How many of you play emulated games

[Strider]

Without owning the originals?

Seeing there's so much interest in this topic at the moment, how many of you play games using Mame, XSNESX, Frodo, and all the other various emulators that are currently available without actually owning the original games?

Do you feel guilty about doing this, do you think the developers who made the games in the first place are suffering because of it and will you continue doing it?

[marcus]

Although I have many ROMs I could use with various emulators, the reason I dont play them isnt because I feel guilty. In fact, I think its quite the opposite, by playing them Id be keeping the games alive and was I a developer of a game Id take comfort knowing that someone, somewhere is getting enjoyment from my game many years after its release. I dont play them as emulation to me is soulless, I dont get the same kick playing a retro game now on my xbox or whatever as I did back then when I got it originally. Its just not there for me anymore, Id rather leave these classics in the back of my mind where I can still appreciate their greatness without the forced disappointment of playing them now and coming to the realisation that in todays terms they just cannot compete.

[Owain]

aye, if someone says game 'x' is a snes classic- I might get the rom have a quick go.
Heck i'd never played shump till I got a snes rom of Gradius 3, now im gonna get the newer one for PS2, the Developer certainly isn't losing out.

[NoMore29]

Mostly the same as Marcus i guess. I got loads of roms on my hd, but to be honest i never play them.
The only roms i do use are the NES and the Master-system/gamegear ones on my GBA.

[anephric]

It's hard to imagine anyone's suffering because I play a ROM of a necrotic Snes game... no-one makes any money if I pay a (potentially) inflated price for a cart other than a dealer...

[MartyG]

Very much depends on the emulation in question - the latest arcade ROMs MAME is starting to emulate is borderline, older 8/16 bit classics I don't really see that much of an issue with these games are rarely available to buy new anymore so the money isn't going to the devcos anyway.

Many devcos of that era have released their games into the public domain. One early company to do so was Vortex and their release of such classics as Android, TLL and Highway Patrol.

[anephric]

One might argue (given the obsolescent status of the arcade industry) that to emulate said recent arcade roms would be the only way people could get to play those games, outside of purchasing a cab... pcbs etc.

[MartyG]

Possibly - but many of the console conversions of said games are as close to arcade as you could get.

[anephric]

Yeah, it depends on the game.

I agree. What if there's no console conversion, tho?

[endo]

I've got loads of roms, including a full MAME set, and all the newest NeoGeo roms. Do I feel guilty? Nope.

Like some other people have said, emulation has got me into other games I would never have been exposed to otherwise. I got into Cave shooters through getting addicted to DoDonPachi on MAME. That's prompted me to get buy up as many Cave originals as I can.
Same with King of Fighters stuff. I got the rom for KoF2003 ages ago, but I bought it as soon as it came out for the PS2.

Just because I have all those roms doesn't mean any developers are missing out. The good games get me into those genres and developers, which I might have never otherwise discovered, and the ****e gets ignored and also helps me avoid paying for crap I end up not playing.

[yashiro]

I have played many games that I never owned. All of them for no more than an hour at most. Enough time to find out I was right not to buy them.

[Baseley09]

Sure thousands since 1999, interesting to "see" what games are out there.

It's fake bull****, like CDRs too.........takes a lot away from a game having not purchased the item with money for me, but my nerdy needs must be fullfilled somehow.

[Kubrick]

Console emulation is ****, so I just do arcade stuff. Usually obsolete 80's efforts that I'll never find in working condition again. I'm a "prefer to have the original" type, so I'm happy to pay a reasonable price for the game if it's legally available for a console I own.
Thanks to things like Namco Museum, Capcom Generations, R-TYPES, Midway Treasures etc, a lot of them indeed now are, so I'm finding fewer and fewer reasons to bother with MAME tbh.

However, untill owning Metal Slug 1&2 become a reasonably-priced reality, I'll continue to use it just for those. (I would gladly pay $60 for a PS2 conversion of each game though, just like I did with 3 & 4)

[lordcookie]

The only rom I have is for Super Mario Kart but I own two copies of the proper game anyway. I dont see any real problem with roms for older games, the developer isn't going to be seeing any of the money if you bought the game in a second hand shop anyway. The reason I dont have any (barring the 1) is because I just prefer having the cart/cd etc, Im the same with music, films etc.

[anephric]

(I would gladly pay $60 for a PS2 conversion of each game though, just like I did with 3 & 4)

*Cough*

They'd have to be budget titles for me to shell out (again) for Xbox or PS2, considering converting them would take... ooooohh... five seconds.