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Views on Flash Carts

  • 16-08-2016 11:27am
    #1
    um7y1h83ge06nx
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,029 ✭✭✭


    What do people think about flash carts like Everdrive, SD2SNES etc.?

    I'd like to get a bit more into retro gaming. I have a few consoles - NES, SNES, GBC with some games and have a Retropie setup with ROMs. I do find the price of some retro games steep so was thinking of either staying with the Retropie or purchasing some flash carts.

    Are flash carts worth it or am I better sticking with the Retropie?


Comments

  • #2
    Digital Solitude
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,397 ✭✭✭✭Digital Solitude


    Depends on space and money.

    Most people prefer using original hardware, meaning you need a flash drive or a collection, both are expensive. Then you need space for a TV and for each individual consoles.

    Emulators are free, don't take up any space and give you access to all the games. You lose the charm and end up having so many games you play none.


  • #3
    CiDeRmAn
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 34,679 CMod ✭✭✭✭CiDeRmAn


    First off,
    The absolutely best thing is original games being played on original hardware, connected by the best means possible to the display the console was designed for.
    So, this would mean, the complete big box of Super Metroid, on an original Snes, via RGB, on a decent CRT, like a Sony Trinitron.

    If you can't swing for that lot, and many can't, the next best thing is the flash cart route, meaning you can have the hardware, a second hand Megadrive will set you back around €50 with some games, and a good TV, a 21" Sony CRT will cost you €20 or less on Adverts or Donedeal. Then, buy a RGB cable and you are set for, literally, life.

    Retropie should really be seen as the less favoured setup.
    It may be convenient but you are losing an enormous amount of what made the games great in the first place, and original hardware, controllers and packaging are all part of the experience.
    On a emu you find yourself having access to the complete game library of nearly every console made before 1996, which is thousands of titles. With no real value attached to these titles, you have them for free on a device you own anyway, they just don't mean anything and the experience is a pretty vacuous one.
    Flash carts can have the same effect, but at least with some discipline you can focus on the best of the games, played via the hardware, and give those games the time you deserve, to get the most from them.

    The money card is often brought up as explanation, but I feel it is a weak excuse tbh, certainly when it comes to console gaming.
    Yes, some games are very expensive now, but you can slowly put together a nice selection of cracking games for the consoles mentioned without ever having to download a rom from anywhere, just set a monthly budget and don't overspend on individual games. You'll find your collection building over time into one that reflects your own gaming interests and will be all the better for it.
    I mean, why own a rom set on a Raspberry Pi 3, for the Megadrive, and have countless football titles on it if they don't interest you in the least?

    In a nutshell, get flashcarts if there are some rare titles you have to have and can't afford, otherwise just accrue a personalised collection of carts as they pop up in your budget, don't worry about only picking up one or two a month, take it as an opportunity to give some attention to them, maybe even finishing them as well!

    And limit Retropie to a secondary way to play those games, or to arcade stuff/consoles that you can't get into, as you don't have the space or money.


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