:possum: Ibly 🏳️⚧️ :therian: on Nostr: emulation is something that is inargurably good, but i’ve come to appreciate ...
emulation is something that is inargurably good, but i’ve come to appreciate playing games on real hardware too
but at the same time, i’m against buying retro games second-hand, just because of the absolute state of pricing going on here. they’ve calmed down a little bit in recent times, but it’s still a bit much, especially when “rare” games go for ludicrous prices. example, chibi robo on gamecube is guaranteed to go for $100+, often hovering around $200. that’s how much an entire switch lite costs brand new!
so, with that, i like using old hardware but with the ability to play any games you want whenever. on PS2, it’s laughably easy to get a freemcboot card (or use freedvdboot to make your own card), and get an mc2sio/mx4sio adapter, or use a hard-drive adapter to play all your games. for the wii and especially 3ds, it’s painfully easy to just homebrew that and play most of nintendo’s catalog on two consoles. and if you can find a working xbox that’s either been recapped, or you’re comfortable doing that yourself, that’s also easily softmoddable.
only other things would be using the genuine genuine hardware, like, i installed a pi pico into my gamecube to hardmod it, enabling me to play gamecube games on the actual hardware it was made for, as opposed to the wii (ultimately pointless outside of using GBI for the gameboy player, but i just wanted to do that lol)
but, in the end, even just getting said hardware isn’t cheap either. getting a gamecube or wii with the cables you need isn’t cheap, console only is around $100, which is just. yeah. you can find deals every now and then, but you have to be actively looking for it, if you don’t have the patience for it, it’s just not worth it.
which is forever why i’m an advocate for emulation, even if i’m having fun with real hardware. i’m lucky i got great deals on the hardware i currently have, and kept a hold of my gamecubes over the years. and i’m also lucky to have the money to get a CRT TV, they aren’t too expensive, but it’s still like, something not everyone has the money for, nor the space for.
if you do have the money for all that though, i’d say it’s worth it, especially if you wanna go full-in on modding consoles. like, getting blueretro adapters for your consoles to use modern controllers (or modifying your original controllers to use bluetooth) is great fun, upgrading the hardware to, say, use better screens or have different shells is also fun. just, many great things to be done w/ genuine hardware that can’t be done with emulation.
but, all the same, emulation offers it’s own upgrades that real hardware can’t handle, like complex game modifications that surpass original hardware limitations, higher resolutions, HD texture mods, etc.
any way you slice it, it’s just plain nice to be able to play games the way you want. that’s what hardware mods and emulation enable.
but at the same time, i’m against buying retro games second-hand, just because of the absolute state of pricing going on here. they’ve calmed down a little bit in recent times, but it’s still a bit much, especially when “rare” games go for ludicrous prices. example, chibi robo on gamecube is guaranteed to go for $100+, often hovering around $200. that’s how much an entire switch lite costs brand new!
so, with that, i like using old hardware but with the ability to play any games you want whenever. on PS2, it’s laughably easy to get a freemcboot card (or use freedvdboot to make your own card), and get an mc2sio/mx4sio adapter, or use a hard-drive adapter to play all your games. for the wii and especially 3ds, it’s painfully easy to just homebrew that and play most of nintendo’s catalog on two consoles. and if you can find a working xbox that’s either been recapped, or you’re comfortable doing that yourself, that’s also easily softmoddable.
only other things would be using the genuine genuine hardware, like, i installed a pi pico into my gamecube to hardmod it, enabling me to play gamecube games on the actual hardware it was made for, as opposed to the wii (ultimately pointless outside of using GBI for the gameboy player, but i just wanted to do that lol)
but, in the end, even just getting said hardware isn’t cheap either. getting a gamecube or wii with the cables you need isn’t cheap, console only is around $100, which is just. yeah. you can find deals every now and then, but you have to be actively looking for it, if you don’t have the patience for it, it’s just not worth it.
which is forever why i’m an advocate for emulation, even if i’m having fun with real hardware. i’m lucky i got great deals on the hardware i currently have, and kept a hold of my gamecubes over the years. and i’m also lucky to have the money to get a CRT TV, they aren’t too expensive, but it’s still like, something not everyone has the money for, nor the space for.
if you do have the money for all that though, i’d say it’s worth it, especially if you wanna go full-in on modding consoles. like, getting blueretro adapters for your consoles to use modern controllers (or modifying your original controllers to use bluetooth) is great fun, upgrading the hardware to, say, use better screens or have different shells is also fun. just, many great things to be done w/ genuine hardware that can’t be done with emulation.
but, all the same, emulation offers it’s own upgrades that real hardware can’t handle, like complex game modifications that surpass original hardware limitations, higher resolutions, HD texture mods, etc.
any way you slice it, it’s just plain nice to be able to play games the way you want. that’s what hardware mods and emulation enable.