Is Having Too Many Ways To Game Gaming Overload?

Today I come to you with something that has been running through my mind for some time now; With so many phones and tablets, 3DS, Wii/Wii U, PS3, PC and even PS Vitas all covering the same market, “Is having too many ways to game, gaming overload?“

Now, many of us own 1 to 3 different dedicated gaming systems with one taking the top place. As for the rest, there is the ever increasing amount of systems we have to choose from. This can be anything from emulation of our favorite games on our phones, PC, and even other dedicated gaming systems to playing our most loved games on the system they originally ran on. Here in lies one basic question,

Do you emulate or do you play on your old hardware?

Now the first option can help scratch the itch to relive some old classic gaming at the loss of sound, proper controller, and the overall feel of the real thing. The second option it a wonderful way to go back to when you first sat in the warm glow of your big tube TV, blew into your cart and started on an 8 bit adventure.

Anyone that has more then 3 systems understands that it can be a real pain to have them all hooked up with the myriad of cables and switches. This can make having a nice set up a real bother to keep tidy if they’re all played on the reg.

The apparent problem that comes from collecting video games is that playing them in the way they were intended to be played is not the simplest thing to do. For instance light gun games like Duck Hunt can’t be played at all on new LCD TVs. The other bit of trouble is owning games that, if played, can bring their value down a lot so this is were emulation comes in handy.

I for one own a few sealed games that I still love to play to this very day but was unable to get another copy to play so they get played on emulators. With other games I have gone to huge steps to get the systems, games and controllers just to find out that on my HD TV they come off looking pretty bad. Thanks to companies like Nintendo, they try to fill this gap by reselling us the same games on virtual console to play on new hardware with out too much of an issue other than cost. However, they never have all the games so you may still miss out on the fun of playing Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers for the NES on your shiny new 3DS.

Now a few of us have found the joy of owning a Raspberry Pi and running RetroPie, an all in one, old school emulation station from Atari to PSP which runs on many versions of the Pi from the Zero to awesome results on the Pi 3. Now with the awesome work that libretro and RetroArch have done for all platforms and with amazing work for the PS Vita we can now play most of our beloved old games on the go.

This now starts to bring on the problem of what should I own to game on? If we try to play on proper hardware we start to get an overload of games and systems along with the TVs to hook them all up on.

So the question I ask of you is, what do you feel is the way to play? Do you keep it real or do you emulate? Do you run on newer hardware or old? What does this future hold as some old systems will start to not be playable on new TVs. I have been gaming since the 80’s and I have no plans on stopping now! With VR gaming coming along and with the Nintendo Switch here very soon the overload of gaming is upon us and I for one am ready with my hands open in anticipation.

Will the love of the old help make more systems like the NES Classic Mini, The Retro-Bit Generations Portable, Super Retro Boy, and the Morphus X300 with more in the upcoming months? This year alone many companies are bringing new ways to play the games we love so this just may be the year of retro gaming.

We would like to know what you think so please share your comments below and tell us what your feelings are about this flooded landscape of gaming we live in.

Thanks for reading and keep doing it for the love of the game.