Older Gamers: For older games, do you prefer the original console/controller, or do you like the bells and whistles of emulators?

I usually end up going with emulators because the only old system I still have is my Genesis. Even with that though I sometimes prefer to play sega games on an emulator because of the saving feature where as on Sega I’d have to sit there until I beat the game or hope it doesnt decide to randomly freeze and cause me to start all over again.

That said, I still need to break out the ol Genesis or Dreamcast every now and then and get down with some old school gaming. It makes me feel like a little kid again :)

Emulators
-A keyboard is easier and less taxing on the hands than a controller
-No messy cables
-Easier and cheaper to get rare games
-As @uberbatman said, there is a usually better save system on emulators. You can probably hold more than enough on a PC and you can probably save any point in the game

Emulators all the way.
– I can use the keyboard and if you configure it correctly, the mouse too.
– If I want, I can use a usb controller.
– 1920×1200 resolution, native, not upscaled.
– texture filtering.
– saving anywhere I want
– easier to cheat

I get my Game Boy Color out and start playing Pokémon and Mario Bros. Good times!

I have tons of them, and they’re good for playing games I’ll never have access to, or that were never released here. But playing with a keyboard pisses me off. Tried to play Mega Man X…2D action games with a keyboard is nonsense. My guy could barely jump diagonally. If I could find some kind of controller that would be way better. Never been a keyboard person at all when it comes to games, and this includes actual PC games. But needless to say, I was quite happy when I found the Mega Man X Collection on the PlayStation 2. Emulators for me are a last resort, and I’ve only been able to enjoy emulated role playing games, and they have to be turn based. And anyways I’d much rather play on my TV, in a big comfy chair than on here.

Original hardware. I have pretty much every console going since the Atari 2600 including a couple of arcade cabinets (although admitedly I bought most of them in the last 10 years or so).

I’ve got a StellAdapter and a few Atari joysticks, so I’m good with the emulators.

Ideally, I prefer the console, but I absolutely adore having 150 NES games at my fingertips, without having to worry about cartridges and the pressure with which I should blow into them.

When I first saw this, I felt misled. I’ve been gaming since before consoles existed!

I am more of a console person as I have found few emulators that really work. I got Fusion set up for my old Genesis version of Shadowrun, but most of my console games are PS/PS2 titles that I play on the actual console. To date, I have yet to find a way to play Disgaea 2 or Gran Turismo 4 on my PC decently, as there don’t seem to be any good PS2 emulators last I checked.

I prefer my Gravis gamepad for my emulated games, but most of my retro-gaming is done with dice and mapsheets. (Car Wars, and BattleTech mostly. Screw MechWarrior!)

@jerv
pcsx2 really is the best there is out there.

I prefer my Atari 7800 when I want to play those games. For other systems, I prefer the console if I have them as well, but most of my consoles are no more, so I’m forced into using my modded X-Box with tons of emulated games on it. I need to find myself a Dreamcast though, I just can’t see me playing Jet Grind Radio emulated. My PS2 is the only other console I have still in working order that I use regularly, and I don’t see myself switching any time soon since it would be way too much work to replace 100+ hour saves I have on various Final Fantasy titles or my semi maxed out stat save of Chrono Trigger (Chrono is completely maxed, Robo is maxed on strength, Magus and Marle are maxed for magic).

@ragingloli I was afraid of that :/

I adore emulators. I especially love the “save state” feature some have. The only consoles I use are the DS and PSP.