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[Gamer79]

I and others who think like me, love videogames. The problem I am having is I cannot stand most of the modern day releases. They aren't fun, they aren't worth of my $70, and I do not care to play them. So I and others like me have went back to the "golden era" of videogames, and in the time before they went corporate.

Anyone can do this if they are willing to learn. I found out how to do this with just watching youtube video's and reading online. If you wish to play the older games it's not that hard but you will have to dedicate time and effort on how to learn how to do this.

Disclaimers:
1. I cannot post how to do this on this forum. All I can do is to tell you to research and watch videos on subjects like, Retrobat, Emulation Station, Retroarch, 1Fichier ($10 a month for premium downloads), and just do google searches on "_______ Rom" and you will find them.

2. You cannot be lazy and not want to learn. This is an investment in time and trial and error. If you love videogames, it will be worth it.

3. Results may vary depending on the machine you are emulating on. I tried to show in the provided video on games running native 4k, (some there isn't an option for 4k), and the ones that say "auto" for internal resolution is just set to my monitor native resolution (4k). Weaker devices can emulate most of these games but you may need to turn settings down and resolution down. Hell potato mini PC's can emulate all the way up to the n64.

4. If you feel bad about "pirating" there are plenty of options where you do not. In fact, many older game companies went out of business so their properties are public domain.

5. I often went to 5 or 6 different sites to get my Roms. Some sites had certain roms, and other Roms. Roms are the games for new people. I only downloaded games I want to play but your library can be as small or as large as you wish.

6. I also want to add that These older games look like shit on modern TV's. It is a benefit to them to upscale them and many come out looking really nice.

Here is a Demo I made of my work in Progress:

 

[64gigabyteram]

MiniPC + Bazzite and a couple controllers make 70% of other gaming systems obsolete. ETA prime made a whole channel off covering these little wonders of tech

 

[Guilty_AI]

Me playing a free doom conversion mod and this music pops up as soon as i run the game

 

[TintoConCasera]

Gotta love the OP, talking about emulators as if he just had discovered something new lol.

Keep having fun king. In my case I prefer playing those old games on their original consoles plugged to a CRT, but emulators are great as well.

 

[Shifty1897]

Hot take: There's no difference in the "corporateness" of modern games versus the games you are emulating. The warm fuzzies you get from playing retro games is the sense of nostalgia.

 

[Gamer79]

Gotta love the OP, talking about emulators as if he just had discovered something new lol.

Keep having fun king. In my case I prefer playing those old games on their original consoles plugged to a CRT, but emulators are great as well.

New to me, especially how far they have come. When I was messing with them years ago, it was a much more of a hassle and often times games did not run.

 

[Gamer79]

Hot take: There's no difference in the "corporateness" of modern games versus the games you are emulating. The warm fuzzies you get from playing retro games is the sense of nostalgia.

Not true at all. A ton of these games, I never played before. They are just more fun. Simple as that.

 

[TintoConCasera]

New to me, especially how far they have come. When I was messing with them years ago, it was a much more of a hassle and often times games did not run.

Yeah they've come a long way. I remember when I was younger I was trying to play stuff on Project 64 and most games would have lots of bugs.

Hot take: There's no difference in the "corporateness" of modern games versus the games you are emulating. The warm fuzzies you get from playing retro games is the sense of nostalgia.

Sorry fren but I gotta disagree. Many old games I play I never touched before and they are still just amazing. Stuff like Alien Soldier or Sin & Punishment 2 give me experiences that modern games just refuse to do.

Me playing a free doom conversion mod and this music pops up as soon as i run the game

Every computer should come packed with GZDOOM and all the cool wads. Ashes, Eviternity, Ancient Aliens, Saturn X... so much fun to be had.

 

[ClanOfNone]

I still play new releases that interest me, but I’d have to say the majority of my time goes into older titles and “retro” games.
I don’t care about using original hardware, so there are a billion options in this area. When Covid hit I bought one of those lil rg portables that was preloaded with a shitload of games. Thing cost less than a hundo and entertained me for a long time.
I replay a ton of shit too. My daughters are always like “Haven’t you already beaten this?”

 

[64gigabyteram]

Hot take: There's no difference in the "corporateness" of modern games versus the games you are emulating. The warm fuzzies you get from playing retro games is the sense of nostalgia.

there is way more of it and you can instantly tell by the homogeneity of gameplay systems, visual design, music choices (ESPECIALLY this one), advertising, themes, etc

modern AAA is quite a lot more samey and a lot more afraid to take risks even down to the properties that they use for new games

 

[Guilty_AI]

Hot take: There's no difference in the "corporateness" of modern games versus the games you are emulating. The warm fuzzies you get from playing retro games is the sense of nostalgia.

Old games were made by smaller teams, and they had to experiment more since gaming was still largely uncharted territory.

As someone mentioned previously, if this was just nostalgia it wouldn't explain why i still find myself enjoying old games i had never played until recently, more than modern releases.

 

[TintoConCasera]

music choices

THis is very true. I hate how lots of modern games seem to want to sound just like a movie.

 

[64gigabyteram]

THis is very true. I hate how lots of modern games seem to want to sound just like a movie.

to the majority of companies there are only 2 music genres that should exist in video games

orchestra for singleplayer and hip hop for multiplayer. They can be interchangeable, but this is generally the rule

diversity in music genres for AAA gaming has been long dead since the late 2000s honestly

You can usually tell when a game is a "modern" one just based on the audio that they use to promote their product/set the scene. Anything that's actually sonically creative and interesting is bound to have been made before 2008.

 

[TintoConCasera]

to the majority of companies there are only 2 music genres that should exist in video games

orchestra for singleplayer and hip hop for multiplayer. They can be interchangeable, but this is generally the rule

diversity in music genres for AAA gaming has been long dead since the late 2000s honestly

You can usually tell when a game is a "modern" one just based on the audio that they use to promote their product/set the scene. Anything that's actually sonically creative and interesting is bound to have been made before 2008.

Man you are so right it almost hurts. Just check this out, here's a game from 2024:



Pretty cool, but it's basic orchestra stuff. Now have a listen at the same theme but from 2015:



Much more varied, it sounds epic but it also has some electric guitars thrown in there. It has more personality imo.

And that's the important part, personality. I should be able to recognize most games by their music, but instead most modern games sound all the same to me.

 

[Sgt. Pinback]

Cool post OP. You're right. Modern gaming sucks, and the retrogaming/emulation scene is currently offering an enormous breadth of gaming that the 'mainstream' industry has abandoned.

To add to the thread:

Retroachievements is a must. I was absolutely shocked that Sony has no achievements in their 'classics collection'. RA will extend the life of thousands of retro games, and the community is amazing.

Twin Galaxies for when you get serious about your retrogaming and want to start battling with other nerds for platform supremacy. The ranking system is awesome, rating people's videos is endlessly fun, and the site is a frontend for competitive gaming in every genre.

Launchbox/Bigbox are essential for a seamless, unified frontend for your retrogaming collection. It makes your rom collection look as seamless, attractive, and feature packed as something like Steam - and 99% of the time, it is completely automated. Amazing.

At this point, I'm roughly 50/50 between retrogaming and contemporary gaming, and sometimes retrogaming wins. Sometimes it's nostalgia, but a lot of the time, it's as simple as the modern video game industry refusing to give me something as awesome as Ridge Racer Type 4, or Shadow Hearts Covenant, or In The Hunt. With RA/TG, it's mostly no different to playing any other contemporary video game, with communities of enthusiasts, activity, and endless fun to be had.

 

[Ozzie666]

Next step is FPGA products or a Mister. Dangerous to get started , CRT or analogue products with a DAC or Retrortink upscaler. 8bit controllers. It’s a of journey chasing that old feeling.

 

[Danjin44]

I can’t sympathize, I personally having tons of fun with most “modern” games coming out recently.

 

[cormack12]

 

[DeVeAn]

Awesome, Been really into getting my Steam deck set with emudeck. It works wonderfully.

 

[El Muerto]

I wanted to play a classic GTA for the fun gameplay, story, and better music. Found a modded GTA San Andreas ps2 iso Called GTA SA A True Definitive v2.3. Running it at 1440p and everything maxed out, dithering and interlacing off. Downloaded HD textures and applied patches such as 60fps and widescreen. It looks pretty damn good. There's some folks on gbatemp that have a hd texture group for ps2 and other systems.

 

[IFireflyl]

Some might say that I have a problem. Others would say that I have a solution.

 

[March Climber]

I can’t sympathize, I personally having tones of fun with most “modern” games coming out recently.

Hot take: There's no difference in the "corporateness" of modern games versus the games you are emulating. The warm fuzzies you get from playing retro games is the sense of nostalgia.

I know how you feel, however the good thing about retro games is that eventually everything becomes retro over time.

Older individuals tend to be late in appreciation, so just give it a decade or two and you will see the nostalgic PS4 threads start to pop up, much like they have started to lately with the PS3 and 360.

20th anniversary's coming up very soon.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

I went a different route. I have about 90 PC Engine games and a re-capped Duo-R. Also have a Mega Drive, SNES and handful of other consoles.

I still play new stuff like Elden Ring, Monster Hunter Wilds etc, but love me some retro games!

 

[El Muerto]

Some might say that I have a problem. Others would say that I have a solution.

Eventually your problem will get worse lol. And you'll start to collect all those emulator handhelds too.

 

[IFireflyl]

Eventually your problem will get worse lol. And you'll start to collect all those emulator handhelds too.

I didn't show a list of all of the systems I have, just the overall ROMS folder I have and its file size. I have the games for most portable systems. I think the only one I am missing is the SEGA Game Gear.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Eventually your problem will get worse lol. And you'll start to collect all those emulator handhelds too.

The dude has TB, not GB

 

[Dacvak]

I’ve found that the absolute king of modern retro gaming is picking up a nice CRT (preferably a PVM/BVM) and a MiSTer, for that gorgeous RGB-out. Then you can just hotswap USB-C controllers for whatever platform you’re playing.

The MiSTer is hardware emulation, so it’s generally 100% accurate (but oftentimes that means there are no save states or extras), with zero input latency, and perfect analog output. It currently maxes out at N64, Saturn, and PSX.

Here’s my current setup, which is basically the equivalent of just being a SUPER rich kid in the 90s. A $16,000 TV (at the time), every single console with pure RGB output, and even a bunch of arcade machines (cores supported in the MiSTer). It’s so nice, and really not that expensive!

 

[adamsapple]

I wanted to play a classic GTA for the fun gameplay, story, and better music. Found a modded GTA San Andreas ps2 iso Called GTA SA A True Definitive v2.3. Running it at 1440p and everything maxed out, dithering and interlacing off. Downloaded HD textures and applied patches such as 60fps and widescreen. It looks pretty damn good. There's some folks on gbatemp that have a hd texture group for ps2 and other systems.

Your wide-screen patch ain't working bro.

 

[AJUMP23]

I need a good retro setup and emulator.

 

[phant0m]

I and others who think like me, love videogames. The problem I am having is I cannot stand most of the modern day releases. They aren't fun, they aren't worth of my $70, and I do not care to play them. So I and others like me have went back to the "golden era" of videogames, and in the time before they went corporate.

Anyone can do this if they are willing to learn. I found out how to do this with just watching youtube video's and reading online. If you wish to play the older games it's not that hard but you will have to dedicate time and effort on how to learn how to do this.

Disclaimers:
1. I cannot post how to do this on this forum. All I can do is to tell you to research and watch videos on subjects like, Retrobat, Emulation Station, Retroarch, 1Fichier ($10 a month for premium downloads), and just do google searches on "_______ Rom" and you will find them.

2. You cannot be lazy and not want to learn. This is an investment in time and trial and error. If you love videogames, it will be worth it.

3. Results may vary depending on the machine you are emulating on. I tried to show in the provided video on games running native 4k, (some there isn't an option for 4k), and the ones that say "auto" for internal resolution is just set to my monitor native resolution (4k). Weaker devices can emulate most of these games but you may need to turn settings down and resolution down. Hell potato mini PC's can emulate all the way up to the n64.

4. If you feel bad about "pirating" there are plenty of options where you do not. In fact, many older game companies went out of business so their properties are public domain.

5. I often went to 5 or 6 different sites to get my Roms. Some sites had certain roms, and other Roms. Roms are the games for new people. I only downloaded games I want to play but your library can be as small or as large as you wish.

6. I also want to add that These older games look like shit on modern TV's. It is a benefit to them to upscale them and many come out looking really nice.

Here is a Demo I made of my work in Progress:

Hey OP, want to start a GAFretro community? DM me.

 

[phant0m]

Some might say that I have a problem. Others would say that I have a solution.

Same brother, just under 10 TB.

Really gets uneconomical past PS2/GC

 

[Soodanim]

I wanted to play a classic GTA for the fun gameplay, story, and better music. Found a modded GTA San Andreas ps2 iso Called GTA SA A True Definitive v2.3. Running it at 1440p and everything maxed out, dithering and interlacing off. Downloaded HD textures and applied patches such as 60fps and widescreen. It looks pretty damn good. There's some folks on gbatemp that have a hd texture group for ps2 and other systems.

Something's definitely gone wrong with that copy - that isn't proper widescreen. Compare CJ and car proportions to my PC copy:

 

[{insert code here}]

Okay, honest question here. Where did the "nostalgia" argument come from and why does it creep up in nearly every discussion now about old games. Been around games my whole life and I've never heard anyone use that argument up until a year or so ago and now it comes up all the time. You can reference threads here on GAF dating back 20 years (I think?) and I can almost guarantee you won't see that argument anywhere prior to about 2021-2022.

It's just such a retarded take to say that anything that's old is only good because of teh nostalgia

 

[Killer8]

 

[Dacvak]

Okay, honest question here. Where did the "nostalgia" argument come from and why does it creep up in nearly every discussion now about old games. Been around games my whole life and I've never heard anyone use that argument up until a year or so ago and now it comes up all the time. You can reference threads here on GAF dating back 20 years (I think?) and I can almost guarantee you won't see that argument anywhere prior to about 2021-2022.

It's just such a retarded take to say that anything that's old is only good because of teh nostalgia

Doesn’t make any sense to me, personally. I’ve been playing retro games that I’ve never even heard of the last few years, and they’re so good. I never had a Saturn or TurboGrafx, and I can’t tell you how many excellent games I’ve played even just year alone.

I genuinely think most “AAA” games today are worse than games from the early 90s to early 2000s.

 

[Instant_Classic]

Doesn’t make any sense to me, personally. I’ve been playing retro games that I’ve never even heard of the last few years, and they’re so good. I never had a Saturn or TurboGrafx, and I can’t tell you how many excellent games I’ve played even just year alone.

I genuinely think most “AAA” games today are worse than games from the early 90s to early 2000s.

Most AAA games are terrible and too samey nowadays

I can count on one hand the amount of AAA games that are good in 2025.

Whereas 15 - 20 years ago, this number would be in the double digits easily.

 

[64gigabyteram]

Next step is FPGA products or a Mister. Dangerous to get started

Which is why you don't. IMO, A decently powerful PC, a good monitor and Shaderglass is what you need.

GitHub - mausimus/ShaderGlass: Overlay for running GPU shaders on top of Windows desktop

Overlay for running GPU shaders on top of Windows desktop - mausimus/ShaderGlass

github.com

CRT monitor prices on ebay are wild for decades old heavy hardware. Would rather not fuck around with that kinda stuff.
If you need the benefits of CRT on a modern display, OLEDs are your friend.

 

[Archaic101]

I and others who think like me, love videogames. The problem I am having is I cannot stand most of the modern day releases. They aren't fun, they aren't worth of my $70, and I do not care to play them. So I and others like me have went back to the "golden era" of videogames, and in the time before they went corporate.

Thank goodness I can go back to the days of Nintendo, Sony, Activision, EA, MS and Capcom...before games "went corporate."

 

[Instant_Classic]

Thank goodness I can go back to the days of Nintendo, Sony, Activision, EA, MS and Capcom...before games "went corporate."

Games went corporate in PS360 gen, gaming blew up into mainstream culture in that gen.

That doesn't imply games were suddenly bad, just because of this.

But this is definitely the time when the people who don't play games, starting taking leadership in game positions.

 

[Dacvak]

Which is why you don't. IMO, A decently powerful PC, a good monitor and Shaderglass is what you need.

GitHub - mausimus/ShaderGlass: Overlay for running GPU shaders on top of Windows desktop

Overlay for running GPU shaders on top of Windows desktop - mausimus/ShaderGlass

github.com

CRT monitor prices on ebay are wild for decades old heavy hardware. Would rather not fuck around with that kinda stuff.
If you need the benefits of CRT on a modern display, OLEDs are your friend.

With respect, it sounds like you don’t have a nice CRT + FPGA setup, because I don’t know why you’d recommend software emulation and shaders over the real thing. I say this as someone who got fully absorbed in software shaders in 4K OLED with rollback software emulation. It’s fine, but it’s nowhere near as good as the real deal.

No one should be buying CRTs on ebay; it’s easy to get one for super cheap as long as you’re patient and willing to scour the internet every so often. And the MiSTer clone board from Taki is like 1/4th the price and just as good as the DE-10, so it’s much cheaper than it was just a couple years ago.

The only reason to stick with software solutions is if you truly don’t have any extra room for a CRT. And I get that that’s the case for some people, but I have to assume at least most folks have room for a 20” CRT somewhere.

 

[Sakura]

I got a PC98 this week and also component cables plus adapter for my PS2.
Would've loved to get a nice CRT but theyre just too much.

 

[BlackTron]

Plugging payments to 1Fichier are you serious?

 

[Gamer79]

Plugging payments to 1Fichier are you serious?

i found it the most hassle free way. You can do it all free but many sites have download limits or slow servers, I bought a key 3rd party vendor

 

[Ritsumei2020]

I and others who think like me, love videogames. The problem I am having is I cannot stand most of the modern day releases. They aren't fun, they aren't worth of my $70, and I do not care to play them. So I and others like me have went back to the "golden era" of videogames, and in the time before they went corporate.

Anyone can do this if they are willing to learn. I found out how to do this with just watching youtube video's and reading online. If you wish to play the older games it's not that hard but you will have to dedicate time and effort on how to learn how to do this.

Disclaimers:
1. I cannot post how to do this on this forum. All I can do is to tell you to research and watch videos on subjects like, Retrobat, Emulation Station, Retroarch, 1Fichier ($10 a month for premium downloads), and just do google searches on "_______ Rom" and you will find them.

2. You cannot be lazy and not want to learn. This is an investment in time and trial and error. If you love videogames, it will be worth it.

3. Results may vary depending on the machine you are emulating on. I tried to show in the provided video on games running native 4k, (some there isn't an option for 4k), and the ones that say "auto" for internal resolution is just set to my monitor native resolution (4k). Weaker devices can emulate most of these games but you may need to turn settings down and resolution down. Hell potato mini PC's can emulate all the way up to the n64.

4. If you feel bad about "pirating" there are plenty of options where you do not. In fact, many older game companies went out of business so their properties are public domain.

5. I often went to 5 or 6 different sites to get my Roms. Some sites had certain roms, and other Roms. Roms are the games for new people. I only downloaded games I want to play but your library can be as small or as large as you wish.

6. I also want to add that These older games look like shit on modern TV's. It is a benefit to them to upscale them and many come out looking really nice.

Here is a Demo I made of my work in Progress:

So here’s my hot take. I kind of disagree with you. Let me explain.

For me, games were more expensive when I was a teenager. I remember Mario 64 and all N64 being stupidly expensive. According to inflation calculations, it would be like $120 in current money. I feel games are more affordable now.

Second, quality wise, yes big budget games may be shallow and lack innovation, but theres been plenty of recent games that are well worth your time. Im not going to make a list of my favourite games cause it dont know what stuff you like, but theres been so much released recently that anybody is likely to find something to like.

 

[BlackTron]

i found it the most hassle free way. You can do it all free but many sites have download limits or slow servers, I bought a key 3rd party vendor

Just something about sending cash to pirated game hosts lol.

Probably don't even have a vpn

 

[Gamer79]

So here’s my hot take. I kind of disagree with you. Let me explain.

For me, games were more expensive when I was a teenager. I remember Mario 64 and all N64 being stupidly expensive. According to inflation calculations, it would be like $120 in current money. I feel games are more affordable now.

Second, quality wise, yes big budget games may be shallow and lack innovation, but theres been plenty of recent games that are well worth your time. Im not going to make a list of my favourite games cause it dont know what stuff you like, but theres been so much released recently that anybody is likely to something to like.

I agree games were expensive.

Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one. I disagree with you about quality

 

[Gamer79]

Just something about sending cash to pirated game hosts lol.

Probably don't even have a vpn

I paid through a 3rd party, I am not uploading anything or using torrents

 

[BlackTron]

I paid through a 3rd party, I am not uploading anything or using torrents

lol I was talking about the principle of monetarily supporting theft, nevermind

 

[Ritsumei2020]

I agree games were expensive.

Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one. I disagree with you about quality

I mean, you have Astral Chain, a favourite game of mine, in your video. That game is a current gen game well worth its price. So I am not sure if you are just advocating piracy here or what?

 

[Hollywood Hitman]

I've platinumed over 25 games in the last year and half and I dunno man I'm having a Blast, always something to play for me. Litrelly game after game, there's so much shit to play I personally love it. I truly just never am out of good shit to play.