Is anyone on here NOT a collector?

[miked]

Believe me, i used to be with a list of 10 or so systems and 20+ games for each. As I get older though I just don't want to spend the money, and Im also trying to get back to the roots of playing games, not having so many I dont know which one to play. If it can be emulated pretty decently I dont feel the need to own the console. In fact I have bought and owned most any game I emulate at one time or another, so no I don't feel bad for that either.

I have sold most of my collection and I only have a few things left in the closet: 2 DCs with 25-30 games plus loads of burned, a Saturn with a few crappy games, and 2 PS1's with ff7. And I guess my GC will come back into my possession since the guy that bought it from me on craigslist says he needs money for school, and since my tax return was way more than expected and my much needed car repairs were much less, I suppose I will be nice and buy it back.

[Hatta]

IMO, if it's worth playing, it's worth tracking down the original hardware, but not necessarily original media. So I've ended up with a significant collection of cartridge based games, and a bunch of modded disc based consoles. I definitely don't see the point in paying a bunch of money for an original copy of a game, when none of that is going to go to the authors, and a burned copy is indistinguishable.

As for actually playing the games, I find with emulators I actually spend less quality time with more games. If I actually own a game, or take the time to burn a copy of it, I'm more likely to spend a significant amount of time with it. When I have a list of 700 games on my Xbox, the temptation is to switch games all the time. And when I actually do sit down and play a specific game all the way through on my Xbox, it's sooo hard not to abuse save states. The original hardware is how the game was meant to be played, and if I have a choice I'll use it.

[superlarz]

When I play with emulators I hardly ever stick with a game long. As previously stated, having a list with hundreds of games makes switching way to easy. Thats not to say I am against it, I do play games I can not find or obtain for a reasonable price through emulation, however, I definitely prefer playing games on the original hardware, with the controller it was designed for (for better or worse)

[marurun]

How do you define a collector? I have lots of old systems and games, and I like and play all of them. If I can get a bargain I don't care if there's a box with the game, though a cart with box in good condition might be worth a few bucks more to me, but only a few. I really prefer the feel of the original system and the look on a proper TV to emulated.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I have a good sized ammount of original games but thats because I like having the original physical copy. If all I had was a laptop with emulators Id still play what I do, just not the way I like to.

[miked]

Now the whole controller thing is a problem for me as well. Ive gone through 6 PC gamepads and there is no such thing as one that works for every system, granted dualshock clones are the best. But what about N64 games? Thats just a hard one to deal with unless you have an adaptoid. The TV output from my computer to a CRT TV is fine though, and playing retro games on my couch has never been an issue. Small emulation bugs like sounds being off and slight graphical glitches dont really bother me either.

And when I say collectors im really talking about the guy who will gladly pay $200 for radiant silvergun or Panzer Dragoon Saga. That said with no offense to any collectors listening as I used to do the same thing myself for many years.

[pixelbender]

I'm kinda one only because I love fun finds at Goodwill and garage sales - primarily because I'm a pack rat!

I'm about to sell off all of my Nintendo games - fun to collect but I just don't have the time to play them. I'll keep my DC and Saturn - best systems IMHO - and both play burned games so that works well. The other systems I'll emulate on my Xbox even though I don't play them much.

[PhilExile]

I'm not a collector. Emulation works well for me, as long as its 98% accurrate, which is the case for most of the systems that I play (NES, SNES, Genesis).

I use an Xbox for its emulation capabilities. Mostly because it can connect directly to a TV (I have a 27" Wega CRT) and doesn't have an OS bogging it down, such as Windows. In the future, I'm going to test how well it actually works with HDTVs. I know it has the capability to do 1080i, but who knows how well that games will scale in reality.

Another plus side to the Xbox is that I don't have to have a zillion systems hooked up to my TV, so its a LOT less clutter. Also, the emulators that were ported work great. I can play Sega CD and even TG-16 CD games on it. I did have to rip the images myself, which was a painstaking process, but it was well worth it.

The Xbox controller was a big problem for me in the past since its the biggest disconnect from playing it on the actual system. I've since been able to overcome it. I used the tutorial below as the basis for converting a multitude of controllers for use on the Xbox.

http://www.xerxes3rd.net/staticpages/in ... llerOnXbox

So far I've converted the following: Atari 2600, 5200 (this was a bitch but works great, even the full keypad), 7800, NES pad, NES Advantage (no slow mo or turbo), SNES pad, SNES Advantage, 3-button and 6-button Genesis, TG-16, NeoGeo pad, NeoGeo joystick, Colecovision, SMS pad, and SMS joystick.

I'm also going to be working on an Intellivision controller, but that will be a real pain in the ass, so it probably won't happen until the summer. : ) I'll be modding a N64 controller as well. I was having some problems getting the analog stick to track at the correct speed, but then Kylejw's post gave me an idea. I'm just going to replace the N64 thumbstick with an Xbox one.

Anyone else out there Xbox emu fans?

[Chrono]

I'm not anymore, I have a load of consoles, but they're stuck with my parents and i'm no longer sure where they own.

I've just come off a long period of homelessness, so all I own is a scratched gameboy pocket and pokemon red

[Jrecee]

If your definition is someone who pays $200 for boxed sealed games then no way. The only boxed games I bother with are ones liked genesis/saturn/dc etc, nothing with cardboard boxes, although I make an exception for 32X games. Since I discovered thecoverproject.net I'm more likely to buy a game without a box since I can just print out the cover and put it in an extra case, which I'd say most "collectors" would call blasphemy, but I don't want to, nor can I, afford to buy every game in a pristine box since some are just too expensive. The most I've ever paid for a classic boxed game was $60 for burning rangers. . .