ITT: alternate timeline where emulation never existed
how different would the present be?
how would it have changed your gaming experience and perception?
I'm mostly interested in younger people's opinions since they are the ones who use emulation the most, but older folk also welcome.
>>318159784
Super gameboy would never exist,
Super GBA would never exist.
Ps2 would never play ps1 games
Ps3 would never play ps1 or ps2 games and never have them available in the store.
Ports wouldn't exist.
Backwards compatibility as a whole would be gone.
>>318160748
The Super Gameboy is emulation?
Anyway, I'm talking more about personal experiences... how do you think your own experience with video games be without emulation? Would have it affected you at all?
I would have missed most of the PS2 library. All non-released NES/SNES games and that's about it.
Eh, not a huge deal.
>>318159784
Virtual Console would have never been invented. 100% the only reason is so Nintendo can say "there, now you have a legal way to buy it, next excuse, pirate kiddies?"
>>318160887
That cart you put your gameboy games in and stick into a Snes. Yes. Technically
Same with super GBA and the gamecube.
Everyone's personal experience would suffer.
after two generations were done finding a copy of a game you loved as a kid or small child would be far outside your reach due to emulation being nonexistent and ports being a byproduct of such.
Want that copy of Super metroid now? Pay upwards to 2k USD for a copy on your snes that hopefully still works.
>>318160887
No, the Super Gameboy was literally gameboy hardware in an SNES cart. Not sure about the Gameboy Player on Gamecube though.
>>318161236
I think you're wrong though.
>The Super Game Boy actually consists of the same hardware as the Game Boy; inside the cartridge is a separate CPU that processes the games while the Super NES only provided means for user-input, output of graphics to the screen, and the additional coloring, similar to the Atari 5200 version of the Atari 2600 adapter.
Backward compatibility doesn't exclusively mean emulation. In fact, emulation is a fairly recent thing compared to things like the Super Gameboy or the Master System cartridge adapter for Sega Genesis.
Ports also don't mean emulation. For example Sonic Jam on Sega Saturn has actual ports to the Saturn hardware, there isn't any Genesis emulator in there (unlike the Ultimate Sonic Collection on PS3/360, which indeed uses emulators)
>>318160748
>>318160887
Actually, the SuperGB and GBPlayer would both exist, since they are both literally just their respective GB's internals sans I/O stuff. It's the reason why the GBPlayer is still relevant, since it's the only reasonable way to play GB games without potential emulation errors. If you want to get /ridiculously/ technical I'm sure some emulation exists within them to some tiny degree (likely in the video output aspects), but that's a really blurry line, and if you consider that emulation then a lot less stuff would exist, even outside video games.
>>318159784
I was never really into emulation (even Virtual Console solutions) and I've never really taken advantage of any emulation-driven backwards compatibility either, so maybe I would've just had to wait a couple more years to play Ocarina of Time or something. But the lack of emulation would've also motivated me to purchase the original hardware, so maybe not even that.
>>318159784
Zero. Buy the systems you stupid fuck. Emulation is shit anyway. Most people will over clock it not knowing how inaccurate it becomes because it's directly tied to refresh rates. So you end up skipping frames and the controls and audio gets fucked up. Not to mention most haven't been update to take advantage of current hardware. Then you have the issue of emulators can never replicate analog components
>>318161236
>Want that copy of Super metroid now? Pay upwards to 2k USD for a copy on your snes that hopefully still works.
While you're wrong about the super gameboy/ports, I think you hit the nail in the head here.
If prices for older games are expensive even now, how much higher would them be if emulation never existed?
Then again, maybe the consoles themselves would be a lot more expensive. Everdrives could still exist in a world without emulation.
>>318162245
>Everdrives could still exist in a world without emulation.
This is true, however it is worth pointing out that some flash carts do take advantage of emulation in some very niche cases, particularly when dealing with proprietary chips that were embedded in the carts back then.
I don't think it would be a huge deal to just embed the chips in the flashcart (or not support those games altogether), but it would certainly drive up the price a bit.
>>318162678
I've heard some games that use special chips like Yoshi's Island don't work on everdrives.
Old games would be extremely cheap because non-collectors would actually buy them.
See; Japan.
>>318165345
Prices in Japan are cheaper than on USA or Europe because production was larger, thus they're more common.
Rare games with low print copies are still mad expensive in Japan.
See: Radiant Silvergun, Magical Chase
>>318166193
>if more people want something it becomes cheaper
>this is how vee thinks economics work
>>318161985
I have no problem with emulation of older systems, because it provides opportunity to preserve and enjoy those games.
I have a really big problem with emulation of newer systems - you really can't use that excuse that consoles and games are both rare and expensive, so this kind of emulation is just piracy.
For example X360, PS3 and WiiU are right now availible, games are still made for them and you can buy every game that was made both new and used for a normal price.
>>318166935
You meant to quote >>318165345
