As much as we love the authentic feel of playing retro games on original systems on the TVs they were originally designed for, such an approach is decreasingly viable. Hardware has a limited life span, and tracking down working games and systems after a certain point becomes untenable for anyone on a budget. Enter emulation, as the most common modern method of jumping back into retro games on every platform.
Emulation isn’t new in the landscape of retro gaming. The world of video game emulators first arrived in the 1990s. Early systems focused on the Game Boy and Atari 2600, but over time, every system would see at least one emulator release. As these became more popular, emulators eventually became visible in the mainstream, finally finding a place as a central tool for retro gamers. They’re something we all use and love, but there are complications produced by emulators too.
Why Do We Need Emulation Anyway?
Emulation is a requirement because of how inflexible video game software tends to be. Back in the days of retro consoles and arcade systems, creating hardware that could handle the then-extreme asks of even humble games was a real challenge. Gaming systems require specific chips built for specialized tasks. This meant creating software for these systems required a similarly specific type of code that was not natively compatible with anything outside of the platform for which it was built.
This is contrary to how most major modern software is built. On the opposite side of the spectrum today, as we see with the best online pokies sites, their software and host services embrace flexibility as central concepts. Instead of using highly specific code, websites like BetVictor and Big Boost utilize the worldwide HTML5 standard. This means everything from collecting bonuses like free spins and deposit matches to browsing and playing the games doesn’t require emulation, and it might never due to its modern software.
The Positive Aspects of Emulation
Positive aspects of emulation begin with how convenient it is to access and play different systems. In essence, what emulators do is create a bridge between the old way of doing things and the new, creating a platform on which modern systems can overcome retro limitations. A single PC today can emulate every console and arcade cabinet that existed before the PS4 generation of gaming. Whether through official releases of collected titles like the Atari 50 Expanded Edition or a custom library built and collected through RetroArch, this saves space, money, logistics, and time.
Collecting a library of every physical game you want to emulate would require not just enough storage, but insurance for that storage, and air conditioning to maintain longevity. You would also have to organize that storage, and sort through everything you needed, being careful to avoid damage whenever an item was moved or used. If you’re looking at retro arcade cabinets, these issues would be even more profound and bypassed by emulation.
Emulation’s Possible Frustrations
Emulation’s ability to host everything you want from one system is unparalleled, but the nature of emulation platforms also renders them more complicated. One of the biggest strengths of running retro games traditionally is how they can be plugged in and played without any setup. On the flip side, even following a RetroArch starter guide for one of the most user-friendly emulator platforms on the planet can be confusing. Each different system needs to be configured, each controller needs to be mapped, video output needs to be managed, and any issues here can be difficult to troubleshoot.
There’s also a real concern with emulation in how it can never quite capture the spirit or feel of original titles. This is most obvious visually, thanks to gaming moving away from CRT monitors and towards LCDs. They avoid the signature blur that CRTs impart, which offers a distinct style that can’t be emulated no matter the power of a host system.
Emulation also tends to introduce latency where it was less of a problem on the original platforms. Emulators impart input lag by needing another translation step to get games running, which is further exacerbated by the display delay that modern monitors impart which CRTs don’t. These elements can collectively make a game feel sluggish and unresponsive, damaging a key part of what makes retro games fun to play.
There is no single answer to whether emulation is superior to playing the traditional way. Rather, it’s a matter of balancing each player’s wants and needs against the strengths and weaknesses of each method of play. Whatever each player chooses, there is a simple truth that eventually all play will need to be done through emulators, as older hardware inevitably degrades beyond repair. What we also know is that emulation will continue to improve, so the legacy of retro gaming will never truly die.
