[Opinion] I Prefer Purchasing Physical, But Not Because Of "Ownership".

[JackHandy]

haxxiy said:

JackHandy said:

As for the ROM, I do not agree. I mean, yes, I can technically play it, but in almost every use-case, that experience is going to either be different, or less-than. Emulation introduces input-lag on everything that isn't a CRT. And if it's not on a CRT, even if it's hacked to make it match modern screens, it looks weird. And if it's installed on one of those flash carts, it's also not the same experience.

An emulator like Bsnes not only features perfect low-level accuracy emulation but also frame input run-ahead that makes it have less input lag than even the original hardware, though. Same with things like the Lantern Engine recompilation adding Nvidia Reflex Boost to Bloodborne, making it run like a dream in that regard.

You might argue that doesn't make up for the CRT TV nostalgia but that one point, IMO, has been wildly overstated in some circles.

For instance, SNES developers worked on 800x600 or 1024x768 4:3 PC monitors and weren't really designing or fine-tuning their sprites and backgrounds for 256x224. A large portion not even bothered with the 8:7 aspect ratio...

As I said, the game is but one piece. There are several others. CRT is one. A real SNES is another. A real SNES controller is another. Hunting for carts at shops, building a collection, physically putting them into a real console that you've been playing for more than three decades, sliding that purple button up, hearing the sudden umph out of the speakers as it engages, and then sitting down just as that first phosphorus-produced image appears, and the music ushers forth... it's the intangible, the entire act which produces the experience, not just playing it.

If the above is your thing, a ROM is practically useless.