What do you think of emulation?

This is a subject that has been debated back and forth among game fans for years, so let's see what everyone here thinks about it. Do you approve or disapprove of video game emulation? Is there ever a case when emulation is okay or should be strictly avoided? In the early days of video game emulation, only "dead" systems that had been out of circulation for years were emulated. More recently, emulation has begun for systems that are still active, like the PlayStation 2. I've heard the GBA was even emulated before the system was in widespread release, though I don't know how that would happen.

Personally I don't see a problem with playing old games through emulation. It doesn't hurt anyone, especially when you're looking at an game that isn't sold anymore. I wouldn't use emulation to play something that is widely available on a current console I own, however.

90% of my gaming is by emulation. There are hundreds of reasons that emulation can be better than the original system. Too many for me to make a list. If you've explored all the possibilities that emulation can bring then you understand... But just to name two major reasons: Graphics look much better, especially with 3D games, and playing Non-Internet systems over the internet, and also play 1Player games with 2-4 Players. I wish there were peole who played the Phantasy Star classic games online. A lot of people play Super Mario RPG on zbattle.net though....Zbattle.net is awesome, btw.

However... I ALWAYS have an original hard copy of a game before I emulate it, or else I just feel extremely ADHD with it, no matter how good it is. Plus, have a hard copy allows it to grow on you better, IMO.

Plus, the developers deserve the money. Of course, for games that can only be bought on eBay this no longer applies since only the seller gets that money, not the developers.

Plus a lot of older games fan communities such as this would be a lot less populated without emulation

Lol, whats emulation?

Emulation, that's playing games on a system they weren't designed to be played on. Like playing PS4 on your computer using a ROM. Some game companies use it to make collections of classic games (Sega's Smash Packs, Nintendo's Virtual Console).

I dislike emulation of active systems, unless I have the system and I'm playing with a real game or a game not widely available. Like those released only in Japan; if I bought those, it would be second hand. The developers aren't losing anything there.

Hmm, never heard of that before, the most I've seen is watching DVDs on PS or Xbox, and special connections that allow you to play Genesis with other system controllers.

Allright, opinion time.

I personally enjoy the Emulators out there. I used to have the ZSNES one, but now I can't find the games easily enough.

However, I can see the issue with them, mainly companies losing cash over it and they're illegal and whatnot. And there is a loophole of sorts: Sign up for Gametap.

Or if you're like me and you don't want to pay just to play some NES games, and don't want to worry about legal crap, try Console Classix. They offer their selection of NES and Atari games for free (With a free account, of course), and $5 for a monthly subscription for the other stuff (SNES, Genesis, Gameboy, Sega Master System). Sorry if it sounds like a promotion, I just really like the thing. XD

My opinion is a little mixed on emulation. I agree that it's not *immoral* to download/emulate games that are no longer available for purchase (it is *illegal* though). So yeah, I've downloaded and played a lot of ROMs on emulators. The caveat is that I also buy nearly every published collection of old games (i.e. Sega Smash Pack, Sega Genesis Collection for PS2). I probably have 20+ of these legal collections.

Emulation was essential for creating the Complete Guide to Phantasy Star III (and many other sites/articles I've worked on). There's no way I could have made all those maps and enemy pics on a regular Genesis. Forget how to run the image onto the PC - playing at the regular frame rate would have been too painful.

So in general I think emulation is fine. On the other hand, I work as a software developer and am generally opposed to piracy. I know most folks who download ROMs aren't buying them when they're legally available again. To that extent I don't have any problem with publishers trying to shut down ROM sites, it's their legal right to do so.

Seeing how you cant get old sega games anymore, I dont see the big tadoo about downloading roms and emulators. I agree it shouldnt be used for current games, but really, where are you going to get Phantasy Star 2 or D&D Warriors of the Eternal Sun?

Now selling games on Ebay, shouldnt that be worse? I mean reselling the game as opposed to downloading, whats the diff? The game company isnt getting anything on either.

And yes I have my own library of games.