The Game Emulation Route

I have seen and played games on emulation since 2001-02. Only in the last decade have I greatly embraced the concept in spite of still buying games. It's a way to play certain games you can't find or buy depending on the problem at hand. That being said, it's a slippery slope as despite the various systems that are covered, it also has plenty of hiccups.

Very few arcades exist and unless you're going to Illinois or Wisconsin for the famous arcades, you more than likely don't have an arcade or your selection is very poor no matter the good games. That's why MAME has been around for a very long time. So that you can play stuff you remember or never had a chance to try. Especially as arcade hardware starts to dwindle in working condition. Being able to play The Simpsons on emulation was nice with a college friend and myself.

Console wise, it adds a whole new depth of what there was to offer. For one, you get to see games from other parts of the world. Stuff that either should have released in other parts or shouldn't have. There may also be games that you may have missed out on when they were out. I have a few stories like that which I will get into in another blog soon. But overall, with the vast amount of systems, the world's your oyster.

It's not without it's flaws, though. Obviously, it's not replicating the hardware all the way. A number of arcade games suffer from sound issues. Glitches are present in the graphics of certain systems titles, especially ones like the Nintendo 64. Systems like the 3DO don't get a lot of love from the emulation community and the result is less than stellar. We also see multiple emulators for a single system and the results vary. The SNES is a prime example with at least three that have their ups and downs. Last to talk about is whether these emulators will continue to work as we move further into the future and see future operating systems with much better specs.

Now, I can't say I'll recommend emulation, but it is route that can be taken. Just a word of caution as not everything will work properly.