Do You Have Any Unpopular Gaming Opinions?

[the7k]

But that's heresy.

Actually, I'm rather okay with 8 to 16-bit emulation as well. It's not perfect but close enough. It's pretty much anything after that that I'd consider emulation a last resort option.

[BogusMeatFactory]

I guess my unpopular is that I think playing a lot of the 8 bit and 16 bit games on a emulator is a overall better experience than on the original hardware. Cleaner graphics, filters, widescreen, ROM hacks, hardware that isn't worn out and no battery saves or passwords. There's a lot to like about emulators. I know most of the cartridge collectors think otherwise.

Yeah the only thing that I find an emulator has a harder time with is sound emulation. Outside of that, I prefer to use them, especially with kids and distractions, being able to save state where you left off is helpful, as long as you don't use those save states to get back there when you hit game over.

[BoneSnapDeez]

This is why y'all need a Retron 5. Emulating games while still collecting them. The best of both worlds.

[the7k]

I does have a Retron 5. You doesn't know me.

[Ack]

I guess my unpopular is that I think playing a lot of the 8 bit and 16 bit games on a emulator is a overall better experience than on the original hardware. Cleaner graphics, filters, widescreen, ROM hacks, hardware that isn't worn out and no battery saves or passwords. There's a lot to like about emulators. I know most of the cartridge collectors think otherwise.

Yeah the only thing that I find an emulator has a harder time with is sound emulation. Outside of that, I prefer to use them, especially with kids and distractions, being able to save state where you left off is helpful, as long as you don't use those save states to get back there when you hit game over.

It depends on the game. Some have other issues, like rendering shadows in A.S.P. Air Strike Patrol.

[corn619]

I forgot to mention, playing translations on emulators is a huge benefit. I would have missed out on Secret Of Mana 2, Bahamut Lagoon, Star Ocean, BS Zelda, Sweet Home, Adventure Island 4 and countless others! I never knew how many games we missed out on until emulation came along.

On the sound issues, there were some games where the Japanese version had better sound due to having a better sound chip. Castlevania III Dracula's Curse is the first game that comes to mind. The Japanese version sounds amazing compared to the English version.

[marlowe221]

I have to agree on emulation for 8 and 16-bit consoles being pretty damn good these days.

To me, a lot of the complaints about emulation belong to the past - the modern emulators are close enough that most of us would literally have to have the console running side by side to tell the difference. Not only that, but my modern LCD computer monitor has a WAY nicer picture than my 19" RCA CRT television.

As far as sound/music goes, yeah there can be some differences. Again, I often find those differences to be minor and that they don't effect my enjoyment of the games at all. Then again, sometimes the emulators actually sound BETTER than the original console, especially when your original console's sound isn't that great to begin with (95% of Model 2 Genesis consoles, I'm looking at you guys).

There are also lots of space benefits. I've got my first child on the way and a small house. Granted, my collection isn't very big but we live in a house built in the late 1920s (i.e. - before they built any closets to speak of). Having a full ROM set on my external HDD is a wonderful thing.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy playing on my original hardware and I haven't reached the point where I feel comfortable passing it on to someone else. But I can see it happening some day in the future.

Either way, I am just glad that these games are preserved from the ravages of time and hardware degradation in digital formats. The world is a sad enough place as it is - we might has well have Super Nintendo!

[Exhuminator]

I enjoy playing on my original hardware and I haven't reached the point where I feel comfortable passing it on to someone else. But I can see it happening some day in the future.

That day came for me years ago. I gave away my 8 and 16 bit systems to younger kids (along with all the carts) back in the late 90s because I was happy enough NESticle, ZSNES, NO$GB, KGEN98, and other such first generation emulators. (Of course I had no idea that all those carts would be worth so much money all these years later.)

Regardless, emulators today like SNES9X or FCEUX or Visual Boy Advance and such are totally on par for my tastes. I totally understand (and indulge) in nostalgia, but from a personal perspective space is at a premium in my dork cave already, without adding hundreds of 8 and 16 bit carts into the mix that would take up even more space. So collecting NES or Genesis games or what have you is a no go simply from a space perspective for me.

I think that as far as 32 bit emulation goes, the latest version of ePSXe with the right plugins is really accurate and great. For N64, Project64 has become awesome and totally usable, especially when paired with an actual N64 controller via USB. I've also used SSF for Saturn emulation to great effect and have finished a few games with it. Even DeSmuME and PPSSPP do excellent jobs of emulating the DS and PSP now.

Where I think emulation gets spotty is PS2 and Dreamcast. Those systems IMO are still not emulated well enough to disregard the hardware. I guess GameCube works well enough with Dolphin, but who knows if we'll ever see an original Xbox emulator.

[ElkinFencer10]

I think that Majora's Mask is crap. I can't stand the Playstation 2. Metroid: Other M was a good game. Duke Nukem Forever was a fantastic game. I don't much care for Mario Kart 64. Resident Evil - Operation Raccoon City was a fun game.

I think most of those count as fairly unpopular gaming opinions. Especially Duke Nukem.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I can't stand the Playstation 2.

Wut. Are you speaking of hardware and controller design specifically or the game library? There are so many PS2 games that it seems unfeasible to think you couldn't find something you'd be into.