Console emulation
 

I was recently introduced to the console emulation world. While I always knew emulators (and ROMs) were available, I was blown away by their pervasiveness. Indeed, one could easily download every game ever produced for the following platforms:

Atari 2600
Intellivision
ColecoVision
NeoGeo
NES
Genesis
Super NES
Turbo Grafx 16

Obviously, this a legal and ethical morass, but I must admit that I downloaded several emulators and roms and played some old games just for nostalgia's sake. The majority of the game ROMs are under 1MB (older ROMs under 100k!) so downloading is bounded not by network speed, but by your ability to find and click the link.

There's also a Commodore 64 emulator that I messed around with a few months ago. Quite entertaining for a short period of time, reliving some of the old days. :D

Oh, and much more besides. My list was decidedly not exhaustive.

I've played a couple, not a collector, I haven't had one installed for more than a year. I don't see the problem with them on discontinued systems.
I think this is an example of the market finding a product that business is not delivering. Obviously, there is some demand for old games, but the businesses aren't putting anything into developing this as a product. I have seen one product, that Atari controller with 10 games built into it, that seems pretty cool, but I haven't seen anyone put out Nintendo's greatest hits and have 20 games on a CD with an emulator for $20. Until I see that, I won't have a problem with the emulator scene.

I do have a problem with current system emulators though, that seems to be a way to get out of paying for a system or game and is, to me, a totally different idea.

You could call me a collector of ROMS.

I have just about every game ever made for NES and C64. I also have a ton of SNES and Genesis.

I agree witrh wishbone. See, the thing is no emulator is perfect. The C64 emulators I have seen have pretty much been 'clunky'. The NES, SNES and Genesis emulators don't work with ALL games. ZSNES is probably the best SNES emulator and it's the best so far, but there are still display problems with some games. And it's worse with NES and Genesis. Crash problems with certain games, display problems with others.

So I agree with wishbone that the emulator market is an untapped market. If Nintendo and Sega made PC programs that played all old games, they could easily market them and start making money off their old games again.

anybody know of a site where i can get sega CD ROMS?

I actually think it's illegal... unless the people who made the game give permission, and I don't think Sega, Nintendo, etc... have given permission for this to happen. the old Final Fantasy games, Zelda games, etc.. are still being re-released...

I think it's why rom and emulator sites go down so often...

I replayed Baseball Stars for NES... ah, good times. I remember re-creating the entire Reds team from that year, and playing through entire seasons, keeping box scores in my own notebook.

Yes, it actually is illegal to own ROMS (not the emulators, however). Unless, of course, you owned the original. Then you can have it as a "backup".

Nintendo and Sega have been little bitches about emulation, but some other companies have not and have allowed it to go on.

TO be honest, I do not know why Nintendo and Sgea get so pissy about it. Unless they are still making money off those old games, which I doubt they are.

And the one thing about the FF releases on the PS is that they are remakes, not technically rereleases. They upgraded the graphics a lot and added FMV to name a few changes.

Tecmo Super Bowl!!! Hell yes!!!

Edit for spelling, you moron...

Anybody have an emulator and ROM so that I can play the original NES Tecmo Bowl? PM me...please?

Ah, my first play with the Cowboys was a sixty yard touchdown run by Emmitt. Gotta love it... :)

Yeah, I don't get it either. It's not like I can go out and buy Tecmo football at a store anymore. They don't make money off of it. And if they did re-make something like Tecmo, with better graphics, and stuff (:D :D:D:D:D :D) ... people who loved the game would still buy it.

I remember buying Tecmo football brand new in the dying days of Nintendo for $5.00 Canadian at Canadian Tire!! Best money I've ever spent :D:D

5 bucks Canadian, what's that, like a 25 cents American? :D

I remember Techmo Super Bowl. Me and my friends used to spend all day playing that game. Several of us would pick a tema and we'd play a whole season. (Usually took a few days). I remember beating a friend of mine in the Super Bowl. I was the Giants and he was the Dolphins. I won on a 40 yard flea-flicker with a few seconds left in the game. It was great. :)

I liked the old Tecmo Bowl better... just because it came out right after the Redskins won the '87 Super Bowl, so the 'Skins dominated the game. :D

I had a friend in middle school who would videotape his Tecmo Bowl games and watch them to analyze the film and find ways to improve his play.

Scary.

Ah, the flea flicker, the best play in the game...

That's perheps the scariest thing I heard, expect Horns saying he is a dad.

Just Googled my way to NES ROM bliss... it's nice to know that after 15 years in retirement, I can still kick ass at Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. :D

I created a whole NES emulation CD of games so if you want an NES game, just PM me and I should be able to find it.

Along those lines, a couple of years ago when I was working instead of in school, I started recollecting old legacy systems. I have probably 100 NES games and 70ish SNES games for probably $500 total, using the garage sale of garage sales, Ebay. You have to be good at picking which lots to buy, tho (i.e. there are those 20 game lots that have maybe 3 good games in them). I have a list of "must have" games for NES, SNES, N64, and PSX that I created along with Gamestop prices. That said, it's a list across all genres, not just sports.

Unfortunately, with my current lack of funds, I haven't been able to add much lately.

SI

My favorite was the Arcade game emulator I used to have. It had my all time favorite: Relief Pitcher. I loved that game.

Lately, I've been playing rbi baseball. What a blast from the past! I probably wasted several months of my life playing this game. I have fond memories of this one. That and tecmo bowl. 4 plays each side. Simple but elegant...

I never did play Baseball Stars. Isn't that widely accepted as the greatest "old school" baseball game? In what ways was it superior to RBI?

Well, RBI was a couple of years older so it's not really a fair comparasion. Baseball Stars had the first franchise mode which will appeal to those here, but I'm not sure it was best in terms of gameplay- that would likely go to something like one of the later Bases Loaded games. Also, it lacked an MLB license, which is quite annoying but it's a 10 year old game so who cares.

EDIT: You know, now that I think about it, I'm not sure what NES baseball game I would suggest for gameplay. Heck, I played most of my NES baseball on either the original RBI, Little League Baseball (very fun for what it was), or just plain NES Baseball.

SI

I was always fond of Baseball Simulator 1000 and Bad News Baseball.

dola,

Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball was a blast too

I LOVED Baseball Stars. Creating your own teams was the best. I also played a ton of RBI Baseball 'cause the original had the bad-ass '86 Astros with Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott, Glenn Davis, Kevin Bass, Jose Cruz, Alan Ashby, and many other Astros greats...

Omg Baseball Simulator 1.000 was the best :)

hehe.. Wait a second.. Watch Video Tapes to anaylze your game play? does it really take hours of tape watching to improve your zig-zagging down the field technique? :)

Super nes play action football was the first game to have a full college season with rankings and bowl games.. was a blast :)

River City Ransom was fun.. but nothing beats.. Super dodge ball!

Hey... I wasn't the one with the obsessive compulsive Tecmo Bowl problem... it was a friend of mine. Then again, he was pretty much unbeatable. I hated playing him... ;)

That said, I've been alternating between Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, Tecmo Bowl, Pro Wrestling, and Castlevania all evening long...

omg, River City Ransom OWNS !!!

Hehe i loved playing co-op with my friend.. except he would spend 20 minutes getting the free smiles from the clerks on River City Ransom.. every damn time..

We taped a couple of Microleague Baseball games (our championship one year) on the Commodore 64....we used a camera and tripod and focused it on the screen, so we also had some miscellaneous commentary, including my pissed off reaction when Wade Boggs took Mitch Williams deep (this is in '88, using '87 stats - the computer knew something about Williams, apparently) for a grand slam to hand me a loss.

Didn't Kodos or someone start an online franchise with an NES emulator and Super Tecmo Bowl? Was that the old board?

I remember playing an entire season with 5 teams in Tecmo Super Bowl for the SNES (for the curious, when two of my teams played, I either played as the team that needed it more or the home team or something)

SI

can anyone just point me to a good nes emulator and rom site? im uninitiated...

basically looking for tecmo bowl, super tecmo bowl, excitebike, mike tysons punchout, john elway football, and blades of steel.

and, of course, a good emulator.

thanks!

Just google it, dude... not hard to find.

Aw hell... I've got all that in one fat zip file... PM me.

sent!

how about for sega cd? i already posted but im really looking for "the third world war" and it seems like it is very hard to find.

I have a friend of mine who badly wanted that game before he got tired of waiting for one on ebay for less than $50.

SI

Dallas 56
Washington 14

Emmitt Smith 12 carries 312 yards
Troy Aikman 63% comp 220 yards

God how I've missed Tecmo Super Bowl...

What's sad is that's about accurate for how the Cowboys used to spank the Redskins in the mid-90's.

God how I've missed the Joe Gibbs era...