Why does emulation garner so much hate?

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Ken1
Posts: 345
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Why does emulation garner so much hate?

Postby Ken1 » June 12th, 2014, 2:30 pm

I always hear people complain, frown, and just generally put down any type of video game emulation, why?

Sut1
Posts: 789
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Why does emulation garner so much hate?

Postby Sut1 » June 12th, 2014, 3:34 pm

I'm not sure, if it wasn't for emulation I wouldn't have got into 'true' retro gaming. It sparked my interest in playing games from my youth also the games I missed. It probably took me a year of emulation gaming to progress into buying retro systems and playing the real thing.

pacguy191
Posts: 201
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Why does emulation garner so much hate?

Postby pacguy191 » June 12th, 2014, 3:43 pm

It's inaccurate at times, but it's helpful. When I'm modding stuff or doing homebrew I use emulators to get a rough idea of how it'll look on a real console. Most of the time it's "good enough" to play through a game with.

Gentlegamer1
Posts: 687
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Why does emulation garner so much hate?

Postby Gentlegamer1 » June 12th, 2014, 3:47 pm

There's two basic objections: that is illegal copyright infringement (piracy), and inauthentic.

My view on copyright is very liberal, and I think there is nothing ethically wrong with copying software for long depreciated hardware platforms, many of which whose patents have expired.

As for accuracy and authenticity, I understand this, and it is why I enjoy owning the original systems and games for the most part. But related to the first point, emulation and use of ROM images helps preserve games beyond the life of their physical media. And in most cases, emulation for the systems, even if not 100% accurate or achieved through hacks, is still "good enough" to play, enjoy, and experience the original, often with improvements like scalers for HD output, save states, online network play, and so on.

Vexer1
Posts: 883
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Why does emulation garner so much hate?

Postby Vexer1 » June 12th, 2014, 4:33 pm

Emulation is pretty much necessary if you want to play games that normally go for truly ridiculous prices like say Spider-Man: Web Of Fire for the 32X.

Rev1
Posts: 1777
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Why does emulation garner so much hate?

Postby Rev1 » June 12th, 2014, 6:37 pm

I can see why emulation might get a bad wrap for current consoles but for games that are no longer for sale I see no problem with it.

weallmissedme1
Posts: 397
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Why does emulation garner so much hate?

Postby weallmissedme1 » June 12th, 2014, 6:40 pm

The emulators themselves are legal for systems for which the patents have worn off on. However, games are copyrighted, and copying them is also illegal. It doesn't matter whether you don't see it being bad or not. For example, I never saw why I had to have a class III license to purchase my Glock 18, it does NOT mean I could purchase one with a Standard Arms license because I saw nothing wrong with it. And it was made in 2003, and the manufacturer no longer makes that model, and they don't make money off of the resale. It didn't mean I could just buy it for the hell of it! The law is the law. Just because you don't see why it's wrong, doesn't mean it isn't. I don't like that we here in Maryland have to pay taxes on the frickin' RAIN (No, I'm not kidding, makes me want to put a circus tent over my property and tell them no rain fell on my property), but I have to.

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VideoGameCritic
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Why does emulation garner so much hate?

Postby VideoGameCritic » June 12th, 2014, 6:53 pm

To tell you the truth, I never hear anybody talk badly about emulation.

Vexer1
Posts: 883
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Why does emulation garner so much hate?

Postby Vexer1 » June 12th, 2014, 11:50 pm

Gun laws and copyright laws are COMPLETELY different ballgames, so comparing the two makes zero sense.

Dogtanian1
Posts: 83
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Why does emulation garner so much hate?

Postby Dogtanian1 » June 13th, 2014, 2:00 pm

I have used emulators in the past but never found them to really provide the level of experience I was after. If it's good enough for some people, then great. I am someone that wants to use the original hardware, and all of the little idiosyncrasies that involves is a big part of the enjoyment as far as I am concerned. I wouldn't consider myself to be as serious a collector as many, but I have been more than happy to spend what I consider a perfectly fair amount of money on getting the most authentic set up for the systems I love.

Personally emulation encouraged me to not truly appreciate the games I was playing. In theory it's fantastic that you can download the entire NES library in a matter of minutes and explore it until you find a game you like, but what actually happens is that you browse through them like TV channels. If you are playing Castlevania for the first time and die 10 times on a boss, why not just move on to another game?


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