What Do You Use Your Emulators For?

[jbrodack]

Do you only play the classics you loved in the past? Try to play games said to be classic that you missed out on? Try to find the best obscure games you couldn't have ever hoped to actually own. Play "new to you" old school games. hacked versions of your favorite games? some super mario world hacks are great. translations of games never released in english? note: live a live v2 deluxe translation recently came out. check out aeon genesis for details. how about homebrew roms? I find it interesting seeing new games for very outdated hardware like c64 and atari2600. some atari homebrew beats out anything officially made by a longshot.

I play the classics sometimes but i play a lot of more obscure games. with temper ive been finding a lot of awsome shmups and other great games for pc engine. I didn't own the system so its mostly new to me yet still high quality. same for genesis. I used to argue snes over genesis when i was young but I'm seeing both have awesome games. hacks are great. super mario world like i mentioned has countless great hacks. some cool nes hacks like ones for castlevania.

so basically do you use emulators more to relive the past or catch up on what you missed out on/ experience new things? most seem to relive the past but I find it exciting to dig deeper and look at the huge amount of quality games released for all these consoles that I never tried when these systems were released.

 

[doc5avage]

emulation

 

[slaanesh]

I look for new games that I never played i the past. This includes discovering new consoles and new games. I'm looking at SNES at the moment - trying to find interesting Japanese Super Famicom games. There are so many unexplored games out there!

Some nice games (J) and (U) games I've discovered are:

Aerobiz
Assault Suits Valken
The Firemen
Gundam Wing Endless Duel
Choujikuu Yousai Macross - Scrambled Valkyrie Macross
Pop 'n Twinbee
Tetris Battle Gaiden

Same with NES which I've been getting into lately. I never had NES or SNES or even knew anyone who did. I only ever saw them playing in the shops.

 

[doc5avage]

Sorry about the stupid remark earlier.

Seriously,
Not too much different than slaanesh. I am very poor at focusing and completing tasks. This has spilled over to my gaming. I have been playing lots of games over the years, slowly advancing in them, often losing my save game between playing. I never owned a snes, nes, genesis, master system until recently. Growing up the only games I really got into were streets of rage 2, alex kidd, altered beast, golden axe, super mario bros, tetris, pokemon. Most were owned by friends. Pokemon was the first game I played exclusively emulated.

Now days, I am still trying to increase my skills in these games. Just yesterday I finally beast Streets of Rage 2, multiplayer with my brother (wifi psp).
I am also trying new games that people suggest to me. (Silent Hill, Chrono Trigger+Cross, and more)

So the answer to your question is both. Nostalgia, and new (to me) games.

 

[zacaj]

I play the games I didn't play before(All of them)

 

[Null]

Do you play the classics you loved in the past? Try to play games said to be classic that you missed out on? Try to find the best obscure games you couldn't have ever hoped to actually own. Play "new to you" old school games. hacked versions of your favorite games? some super mario world hacks are great. translations of games never released in english?

All of the above.

 

[ledow]

Do you only play the classics you loved in the past?

Not only, but mainly. The fact that you can now play a lot of games with save support that wasn't in the original is a big plus. I don't "cheat" by saving every two seconds and reloading if I mess up but I hate that you have to keep redoing levels that you've already completed. And I get to show people the games I used to play ("remember this?") and when I have kids, I'll show them the games from the time when gameplay trumped graphics any day, without having to be gorily violent, or have internet multiplay.

Try to play games said to be classic that you missed out on?

Not usually. I tend to find that they are usually quite a let down. The fun of emulation is mainly in reliving old memories. Quite often even the games you remember don't live up to your memories of them!

Having said that, I have found a lot of "quickie" games that I enjoy. Bank Panic (MAME) is fun, Champion Baseball/10 Yard Fight (both MAME) are okay for a mess-around. Logic Pro / Logic Pro 2 (MAME) are a god-send for a puzzle fan like myself. Joust (MAME) is good fun, though, and if you have mouse control Quantum (MAME) is great fun.

There's a couple of SNES games that I don't mind picking up for a minute or too but mainly I play ones that I know. My ROM's list is basically "games I've owned" plus one or two other little bits.

Try to find the best obscure games you couldn't have ever hoped to actually own.

Yes- Final Fight (still lives up to it's reputation), Wonderboy (a massive disappointment now that I've been able to play it at will), Spy Hunter (same, it really needs a proper controller too), Space Harrier (same). Although some games are still fun (TMNT, Operation Wolf, APB, Dragonninja, etc.)

Play "new to you" old school games. hacked versions of your favorite games? some super mario world hacks are great. translations of games never released in english? note: live a live v2 deluxe translation recently came out. check out aeon genesis for details.

Nope. Never. Can't stand "hacks", the ones I've played are usually very poor, or just more of the same. Can't stand most Japanese games at all, can't stand "translations", don't like anything with too much text (it means I have to READ... :lol: ). They're just not games to me. Games are something you do to keep yourself occupied for a few minutes.

how about homebrew roms? I find it interesting seeing new games for very outdated hardware like c64 and atari2600. some atari homebrew beats out anything officially made by a longshot.

Nope. Never. But I admire the effort. Programming games for old systems is much harder than just whacking something through GCC and letting the CPU brute-force it's way through the program.

The main reason I emulate is really convenience - For the most part, I have the systems, I have the cartridges/tapes, I have the leads, I have the controllers, they all work but it's just more convenient to have one system to run them all. Even back as a kid, I always thought that the best idea would be for someone to make an official console that played any cartridge for a modern system. It never really happened, certainly not officially, but emulation makes it happen.

 

[Prophet]

Play "new to you" old school games. hacked versions of your favorite games? some super mario world hacks are great. translations of games never released in english? note: live a live v2 deluxe translation recently came out. check out aeon genesis for details.

Nope. Never. Can't stand "hacks", the ones I've played are usually very poor, or just more of the same.

Depends on what hacks you play. Some are quite amazing.

For example:

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/171/

It's like having a whole new Sonic game.

And there are lots of great Japanese games that have been translated... but I guess if you don't like text oriented games (i.e. RPG's) they won't interest you much. But there are many.

 

[palmertech]

Wait a sec... You mean you guys are playing games that you did not dump from your own cart? Even worse, it seems you are playing games you do not even own! All you pirates should go to jail, the lot of 'ya! :lol:

 

[Null]

Wait a sec... You mean you guys are playing games that you did not dump from your own cart? Even worse, it seems you are playing games you do not even own! All you pirates should go to jail, the lot of 'ya! :lol:

 

[euro48k]

same as slaaneesh ..
pocket is full of games from my poor coin-op childhood
it seems they are easier to beat these days
Konami's "M.I.A." (Missing In Action) for mame4all is child play
and there are more ..

 

[mindlord]

I emulate for a myriad of reasons. Nostalgia being the main one, followed closely by old games that are new to me.

But sometimes I emulate to get a feel for what the old salts went through. I installed OS9 on a Coco III using MESS. I setup an Amiga emulator with the latest workbench from scratch and figured out how to the the browser working. Stuff like that.

I also look the the old games for inspiration. To see how the masters did it, and apply those principles to games that I write.

But the pocketable arcade? Who can pass that up?

 

[cd78]

I adore playing all the old Megadrive/mastersystem games i used to own. Playing all my fave amiga games.

And prob best of all playing all the Coin-ops i used to spend a fortune on when i was a kid - TMHT, SFII, Simpsons, AvP, Time Soldier, the list goes on...awesome! B)

Also discovering all the obscure Jap games that we didnt get a sniff of here in the UK ^_^