i didn’t even bother with ps2 emulation for years because i never could get it at a decent framerate. now this is the first time i’ve owned a pc that can actually do it - i tried out a game recently and it worked well. i feel like the compatibility still probably varies across the ps2 library though - and ps2 emulation i always found kind of confusing and hard to configure correctly if you do have issues. i’ve had a whole convoluted setup for a softmod/hard drive in the ps2 for years and it’s hooked up to an lcd but i have some kind of cheap but decent upscaler that actually works fine. it’s really not bad at all. but if you have a good computer than emulation is worth a shot - certainly would make things like streaming easier. but the compatibility might have issues with certain games that make having the original console still desirable.
the answer is always personal and you’re specifically on a website where the answer is going to skew harder than normal toward “emulation is not good enough” when honestly…
tl;dr - emulation is amazing. a PC with a decent processor and GPU should be more than enough for 99% of people who want to play old games.
with that said, “emulation” by itself doesn’t mean anything. it’s a very useful generalization, but when it comes down to actually playing games, reality can diverge from even seemingly ironclad assumptions. higan’s SNES emulation is frequently called “perfect”. i mean, in many ways it is. you can’t play Lasabirdie: Get in the Hole, though. if you want to play that game, the overall state of “emulation” is irrelevant. even in one of the absolute optimal cases, it’s still a case by case basis.
katamari damacy has a variety of issues on pcsx2. they might not bother you at all, or they might be dealbreakers. if this is the game you want to play and your standards are not met, the abstract state of ps2 emulation is really somewhat irrelevant in the face of specific, concrete issues.
there are issues common to many forms of software emulation: various forms of latency resulting in less-responsive feel, audio/video synchronization quirks, peripheral support.
i don’t want to belittle the question, though. i would say again that a decently equipped PC when paired with a relatively low latency LCD should be sufficient for such a vast majority of people, that should be noted. if you are not the vast majority of people? that’s where things get weird lol
I once played a shooting game on a CRT that I had previously spent a lot of time playing in an emulator, and I played super well and made it much further than I ever did before due to the lack of input lag. It was like goku taking off the training weights. That day changed my whole outlook on emulators.
I’m also just, really tired of using computers and spending any time tweaking anything. The question of if your settings could be a tiny bit better drives me crazy. And the emulation community is constantly releasing and improving things which is just more work for me to keep up on my end.
Re: asceticism, my obsession is actually to be like Ryo in shenmue 1, who owns a Saturn that he keeps stored in a drawer with only 2 games. That is the exact level of weird minimalism I would like to practice someday, and to keep a small CRT around for that.
i both agree with this and also please give me any spare CRTs you may have, thank you so much
i passed up a ~20 inch 2000s CRT with component at goodwill a few years ago and i have thought about it at least once a week since then
god i miss the massive 720p sony CRT we had at the kentucky sb house but i never want to move a tv that big and heavy again lol
retroarch ux is such utter dogshit that i would really like a mister or something to couple with my little 14" wega with scart in, though the tweaked crt royale setup i use in most of my posts in the screenshot thread is an ok approximation of that set
I think the new Switch-style UI is much better than the XMB. Aside from having to pick between eight different Byuu SNES forks it’s been a breeze
Me too.
I have almost gotten this exact TV for free from like three different places around Cleveland, but the catch is always having to move it myself and I know from my time in that house what a shitshow that is.
I am also tired but wanted to play Earthbound and the first shader I picked looks so good I don’t care about the potential improvements.
Like I just checked out the past decade of emulation improvements last night.
thanks everyone for your considered perspectives, i really appreciate it. ps2 emulation sounds like it’s not where i hoped it would be, much less ps3 emulation. looks like i’ll be holding onto this busted pvm for a while yet.
beautiful
There is something magical about original hardware on an old CRT when you get “in the zone” in an arcade style game and feel like your inputs are 1:1 synced with what’s on screen.
as a (retired?) iidx player i co-sign this 100%. the lack of input lag in games that require precise and timely inputs is such a wonderful feeling. breaks my heart that crt technology has been abandoned as a dead end and now we’re all just clinging to these machines slowly whining their way to death
Impossible!
An OLED is going to be as good if not theoretically better in response time and as a lil bonus is not an EM bomb or the weight of a boulder.
It’s really really just a matter of OLEDs getting small.
Just — no need to despair.
they are apparently making progress on the pcsx2 core for retroarch, so I’m looking forward to trying that. even though retroarch’s ui/ux is a mess, it’s still overall leagues better than any standalone emulator, and I’ve found troubleshooting issues per game much easier on retroarch… being able to save profiles for each game helps a lot too.
Latency problems are quickly becoming more an issue of original hardware than emulation: runahead is such a total game changer, actually playing without the input lag we have all become accustomed to on real hardware.
What they show is that it’s the same sensor used for decades, so it should be susceptible to the type of controller degradation we’re used to. The Joycons used a new joystick design that may be more susceptible.
Vita used Hall effect sensors that accomplished the low profile needed for a Joycon without the wear and tear.
When things are small dust is big 