Emulation is when the system is being ran in a virtual environment (not original, or original spec hardware) Emulation is also not the same as compatibility layers (interpreting one call, and translating it to something the local machine can understand)
Personal reproduction of game content and playing it on an original system isn't emulation at all (ROM dump, burning disc image, etc).
It's just not an officially created cartridge/disc (Though if you have the ROM image and a EEPROM programmer, no one would be able to tell unless they opened it). For instance, if you used a PowerPak and dumped a bunch of ROMs onto it and plugged it into your NES ... that's not emulation in the strictest sense (It could be argued that aspects of the cartridge hardware are being emulated, but the game system itself isn't).
The common vernacular has become ROMs you play are emulation. But that's not correct at all. What's being emulated on your PC is the hardware environment. It is represented digitally and operates through software, not hardware.
However, if someone designed a PC expansion card that had a Genesis-capable chipset on it, for example, that wouldn't be emulation any longer.
Clone systems are also not technically emulation
(unless it's certain systems on a chip or they use a virtual environment, which is possible) Most of the time, it's a hardware simplification and consolidation (which is also the reason why some games don't work, they rely on the quirks that arose due to redundancies or oversights)
The GameCube mode on Wii is NOT emulation.
Because the Wii CPU has the GameCube circuitry in it. The PS1 mode on PS2 is emulation. There is no PlayStation 1 circuitry there (as far as I know), when the PS2 launched Sony claimed it was entirely emulated. PlayStation 2 Backwards compatibility on PlayStation 3s that support it is not emulation, they contain the actual PS2 chipset ... except on the 80GB model, that WAS emulation (it ran a virtual PS2 on the CELL). I would also suspect that Wii mode on the Wii U is also not emulation, but legacy circuitry.
It can be difficult keeping track, even though it's very common. Mostly, it's difficult because companies aren't exactly forthcoming with whether or not the original circuits are represented or not. In the Wii's case, the GameCube circuitry is referred to as "Legacy". It's the same thing that happens in Intel CPUs when they release a new line, the old code still needs to work, so they'll just redesign the old chip on a smaller scale, simplified, and anytime those calls come it they divert them to the legacy circuit.
As for which I prefer ... original all the way. Though, having emulation is handy and I don't fault anyone for utilizing it. But be aware it's not 100% (or even 90%) accurate. Even the Nintendo written NES emulator used for Virtual Console isn't entirely representative of the chips used on the NES (None of them actually are exactly the same, and in most cases they can't be)
The only time it bothers me is when people claim playing games emulated is just as good or identical to the original. It just isn't. Even if the emulation was perfect (not realistically possible) there's still issues with the controller, usually, and being able to control how you save, and even how things look, they all alter the game in unexpected ways. It's great if it's just a supplement, but it's a poor replacement for the original.
I've met a lot of people who like playing older games and manipulating everything in it, and they essentially are sucking the challenge out of them and never actually appreciating what's there. So, I think it's great, but mostly has supplemental to the actual unaltered experience.
As for playing on something like Virtual Console where you don't have control over the ROM, but it is still emulated. That's alright, I guess. It still feels like something is missing, though. I would only purchase stuff that's just outrageously priced otherwise.
While I agree that emulation should not be considered "perfect", as it is never 100% identical to the original, I do think emulation can be superior to the original.
One example would be Mame. If I want the original, I need to buy a (Sometimes $500+) PCB, a (probably $200+) supergun, and a monitor that accepts low resolution output, or an upscaler to allow the game to run on a modern monitor.
That entire setup can be emulated (within the 90% accuracy for most titles), and on top of that you get save states, the option to record replays, adjustable auto-fire, a wider selection of controllers, etc.
Again, I would never make the claim that Dodonpachi in Mame is 100% accurate to the original. I will, however, make the claim that playing Dodonpachi in Mame is a superior experience to playing the original board.
I don't really mind if emulation is a tad bit off. Although, I do mind having to deal with tech problems. You get what you pay for and in this case most of the time it's nothing.
Ah, Okay. When you said, "You get what you pay for, and in this case its nothing", I thought you meant you paid AND got nothing.
Tech problems are few and far between. Snes and prior, you should have zero issues. ps1 and up, should be able to get things running and looking good with little effort.
I paid for an arcade cab, and you better believe I had to do a crap ton of trouble shooting just to get the thing working. Consoles have this too, failing lasers, blowing caps, having to get the appropriate scalers/scanline generators to get the desired image.
I think it comes with the hobby, whether on original hardware or emulation.
I've recently started using emulators more. It started out with me being fed up with having to buy different arcade sticks for various consoles and not having the cash or ability to do a multi-console mod. Now I have all the street fighter I need on my PC.
From there I messed around with pSX and migrated over to emulation. I still keep my Dreamcast and PS2 around though, I tried NullDC but it just didn't cut it for me. Too many errors.
I'd love to have a "retro corner" somewhere in my house with a nice CRT but I don't really have the room really. Maybe someday....
I mainly use my PC for emulation of all of my pre-HD consoles. It's a lot less hassle in the end when you can easily play imports, backup copies, ROM hacks, translations, and don't have to switch systems hookups back and forth all the time. I still buy and collect games for certain systems though, I just end up ripping the disc to my HDD though.
Id love to only play on original hardware, but like most of yall that is just not possible. As dunpeal2064 so eloquently stated, sometimes emulation is better. For example some emulators, like Retroarch, added a Braid/Sands of Time like Rewind function to many emulators. It makes for some interesting situations in games where you can experiment in doing things you normally would not.
Im about 50/50, I play on consoles when other people are over and want to play games, but when it is just me I emulate. It is just easier for me to lay on the couch and run the game on my laptop or Wii. No fiddling, just gaming.
I prefer to play everything on original hardware, but with a modded Wii it is just too easy to play every NES, SNES, Genesis, Master System, GB, GBA, etc. game in practically perfect emulation, comfortably sitting on the couch, for free. N64 emulation on Wii straight up sucks though. Unplayable mostly. Some of the other system emulation doesn't work as well either like the Atari systems and such.
