Selling your collection for Flash Carts/ODEs

[bikingjahuty]

I've been heavily watching and reading about various ways to future proof my collection, everything down to preserving the games to how to play and enjoy retro games on modern TVs and get the best/most authentic feeling out of them on modern technology. This has really, really made me think a lot about the future of my collection, not just in terms of what may or may not work in 10, 20, or 30-years from now, but also how to ensure I can continue playing the games I love.

Part of the rabbit hole I've fallen into has led me to look into flash carts and ODE (Optical Disk Emulators) seriously for the first time. While some of these solutions still have to be proven given how new they are, there are many options that have been on the market for a while that seem more than adequate to replace the need for physical games. This has led me to wonder what I'd do if I decided to drink the flash cart/ODE Cool-Aid, mainly would I let go of my collection over time to not only fund these devices, but also because I'd technically no longer need them. I've pretty much decided that IF I decided to go this route I'd sell pretty much everything except those games that I have some sort of sentimental attachment to, whether that's because it's a game I grew up with or have a fond memory of obtaining that copy of the specific game.

So my question is, has anyone used flash carts as a collection replacement, and if so what has your experience been like? Do you think it would be a good idea in the long run to offload your physical games and instead rely on flash carts and ODEs? Are these devices typically easy and hassle free to use once set up with your ROM/BIN files?

Even if you don't have any experience with these physical media replacement options, what are your feelings on selling off most or all your collection if you had a device that could easily store and play every video game for a particular console with minimal fuss or hassle?

[oldgamerz]

When I didn't know any better in (2013) I've used some ROMs on Windows 7 before with all different emulators. but I've noticed some ROM's are completely different games then the originals and sometimes, they can either glitch broken, or be unbeatable with some kind of coding that will make it impossible to win or complete the game. also keep in mind if something bad should happen, you would be pretty much on your own. Unless you could somehow find tech support for your ROM's.

In short right now I don't think it's a good idea, in the future? maybe?

[bikingjahuty]

When I didn't know any better in (2013) I've used some ROMs on Windows 7 before with all different emulators. but I've noticed some ROM's are completely different games then the originals and sometimes, they can either glitch broken, or be unbeatable with some kind of coding that will make it impossible to win or complete the game. also keep in mind if something bad should happen, you would be pretty much on your own. Unless you could somehow find tech support for your ROM's.

In short right now I don't think it's a good idea, in the future? maybe?

Emulators and Flash Carts/ODEs are completely different things. Emulators are software that attempt to replicate the hardware of a console as close as possible to create as authentic an experience as possible while playing games. Flash Carts and ODEs use the same ROM/ISO files that emulators use, but they are not being emulated since they are using the original hardware to run and play. The only thing that can potentially impact the experience of playing an actual game cart/CD on a console, and using a flash cart/ODE to do it is any sort of hardware fault in the actual hardware of the flash cart or ODE.


I casually emulate, but I've never once considered it a viable substitute for the real thing. If we were talking about Emulators versus a real cartridge in an actual console, there would be no comparison at all, and my opinion would be firmly towards the authentic experience. But this is very different. These carts/ODEs might be the future of retro gaming, especially when it comes to disc based games which are more prone to damage and defects over time.

[Warmsignal]

I think it's a good idea for those who really just enjoy/desire to play the games, but appreciate the performance of original hardware and the highest quality display methods for said hardware (RBG, PVMs, Upscalers, CRTs, etc.) My own brother went that route, because he's always been one intrigued by high performance and tech. He tapped out of game collecting once the average price of a retro game reached about $5 - $10. He now games using various EverDrives and ODEs, on a CRT that he modified to accept SCART with retro consoles he also modified to output.

It all looks great on screen and is very convenient, the best part? You can also use that same hardware with original software so it doesn't have to negate the use of an actual game collection. The main benefit that I see in it, is the ability to play games you could never convince yourself to spend money to own and try out for the first time. You can play games you could never justify the price of, and you can find out whether games you don't own, are actually worthy of owning.

However, I will always be a collector at heart. They could produce a million ways to play all of these games as conveniently and cheaply as you could imagine, and it would never diminish my desire to continue buying individual pieces of plastic with different artwork on them. To me, it's a part of the experience that gets completely stripped away with aftermarket software and modifications. It takes me back to my younger days dabbling in MP3 piracy - it was compelling yet just wasn't fulfilling for a lot of reasons. There's nothing all that alluring about scrolling through a list of roms and booting up a file. The presentation of physical games get me excited to play them, much more so than word of mouth, gameplay videos, reviews, forum discussions, and certainly more than a list of roms. I enjoy my collection, and I would dare say it's an integral part of the experience that I would never axe completely in favor of convenience.

I'm more a proponent of modifying hardware for performance upgrades, as it mostly adds to the experience and brings you even closer to the ideal intention of the gaming experience. Using modified hardware for convenience however, doesn't serve my interests a whole lot. However, I'm not a total purist. If I can't justify something financially, and I'm convinced I need to experience it on some level, I wouldn't turn aftermarket solutions away. I've considered getting myself a Turbo Grafx-16, and then instead of collecting games just going with an EverDrive. It would certainly feel cheap, and probably become one of the more forgettable aspects of my game room/collection, but I simply can't justify starting and building a game collection for that platform at this point, as much as I'd prefer that over ROMs.

In the end it comes down to the question of whether you appreciate the experience of physical game collections. If you own a physical game collection and play it on original hardware mostly because you were aware that it was technically the best way to play most of it, then making the switch to these newer solutions makes sense. If you feel owning the software is an important part of the experience in and of itself, then these solutions would hardly qualify as a replacement.

[ignition365]

I know I've been thinking about dumping anything cart wise and either doing emulation or buying everdrives.  Stuff like Sega CD and Dreamcast I consider dumping my collection and just doing the burned CD route, but why.  Saturn I'm super interested in the Satiator and the Terraonion MODE.  Saturn is a system I have no interest in "collecting" for, but I want to play some of the games, and that seems the way to go.  Anything like PS2 or newer I'm fine collecting because emulation of that stuff just isn't reasonable imo.  Though you've got the stuff like homebrew channel on wii that could cover GCN/WII, but like at this point, I own just about everything I'd ever want on those platforms minus import titles.

[bikingjahuty]

I'm most likely going to start with a flash cart on a single system like the Genesis or SNES and see how it makes me feel about accumulating more games on it. Depending on my experience I may end up selling off a fairly large portion on those collections except for the stuff that means something to me.


As far as ODEs go, I really want to get the MODE for the Saturn particularly because of how bullshit expensive it is still collect for that console now. It would be nice to have Taromaru, Hyper Duel, or Panzer Dragoon Saga all on an SD card running on a device that cost a fraction of what each of those games cost. Luckily I don't have as much of a desire to do this for the Dreamcast since I have 98% of all the games I'd ever want to own for it. Still, if one of my Dreamcasts disk drive ever fails I'll likely pick a MODE up just as a way to alternately play games on it. Too bad because I used to have a Dreamcast with a bum drive, but got rid of it years ago. I'm sure it won't be long before one of my other Dreamcasts decides to crap out on me.


On a side note I really hope an ODE is developed for the PS2 in the near future. If any console desperately needs one it's that given how unreliable its drive is.

[bikingjahuty]

I think it's a good idea for those who really just enjoy/desire to play the games, but appreciate the performance of original hardware and the highest quality display methods for said hardware (RBG, PVMs, Upscalers, CRTs, etc.) My own brother went that route, because he's always been one intrigued by high performance and tech. He tapped out of game collecting once the average price of a retro game reached about $5 - $10. He now games using various EverDrives and ODEs, on a CRT that he modified to accept SCART with retro consoles he also modified to output.

It all looks great on screen and is very convenient, the best part? You can also use that same hardware with original software so it doesn't have to negate the use of an actual game collection. The main benefit that I see in it, is the ability to play games you could never convince yourself to spend money to own and try out for the first time. You can play games you could never justify the price of, and you can find out whether games you don't own, are actually worthy of owning.

However, I will always be a collector at heart. They could produce a million ways to play all of these games as conveniently and cheaply as you could imagine, and it would never diminish my desire to continue buying individual pieces of plastic with different artwork on them. To me, it's a part of the experience that gets completely stripped away with aftermarket software and modifications. It takes me back to my younger days dabbling in MP3 piracy - it was compelling yet just wasn't fulfilling for a lot of reasons. There's nothing all that alluring about scrolling through a list of roms and booting up a file. The presentation of physical games get me excited to play them, much more so than word of mouth, gameplay videos, reviews, forum discussions, and certainly more than a list of roms. I enjoy my collection, and I would dare say it's an integral part of the experience that I would never axe completely in favor of convenience.

I'm more a proponent of modifying hardware for performance upgrades, as it mostly adds to the experience and brings you even closer to the ideal intention of the gaming experience. Using modified hardware for convenience however, doesn't serve my interests a whole lot. However, I'm not a total purist. If I can't justify something financially, and I'm convinced I need to experience it on some level, I wouldn't turn aftermarket solutions away. I've considered getting myself a Turbo Grafx-16, and then instead of collecting games just going with an EverDrive. It would certainly feel cheap, and probably become one of the more forgettable aspects of my game room/collection, but I simply can't justify starting and building a game collection for that platform at this point, as much as I'd prefer that over ROMs.

In the end it comes down to the question of whether you appreciate the experience of physical game collections. If you own a physical game collection and play it on original hardware mostly because you were aware that it was technically the best way to play most of it, then making the switch to these newer solutions makes sense. If you feel owning the software is an important part of the experience in and of itself, then these solutions would hardly qualify as a replacement.

While I'm not going to mod any of my consoles just yet, I have been heavily looking into upscallers and getting the best quality picture out of them through various video output methods. Luckily many older systems support video outputs superior to composite, it's just a matter of tracking down the cables and a passthrough like an OSSC to output them to a modern display in their original aspect ratio. Something like the GCHD MK.II also looks incredibly appealing since it's able to plug right into the video out on your gamecube and then allow you to use HDMI.


I will say though, one system mod that looks very, very appealing is the HDMI N64 mod. I've seen footage of it and it literally transforms the image in a way that is unreal.

[betelgeuse]

I use an everdrive for Turbo Grafx that a friend hooked me up with. As far as I can tell, the games play the same as original. My TG16 collection is boxed, so this comes in handy when I want to play it. No need to worry about damaging the flimsy cardboard packages.

[sworddude]

I mean if where talking any cart based system with cardboard packaging, considering these are carts, it's pretty easy to store them in drawers labeled to not pull them out of the cardboard packaging everytime wich is quite a hassle when done that way.

[oldgamerz]

I do have an NES multi-cart but it has a warning on the cartridge not to use this cartridge in a real NES, I purchased this cartridge off Etsy's website, all the games seem to be functioning just fine last time I booted it up. on a Retron 2 I even talked to the manufacturer before It came. And, he or she told me that the cartridge was full tested and was guaranteed to work it is true.

But most of the games do not act exactly like the official NES cartridges, I watched a video of someone playing the real Contra for the NES and the enemy patterns were vary different then my copy.


I would wait for an official retro release

here's a article about stuff like this

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/07/flash_carts_could_be_slowly_killing_your_retro_consoles

[sworddude]

I do have an NES multi-cart but it has a warning on the cartridge not to use this cartridge in a real NES, I purchased this cartridge off Etsy's website, all the games seem to be functioning just fine last time I booted it up. on a Retron 2 I even talked to the manufacturer before It came. And, he or she told me that the cartridge was full tested and was guaranteed to work it is true.

But most of the games do not act exactly like the official NES cartridges, I watched a video of someone playing the real Contra for the NES and the enemy patterns were vary different then my copy.


I would wait for an official retro release

here's a article about stuff like this

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/07/flash_carts_could_be_slowly_killing_your_retro_consoles

first of all what do you mean by official retro release? because I'm pretty sure nintendo will never make an official retro release everdrive not to mention that if where talking nes and snes classics the roms are worse than the free roms wich are illegal. snes and nes classics actually had differences compared to the original, so if your going the official route you never get a perfec console experience. it's really ironic that free is better than paying 60$ or up for some roms with a nice packaging. seriously proffesionals cant even get the correct roms or alter them in a way.


2nd flash carts destroying consoles.

that's only for the older models of flash carts, these days majority of flash carts do not hurt your console anymore.

also even at that time of that article there where already good flash carts, it was a 50/50 some carts where of better quality. the cheaper carts where the culprit in general.

also if you ignore cd retro game emulation

16 and 8 bit has perfect roms these days, there is no difference compared to the original provided you got the correct roms since bad roms exist.

There are some tiny  differences wich you cannot see with the naked eye even if your a perfectionist  or you won't notice even for speedruns only if your checking code etc, but in the case of speedruns you sometimes are required to use an original copy at least for the bigger games even if the emulation and completion times are exactly the same, for a ton of niche games emulation is a ok for speedruns since not many people do them and even for allot of bigger games.

either that or seperate categories,

[kamikazekeeg]

I don't see anything wrong with cutting down a physical collection to just the stuff you really like and then having a flash cart with everything so you can play whatever you want more easily.  It's especially great for games that are more rare and expensive to buy.  I've thought about getting one or two myself for a few systems, but haven't jumped into it.

[betelgeuse]

I mean if where talking any cart based system with cardboard packaging, considering these are carts, it's pretty easy to store them in drawers labeled to not pull them out of the cardboard packaging everytime wich is quite a hassle when done that way.

I put the jewel cases back in the boxes years ago. Some of the more expensive ones are also in plastic box protectors. I’d rather have them up on the shelves where I can see them.

[Warmsignal]

Not sure what this talk of wearing out boxes and games cases is all about. How often do you go digging into the same CIB packages? It's not difficult to be mindful of how you handle such things so as to not completely ruin them. I don't think that stuff needs special consideration, you just need to use common sense and handle your belongings like an adult is all. 

lol, sorry I just don't see this as a good argument in favor of flash carts.

[sworddude]

I mean if where talking any cart based system with cardboard packaging, considering these are carts, it's pretty easy to store them in drawers labeled to not pull them out of the cardboard packaging everytime wich is quite a hassle when done that way.

I put the jewel cases back in the boxes years ago. Some of the more expensive ones are also in plastic box protectors. I’d rather have them up on the shelves where I can see them.

I mean for nes and snes there are sides in wich you could easily open them withouth damaging them, however if where talking say gba or certain other cardboard boxes wich don't have those flat side flaps  you'll always leave some minor damage, Gameboy classic once again has sides such as nes and snes games so you could open those withouth damaging them but still a hassle with them inserts etc

but yea there is truth in how often one picks the very same game, so could be a non issue. still wear and tear stacks even when done correctly compared to plastic packaging + it takes longer than any plastic case released game because cardboard packaging was designed to be thrown away not to store the cardridge for long time usage.

flat flapes are easy to open, but examples such as these with a small difference in height are such a hassle to open. Some console games only have these flaps on all sides.