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You're sitting down to play a retro game. What's your preferred choice?

Emulation all the way!
2
9%
Mostly emulation
5
23%
About half and half
4
18%
Mostly real hardware
9
41%
Only real hardware for me!
2
9%
 
Total votes : 22
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opa
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How do you retro game? Emulation vs the Real Deal

by opa Sun Jul 31, 2022 12:25 pm

I thought this could be a fun thread. About fifteen years ago I'd be seeking out original hardware and carts/discs and strictly play legit copies. I mostly used emulation to try out games before buying them.

Nowadays I pretty much only emulate the old stuff (the exception being the Atari 2600 and SFC shmups). I rarely pull out old consoles any more. Too much hassle. When a few mouse clicks has me up and running I don't see much point in dragging out a bunch of wires across the floor. And if I want a "console experience" on my tv I plug in my raspberry pi.

How do you guys/gals play your retro stuff these days? How have your habits changed over the years?
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Re: How do you retro game? Emulation vs the Real Deal

by Ziggy587 Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:48 pm

I had run a similar poll a few years back, but I think it's good to rehash this kind of thing since people's preferences change.

Then and now, I'm pretty much 100% real hardware. I just love the ease of use of retro consoles on a CRT. No tweaking settings, no compatibility issues, it just instantly works. I think I have flash carts, mod chips or ODEs for pretty much all of my consoles now, so I'm all set there. But I have been thinking about getting a MiSTer for a while now. After I eventually do, I'd imagine my vote here would probably change.
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Re: How do you retro game? Emulation vs the Real Deal

by alienjesus Sun Jul 31, 2022 4:25 pm

I mostly use real hardware. The main exception to this is that I currently use a Retron5 for playing NES, SNES, Master System and Mega Drive - although this is down to space rather than cost or any other reason - I don't have enough room to have all those systems set up and the Retron allows me to play the games without needing to swap consoles in and out.
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Re: How do you retro game? Emulation vs the Real Deal

by SpaceBooger Sun Jul 31, 2022 6:25 pm

Ziggy587 wrote:I had run a similar poll a few years back, but I think it's good to rehash this kind of thing since people's preferences change.

Then and now, I'm pretty much 100% real hardware. I just love the ease of use of retro consoles on a CRT. No tweaking settings, no compatibility issues, it just instantly works. I think I have flash carts, mod chips or ODEs for pretty much all of my consoles now, so I'm all set there. But I have been thinking about getting a MiSTer for a while now. After I eventually do, I'd imagine my vote here would probably change.

This 100%!
I also love playing anything 6th Gen (PS2, oXBOX, etc) or earlier on real hardware on my CRT.

My CRT has a switch for each input:
Composite: NES, SMS, N64, 2600, PS1*
S-Video: Genesis/SCD (M1 modded), Saturn, Dreamcast, SNES, GameCube*
Component:Wii, PS2, PS3, oXBOX

* PS1 and GC not currently hooked up because I use backward compatibility with other consoles.

Now with all that being said, I did choose "Mostly real hardware" since like Ziggy I have flashcards for the cartridge-based systems and have the disc systems modded to play backups.
So I play on real hardware, but sometimes play backups... which is like emulation right?
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Re: How do you retro game? Emulation vs the Real Deal

by Ziggy587 Sun Jul 31, 2022 7:00 pm

SpaceBooger wrote:I also love playing anything 6th Gen (PS2, oXBOX, etc) or earlier on real hardware on my CRT.

My CRT has a switch for each input:
Composite: NES, SMS, N64, 2600, PS1*
S-Video: Genesis/SCD (M1 modded), Saturn, Dreamcast, SNES, GameCube*
Component:Wii, PS2, PS3, oXBOX

* PS1 and GC not currently hooked up because I use backward compatibility with other consoles.


Nice!

My main CRT has been a 13" PVM for a few years now. I have almost everything hooked up via RGB via two 5 input Bandridge switch boxes. SNES, N64, Gamecube (PAL version outputs RGB, I use it mostly for the GB Player), PS1, PS2, Genesis, Saturn, and PC Engine. I have one more RGB input left on the switches, but I have two more consoles I wanna hook up. Right now I'm just using my NES over composite. I have the NESRGB mod kit for it, but I haven't gotten around to installing it yet. But I also wanna hook up the Dreamcast, which I wont have enough inputs for. So I'm still deciding what I want to do.

I know I could ditch the PS1 since I have a PS2 hooked up, but I like using both. Also, my PS1 is chipped and it's not so easy booting PS1 backups on a PS2. Also also, I have an XStation ODE that I will install in another PS1 when I get around to it, so that will definitely cement the PS1 in this setup.

My PS2 slim is hooked up to the PVM via RGB, but I also have a phat hooked up to my HDTV via component (into a RetroTINK 5x). Some PS2 games are better on a CRT, but some have widescreen and/or surround sound and are better played on an HDTV. The Wii I also have hooked up to the HDTV via component into the TINK. And then everything newer than that is HDMI.

My Atari 2600 has been taken apart on my work bench for the entire month of July LOL. I've been meaning to mod it for composite output, and I was trying to get it done for Together Retro, but I guess I was just too busy this month. The Atari I keep in the basement, which is where I have my 27" Sony Wega CRT. I also have dupes of most consoles down there. For that setup, I use composite or S-Video, depending on what cables I have available for a console. I have a model 2 Genesis that I modified for S-Video output, but sometimes I like to use my model 3 Genny with composite for all of those faux transparencies and checkerboard/gradients that make it appear to have more colors.

SpaceBooger wrote:Now with all that being said, I did choose "Mostly real hardware" since like Ziggy I have flashcards for the cartridge-based systems and have the disc systems modded to play backups.
So I play on real hardware, but sometimes play backups... which is like emulation right?


Sometimes yes, some times just semantics? An ODE (optical drive emulator) is technically emulation, but only for the disc drive. You're still using the real hardware of the console, as in the CPU and PPU. You're emulating something, but it's not what most people refer to as emulation. And I suppose flash carts and emulating a real cart, but in most cases they are so close to being a real cart that there's no difference. But in the case of something like an FPGA recreating special hardware inside of a cart, such as the enhancement chips in SNES carts (Super FX, SA-1, etc), then I suppose that is emulation. You're still using the real hardware of the console, but not totally if the game cart has an FPGA recreation of a co-processor.

But when I read this poll, I take "emulation" as meaning no real hardware is involved. The entire console is software emulation on a PC or console, or you're using a Pi or MiSTer or something like that. So the options such as "mostly real hardware," to me, means that you game on real hardware most of the time. But occasionally will use a Pi or MiSTer or software emulation. But I guess it would be technically correct if I said I use "mostly real hardware" because I use things like ODEs or flash carts. That's just not how I take the meaning.

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Re: How do you retro game? Emulation vs the Real Deal

by SpaceBooger Sun Jul 31, 2022 8:58 pm

Ziggy587 wrote:My Atari 2600 has been taken apart on my work bench for the entire month of July LOL. I've been meaning to mod it for composite output, and I was trying to get it done for Together Retro, but I guess I was just too busy this month.

Nice, my 2600 is stored, but I am using the cartridge modded Flashback2 I got from last year's auction. From what I can tell it plays everything I throw at it just fine. BUT you mentioned modding your 2600, now I'm interested. Were you referring to this mod: https://vintagegamingandmore.com/produc ... o-mod-kit/
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Re: How do you retro game? Emulation vs the Real Deal

by Markies Sun Jul 31, 2022 9:23 pm

Regarding televisions, I only use CRT's for all my consoles from NES to Switch.

If I am going to be sitting down and playing video games, I will be playing them on real hardware with the physical games. That is the majority of my gaming.

I have a MAME/Emulator to test out games and play Arcade games.
Also, I buy reproduction carts to play games never released in America.

But, almost the entirety of my gaming is done on a large CRT with the actual hardware playing the physical game.
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Re: How do you retro game? Emulation vs the Real Deal

by Ziggy587 Sun Jul 31, 2022 10:12 pm

SpaceBooger wrote:Nice, my 2600 is stored, but I am using the cartridge modded Flashback2 I got from last year's auction. From what I can tell it plays everything I throw at it just fine. BUT you mentioned modding your 2600, now I'm interested. Were you referring to this mod: https://vintagegamingandmore.com/produc ... o-mod-kit/


I actually haven't decided on a mod yet, since there's a lot of different ones out there. I was gonna go with The Longhorn Engineer mod, which is composite and S-Video. He doesn't sell it anymore, but he open sourced it. I drew up the PCB in Eagle, but then I didn't feel like spending the money on it. Not that it's expensive, but there's much simpler mods out there. Like the one you linked, I see variations of that all the time, just a couple of passive components (usually a transistor and a couple resistors). So I was thinking of just doing a simple composite mod on perf board. It would be neat to have S-Video, but to be honest I just don't use the 2600 all that much. Anyways, I have AV jacks and perf board on hand, and I probably have the correct transistors and resistors on hand as well, so it's just a matter of me finding the time for it. IIRC, I have also seen some schematics for S-Video that have a low component count (easier to build on perf board) so I was tempted by that. Also, I had picked up the Harmony Encore flash cart in anticipation of TR July, but then I guess I dropped the ball and let the month slip by without doing the mod. I'll still do it, I was just hoping to get it done in July.

Markies wrote:Regarding televisions, I only use CRT's for all my consoles from NES to Switch.

If I am going to be sitting down and playing video games, I will be playing them on real hardware with the physical games. That is the majority of my gaming.

I have a MAME/Emulator to test out games and play Arcade games.
Also, I buy reproduction carts to play games never released in America.

But, almost the entirety of my gaming is done on a large CRT with the actual hardware playing the physical game.


Being the real hardware enthusiasts that I am, I always wanted to pick up more arcade hardware, but I have enough will power not to due to lack of money, time and space. Still, I have one arcade board. Mortal Kombat II. There's a couple of OK ports, and I once set it up in MAME, but it's the one arcade game I cared to get real hardware for. Years ago I wanted to build a cab for it. But more recently my plan is to consolize it. I know people use Super Guns and swap out arcade boards, but I want to make a dedicated machine for it. It's been on my to-do list. I'd probably be more motivated if I actually had someone to play it with me on a consistent basis.

I was ::this close:: to getting a Neo•Geo MVS board, also with a plan to consolize it, but ultimately decided not to. For around the same money I can get a MiSTer setup, and from what I've seen it replicated Neo•Geo perfectly. And actually, I would have got a MiSTer earlier this year but I'm waiting to see what consolized options become available. There was one that was looking pretty good, but IIRC there were a few more on the horizon.

As for reproduction carts, just a PSA to everyone about them, most (probably close to all) of those modern Chinese bootleg carts improperly use 3v chips while most retro consoles supply 5v to the cart. They could eventually burn themselves out, or at worst damage the console (so say some sources).
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Re: How do you retro game? Emulation vs the Real Deal

by ElkinFencer10 Sun Jul 31, 2022 10:44 pm

90% of the time, I'm going original hardware. The only time I'll use emulation is if it's a rerelease with some kind of enhancements - FPS boost on Xbox, save states in a Switch collection, etc. With my RetroTink5X, though, retro consoles look as good or better on modern displays than they did on CRTs with the super high quality scanline effects, so I like to keep the actual hardware as authentic as possible since emulation quality can vary a lot.
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Re: How do you retro game? Emulation vs the Real Deal

by opa Mon Aug 01, 2022 9:10 am

So long as you're playing on real hardware I personally find using ODE/flashcarts to be kind of semantics. The console just cares about receiving data; not really caring about the source. Others might not feel the same so vote how you interpret things. This poll isn't collecting scientific data. Lol
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