Emulators or Original Consoles?

[Rob]

I was rummaging through my garage last night and I came across my NES and N64 in a box with all the cords and controllers needed to hook them up. I was thinking about hooking them up but ended up burying the boxes further into the dark corner of my garage. I have a usb controller for my pc and emulators run fine and are freely available on the web. Does anyone else bother hooking up their old consoles anymore? If it doesn't use hdmi/component/vga/dvi then I don't plug it into my tv. :)

[Lance]

Yeah, see I'm the same way, but unfortunately I don't have my N64 anymore or I would hook it up, since computer controls for the 64 controller tend to suck.

[MyNameDidntFit]

If I had any old consoles, I'd hook them up.

If I had a controller, I'd use emulators.

As it stands I have neither, so I just don't get my retro fix :( which is OK by me, being only 17 retro stuff isn't exactly something I get nostalgic about -- but don't take that the wrong way, I love SNES and N64 :D

[Rob]

MNDF you can pick up a cheap logitech controller for $10usd on amazon. Logitech Precision Gamepad
There are better controllers that top out around $25usd that add dual analog sticks and vibration but those don't really benefit anyone using emulators for older systems.

Brett I generally avoid the N64 because the controller makes my head hurt. I remember how fun it was when I got it but now it's kind of boring. I mainly emulate SNES and NES for all the classics.

[MyNameDidntFit]

We'll see. My computer-related budget is going to be heavily in the red over the next month or two due to the epicissity of so many good games, but I may pick one up in the future.

[Jason]

I have to say, my desire to play retro games isn't as strong as it used to be. For anything pre-playstation I'll use an emulator, but on the odd occasion I want to play the N64 (Mario Party for when friends are round), I'll break it out of the cupboard. I just wish controllers weren't so hard to find. :-/

[MyNameDidntFit]

Possibly because the thumbsticks are so prone to wear that everyone that still plays N64 has gone through at least 18 :p

[Konrad]

I generally use my PC for emulation, though I spend a long time using my PSP as a gameboy almost exclusively. For the most part though, I don't do retro. Like MNDF, im a bit too young.

[Tiny Cy]

Is it bad that i still have my megadrive hooked up?I would like to get a system like my friends man,he has the ps3,xbox,Wii,Snes and I think some other Saga contraption all hooked up to one tv.:D..Ive got an overwhelming desire to play Earthworm Jim on the sega.eeee.

[Daggers]

Cool thread!

I love my retro gaming, back home I have my old Nintendo consoles, here I have my 360 and my old gameboy colour.

Recently I've been really fighting the urge to get stuck into Ocarina of Time or play some Mario Kart or Lylat Wars again, but alas, my consoles are far away and to me, nothing beats playing on the original consoles. I've played emulators before but it's not the same. I guess the fact I've never really been a PC gamer puts me off slightly.

On another note, there's an awesome retro gaming shop opened up near me. Does anyone else have an independant shop like this in their town? It's brilliant :D Now if only I had my darn consoles I could buy games for them...

[happysister]

the only reasons i emulate games are either...

1. play games with friends online
2. to test a game before buying
3. play imports that i wouldn't be able to play otherwise
4. play games for older systems that i can't access anymore

honestly though, i try to make a point to buy games that i like. i still have the old SNES that i bought when i was a kid. it was the very first game system i bought with my own money. and it still works too. the only think keeping me from playing it now, is that i lost the cables, controllers, and two thirds of my game collection for that system during a move. also if my old Playstation wasn't broken and i actually had controllers for it, you better believe i'd be breaking out Crash Team Racing and Spyro every now and then. heck, the only reason i got rid of my 20+ NES games was because my old NES broke. i miss those games sooooo much. >_<

i do have emulators to play those games when i get really hungry for them, but it's just not the same as playing it on a real console. it feels more artificial when i play it on my computer.

thankfully though, my Sega Saturn and PS2 are still kicking (and strangely enough, both of those are Japanese models, go figure), so when i desire a game for one of those systems, i just buy the games instead of emulate them.

EDIT: if there was a retro gaming shop near me, my name would have to be changed to extremelyhappysister. alas though, nothing that epic is found around here.

[Daggers]

Yeah its a pretty awesome shop, the only thing is they dont seem to have stock for very long, not highly sought after stuff anyway. The number of times I've been in trying to buy an N64 or Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons and been told "We had one but sold it a couple days ago"...if I had a penny for every time thats happened...

[happysister]

they don't try to rip you off, do they? like, the games they sell have all been tested and work?

[Daggers]

they don't try to rip you off, do they? like, the games they sell have all been tested and work?

Yep fairly certain they are fine, I bought my gameboy colour from there earlier in the year and its great.

The owners are just a bunch of like-minded nerds and I honestly don't think they would sell stuff if it wasn't fully tested.

The shop is called Otakuzoku which actually means "A Group of Geeks" in Japanese XD

[happysister]

friggin' win. if i had one of those near me, i would probably be their biggest customer. until i go bankrupt.

[Daggers]

friggin' win. if i had one of those near me, i would probably be their biggest customer. until i go bankrupt.

Hah, I should probably not tell you that they have shelves full of anime and manga aswell then :P

[happysister]

i could live in a store like that. just throw a cot in the corner for me. it'd be cheaper than driving back and forth from the store to the house. then i could buy more stuff. XD

Otakuzoku is already an epic place, but if they sold arcade cabinets, that would about kill me.

[Daggers]

i could live in a store like that. just throw a cot in the corner for me. it'd be cheaper than driving back and forth from the store to the house. then i could buy more stuff. XD

Otakuzoku is already an epic place, but if they sold arcade cabinets, that would about kill me.

Actually...now you mention it they did/do have one...

[happysister]

*slams fist on her desk*

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

why are there no cool gaming stores around here?! >_< all i have is GameStop. D: though there's Walmart and Best Buy too.

[Daggers]

I actually think its become a niche and unconquered market.

GAME and Gamestation used to sell retro consoles but no longer. There are no chains that do it and an independant store is rare to come across.

I suppose like, the stock is most defintely hard to come by and therefore quite a risky venture. You also need to make sure you have the customer base for it.

[Jason]

GAME and Gamestation used to sell retro consoles but no longer.

That must be a 'store by store' policy, because I know for a fact that the Gamestation near me sells retro consoles, games, controllers... all sorts.

[Daggers]

That must be a 'store by store' policy, because I know for a fact that the Gamestation near me sells retro consoles, games, controllers... all sorts.

Hmm, neither the one in my home town or the one in Cardiff sells them anymore. :/

[Jason]

I suppose a lot of it would be supply and demand - they can't sell what they don't have, so if they're not getting any in, they can't sell them.

[happysister]

yeah true. it's not cool when people dump their old consoles off and no one buys them off you.