How many of you play emulated games

[MikeRox]

companies like Sega could archive all their old games as roms online and sell them like itunes does music 99p/a couple of quid a download or sommet with scans of the manuals and stuff

[Kubrick]

They'd have to be budget titles for me to shell out (again)

Does that mean you've got the originals then?

I know what you mean, but I like the games that much that I'd be happy to pay ?30 a pop for them.

[Lyris]

Roms just don't work for me afraid, same as pirate games. I have this psychological thing where if I haven't paid for it and don't have the full package, I enjoy it less... it sort of feels to me like arriving late to a movie and leaving early because I have to catch the last bus. I need the real thing.

[Lyris]

companies like Sega could archive all their old games as roms online and sell them like itunes does music 99p/a couple of quid a download or sommet with scans of the manuals and stuff

Someone's got there before you. You can get cut-down emulators on RealArcade to play stuff like Sonic, Sonic 2, Columns, and Ecco. Minus the manuals.

[bangaio]

Thing is, whether the developer would see any more revenue or not, you are still stealing their intellectual property - as discussed here:

http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showthread.php?t=32520&page=3&pp=10

whether that is morally right or wrong is a different question. I have emulated plenty of roms but like others here find it a soulless experience. Give me a real SNES or megadrive any day of the week.

[Commander Marklar]

I don't play many games I don't own but those that I do, I usually play through an emulator. This is mostly because it isn't feasible to have many things set-up and because of the features many emus provide, like screen grabs. There could also be some flaky hardware problem (e.g. My NES cartridge slot ain't too great) too. If I do play something I don't own, and if I like it, I'll go out and buy it. Which may seem odd, as most titles bought this are no longer making money for anyone other than a third party.

Funny thing happened the other day though. I saw Metal Slug 3 in Gamestation and I didn't buy it because I've got the ROM somewhere

[Blu3Flame]

companies like Sega could archive all their old games as roms online and sell them like itunes does music 99p/a couple of quid a download or sommet with scans of the manuals and stuff

Sega already did this, with the Realarcade which has been mentioned before and their own thing where you could buy/rent roms and download and play them, this service even went as far as offering Saturn ISO's well that was until Sammy came along and scrapped most of it :P

[anephric]

Does that mean you've got the originals then?

I know what you mean, but I like the games that much that I'd be happy to pay ?30 a pop for them.

I've got NGCD and Saturn Metal Slug Paid circa ?40 for each...

I would buy them again, but it'd have to be budget.

[Digfox]

I've dabbled in Emulation before, and given my 'whiter than white' attitude on copying anything I do feel guilty. I have a new Laptop and broadband connection with how many emulators on it...zero. Why? Because like someone else said on here it never feels as good as playing the originals. It is souless, and without a good joypad, albeit unlikely to be as good as the originals, they suffer from poor control. But I do think that the emulation community does offer some interesting benefits concerning older hardware.

I don't think enough companies do enough about their older titles. The Capcom Generations (PAL version) was a lovelly package for the PS1 which I enjoyed and IREM's R-Types PS1 package still still sits next to my PS2 for regular plays. The Street Fighter Collections PS1/Saturn and recent Hyper release PS2/Xbox and the other ones I mentioned all stirke me as ways to get old retro titles to a new audience playing on up to date hardware.

But one title did suceed on Emulation for me and commanded hours of my time...League Bowling on Neo Geo. Don't know why, its not a particularly outstanding game but I guess as I never experienced the original it worked for me. However Monkey Bowling (SMB2) has since meant even this has long been removed from my hard drive.

[Rock]

I have no problem with emulation. I've been into it more or less since I got the internet, and have found and enjoyed a bunch of games that otherwise I wouldn't have got to play. The only thing I have against it is that I'd rather be sitting in my room playing these games on a TV rather than infront of a PC, so I don't end up playing through games I emulate much.

For example, sitting down and playing the GC Sonic collection just seemed way better than just playing through the Sonic games windowed, in a weird resolution and with some graphics filter applied. Though emulators on consoles can be just as good too - NesterDC on Dreamcast gets a lot of play, and you can remove the filters for a near-NES quality picture.

The other thing I have against it is the whole piracy thing. I tend not to download roms of games I could otherwise buy.The GBA rom thing is getting way out of hand, though a lot of people just do it to demo games before buying. Would be nice if Nintendo authorized cut down demo versions of games to play on an emu, much like PC demos, though that probably would never happen.

Emulation used to be good when it was more underground, but it's just becoming more and more mainstream, since the games companies are now on to the emu sites and can get them closed down for good.

[wheelaa]

Emulation used to be good when it was more underground, but it's just becoming more and more mainstream, since the games companies are now on to the emu sites and can get them closed down for good.

Which is why you should use emulation sites that only allow you to access roms where the company concerned has made their game freeware...if the companies are cool with it, and the site doesn't misbehave then there's not a problem you using them.

I don't emulate myself for reasons others have posted..doesn't feel right etcetc

[Strider]

A lot of people have said that playing emulated games doesn't feel right on a PC. Don't any of you have a chipped xbox?

[Blu3Flame]

I dunno where I stand in all this ;x I play snes roms on original hardware, got a hardrive/cd drive/zip drive all linked upto my snes *whistles innocently* all the functionality of emulators as well, even has save state support and the like.

[anephric]

I Mame on a chipped box - I have no problem with zis.

The games concerned (Capcom scrollies) have never been converted - how else can I play them? In an filthy arcade in Torbay? Molested by puffa creatures?

[Commander Marklar]

A lot of people have said that playing emulated games doesn't feel right on a PC.

One person I know of springs to mind, anything else is teh wannabe script kiddeh hardc0re gam3r ("I h4v3 teh ROMZ!!11", type of thing). I play on my PC 'cos I can get 100% compatibility. I can use whatever controller I like (teh DC stick, mostly) and I can output the results to my TV if needed. Anything else is irrelevant really.