I wanted to play Mother 3 and a few Nintendo64 games.

2. If yes, what programs/devices do you use?
N64 Project. Can't remember what it was for the GBA one.

If yes again, do you notice any noticeable issues when you're emulating vs. playing the real deal?
Yes, it just doesn't feel right. It's not an issue to deal with it functioning correctly or anything, I just can never stick to playing any games I emulated.

3. What are your general thoughts on Emulation? Is it wrong? Is there an alternative?
Not wrong at all, even if you never owned the game. If anything I feel it should be encouraged. The only way companies keep old games available is via arguably overpriced digital downloading and even then they miss out on a ton of games that use to be on the system. I think building up the emulation library, both in terms of systems and games, will be good just to keep as many games available for as long as possible.

4. What consoles/games do you wish you could emulate?
Silent Hill 2. I played the emulated version when I went to my mates and the 3 of us just marathon'd the entire game in one evening analysing everything and my god did it look amazing. Also I want to emulate Shadow of the Colossus, the HD version may have fixed the framerate but the texture popping is absolutely disgusting.