Let's Talk About Emulation

Until recently, I've always preferred to do all of my old-school gaming on my TV screen. Even though I'm still building my collection, I've got well over 200 retro games. I love my NES but sadly, not every game works for the old girl, Castlevania III being one such game. I paid $9.99 for my copy seven years ago. To get one of the greatest NES games and to have it not work right, well that just sucks on many levels. I can only play a bit of the first stage before it crashes on me. The thought did occur to me to get a new copy but then I decided, why not just download an NES emulator and get a rom to play the game? So I did just that. I also got backups for nearly all of my NES, SNES and Genesis games.

The purists out there will frown on emulation and I can understand why. I do read the current chapters of Naruto and Bleach via websites that host them, but even so, there's nothing quite like having manga in your hands. Purists probably feel the same way about retro gaming. Still, I have to admit that having all of old games right here on my computer is pretty sweet.

My SNES is by far my favorite console and while it works most of the time, there are instances where I have to blow into the carts to get the games to work, a la the classic NES method. The SNES I own is a 1991 model. The top is faded so she's getting on in years. If memory serves, the SNES will be turning 17 this year. Nintendo built the SNES better than the NES but I've experienced more than my fair share of problems with it not working over the last few years. Should the battery on it ever give out, I'll still be able to keep living in the SNES days through ZSNES. I never thought I'd say it, but I love emulation.