Emulation vs. Original Hardware

[Retro Doomer]

I am a collector at heart, so it would be original hardware for me. If it weren’t so expensive, I would prefer that. However, if I can get a game for a good price, I normally play it on the original hardware rather than on an emulator. But for some games, like older SNES or Genesis games, emulators are better, primarily because of the feature that allows you to save whenever you want, unlike on the original hardware. Some games would be unplayable for most people if there were no emulation available, as most people are not millionaires, and the retro gaming market is very greedy.

 

[Matricks]

Emulations with Cheats and speedrunning on Anbernic handhelds.
Now I can finally finished any games, where else on OG were impossible and no time to spend on.

 

[MegaDrive1987]

I used to swear by real hardware but it's having the space to set it up properly although I do have my model 1 Mega Drive set up under my TV for nostalgic purposes. It's mostly about cost these days too as I remember being able to pick NES games up for 50p each in the early 2000s from second hand shops but now both hardware and software prices are far too much for me to justify spending money on. It's just easier to have emulators on my gaming PC so it's just one system for everything too and shaders are an absolute godsend for someone like me who craves that CRT look

 

[Ikagura]

...and the retro gaming market is very greedy

How come? What happened so that we'll end up like that?

 

[Retro Doomer]

How Come ? What happened so that we'll end up like that ?
Answer:
People who want to get rich in short scalpers who buy in mass and sell for double or triple the price.They artificially create a shortage by buying in mass to sell it to you very expensive while taking advantage that its not produced and sold by the Developer anymore pretty much don't giving you Option if you want to own it Legally.Price Example here

 

[BunnyLain]

Ahhhh it's a hard one for me.
I like original hardware just because the controllers are something special for each console, but they barely last (n64, GC, PS2 mostly) so you can't even get the authentic experience from them. Plus actually plugging games in, while it's great... a flash card is super nice. If the flash card isn't just hot garbage like the DS and GBA seem to be prone too. So really the best way is to just go with the original hardware...

That said we don't live in a world where emulation is awful any more so you can just emulate and get a damn fine experience most of the time or just use an FPGA console... the real issue with all of this now days is actually the damned TV. We don't have CRT's like we used to, so reliving your childhood is just too expensive. I kinda envy the youth that grew up on the 360, while you never got kids games so to speak, you certainly never had your games cursed with nostalgia!

All said... disk based consoles are great to hack and load iso files onto, thanks Sony for being bad at console security! You're next microsoft...

But yea! Emulation is amazing and made it so many people can experience so many games that they never would have. Part of the charm of how games used to be was having to find them in stores. Not really a thing anymore, thankfully!

 

[Rebecca]

Whatever you can afford and is good enough
As long as you enjoy it, it's good enough.

 

[sadasa]

collecting videogames and other things is not secure anymore:
https://gamerant.com/house-fire-destroys-video-game-collection/

 

[Ikagura]

Collecting videogames and other things is not secure anymore:
https://gamerant.com/house-fire-destroys-video-game-collection/

I'll be honest: if my house caught fire I think video games would be my least of the worries.

Also let's not forget:

• Flooding (ruining the sensible components).
• Burglary.
• Disc Rotting.
• Natural decay from UVs and oxydation.
• Game prices going down.
• Evictions.

 

[BunnyLain]

You might also just get bored of games.
That would be awful.

 

[Denmdm]

I know emulation is a big plus, and I play more on emulators than real hardware. However, if I really want to get immersed in a video game I use real hardware (which nowadays would only be my PS2 and PC). I don't know, but it just catches my soul when I'm playing on a console!

 

[Ikagura]

You might also just get bored of games.
That would be awful.

Which is understandable, real life has some obligations.

 

[bigstinkie]

hm i made a post in another thread that was probably more fitting here
i will summarize myself - my happy medium is softmodding/hardmodding my older video game consoles. no absurd second hand game prices, while playing the games on actual hardware. if you have an old world tv i find this to be the best solution by a country kilometre
essentially the best of both worlds of emulation and using original hardware

 

[Mini_Man.XW]

Original hardware's badass, but I don't have the money or space to invest in them.

 

[Your_Homie_Gale]

I only go for emulation when I have no other option because somebody out there wants to charge like $200 for Persona 2. If anything I tend to mod and install custom firmware to my handhelds and systems to have the "closest" experience to that of original hardware. Like installing Nintendont on my Wii to play F-Zero GX, hacking my PS Vita to play all the persona games 1-4, and the same goes for my 3DS to play Devil Summoner Soul Hackers. I tend to use my PC for bigger games like the PS2 library but always keep it 4:3 ratio and use some CRT shaders.

 

[SkaaTerminator]

Emulation all day every day, I got into so many series with emulation. While there are certain games that you can't emulate due to gimmicks, it doesn't matter because Im not going to buy a game like Kuon which costs iirc 700-800 dollars for a ps2 copy.

Edit: Kuon costs 1048.72 CIB, No thank you.

Kuon Prices Playstation 2 | Compare Loose, CIB & New Prices

www.pricecharting.com

 

[oliver69796]

In my opinion the best option is an emulator since your machine is usually more powerful than the original hardware, but in the case of stranger consoles like the Wii or 3Ds that use movement and touch screens , original hardware would be better !

 

[MetalSharkPlayer]

OG hardware, always.

People forget that emulation has got more input lag (even if you mitigate it a little with emulation settings like run ahead)
And using CRT filters is horrible; those look nothing like a real CRT. I don't know what people smoke to use those filters. I compared them with my Philips TV via component, and they look like shit, every one of them. I tried all the CRT filters you can imagine. Even on my Grundig TV via composite, it looks miles better than any CRT filter out there. There is just no comparison.

Some days ago I tried a PS2HDMI on my ASUS monitor, and it looks better than PCSX2 at native resolution. PCSX2 at native resolution looks awful—too blurry. Also, input lag on PCSX2 is like 2 or 3 frames more compared to a real PS2. I tried jumping on the same game, pressing the button at the same time, and the delay was like 0.5 seconds more on the emulator—crazy.

In short, console for console games, PC for PC games.