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Thank You, Emulation

I remember discovering emulators with Callus. Had no idea emulators were a thing before 1998.

Back then i would have killed to have room for a real Strider arcade cabinet and learning i could play a 100% perfect version on my weak ass PC blew my mind. That and all CPS1 games, it was like my wildest dreams came true.

Callus is still the only emulator that can emulate CPS1 SF2 perfectly. But it is closed source and there is no contact info of the programmer that figured it out.
 
I was with someone recently and he passed me his phone to play something. It was Tekken 1. It was more of a nostalgia trip since touch controls aren't good. But I still liked the idea I can play old console games on a phone.
 
Dolphin's the only emulator I've ever really played with, and it is indeed awesome. Was playing Kirby Air Ride and Smash Bros Melee in HD with my brother. Brought back a ton of memories.

I really need to get to ripping my whole collection instead of just the two haha.
 
Original hardware on their original display type > pretty much anything...but emulation has probably allowed more people to play more games (especially the lost or hard-to-find greats) from more countries and times than anything else.

I'm glad it exists; I store my classic collection away and when I feel that itch to visit the old-school, it's easy to jump in.
 
I think it's a huge failure for the official publishers and platform holders if unofficial emulation is still the go-to method of going back to old games. In particular it's a failure for Virtual Console. Well really it's just a failure of Nintendo's online store front end. Nintendo actually got aggressive with VC on the NX and made that system's online storefront as quick as something from this decade it could be huge for classic games. If NX is indeed that hybrid tablet thing, imagine being able to quickly download Super Mario Kart on there and quickly hook it up to a TV or play it on the go?

The Japanese companies that are the gatekeepers for all these old console games need to realize they need to make official digital distribution more convenient than unofficial emulation in order to win. SEGA at least tries I guess. If one of them put up some kind of official RetroArch equivalent that had even half of RetroArch's functionality but without as much pain in setting it up I'd be down for it. What old console ROMs need is a GOG -- a group that can convince the likes of SEGA, Konami, Capcom, Square Enix, SNK, and whoever else to sell DRM-free ROMs with extra goodies (like scanned instruction manuals) and then offer their own official emulator that plays in either a browser or an app.
 
I had some of my old consoles hooked up for quite a while, but a few years ago I decided to stop fighting father time and embrace emulation fully. I have nearly every game I ever owned backed up on my PC.

I even went through the trouble of backing up all my old game saves to my PC (that were possible). Even though I'll probably never go back to most of those games it's nice to know that my progress will be preserved forever and those thousands of hours I spent won't be lost once the cartridge batteries die out.
 
I'd rather play PS1 and PS2 games on my CRT in native res TBH. They just look "right" in 240p, the authentic scanlines help the visuals greatly IMO, better than any scanline filters out there that I've seen.

But yeah, GC and Wii games do look and play mighty fine in Dolphin!
captmcblack said:
Original hardware on their original display type > pretty much anything...but emulation has probably allowed more people to play more games (especially the lost or hard-to-find greats) from more countries and times than anything else.

I disagree on the basis that I find it very difficult to go back to shit image quality knowing how much better the games can look when properly configured.

Here, have some Silent Hill running on PCSXR-PGXP with widescreen hack, no wobbly polygons, a dot matrix filter and (not pictured) 60 fps hack.

pcsxr-pgxp2016-08-130rha1l.png

Game looks ridiculously good in motion, IMO.
 
What what what is this now?!

Also this is awesome. I got so happy reading this post. So many classic games to play with a new generation! Lucky cousin you have.

You can play Goldeneye and Perfect Dark in 60 fps with it, and also with mouse control, it's pretty sweet.

Yup :)

He loved videogames even without me though, so we just enjoy it together.

I move around a lot for work and stuff so when we get together we go all out on the vidyagarms.
 
I disagree on the basis that I find it very difficult to go back to shit image quality knowing how much better the games can look when properly configured.

Here, have some Silent Hill running on PCSXR-PGXP with widescreen hack, no wobbly polygons, a dot matrix filter and (not pictured) 60 fps hack.






Game looks ridiculously good in motion, IMO.

Throw some component cables on a ps2, and ps1 games still look pretty good imo. Granted that's on a crt but still.

Im one of those guys that thinks a RGB modded NES /Turbographx, or systems 16 - 128 still look better via component on a crt, but I'm glad people are still going in on classics. There's still a certain something about playing a game on original hardware with its controller yet getting the best video output.
 
I think it's a huge failure for the official publishers and platform holders if unofficial emulation is still the go-to method of going back to old games. In particular it's a failure for Virtual Console. Well really it's just a failure of Nintendo's online store front end. Nintendo actually got aggressive with VC on the NX and made that system's online storefront as quick as something from this decade it could be huge for classic games. If NX is indeed that hybrid tablet thing, imagine being able to quickly download Super Mario Kart on there and quickly hook it up to a TV or play it on the go?

The Japanese companies that are the gatekeepers for all these old console games need to realize they need to make official digital distribution more convenient than unofficial emulation in order to win. SEGA at least tries I guess. If one of them put up some kind of official RetroArch equivalent that had even half of RetroArch's functionality but without as much pain in setting it up I'd be down for it. What old console ROMs need is a GOG -- a group that can convince the likes of SEGA, Konami, Capcom, Square Enix, SNK, and whoever else to sell DRM-free ROMs with extra goodies (like scanned instruction manuals) and then offer their own official emulator that plays in either a browser or an app.

I don't think it's universally a bad thing. In some ways it's extremely hard to determine ownership and whatever and make deals for things people have forgotten about or moved on from so long ago from the business side of things.

Conversely just as a purpose of library preservation it gives hard drive storage and emulation a key role in giving us that accessibility that wouldn't exist otherwise. It probably would be more ideal to have had all of this stuff planned for years ago, but in a way it's good that when that didn't happen, the communities like Redump.org and whatever else that do preservation projects have really protected this accessibility where there wouldn't be before. It's not perfect, but without emulation I wouldn't be able to share these games with my little cousins so easily.

I personally don't use RetroArch also as I find it rather unwieldy, but whatever is the workable option for a person that gives them access to the digital medium, that's the right way to go. Just as if one still has a PS2 or backwards compatible PS3 for those games, or a Wii and WiiU for Nintendo games, the backwards access really pays dividends in some ways when you want to go back into that portal.

Not an invitation to piracy of course. Even though in a practical sense it often does often go hand in hand with emulation and romsets and so on.

Btw playing Super Mario Kart was the best hearing him blame everything on the muddy visuals for him racing bad hahaha, brilliant :)

Forgot to play Mario Kart 64 with him actually. Soon, soon...
 
You can play Goldeneye and Perfect Dark in 60 fps with it, and also with mouse control, it's pretty sweet.

Yup :)

He loved videogames even without me though, so we just enjoy it together.

I move around a lot for work and stuff so when we get together we go all out on the vidyagarms.

Doing both is a nice balance, older stuff is a nice primer but you gotta let them work up to modern era.
 
Doing both is a nice balance, older stuff is a nice primer but you gotta let them work up to modern era.

Oh yea we play modern games and everything together too. He owns his own library of PS3 and PS4 games. He has like every version of FIFA known to mankind, and plenty of other games. His older brother bought him the Uncharted Collection and Just Cause 3 on top of his other 10+ PS4 games and he really likes those too.

We jump all over the place and he doesn't mind, he's a great kid, he'll enjoy anything as long as it's fun and he enjoys coop and multiplayer local too. He knows I'll play any games and know about lots of games in general so he'll ask me for recommendations to buy or to play together as well.

He plays Diablo 3 on his own I think and some other modern games. All my little cousins played Age of Empires II and Rise of Nations all on their own as well.

They play anything really. Timesplitters 2 was their go-to multiplayer game entirely without me when they were 8 years younger. They even had a multi-tap apparently haha.

It's actually funny this generation that is growing up with tablet and phone games, at least with my cousins, they are really open to playing anything, they get a wide spread and very variable experience with games on modern systems and including mobile themselves.
 
But what is it? Is this through Retroarch or something?

1964 is another standalone emulator for N64. Really old and not been worked on in a long time.

There is one version of it though that runs overclocked and just runs specifically games like Goldeneye and Perfect Dark with better FPS and not sped-up.

I think it works well with a few other games, but I don't remember which ones exactly atm. It also has a mouse injector, to use mouse control in both those games.

For N64 emulation I mainly use Mupen64/M64Py, which is probably the best overall N64 emulator, but it's just for those two games I use 1964 Pistolgrip/60fps so those 2 games run really smooth. 60 fps Goldeneye/PD gameplay in SP or MP is sweet.

Maybe it can be run through RetroArch I'm not sure, I don't use RetroArch.
 
I hate this comic. What's wrong with introducing videogames, films, and franchises to the youngin's that otherwise wouldn't know they exist?

Yeah, it's a really really stupid comic. A parent should be showing their kids things that they did enjoyed as a kid. I wasn't alive when Star Wars and batman TV series came out. I'm glad they showed them to me and got me hooked on them.
 
I prefer playing on on original devices, but help me God, I know I would not like Earthbound as much as I do if it weren't for emulation (N3DS one, to be exact).
 
But what is it? Is this through Retroarch or something?
Search for "1964 pistolgrip"

You can get 60fps with other emulators too but they go bonkers in splitscreen.

With pistolgrip you get non of that. It runs almost perfectly with 4 players splitscreen.
 
I hate how that comic assumes you have to beat children over the head to get them to enjoy something you enjoy.


Know how I got my daughters to play my old NES? I played it in front of them and I had fun. "What, he's enjoying this? Maybe I will too!"

In fact, originally I wasn't going to let either of them touch my NES but they begged me. Glad I did.
 
Didn't know that, what makes it better than other emulations ? Can't find much online and I'm curious

I read it from here:

http://mametesters.org/view.php?id=00408

In the SF2 games, the EEPROM (power on initialization) test is too fast. This occurs on any emulator that shares a similar CPU core (MAME, Finalburn, Kawaks). However, THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN ON CALLUS. The callus initialization is arcade exact. I have reset the arcade machine many times (mainly, to see which revision I was playing :>), so I am familiar with the speed of the test scrolling. Note: the EEPROM RESET speed is identical in WW, CE, and HF.

Now, before I get flamed for posting something insignificant, WHY DOES CALLUS HAVE THIS SPEED ARCADE PERFECT? And, isn't the goal of emulation to have everything accurately emulated 100% ?

If something like the eeprom test is wrong, who knows what else can be affected ? What if in fact, the CPS1 SF2 games actually ran at 10 mhz (instead of the 7-8 mhz that is "proper" for accurate play in SF2:HF), but whatever is causing the EEPROM speedup, is also somehow affecting the throttling code, and possibly forcing a SLOWER cpu ?
68k bug? Some unemulated code that needs to be looked into?

Of course, the EASY answer to this would be to ask Sardu, since he got it right. But Sardu isn't around anymore. In addition, the source for Callus isn't available. And what CPU core did Callus use ? is it a different one from the one MAME uses? Could that be a factor?
 
I totally forgot I even have arcade emulators on my computer. Lol.

Interesting about Callus, will look into that thanks.
Yeah, it's a really really stupid comic. A parent should be showing their kids things that they did enjoyed as a kid. I wasn't alive when Star Wars and batman TV series came out. I'm glad they showed them to me and got me hooked on them.

Nah it's just a joke. Don't worry about it.

Some people go pretty strong on that IRL sometimes though xD

My little broskis just love playing games :P
 
Original hardware on their original display type > pretty much anything...but emulation has probably allowed more people to play more games (especially the lost or hard-to-find greats) from more countries and times than anything else.

I'm glad it exists; I store my classic collection away and when I feel that itch to visit the old-school, it's easy to jump in.

In 2D games, maybe. 3D games though? Emulation > Original for me.
 
Emulation's great. Allowed me the feel of playing Goldeneye and Perfect Dark at 1080p and 60FPS with a mouse and keyboard.

Original hardware blows.
 
Original hardware on their original display type > pretty much anything...but emulation has probably allowed more people to play more games (especially the lost or hard-to-find greats) from more countries and times than anything else.

I'm glad it exists; I store my classic collection away and when I feel that itch to visit the old-school, it's easy to jump in.

I love playing my old consoles too. For sharing though, emulation can serve a really good purpose just for the sake of mobility.

In my little story here I traveled with my laptop to my cousin's house to play some games with him. So the only way to bring classic games on a trip like this in a practical sense is to bring them on one device. I brought my laptop, the charger for the laptop, and a DS4 with a USB wire (he had another one at his place of course).

I mean I could bring my SNES, WiiU, PS1, PS2, and so on and multiple consoles over, but not for one night, doesn't really work. Not practical at all. Or to travel to cottage or something wouldn't be practical.

This way I don't need to bring more controllers or consoles than the number of people that will be there, and we still get the choice of a vast library of games from multiple consoles.

Other days my cousins come to my place we use the original consoles and our HDTVs or CRTs, or emulation, any way they feel like using.

Sometimes I got three of the little buggers in my house so entertaining them requires multiple screens and multiple methods of delivering entertainment :P
 
Recently been playing through Goldeneye 64 using that modified emulator that runs it at 60fps with KB/M controls and it is glorious. Can make it look nicer too. Emulation rocks.
 
Emulation is awesome especially for those games that are either really expensive to get or were arcade games. Personally the only thing I emulate nowadays are GBA games.
 
I hate this comic. What's wrong with introducing videogames, films, and franchises to the youngin's that otherwise wouldn't know they exist?
Nevermind Disney's doing it's damnedest to do the former (and the mini NES is a nice way to throw a bunch of games at them and not worry about ruining your collection or screwing up and buying a bunch of crap.)
 
emulation is the shit I can play my favourite childhood games on a big ass tv with baller CRT shaders and get my fill. CRT's are cute and are fun for a while, but I'm not going to dedicate space in my house to tickle my nostalgia.

Not to mention new perspective corrections for consoles like the OG Playstation and Saturn which turn headache inducing texture implementations into pretty rad improvements.
 
I now want to see Mario Galaxy on a CRT because I in no way believe it will come close to looking as good as 4k Mario Galaxy. I'm all for oldschool vibes etc, but just no.
 
I now want to see Mario Galaxy on a CRT because I in no way believe it will come close to looking as good as 4k Mario Galaxy. I'm all for oldschool vibes etc, but just no.

It's definitely not nearly as sharp, but on a CRT a game can look smexy too.

Wii had pretty nice native rendering resolution for games.

Looks super on 2x+ native resolution too though. It can compete with WiiU games except in the quality of the effects and lighting.
 
Careful, OP. One day, you're just enjoying some games from your childhood with your cousin through emulation, the next you're modding an RGB-out into your NES so you can hook it up to your mid-1990s crt studio monitor that weighs a hundred pounds. You will know you're lost to the siren's call, but there'll be nothing you can do.

dude this is fucking truth.

Ive been heavily into emu... but ever since i got my CRT back... ive been looking to get all my nes/snes RGB'd (the samsung CRT has component ins even!)

Looking at a ton of money spent (i have to pick up chrono trigger and terranigma too)
 
I'm surprised a 13 year old had fun with some of those older titles, nice to know it's still possible.

Been getting back into emulation with the Vita opened up. Awesome playing retro games on it with the D-pad and screen.
 
I'm surprised a 13 year old had fun with some of those older titles, nice to know it's still possible.

Been getting back into emulation with the Vita opened up. Awesome playing retro games on it with the D-pad and screen.

What the hell? I need details! Glad I've seen this post.
 
Never forget in '98 when my sister showed me all the Atari games she had on her computer. Playing missle command and Star Wars with a mouse and keyboard blew my mind to bits. What a dark dark rabbit hole she led me into.
 
What the hell? I need details! Glad I've seen this post.

Vita needs to still be on 3.60
google Henkaku

(as long as this isnt pirating, as henkaku doesnt allow pirating... its okay to discuss here right?)

Its super easy and all done on the vita (its a browser-based "jailbreak")

allows for homebrew and emulation... thankfully i hadnt used my vita since SDCC so i didnt update it like i normally do (i havent been following the scene so ive always just updated my FW)

Still on 3.60 and just got Henkaku running... gonna check out Retroarch in a bit.
 
Careful, OP. One day, you're just enjoying some games from your childhood with your cousin through emulation, the next you're modding an RGB-out into your NES so you can hook it up to your mid-1990s crt studio monitor that weighs a hundred pounds. You will know you're lost to the siren's call, but there'll be nothing you can do.

This happened to me as well.

I sold it when funds got tight, I miss it :(
 
Emulation is pretty nice.

For the last few weeks it's allowed a few friends and I to play through some older Monster Hunter titles online, with Xbox controllers that have a right stick for the camera, on a big screen through the PPSSPP emulator.

I never finished through them on my own PSP, because after college getting together with people to do it was nigh impossible. Now I've got far better versions.
 
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