Controversial opinion: I kind of hate emulating games. (I was tempted to make a new thread for this, but since this one is sort of dying down, I thought I'd hijack it for a while instead.)
Let me start by saying, of course, I still do it. These days, if I'm emulating something, it's on my phone. That's mostly because there are dozens of shitty microtransaction games and having something legit on my phone saves me from myself. I also won't dispute that emulating is "necessary" to play some titles that I would otherwise be unable to get. My experience of
Earthbound would have absolutely not been improved by paying 200+ dollars to get it.
With that aside, here are some reasons that I am generally against emulating games.
1. Mo Backlog Mo ProblemsI have more games than I will ever play sitting in my apartment. Downloading an invisible addition to that backlog fills me with such dread. I don't think I need to elaborate here. I will add though that I am more likely to finish a game before putting it away if I know I'm going to have to walk past it again later.
2. I am never 100% certain about the quality of the experience/port.A perfect example of this was playing games on the Sega Smash Pack back in the day. Don't get me wrong, I have very fond memories of playing them, but having playing an actual copy of
Comix Zone, for example, I realize just how garbage the sound quality on those emulations were. With games that I don't own, or don't have the potential to own, I'll never know if I'm getting a raw deal on the port or not. And sure, you could say that if I'm I'll never know the difference it doesn't matter, but if I'm honest about this being a psychological hang up then you can't shame me for it, right? Furthermore, there are horror stories like when I got 6 out of 7 stars through
Super Mario RPG before finding out the rom I was using was glitched.
3. I am not Tech Savvy/I am lazy
There are workarounds, fixes, and patches for things that I know, if I put in the effort, wouldn't be too difficult to figure out. In some cases, for some games, I've been willing to put in that effort. But 9 times out of 10, if I'm trying to play a game, I'm not trying to do homework to make it work before I get started.
For some people, part of the hobby of retro gaming is tinkering with the files or the equipment, and I'm happy for the people who are into it (
anayo has hooked me up multiple times with his wizardry). I'm not; I don't have the knack, the experience, or frankly the gumption.
4. Original Hardware.
Part of what I like about retro gaming more so than what comes out on modern systems is that the games were designed for specific systems in mind. I realize that the whole point of emulating is to recreate that design, but dammit if pressing A,B, and C on my genesis controller doesn't feel so much better than A,S, and D on my keyboard. And since I've admitted that this is mostly about my own psyche and less about the viability of emulating (which is awesome, and I don't judge anyone for doing it), I have an emotional connection to my genesis that I don't have to my i-phone or my laptop. When people immediately push me toward emulating something, I envision someone going to a therapist and saying that their partner doesn't show them enough affection, and the therapist just recommends
professional cuddling.
5. I am unwilling to buy more gadgets.My partner is currently in Grad School and like most grad students and their partners we teeter back and forth over the poverty line. The short answer to wanting to play these games with a controller is to buy a controller for my phone/comp, but that doesn't seem like the best investment of my money at this point. And I get it, you guys have seen me up in the good finds thread posting about buying things with money that could have gone to a controller, and maybe that's a fair criticism. All the same, it's easier for me to explain to my partner that I've bought something with our money that I found in a thrift store for a better price than I would ever get it online than it is to explain that I've ordered something from online that will only help me play the games that aren't occupying a large amount of closet space.
In Conclusion:
I think all of us come to gaming for the same reason deep down, that sweet sweet dopamine release. Maybe all of my logic is screwy and easily refuted, maybe I'd be happier if could work past these hang-ups, but for now emulating games just doesn't do it for me the way I want/need it to. A perfect example of this: I think
Chrono Trigger is 100% a better game than
Demon Stone (both of which I played last year) but I'd be lying if I told you that I don't have more positive feelings about my time spent with the latter.
I am always going to emulate some games. It's unavoidable. After I finish posting this, I'm going to figure out what fan translation feb game is going on my phone. I'm not a complete snob or a complete hater. That being said, emulating always feel like ordering fast food and playing original hardware feels like a home cooked meal. I get that it's faster, easier, and more convenient, but in most cases, it's just not for me.
I'll let David Lynch take it from here: