How authentic do you need it to be?

[Asura]

Personally, I'm looking forward to the first property I own where I can have a proper gaming room. I basically want to build my own version of Angry Video Game Nerd's room, but primarily with Saturn stuff.

[Escape-To-88]

I'm all for original gear, however, having had to sell a business and then having to move back to my parents to recoup I only have relatively current stuff now. I mainly game on Projectors, so using the original console even wit ha scaler looks a bit naff in all honesty. Retroarch set up PROPERLY with borders and shaders is very good, and I use all the original pads. I'd love to have my old Japanese MD collection back, I had EVERYTHING! Vampire Killer, Eliminate Down etc. etc. and bought them when they were rock-bottom too. I often dip my toe back in, but looking that a copy of VK now cost probably what half of what my whole collection was back then puts me off a bit. I tried the one-expensive-title-a-month thing and I got a bit bored of it. So for now while I'd love all original gear, space and set-up prohibits it. When I buy a place in a year or two I'd probably go for an arcade room over anything console-based perhaps. Although those pretty Famicom carts are mighty tempting

[danstan21]

I'm all about original hardware and CRTs - the only exceptions being games like Earthbound that are far too expensive to warrant buying original copies of and are available on services like eShop. I used to have the collecting bug for GC games, but I've since got rid of more than half of the 90+ titles I had for it, because they were clutter and I never played most of them. I still have a few bits I could probably do with getting rid of, since despite owning a NES, US SNES and JP Saturn I almost never play anything pre-N64, and I have two Gamecubes (one Japanese) and a Wii set up in my gaming room collecting can become super addictive, so I try to be strict about only getting games I really want to play.

I used to be fine with downloadable games, but now I look for original copies of games I actually like - so even though I have Fire Emblem GBA on 3DS from the Ambassador programme, I still want an original copy. The only game I've ever emulated on PC is the fan-translated/ bug fixed version of the unfinished Star Fox 2, and even then I was considering investing in equipment to make my own cartridge...

[Jamie]

Just recently i've been using the emulators on my modded Wii, with an RGB scart cable and my CRT TV and it's brilliant. SNES, Megadrive, Mega CD, PC Engine, GBA etc. all work great, they output native res and i find they look indistinguishable from the real thing. I have the actual consoles setup next to it and i'm starting to use the Wii more for convenience. I use a Mayflash adapter with the Wiimote so i can use SNES and Megadrive controllers too. It's an excellent alternative to having the real thing in my view.

My next purchase is one of these to use with it: http://www.8bitdo.com/sfc30/

[Cepp]

Just recently i've been using the emulators on my modded Wii, with an RGB scart cable and my CRT TV and it's brilliant. SNES, Megadrive, Mega CD, PC Engine, GBA etc. all work great, they output native res and i find they look indistinguishable from the real thing. I have the actual consoles setup next to it and i'm starting to use the Wii more for convenience. I use a Mayflash adapter with the Wiimote so i can use SNES and Megadrive controllers too. It's an excellent alternative to having the real thing in my view.

My next purchase is one of these to use with it: http://www.8bitdo.com/sfc30/

Yeah the Wii is great for that, I actually prefer N64 VC games on it as well where they're available, they looks so much better and you don't have to bother with the horrible N64 controller.

[Jaz]

For anything older than N64, it's emulation or FPGA reimplementation. I've got rid of the 8 bit stuff and mothballed the Amiga. I have an Everdrive for the N64 and a GDEMU for the Dreamcast, and will probably get an Everdrive for the PCE. I only play games that I own (though I might have tried a game ROM first to see if it's for me).
I prefer the original hardware but want to save wear and tear on lasers and cart slot contacts.

Saved me from writing the exact same thing. Thanks!

[Jaz]

Just recently i've been using the emulators on my modded Wii, with an RGB scart cable and my CRT TV and it's brilliant. SNES, Megadrive, Mega CD, PC Engine, GBA etc. all work great, they output native res and i find they look indistinguishable from the real thing. I have the actual consoles setup next to it and i'm starting to use the Wii more for convenience. I use a Mayflash adapter with the Wiimote so i can use SNES and Megadrive controllers too. It's an excellent alternative to having the real thing in my view.

My next purchase is one of these to use with it: http://www.8bitdo.com/sfc30/

You can use a WiiU Pro controller with all of those if you get the appropriate version. Works great.

[randombs]

My next purchase is one of these to use with it: http://www.8bitdo.com/sfc30/

That page is seven shades of wicked. I, too, would like to double funny with my best old friend.

[QualityChimp]

It's ideal for happily remembering the old days better than the rest.

[capcom_suicide]

Getting engaged and going from having two houses to one means I just don't have the room for the retro kit, so from now on when I get those pangs to play anything retro it's going to have to be emulation. Nothing will ever be as good for me as real hardware, original game and a crt, but the reality is that I don't use my retro kit often enough to justify the space it consumes.

Get yourself a Pyra when they release later in 2016. The Pandora (With the love that has gone into the D-PAD and controls) with perfect emulation up to N64 has been a dream. The Pyra will take it to the next level.

[Team Andromeda]

Getting engaged and going from having two houses to one means I just don't have the room for the retro kit, so from now on when I get those pangs to play anything retro it's going to have to be emulation.

Really wish you both well and that you'll be Happy.

These days I just use a combo of the 2 and use emu and also the real systems, but even with some of the real systems set up I just find it easier to use emu half the time . I really love my Neo Geo for example, but the Japanese plugs, the scart lead into the fram and the short Joypad leads just mean its a pain in the ass to use half the time and I'll just use emu.

Just the other day threw out both my Philips 37' and my Sony 14' CRT and that alone as meant a huge space gain. So now I just have my fav systems set up (Saturn, Mega CD, Snes Ect) and just use emu for the rest.

[importaku]

Only have 3 consoles emulated. Famicom, Megadrive & Super famicom, which i play on my pc which is conncted to my plasma. Lovely 25% scanlines & usb converted original Famicom & Super famciom pads. More than happy to play them like that. Have a whole selection of older computer stuff emulated, definitely don't want to play Amiga/Vic20/Electron & Spectrum stuff on real hardware anymore. Hell even the Speccy emulator i use is way better than the original hardware ever was.

I don't have endless time to sit and wait for tapes to load.

[QualityChimp]

I totally get the appeal of genuine hardware. There's a real tactile joy to be had slotting a cartridge in, booting up and insta-playing.
Having shelves full of games is also an opulent treat, like Scrooge McDuck diving into his pool of gold coins.

Anyone with the combination of time, money and space for a retro gaming setup has my blessing and envious stares.
I love the gaming setup thread!

However, I absolutely love emulation. I love the ease of its use and the great breadth of ways to play old games: Old Nokia phones; laptops, Pandora, Dingoo, Raspberry Pi, XBox, PC, Linux and crazy hacks like the cartridge emulator and MAME Fridge![hide]

[/hide]The halfway point of Everdrives is a nice compromise too.

I really like arcade games, probably more than Mega Drive and SNES games, and playing the original PCBs is a little trickier, so emulation is a much more favourable way to play.

I'm still giddy about finally getting an emulator XBox and dipping into some old games in the comfort of my lounge!

I'm totally fine with emulation and the smaller the unit, the better! I'll keep my eye on the Pyra project (thanks, @capcom_suicide), but I love how people keep thinking of new ways to emulate.

[Cepp]

Something like the Raspberry Pi that does 240p over scart with a decent Saturn emulator would be heaven.

I managed to fix my SNES but now I've had a proper think about this I think I'm ready to move over to emulation with it and a few other systems. As long as I can play the games I want and they look correct I'm happy enough.

[importaku]

This is why i love emulation, especially spectrum stuff. When i owned a speccy at first all i had was a cheap little b&w tv to play it on so that's where my nostalgia lies. My speccy emulator can replicate the colour bleed of using a RF ariel connection making it feel 100% just like it did on the original hardware. Here's some pics, these are not poorly taken pics this is actually the effect of the RF bleed filter working, the 3rd pic is using the RGB monitor filter.

RF B&W

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/importaku/IMG_1245%20res.jpg

RF Colour

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/importaku/IMG_1246%20res.jpg

RGB monitor

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/importaku/IMG_1247%20res.jpg

A real spectrum just can't compete, the emulation has surpassed the real hardware. No way wouls a spectrum look as good as that on a 51" plasma.