Lunchtime Discussion: Emulators
How do you feel when playing classic games on an emulator?Published 23/11/2009 at 12:15 by nofi
Lunchtime Discussion: Board Games [36]
Lunchtime Discussion: AI [35]
Lunchtime Discussion: Advertising [35]
As regular readers will know, I’m nearly 80 and like nothing more than dragging out the ol’ Spectrum 48k and having a blast with some classic 2D platformers like Everyone’s a Wally, Dynamite Dan and Rollercoaster. It’s a pain, though, to have to sit through 5 minutes of whirring and chirping as the Speccy does its magic, so most of the time I’ll play said games on an emulator.
So, with our recent Lunchtime Discussion on Piracy reaching 250 comments, let’s take a different route on a similar subject: games that have been out for around 25 years surely aren’t still making money for the publisher, even if they still own the rights to the IPs (Codemasters, Rare et al), so should we feel guilty about playing these games having downloaded them?
Certain sites, like WorldOfSpectrum, remove titles from their download database if the author or publisher asserts their rights to the games in question, but some of the classics from Ultimate, such as Knight Lore and Alien8, are still ‘found’ on the internet and downloadable, and at 48k unzipped don’t exactly tax your bandwidth either. Should we feel guilty about this?
Have you downloaded copyrighted ‘classic’ 8-bit games for the Spectrum and Commodore 64, even ones you actually own on cassette, and how do you feel about it?
Comments
Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.« Previous 1 2
« Previous 1 2
colmshan1990 | 23/11/2009 15:45
Member
1106 TSA Points | Member since: Apr 2009
I have (and play) Pokemon Red on my mobile phone. An awesome game, if a bit childish now. But, then again, I’m only 19! I have it somewhere on Gameboy as well, but that’s, well, somewhere…
iNsAnE_gAmInG | 23/11/2009 16:10
* Banned *
-1930 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
Playing classics on emulators does not provide an experience that can mimick the good old gaming memories you have and therefore it is worth getting the Spectrum or whatever out and enjoying the more authentic and ‘proper’ experience. I only feel bad about emulators because I am damaging the positive impacts the games had on me and also damaging the optimistic way I can remember them.
jacklum | 23/11/2009 16:52
Member
990 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
One ‘proper’ experience I remember is trying for 3 hrs at a time to try and get Gunfright to load on the MSX. Most temperamental game I ever had – it would only load properly once every 25-30 attempts and when it did, we’d leave it on for hours at a time as we were never sure when we’d get to play it again.
iNsAnE_gAmInG | 23/11/2009 20:06
* Banned *
-1930 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
That does seem quite irritating I will admit. However it keeps the memories alive and makes it more fun when you actually get it working (well, not fun enough to warrant 25 attempts just for some retro action of course)
jacklum | 23/11/2009 16:45
Member
990 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
Emulators are great. They take the hassle out of long loading times and disk swapping, you can quick save anywhere and you can even speed up games that were too slow to begin with. Matchday 2 on the C64 ran at a snails pace, but emulate it at twice the speed and suddenly it’s one of the best footy games on the system. Yay!
pawski | 24/11/2009 09:09
Member
194 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2009
matchday 2 was freakin awesome, with its revolutionary diamond deflection system (dds) and actual real backheels! but by god it was so slow. must try the x2 speed thing, cheers!
deadwelsh | 23/11/2009 16:52
Member
321 TSA Points | Member since: Jun 2009
I am not the most technically gifted and since the death of my pc some years back i now have trouble trying to get nay emulator software working.
Having said that i would love to play some of my old amiga games, notably Supercars 2, of which i have a ROM and emulator, but cannot get them working
On the whole legal side of things, i agree with some earlier posts of it’s fine to download if you have already paid for the original, and if its no longer available, then why shouldn’t we be able to play some lost gems. In the end it will only make people realise what great games were available and spur more developers to get their acts together and get some decent games out rather than rehashed tosh
BadBoyBoogie | 23/11/2009 17:28
Let There Be Rock
2689 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
I once downloaded a C64 emulator, probably about 5 years ago, but it didn’t work very well so I deleted it!! I never play games on my PC anymore now anyway, so I just hope that some of the ‘classics’ get released on the PSN, preferably with an HD upgrade!!
jacklum | 23/11/2009 17:36
Member
990 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
Doubtful that they’d come out on the PSN. I think there are still some C64 games coming out on the Wii’s Virtual Console, but it’s a pretty limited amount.
mynameisblair | 23/11/2009 18:06
Member
3876 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
I would only emulate if I own or have owned the game at some point, unless its a really old game.
lynandal | 23/11/2009 19:06
Member
7 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2009
well, I have brought hundreds of games on several consoles, I own the games still now, but they don’t play anymore, however I can still play them with an emulator, and have the added benefit of having them run faster or having them look better (creeds – supereagle engine).
I think its a good think, you can’t download PS2 games to play or anything – but as none of my snes games work anymore – they still cost money. i say go for it.
jaksmakndaxter | 23/11/2009 19:54
Member
130 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
I use emulators alot, with no shame. I spend my time with Arcade emulators,mostly,but am not opposed to one for NES or any older systems. I don’t feel bad about it at all,either, and I’ll explain why: 1st off, to go out and search for physical copies is a tiresome affair. 2nd I don’t feel I’m taking money from either of these companies,because they don’t manufacture the games and systems I emulate anymore. Furthermore,how can these companies claim that those who emulate are taking money from them? If their not thinking about making money off these game on their own,why get inspiration from somebody who just wants to enjoy what a certain company contributed to gaming history? Sounds like preservation to me,but that’s just my opinion. I do not support those who aim to make a profit off systems and games still being manufactured,but there is no reason to be angry with somebody who makes it so the huddled masses can experience games that were previously out of reach.
davidjmclare | 23/11/2009 20:04
always on easy
1094 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
dont really like emulators, the feel of a sega master system controller kicks ass and a qwerty keyboard is a bit rubbish
TctclMvPhase | 23/11/2009 22:09
Member
818 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2008
I do prefer to use the original system, because emulation is rarely perfect even on the older games. I think the one major exception would be MAME. Custom designing a MAME cabinet was one of the best things I have ever done and being able to fit the control spacing just right and pick out all the parts made up for the sometimes sub-par emulation.