Classic Computers vs. Classic Computing

Many kids (and adults alike) run emulators (e.g. a Super NES (older 16-bit game console) emulator) to play games because the emu offer more capability than the games' original platform. For instance, in some RPGs, you can only save your progress within the game at certain times, which can be few and far between. With an emulator, you can suspend the virtual machine at any time you like and save memory contents and execution context(s). Later, you can resume exactly where you left off. Emulators also offer more portability than the real thing. A laptop with emulators for NES, SNES, NeoGeo, Genesis, etc. can go in much smaller places than the corresponding collection of the real hardware. Most of the people who run these emulators are somewhat classic-aware and are doing it for nostalgia. You have to remember that games have advanced quite a bit since those days. Today's "Win#? kids who [...] really don't care, and just want games, games, games, all for free", with their 1GHz computers and ultra-fast 64MB-equipped 3D accelerators, expect much more graphically from a game. To them, older games are bland and boring and wouldn't be worth the time to run in an emulator. -- Jeffrey S. Sharp jss(a)subatomix.com