| fatslob-:O said: The ultimate goal of emulation is preservation of access to content since games are a special format of entertainment in that their information cannot be copied so easily in comparison to either solely or a mixture of video and sound data ... (It is a part of humanity's preference to not lose important information.) And for that the benefits vastly outweigh the drawbacks once we achive such content for future generations to view ... |
Archiving / preservation is a lot different than offering up freely playable versions. Offering up enhanced / improved versions is even further removed from archiving and preservation.
For archiving / preservation you only need to make an exact copy of the data to store next to the cartridge on renewable storage in case it fails over time. No need to play it. To preserve the hardware, build schematics are the best bet in case the actual hardware gives out. Exact 1:1 emulation no matter how shitty it runs is also a good way to preserve the original experience. However most of the emulators are not interested in exact emulation or preserving the original experience.
The ultimate goal of most of the existing emulators is to play the old games, not to preserve them nor preserve the original experience. It's just an excuse people use to feel better about illegally downloading roms.
This is what preservation looks like
