Old School Games – Emulation

By: randombullseye | November 22nd, 2009

During my inagural run of the internet on Starcraft, I met a guy who told me that he liked playing all certain game X on his computer. I explained I never played 2 or 3 and he said he could just send me the “rom.” What? A rom? Really? All I had to do was get an emulator, which he could also send. Bullshit. But sure enough, in this tiny little screen and with my keyboard I could play  16-bit console. Then he told me how to make it full screen, map controls how I wanted, and explained that every old game ever was available.

Furthermore, upon realization that not only could I play this, but I could play it for free with no hassle. I can get any game. Any game. All I have to do is find it. So every game I bought the re-release of on playstation, you know those RPGs, all were there. Free. And wihtout load times. Compilations and re-releses were entirely moot. So after the Super Nintendo, I quickly learned that the major consoles were also available. Even finding out that the 32-bit systems were playable on great computers blew my mind. My friend went on to start a rom site under another alias and I went on to do comics, eventually finding my way to every hotspot of the internet. But no matter where I went, I always loved emulation. It’s the greatest thing ever. So not only can you play any game you can think of, for free, it almost always works perfect. No blowing in a game slot. No hassle with cords. Just pick the game from a list and play. Holy shit. I need to post another head exploding.

Just in case you’re still in the dark. Emulation is a word that means to pretend. So these programs pretend to be these old consoles. The roms are the read only memory from these games, that people much more intellegent than myself managed to put on the internet. Furthermore, not only that but all the games are free. You can save anywhere in the game at any time with “save states.” You can actually speed up the game too. For example, walking around fighting battles in an RPG takes hours right? With emulation you can grind at an extreme pace. In an even crazier twist, online play is possible. Yeah, I know. You can play two players for free, or more than two players even, online. Oh yeah, I didn’t mention that you can get Arcade games did I? It’s totally possible to play all the arcade classics for free, with as many quarters as you want. Just press a button and the computer inserts them. And you can keep playing. I know it’s a little cliche to post a third one, but the joke isn’t hammered in yet.

So how does this work? I want to explain very clearly that this is not piracy. I don’t advocate (speak on behalf, approve of) piracy. I’ve found many games that I really love from emulation and had to own. Even if I never play it hardly, I still just had to own it. To play it and hold it in my hand. A real copy. In talking with old school game store owners, I found that that’s actually quite common. He explained that that originally would have hurt buissness he thought, but really it just creates interest for an actual copy. I mean yeah, it’s great to play on the computer, but it’s something else to play on a TV. At least for me. Anymore when I play some old consoles it cramps my hands. The paddle is just too small for me. I’ve grown too big to play it comfortably. But if I play on the computer it’s not as much of a hassle. I can jump from game to game so quickly, I can spend an hour playing everything. Free!

Recently, one company began re-releasing older games on their console virtually. Now this wouldn’t be so bad if the prices were more reasonable, but some of them are quite pricy. Considering how much I love to share games, that’s bullshit. I can’t just hand over a copy of new digital download games either. But on the computer, I can tell anyone to go get a rom. And they have it. They play it. And we can talk about it. But playing legitimately bothers some people. I hate to be an asshole, but I think this needs to happen. The same way old comics should be online for free, old games should too. It makes sense to me. It’s something that only certain people will really cling to. Most people will just want the handful of games they used to play, but for a guy like me this is heaven. This is literally heaven. In my head I pictured heaven being full of naked women and a video game machine that could play everything. Now I have that. And it’s incredible.

Occasionally, companies make this feel like it’s wrong. That it’s a bad thing. I’m of the opinion that older material isn’t going to be the bread and butter of anyone. It’s just there. It’s over and done with, there isn’t any reason for them to try and milk more out of these without releasing new versions or sequels, so why bother. Why bother a poor guy who just wants to feel his own personal heaven. Who wants to play fighting games online or shoot bad guys all night. Play RPGs that would cost a fortune, and were never translated by official companies but by the fans who love these games, and enjoy them. Isn’t that the main reason companies make games? Or why movie companies make movies? Or is it all just a commercial product. That they see this as piracy and that’s the end of it. I can see where they would argue that, but I’m arguing the opposite. This isn’t theft, it’s preservation. I might be able to find a copy of a game and pay some person that these companies never met for a copy but they aren’t selling original new copies that give the company any money or incentive. These digital games are the greatest thing ever. And without them, I doubt the internet would be worth using. Except for porn of course.