The future of retrogaming is... emulation?

Last week, I posted a review of the Anbernic RG351P handheld games console, a device that uses emulation to bring a fair few gaming systems to life in a portable format. Towards the end of that post, I mentioned that whilst I am a fan of collecting games and their associated hardware, cost and space make hardware storage prohibitive which is why the emulation route makes a great deal of sense for me at present. Giving this further thought, I now consider emulation to be the best way to continue to enjoy retro videogames without destituting myself. Whilst my games collection is a shadow of its former self, what I have now are titles that I will continue to play, rather than a load of titles on shelves that will never be touched. As you can see from the following pictures, these are an eclectic mix.

Now I know what you're thinking. What about the collecting and curation of all that old hardware? Let me ask a more pertinent question. What happens when that old hardware dies?

The growing PS2 collection.

If your beloved aged computer or console kicks the bucket, you always have the option of buying another one. This may end up being very expensive. Prices have risen an awful lot over recent years and price-gouging is very common. Depending on where you buy this kit from, you're probably going to face the same issues that killed your original hardware, so preventative maintenance is a must. This isn't especially difficult a lot of the time but a heat gun, ability to solder and a decent tool kit will be required. If you don't fancy that, or don't have the space to carry out this work, then you can, in most cases, find someone that will do the work for you but be prepared to pay for the privilege. At this point, you can also find mods to make your machine of choice a bit more 21st Century friendly. Adding HDMI support, SD card readers and other bits and bobs do make usage a lot more simple, though purists might argue that it takes you away from the point of actually having the old kit anyway. Still, there is quite the industry depending on the format you're using and a quick Google will give you some idea as to what can be done to long out of production hardware.

There will be more added in the future.

There are, however, alternatives to original hardware that use original games. Companies like Analogue and Hyperkin have offered machines that accept original cartridges. These machines are designed for modern day televisions (a not inconsequential matter when it comes to playing old games) and are successful to varying degrees. It's all about the quality of the replication, be it FPGA hardware (in the case of the Analogue systems, the UnAmiga and the MiSTer) or the emulation (Hyperkin and others), though some of the emulator based consoles are hit and miss. Analogue have a lovely range of machines, the latest of which, the Analogue Duo, appears to be the perfect PC-Engine nerd solution to keep playing those old games. There is a flaw though - you can't buy the Duo yet and even when they do announce it for sale, there'll be only a handful released to order and you'll have fuck all chance of getting a pre-order confirmed. I admit, I have a bug-bear with Analogue as they seem to do this with every machine they announce. Too few made for the obvious and understandable demand. For $199, the Duo would be a steal, but even once they get it produced, they'll never have any in general stock to buy - I mean, checking out their other products, outside of a couple of controllers, none of the their gaming systems are in stock. Zero. Zilch. How the company stays in business is beyond me as I stupidly thought that you had to have cashflow to continue trading. Yes, I get it that this is a niche area of interest and, though not exactly a cottage industry, it's big enough to support these companies in the first place. However, companies like Analogue, and this goes for other manufacturers in the retro world too, seem to exist on the idea of the privileged few - those lucky/fanatical individuals who do get their hands on the kit and sod off to everyone else. The daft thing here is that cost isn't an issue, not really. $200 for the Analogue Duo, that's about £150 at present. Compare that to what original hardware goes for and it's a steal. Which is probably a more reliable way of getting hold of one when it's released... (joke!). 

Another small, but varied collection.

But what if you wanted to play the games but don't have the original hardware and aren't lotto-winning levels of lucky to buy an FPGA based replacement? That's where software emulators come in and, for me, this means RetroArch. It's free and you can add "cores" easily to increase the number of systems you want to emulate. It doesn't need a stupidly powerful PC to run, though the more graphical oomph you have, the better for some of the later consoles. My Lenovo Yoga Book is good enough for up to 16-bit consoles and that runs an anaemic Atom x5 processor. Adding games to the library is just a matter of dropping the ROM files in a folder and telling RetroArch to scan that folder. Simples. Getting the ROM's, well, that's another discussion, but what I will say is that for most disc-based consoles, it's simplicity itself to drop your copy of the game in the PC's DVD drive and "archive" the ROM. If you don't have the disc, or the game is on a cartridge, well, there are other options, both hardware and software-based, but I'm not going to talk about those. You can Google that stuff yourself.

Of course, there is more than just RetroArch. Redream for the Dreamcast is a must and although the basic free version does the job well enough, consider paying the small upgrade fee ($5) for the extra features. My i5 7600k, with 16GB of memory and a rather old 6GB GTX 1060 (a set up that's not been updated in three and a half years) can run this just fine. Other format specific emulators include PCSX 2 (PlayStation 2), Dolphin (Gamecube and Wii) and PPSSPP (PSP). There is also another emulator that is getting there in capability - Xenia. I've used this to play the recently discovered Xbox-360 adaptation of Goldeneye 007. This port was held back from release by 1 (one!!!) person during the discussion of licensing. Taking what is rightly regarded as a classic, Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64 and updating it for the 2008 audience, it brought proper FPS controls, better graphics and a much smoother frame rate. Sadly, due to said decision, it was unreleased and considered lost until this year. Now that a cracked version is available, it's a wonderful way to play the game, especially considering how janky the original is and the borked controls - sorry, in the days before twin analogue sticks, console shooters were handicapped by their controls. 

In some cases, though, there is official emulation available. Amiga Forever and C64 Forever are emulators for their respective formats that contain legally licensed ROMs. This is something of a biggie as if you want to use something like PCSX 2, you'd need to locate your own PS2 ROMs, something you can do if you own a PS2 but more problematic (legally) if you do the on-line option. Official ROM emulation for is limited to specific formats but for fans of either of Commodore's most popular computer ranges, these are definitely worth a try. Depending on the package you opt for, they aren't expensive either. 

So settling on emulation from a PC is one way to keep playing these old games. There are more still, and console manufacturers (both past and present) have taken this path. Nintendo released the Mini-NES and Mini-SNES consoles, cute little representations of their 8 and 16-bit home consoles with a bunch of included games. Emulator based and suitable for modern TV's, their only real downside was the inability to add additional games from Nintendo themselves. There are "alternative" methods of fixing that - again, you'll need to Google that. NEC released the PC Engine mini which did a very good job as well, whilst Sony completely fucked their PlayStation Classic by focusing on the presentation of the system itself but not the quality of the emulation included in the box. Sega's Megadrive Mini was another decent attempt, making up for the horrendous licensed machines from AtGames. One slight niggle for all of these is the curated collection approach. Out of the box, you can only play what the manufacturer has included, so to a fair degree, more obscure titles are never going to be included in the mix.

A wonderful trio of handhelds

Talking about emulation would not be complete without mentioning the Evercade. I've posted a couple of times about this here and here, and it really is a nostalgia-fest using emulation. Less limited than the above systems, it uses cartridges so the library of titles is ever-growing. It's also not limited to a specific format which adds to the variety of games you can get on it. Be warned though, you may find out that sometimes, just sometimes, that nostalgia kick is not worth revisiting. A lot of early Atari 2600 games really, really do not play well today. Others, however, very much do play just as well. 

Still room for more Evercade carts as and when they are released.

There are other options for emulation too, and this is where the Anbernic RG351P and it's ilk come in. These relatively cheap machines come in various form factors - handheld, traditional box under the TV, tabletop arcade machine and so on, and rely upon some variation of emulation to run old games. A lot, including the one I bought, are supplied with a ton of games and you can also add your own. On these devices, you can enjoy games up to the 32-bit era with no problems at all. So what's not to like? Well, those games. The ones that come supplied. Legally, a no-no. The ones I add, well, since I own the original disc, then there is an argument for fair use, but still, it's an iffy area as I am still making a copy when I "archive" the ROM.

As you can see, there are many options that provide alternatives to aged hardware that has met its maker. Does this mean that old machines should be binned now? Certainly not, and let me be clear, hardware preservation is just as important as that of software. However, as time marches on, there will be fewer examples of the original systems to play games on, which given human nature means those surviving examples will command an even heftier price. Okay, you'll not get the feel of the original controller (GX4000 and CD32 fans rejoice!) but you will be able to play the games and it's the games that are the point. Some paths are legal and fine, the (specifically curated) mini consoles, the Evercade and the honest politician-like available Analogue kit. Others less so, and this is something that maybe the industry as a whole should address. After all, look at the options out there and tell me people aren't making money off the passion for retro gaming. Hell, the Amiga market alone has bespoke hardware galore, some at relatively low prices but unicorn levels of availability (looking at you, UnAmiga) whilst others can be bought but cost a small fortune (the Vampire boards). That, however, is a whole different discussion and one not for now. In the mean time, however you do it, enjoy playing these old games because that's what they were created for. 

P.S. If anyone is interested, the card game that's sneaked into the pictures can be found here.

P.P.S. Yes, eagle-eyed readers will have spotted that I am a Broken Sword fan. Broken Sword I and II on PC-CD-ROM, Broken Sword II for the PlayStation, Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon for the PlayStation 2, Broken Sword The Shadow Or The Templars: The Director's Cut for the DS, and Broken Sword 5 - The Serpent's Curse for the Switch (and on the XBox downstairs too). 

I even stalked Revolution's offices in York!