Is it worth the cost for real over emulation?

[mas]

See I love the original hardware and if it was 1999 -2004 I would buy actual carts. I am glad I went the everdrive route though. Saves money and space and I feel good playing it on actual console. I only need the tg16 everdrive and then I'm all set

[dogman91]

Last time I checked there were some visual anomalies from time to time with stuff like Dolphin(?). Plus even with calibrating the Gamecube controller through USB, the controls never felt EXACTLY the same as using it on an actual 'cube, but maybe those quirks could be a bit of user error? And the control definitely felt different with Project 64.
I would love to just have Gamecube and N64 in HD, but the above things are holding me back for now...

See and I'm in a weird place for this. I have the original hardware for everything but sega(I never tracked down a genesis after I lost out on it at a local pawn shop and still burned on that one since it was complete in box too).

The funny thing is that for audio, the Genesis emulators out there do a pretty bad job IMO - the volume levels between some channels are off and they sound very thin compared to a model 1 Genesis (if you didn't know already! not making any assumptions). Other emulated consoles seem okay with this aspect AFAIK. So if you had to have only one console you had to emulate...

[Xeogred]

Nothing will ever be able to perfectly emulate that Genesis CHUNKY sound.

[darsparx]

See and I keep hearing that, but since I don't have the ability to track one of those down and won't for quite awhile i'll have to do with out...especially since I'm really wanting to get to the point I have a actual a/v reciever. These switches I have are nice but they don't get the job done quite as well as I'd like....

[Tanooki]

Not really depending on the system. Nintendo pre3D home, Sega CD and Saturn, TG/PCE most definitely not if you want any title of notable name or obscure but known to be good as the crooks have ruined things. But if you are after more so ignored stuff other than a small percent of outliers like gameboy of all kinds, game gear, or older stuff you're in shape as the games are little played there.

But if you really don't care to collect yet want to use real hardware everdrives are best. And on the right system like the GBA you can get crazy. That one alone emulates GB GBC NES GG+SMS early arcade and computers and notably PC Engine along with the CD library in ISO format full speed and accurately. Dont like the teeny screen then do it on GB player or a retron 5 on the TV.

[Forlorn Drifter]

As for me, the factors that are making emulation the more interesting of the two are:

1. Price. This is the first and foremost thing in my mind. Retro gaming prices are insanely high right now, and there's a very lacking local market, so over 95% of my buying would be online. Generally, I would expect the market to die down a bit after the holidays and the current rush (thanks to the Nintendo Mini), but even then many of the games I'd like to buy are running somewhere in the $30-$50 range, which I think is too high when most of them are 6 hours or less and aren't rare. Also, when looking at something such as the TurboGrafx stuff, I only want a handful of games and I don't see the worth in paying that much for such a small slice of gaming.

2. Space under my TV. I can only have two HDMI and one component system hooked up to the TV at once, which means spending a lot of time swapping between systems. Obviously not an issue with emulation.

3. General availability and translation patches. While they can be done through an Everdrive or some such, when it comes down to finding rare or import games, I'm not only having to pony up the money, but also the time to find them, which is a rough bit for me, as I'm already trying to spend less time on the computer and more time either gaming or socializing. Plus, an Everdrive is blatant emulation that just uses original hardware, which seems silly considering the only possible advantage is the controller itself, which can be supplemented by USB controllers.

4. Modernity in emulation. With save states, fancy front ends, the possibility of using Wii controllers for lightgun games on HDTVs, etc, it would really be hard to move backwords.

5. Everything in one box. Now, this may seem silly, but with Nintendo consoles, I could literally play nearly every single Nintendo game on a singular console thanks to emulation.

Essentially, price is my big thing. Unless companies start pumping out re-releases on modern consoles more often, its much more blatantly simple to emulate. My only real issues with emulation are it being lacking for certain consoles (N64...), the fear of "emu fatigue" and the fact that, well, it isn't the real thing and that makes me feel a bit icky.

As far as multi-group emu boxes such as the Retron 5, I'm very interested. But... its just a repackaged emulator allowing you to use real carts. Also, it doesn't include N64 currently, which is a downer.

So... I don't really know. The other factor is the fact that it will allow me to quickly and easily drop in and try a game. I don't have to worry about shelling out $50+ shipping for something I dislike and then have to resell.

[Jagosaurus]

Will post my thought to OP later. Until then:

@Forlorn,

Flash carts are not emulation. You console sees the ROM as if it is exactly the same data coming off a retail cart. If the ROM dump is clean, it's identical when playing on original hardware.

There are a few exceptions when original carts used helper chips. Then some flash carts can emu this at times (Castlevania 3 VRC6/MMC5 sound chip), or can't (such as the SNES FX chip on SD2SNES).

[Xeogred]

The flash cart scene seems pretty deep thesedays. Maybe I should look into it sometime.

[Forlorn Drifter]

Will post my thought to OP later. Until then:

@Forlorn,

Flash carts are not emulation. You console sees the ROM as if it is exactly the same data coming off a retail cart. If the ROM dump is clean, it's identical when playing on original hardware.

There are a few exceptions when original carts used helper chips. Then some flash carts can emu this at times (Castlevania 3 VRC6/MMC5 sound chip), or can't (such as the SNES FX chip on SD2SNES).

I'll be blunt, the technical aspects are lost on me. I assume by this that ROMs you would get for emulation are not clean dumps. The point I was aiming for (although if I'm wrong, please correct me) is that there are small technical differences, ones that I likely wouldn't notice, but when it comes to overall playability the difference is minimal.

IMO, it just seems silly to buy the original hardware and a flash cart... so I can use ROMs that I could have just as easily loaded onto a PC or emu-box.

[BoneSnapDeez]

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the Retron 5. It's my most-played system, and my NES, SNES, and Genesis have been collecting dust since I purchased it.
The perks include:
- plays authentic carts, region-free
- SRAM battery saves are dumped into the console itself, plus savestates are available, so dead batteries are moot
- supports translation patches and ROM hacks
- huge space-safer (I previously had the NES, SNES, and Genesis hooked up 24/7)

Of course, if you have zero interest in actually owning or collecting games it's hard to beat a PC loaded with emulators and ROMs. I played games on a PC exclusively for a few years.