Does anyone favour emulated shmups over the real deal?

[DazTM]

I have a massive problem with collecting and once I get an idea into my head it becomes very hard to stop. After trying to recently amass a Pal dreamcast collection, I gave up (had about 40 rubbish games left to buy). When I realised that I had every single Dreamcast shmup and a fair few of the Saturn ones (around 35 I think) I decided to get back into collecting shooters, simply because the genre has always been my first love.

Anyway I was looking at getting back into the PC Engine and then realised just how expensive they are and how many are actually available on the Virtual Console. The same can be said for most of the good Mega Drive shooters. So what I was wondering is what's most important to you? Owning the original game regardless of expensive, or getting the best alternative (most stuff on VC seems pretty damn good in terms of closeness).

[spadgy]

Worms all over the place! Shall we stamp on them or throw them at each other? I vote the latter!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I prefer owning the real geniune article myself but if no other alternative exists, then a virtual one will suffice just fine. Of course, there are exceptions to this with DLC software that doesn't come with any physical medium storage container nor any instruction manual to ponder over at your leisure. It's all worth it in the end to try to locate and buy that one elusive shmup title that you've been eyeing for a long time. Sometimes, said shmup title could be had for less than the actual going rate these days which is a bargain in itself. Everyone likes scoring in on a bargain deal.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[dannnnn]

STRIDERRRRRRRRR! Hehe, keep updating your Youtube, I enjoy your vids

Personally I'd always much prefer to own the actual game, to the point where I refuse to play some games that I'm interested in via emulation simply because I'd rather wait until I can afford them. That being said, I do play a lot of MAME since PCB's are really expensive and I know I'll never get a chance to play all of those games otherwise. I've also played a few PC Engine shmups on Virtual Console and thoroughly enjoyed them (Lords of Thunder, Blazing Lazers etc) and have a few more I want to check out, but I'm sure I'll eventually buy the console itself and get those games anyway.

So basically, I'd say emulation is a fantastic alternative to have, but it doesn't feel quite the same as sitting there in front of your TV with the proper console. Also, I'm no expert on the PCE, but I was under the impression that there are quite a few good shmups on the system which can be had for very affordable prices. You don't have to collect every single game that was released, just get yourself a nice sized collection of the games you really want.

[DazTM]

Just in case I've given the wrong idea I'm not condoning the use of piracy. I simply find it hard to justify spending £40 on something like Star Parodier (which is brilliant) when I can get a perfectly servicable version for a fraction of the price.

Having said that, I did enjoy it when I had a PC Engine GT

[cools]

Own good games. Don't own rubbish ones.

[Hibachi]

There is something special about playing the game on the actual console it was made for.

I find that my old consoles do not have place under the TV these days so I find it almost ritualistic when I get them out.

I like the whole making the time for it, digging it out, setting it up and then playing.

[DazTM]

STRIDERRRRRRRRR! Hehe, keep updating your Youtube, I enjoy your vids

Thanks for that

[Elixir]

Half of the shit that I want to play is not emulated properly, or doesn't run accurately (Batsugun, Raiden DX, Raiden II, Dogyuun, etc). I'm still trrying to find a DX board though.

[Ex-Cyber]

I usually prefer actual hardware when I can afford it, but there are exceptions. A big one is older consoles when I don't have a reasonable CRT handy. The upscaling/filtering done by an emulator (which has some internal notion of what the display dimensions/timings/palette are supposed to be) can be considerably better than the upscaling/filtering done by an LCD TV (which typically use a generic algorithm and can't e.g. peek inside the console's registers or keep track of the pixel clock).

[8 1/2]

Who wouldn't prefer the original? That said, the VC has been great for on-my-damn-tv playing of rare games I don't want to drop the coin on. Ironclad is a good recent example. It's a pretty fun game, and well worth the $10, but it's not so good I'd want to pay for a NEO CD and the pricey import disc to play it. Sometimes emulation is a great way to check out a game that's not worth the hassel otherwise.

[kengou]

I'm into convenience over physical ownership, myself. If emulating/VC is easier and cheaper than buying a physical copy of the game, I'll do that. I won't deny it is a (slightly) better experience to play the game on the original console it was intended for, and if it's very cheap I'll get a physical copy despite emulation alternatives, but I don't attach that much importance to it.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Jus' linkin'. There is something quite moving about that video.

[Kollision]

No.

Emulation is heresy.

(MAME fanatics hold yourselves, I'm talking about console emulation)

[gs68]

I played Batrider on a candycab at Sakura-Con this year. Beats the crap out of playing it on MAME, especially since my laptop monitor is widescreen, and I'm not about to tate my laptop (very awkward) or my 1280x1024 monitor (design makes it essentially tate-proof).

[louisg]

I got Gleylancer on Wii VC and was happy with it. It didn’t jitter, was responsive, controlled well, sounded good, and actually looked OK on an HDTV. I personally play it on a CRT though, and it was hard to distinguish from the real thing. Usually I’m really picky and can tell immediately that something is emulated. I can’t vouch for VC games for systems other than Genesis though.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I played Batrider on a candycab at Sakura-Con this year. Beats the crap out of playing it on MAME, especially since my laptop monitor is widescreen, and I'm not about to tate my laptop (very awkward) or my 1280x1024 monitor (design makes it essentially tate-proof).

Batrider in MAME has laggy controls (3 frames). This game isn't particulary well emulated (unless the real thing lags just as much, which I seriously doubt).

[Ed Oscuro]

Man, y'all are a bunch of whiners.

In FPS land we have to deal with the latest "updates" irretrievably breaking games. DOSbox...what a joke. (And that's on top of the usual issues with keeping around old PCs and even getting them to run...command lines and other shit ahoy.) So even if everything is working on the hardware side...something will fuck you up in software. Hell, my new install of Quake III Arena isn't showing the crosshair. No Headhunters 3 for me.

No love for BSnes, K-Collision? Console emulation is at least more consistent, across the library, than MAME. (No knock against MAME which is a gigantic collection of bits and pieces in various states of development.)

[DazTM]

I'm into convenience over physical ownership, myself. If emulating/VC is easier and cheaper than buying a physical copy of the game, I'll do that. I won't deny it is a (slightly) better experience to play the game on the original console it was intended for, and if it's very cheap I'll get a physical copy despite emulation alternatives, but I don't attach that much importance to it.

Yeah I think this is how I feel. I just want to play great games and if they are perfectly well emulated on something like the VC for a fraction of the price it's difficult to argue. Especially when you have a wife

[ROBOTRON]

REAL DEAL.

I avoid emulation even at the severe cost of buying Neo-Geo AES cartridges.

[Ex-Cyber]

Batrider in MAME has laggy controls (3 frames). This game isn't particulary well emulated (unless the real thing lags just as much, which I seriously doubt).

It's not that far-fetched (one frame of fake/variable lag, one frame of sprite buffering, one frame for debouncing). However, it's also possible that a particular configuration of MAME is considerably laggier in practice than the original hardware (e.g. I suspect that emulating the hardware delay + using triple buffering on a 60Hz display could easily make control a bit mushy).

[Fan of MAME]

Maybe I'm just too young(24), but I think that someone should collect only things, which at least could last about 1,000 years. So I preffer the emulated videogames (arcades). But an arcade machine - if the videogame is outstanding - would be a not bad choice. The arcade controler gives up to 3 times larger volume of actions against the joypad/keyboard; even if the keyboard controls are horizontal, like w,e,r,t. So I play only emulated arcade machines.
I do not care about the graphics. Even more, I think that the "ugly" graphics (up to 32,000 colours) are very much no-mindcontrolling than the modern graphical extravaganza.

[Ed Oscuro]

REAL DEAL.

I avoid emulation even at the severe cost of buying Neo-Geo AES cartridges.

Don't say that too loud in Detroit man

Maybe I'm just too young(24), but I think that someone should collect only things, which at least could last about 1,000 years.

I'm gonna hate myself forever if I make a reference to...well, lol

But seriously 1000 years? Very little lasts that long.

[Mero]

I have to go with the "real deal" as I don't own a computer

[Acid King]

Sometimes emulation is better than the original because it can clear up some of the flaws of the native hardware. The Battle Bakraid PCB, for example, has flickering/disappearing bullets when the screen gets cluttered in certain spots.

[system11]

Emulation lacks soul.

There's something special about plugging a PCB in and playing.

[moozooh]

Who wouldn't prefer the original?

o/

I like emulation for its convenience. You can fastforward or make a savestate at ship selection screen instead of waiting some time for the game to allow you to restart (the only game that hasn't been an offender of this so far is Ketsui Extra), you can save any amount of replays and easily turn them into videos, you can test new tricks and practice specific sections of a level easily without having to play up to that section every time, you have a considerably larger selections of controllers to choose, including keyboard (which is still my favorite).

I eventually turn to playing emulated versions even with the games I've legitimately owned because of that. As soon as Xbox 360 ports will be available for faithful emulation I'll most likely switch to that instantly and will only continue using the originals for the online features and co-op. Assuming my Xbox will still be alive by then, haha.

[null1024]

I like having the real deal a lot, but sheer bloody convenience [hell, even if I have the actual CDs for a game, I'll load it into my laptop and play] outranks the real deal. None of my systems are hooked up, so dragging them out is a pain, no things like fast-forward and whatnot, etc.

[also, I don't deal with PCBs due to expense and space, storing the boards would be annoying where I live]

[Sasupoika]

I emulate DOJ. It is awesome. I actually prefer it from playing it on PS2.

[Voxbox]

I prefer to play shmups on my PC monitor, so I usually emulate whenever I can.