A windows version

[RyaNtheSlayA]

DOSBox + One of these guys = Great

DOSBox basically makes playing old PC games easy. For some reason, people seem to think their bare-bones 486 is worth 200 dollars. Then you have to devote the space to using the old machine, usually a completely different desk setup. It's just a pain. Then you have to worry about whether your machine will run a certain game okay based on it's clock speed and other factors. For example, if you want to play Test Drive 2 or 3, you better have a 386, as anything faster will just ruin the game. As many others here, I don't really see it the same as emulating a console, because by nature everybody has a different experience with PCs since they're non-standardized hardware.

That's always been the draw of PC gaming really. Customization.

I don't really have a problem with emulation anymore either though. While it's certainly not the same as playing on a console, I can't see any real moral justification for why it's bad.

[Cronozilla]

Cause it's retro, man!

"Hey 486, I recognize that, uh $200! It's retro right? Retro stuff is rare!"
The problem is there's no seller that handles the buying and selling of old computers, so you just have people on eBay and Craigslist trying to get something similar to what they paid for the thing 20 years ago.

[RCBH928]

DOSBox + One of these guys = Great

DOSBox basically makes playing old PC games easy. For some reason, people seem to think their bare-bones 486 is worth 200 dollars. Then you have to devote the space to using the old machine, usually a completely different desk setup. It's just a pain. Then you have to worry about whether your machine will run a certain game okay based on it's clock speed and other factors. For example, if you want to play Test Drive 2 or 3, you better have a 386, as anything faster will just ruin the game. As many others here, I don't really see it the same as emulating a console, because by nature everybody has a different experience with PCs since they're non-standardized hardware.

That's always been the draw of PC gaming really. Customization.

I don't really have a problem with emulation anymore either though. While it's certainly not the same as playing on a console, I can't see any real moral justification for why it's bad.

they still make floppy drives?
why would I want this ryan?

[isiolia]

they still make floppy drives?
why would I want this ryan?

If you have copies of games that come on floppies, then you'll need something to read them, if only to make disk images.

If you're sticking with CD-ROM versions or downloaded copies, then there's little need.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

DOSBox + One of these guys = Great

DOSBox basically makes playing old PC games easy. For some reason, people seem to think their bare-bones 486 is worth 200 dollars. Then you have to devote the space to using the old machine, usually a completely different desk setup. It's just a pain. Then you have to worry about whether your machine will run a certain game okay based on it's clock speed and other factors. For example, if you want to play Test Drive 2 or 3, you better have a 386, as anything faster will just ruin the game. As many others here, I don't really see it the same as emulating a console, because by nature everybody has a different experience with PCs since they're non-standardized hardware.

That's always been the draw of PC gaming really. Customization.

I don't really have a problem with emulation anymore either though. While it's certainly not the same as playing on a console, I can't see any real moral justification for why it's bad.

they still make floppy drives?
why would I want this ryan?

So you can play original copies of many dos games of course!

[RCBH928]

I know that
but I thought they don't manufacture them any more,
I mean how big is the market for floppy drives out there?

Looking back at it, its funny how little those floppies store. its like 1.44MB . Thats like less than a regular image today. It was some damn huge jump, from 1.44MB to 700mb on CDs, which is still plenty for today!

I just got flash back of removing disk 1/3 and inserting 2/3 to complete installations and all disks were like only 4.33mb , I remember games requiring switching CDs to continue to play, but were there games requiring switching floppies to play(not install) ?
Any one remember how many disks Doom was?

[CRTGAMER]

Most towers have plenty of room for a floppy drive or even both sizes. Not sure if the latest boards have a floppy connector, but there are add on cards. The advantage going this route is its internal and allows an alternate method of low level bootup installs in case the USB is acting up. Even if the floppy drive is hardly used, nice having the additional capability built in. I was going to say an internal connection will always be faster then USB but it is a floppy drive.

@ Ryan - Good ideal with the USB Floppy drive, I have one which comes in handy with laptops.

[Cronozilla]

Yeah boards haven't had FDD sockets for about 6 years. We're lucky they still have any IDE stuff. Most are down to a single PATA socket for legacy optic support.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I know that
but I thought they don't manufacture them any more,
Any one remember how many disks Doom was?

They don't. I acquired one of those units in 2003ish.

I know Doom 2 came on 2 or 3 floppies. (3.25")

[MrPopo]

Yeah boards haven't had FDD sockets for about 6 years. We're lucky they still have any IDE stuff. Most are down to a single PATA socket for legacy optic support.

Hell, the single PATA was what they were switching to 8 years ago while they were still keeping the FDD cable.