Is there a place for emulation anymore? No ROMZ here!!

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08.27.2018 6:43pm

Thread Creator

Plumbum
Yes, what of it?

I was reading an article on Retronauts a few days ago about how Nintendo is at it again getting rom sites to close down. I got annoyed like I would have as a teenager, but upon thinking about it more, is there still a place for emulation? We have console online stores, GOG, Steam, tons of collections, and mini console releases. Do you see a place still for the emulators out there? Or are they an abandoned thing of the past?

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08.28.2018 6:04pm

The Hulk
Good Boy

Certainly is, for the most part it is only the hugely popular titles that get released again on modern platforms, so there's hundreds and thousands of "forgotten" stuff out there that people couldn't otherwise access easily without emulation. Plus it doesn't have to mean retro anyway, I think people were playing Breath of the Wild with huge graphical improvements via Switch emulation almost straight away after release.

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08.28.2018 11:25pm

vinnyvalentino
Hyperion Master

I second what The Hulk says about the fact that huge parts of old libraries haven't been released. I personally have enjoyed a number of rom-hacks for games like Mario and Super Metroid, something that to my knowledge, isn't possible even if the games have been rereleased digitally on some current console.

And that, as they say, is that.

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08.30.2018 2:44am

Inquisitor
Jericholic V2.0

Count me as another person who thinks there is still a place for emulation. I own tons of old consoles but one of my longer term projects is to build an emulation machine that can play games up to the PS360 era. Not everything is available all the time digitally, and as I have started collecting older games in preparation for the Games as a Service future, I find older games is where I want to spend my time. Why not try to make playing them the best experience possible? As someone with a full time job, wife, and child I don't have tons of time to play all the time. Being able to use save states rather than leaving a PS2 on if I am playing a game that requires save points that are sometimes hours apart is a huge benefit to someone like me.

Case in point, I don't see the Xenosaga remake or re-release coming anytime soon. I have only played the first game in that series, but have always wanted to play through it to completion. I know there are stretches in that game where it's difficult to find a save point. And there's tons of cutscenes. Being able to emulate it and use save states would make it much more likely I will play the series before I retire and actually have the time to commit to a game like that.

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08.30.2018 4:00pm

Rhaegar
World Warrior 21007

Not only do I think there is still a place for emulation, I think there is a moral imperative for it. Think of how many games other than the AAA stuff publishers milk and whore that would be completely lost if not for emulation. Preserving those titles is important.

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10.01.2018 7:35pm

Thread Creator

Plumbum
Yes, what of it?

Another one of the things I worry about is who is going to update these programs to keep working. If the "collections" had screencapping options of the emulators, I'd have no problem, but most of them don't.

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