Suits wrote: ↑August 20th, 2019, 7:45 am Lol, you want one ??

Flabyo wrote: ↑August 21st, 2019, 8:48 am I have a book called ‘Game After’ which is all about game preservation, and it takes the angle that emulation alone isn’t enough. A large part of the cultural artefact that is an old video game is the platform you play it on, and for things like arcade games, the places the machines lived.

Playing Pac-Man on Mame isn’t the same as playing it on the original cab in an arcade, and preservation should be as much about trying to preserve the hardware as it is the software.

Emulation is a valuable part of that of course, but it’s not the complete picture for preservation.

(This is also why I tend to prefer picking up the actual carts for my Megadrive rather than just getting an everdrive and filling it with roms)

The book: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/game-after

And here’s an interesting piece on why you shouldn’t restore the distress marks on an old Pac-Man cab: https://retrobitch.wordpress.com/2019/0 ... -the-game/

Flabyo wrote: ↑August 21st, 2019, 8:48 am I have a book called ‘Game After’ which is all about game preservation, and it takes the angle that emulation alone isn’t enough. A large part of the cultural artefact that is an old video game is the platform you play it on, and for things like arcade games, the places the machines lived.

Playing Pac-Man on Mame isn’t the same as playing it on the original cab in an arcade, and preservation should be as much about trying to preserve the hardware as it is the software.

Flabyo wrote: ↑August 21st, 2019, 8:48 am I have a book called ‘Game After’ which is all about game preservation, and it takes the angle that emulation alone isn’t enough. A large part of the cultural artefact that is an old video game is the platform you play it on, and for things like arcade games, the places the machines lived.

Playing Pac-Man on Mame isn’t the same as playing it on the original cab in an arcade, and preservation should be as much about trying to preserve the hardware as it is the software.

Scrustle wrote: ↑August 21st, 2019, 10:47 am

Flabyo wrote: ↑August 21st, 2019, 8:48 am I have a book called ‘Game After’ which is all about game preservation, and it takes the angle that emulation alone isn’t enough. A large part of the cultural artefact that is an old video game is the platform you play it on, and for things like arcade games, the places the machines lived.

Playing Pac-Man on Mame isn’t the same as playing it on the original cab in an arcade, and preservation should be as much about trying to preserve the hardware as it is the software.

Good point. The importance of emulation shouldn't come at the cost of not also preserving the hardware and the original context of the games.

Lest we forget this powerful stance.

Alex79uk wrote: ↑August 22nd, 2019, 1:08 pm It's true, I've seen the outtakes of Ben playing whilst sat on a stool. Can't even clear level two.

OneCreditBen wrote: ↑August 22nd, 2019, 4:05 pm

Alex79uk wrote: ↑August 22nd, 2019, 1:08 pm It's true, I've seen the outtakes of Ben playing whilst sat on a stool. Can't even clear level two.

The next time I go to Arcade Club, I'll recreate this photograph.

Alex79uk wrote: ↑August 20th, 2019, 5:02 pm Hang on lads, we are sure Hevi_Metaru isn't FBI, right?

Jobobonobo wrote: ↑August 20th, 2019, 10:53 pm Agreed with many here on the benefits of emulation, particularly in regards to preservation and accessing titles not available in certain regions. For example, I would never have played the delightful Mother 3 if not for the fan translation patch done by the dedicated bunch over at starmen.net and GBA emulation. Likewise I would never have become acquainted with the likes of Chrono Trigger and other SNES RPGs that were denied to Europeans if not for emulation. However, such titles are now easily available worldwide but this was well before such times. Not to mention, if I loved a certain game enough I will happily buy it legally if it gets re-released (got all 13 endings on the DS version of Chrono Trigger!). However, because of nonsense such as licensing agreements being expired or the console hardware having difficulty with running certain games (why Yoshi's Island was never on Wii Virtual Console if I recall) then that is when emulation comes to shine as such games can be preserved in the way they were originally meant to be. And these days when spiteful shitheads such as Konami just yank titles out of digital store fronts such as what happened with P.T., the archival purposes of emulation are more important than ever. I even think that when there is no way the original developer can still make money from the game, then emulate away!

Ha, this thread is making me consider getting a Raspberry Pi...