Has anyone kept (or started keeping?) a list of all the folks who post here on the forum stating they're working on NES emulators? I'm guessing the number would be in the high hundreds by now.
Just curious -- if not, I'm tempted to start something like this...
List of all the NES emulators in development
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I was specifically referring to dedicated NES emulators which are in development, not multi-console emulators. Meaning: "Hi, I'm Jim, I'm 14 years old and I'm making a NES emulator". "Hi I'm working on my NES emu and I have a thousand questions"...
There's been tens, if not a hundred, people over the years showing up on this forum talking about how they're doing a NES emulator. Yet, basically none of them come to fruition.
My point is more or less to bring to the attention of the masses that no new emulators need to be made -- instead, spend the time/effort to help improve ones already in development or already established. Or better yet, pick another console altogether; the NES is full. :)
There's been tens, if not a hundred, people over the years showing up on this forum talking about how they're doing a NES emulator. Yet, basically none of them come to fruition.
My point is more or less to bring to the attention of the masses that no new emulators need to be made -- instead, spend the time/effort to help improve ones already in development or already established. Or better yet, pick another console altogether; the NES is full. :)
Depends on what their goal is. I don't see the problem in writing a NES emulator if you're just getting started and want to learn how to write an emulator. Seems to me that NES/GB/SMS/GG would be the best choice in that situation.My point is more or less to bring to the attention of the masses that no new emulators need to be made -- instead, spend the time/effort to help improve ones already in development. Or pick another console; the NES is full.
I couldn't care less if someone starts writing NES emulator #536 and then never releases it. It doesn't affect me in any way. Then again, I tend to stay out of the Nesemdev subforum.
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GradualGames
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I've sometimes thought it would be neat to write an emulator of minimal functionality just for the learning experience. I don't think I'd ever make a big "announcement" about it, it would just be for fun. But, personally, making a game just seems so much more interesting and creative (especially since so many fine emulators are available that aid tremendously in creating a game---I see these as the shoulders of giants upon which I can stand). I was surprised when I first got on this forum to see only sivak's youtube videos about the as yet untitled battle kid. I expected to find dozens of such videos by dozens of people. I guess most indie developers are targeting newer systems 
or, developing emulators 
or, developing emulators 
I find developing games more rewarding than developing emulators. A game, no matter how simple, always presents something new. But emulators usually just allow people to play the same old games everyone already knows without offering anything new.
Given the fact that there are already a couple of great emulators that do almost everything anyone would ever need, I don't see a point in making yet another emulator unless there is something innovative about it, like a (preferably useful) feature that was never implemented before.
I can understand people that code emulators as a form of studying the system (even though I think they'd be making better use of their time if they were coding games instead), but such emulators rarely offer anything interesting (as opposed to games), and should probably be kept private.
Given the fact that there are already a couple of great emulators that do almost everything anyone would ever need, I don't see a point in making yet another emulator unless there is something innovative about it, like a (preferably useful) feature that was never implemented before.
I can understand people that code emulators as a form of studying the system (even though I think they'd be making better use of their time if they were coding games instead), but such emulators rarely offer anything interesting (as opposed to games), and should probably be kept private.
I think people pick a system to emulate based on how much they like that system, not how many emulators there are for it. It just happens that a LOT of people like the NES, so it's only natural that there are a crapload of NES emulators...
I don't see any fun in being the first to emulate an obscure system that most people never heard of just for the sake of being the first.
I don't see any fun in being the first to emulate an obscure system that most people never heard of just for the sake of being the first.
I disagree. Most beginner coders who think "hey, writing a game would be totally radical!" and actually finishes their project end up either doing a remake of some old game (tetris, arkanoid, pong, snake), or something very similar. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with doing that - I'm just pointing out that there's nothing inherently more creative or "new" about writing a game compared to an emulator.A game, no matter how simple, always presents something new. But emulators usually just allow people to play the same old games everyone already knows without offering anything new.
Me neither. But I can see the fun in doing it as a technical challenge. Like the people who write MAME drivers for old obscure arcade systems that only had a couple of games made for them, without always having a whole lot of documentation to go by.I don't see any fun in being the first to emulate an obscure system that most people never heard of just for the sake of being the first.
Even clones of existing games, as mic_ pointed out?tokumaru wrote:A game, no matter how simple, always presents something new.
Yet Virtual Console prints money.But emulators usually just allow people to play the same old games everyone already knows without offering anything new.
A useful feature such as the ability to run on a piece of hardware that thousands of people already have.I don't see a point in making yet another emulator unless there is something innovative about it, like a (preferably useful) feature that was never implemented before.
You have to come up with your own graphics and game rules. (WarioWare DIY thinks AI stands for "action instructions"). Some people weren't trained for that.I can understand people that code emulators as a form of studying the system (even though I think they'd be making better use of their time if they were coding games instead)
Even when the overall idea isn't revolutionary, at least the graphics and music usually bring something new to the table.tepples wrote:Even clones of existing games, as mic_ pointed out?
To people who don't know how to make their consoles play their pirate RoMz the VC is an innovation that allows them to do something they couldn't before.Yet Virtual Console prints money.
If there isn't already a good emulator for said piece of hardware, yeah, then it makes sense to make one.A useful feature such as the ability to run on a piece of hardware that thousands of people already have.
If someone decides to make an emulator because they lack the talent to make games that's fine, but they won't get any notoriety unless they include features that will make their software stand out.You have to come up with your own graphics and game rules. (WarioWare DIY thinks AI stands for "action instructions"). Some people weren't trained for that.
This is all just my opinion though. I'm obviously biased towards game developing, after all that's the path I chose. But I know that I enjoy a new game announcement much more than a new emulator announcement, and I believe most people in this scene do to. This is not a "superiority" discussion by any means (in case someone is thinking that), it's actually a matter of balance... The NES has always had tons of emulators and few homebrew games, and right now this scene needs games more than it needs emulators.