is this Videogames Purchase worth it?

Discussion in 'General Advice' started by vuatson, Nov 30, 2018.

  1. vuatson

    vuatson [delurks]

    Someone who knows more than me about videogames and the way publishers do things (in this case specifically Nintendo), please advise. I never played any vidyagames as a kid because my parents thought they were a waste of time, and now as an adult I regret missing the experience. I especially want to play basically anything from the Pokemon or Legend of Zelda series.

    For the past week or so I've been fixated on LoZ again, reading fanfic despite never having played the games, all that. I ended up researching console prices again and I discovered that while I still can't afford a Switch, I can afford a used Wii U, and it's possible to get all the Zelda games I want to play plus some others I'm interested in on the Wii U via Virtual Console. HOWEVER apparently the Wii store is getting axed forever in January and if I don't own the things I want to get by then I'll lose my chance to get them legally.

    Up until now, I had been thinking I'd save up and buy a Switch, since that's where all the new games will be and it just looks like a funner console than the Wii U. But! I also really want to play those older games. I guess a few of them are going to be released on Switch Online, but they've only announced one Zelda game so far, and I don't know if I should trust them to eventually release the others. I also don't love the fact that I wouldn't have an option to actually own the games even if they were released on the subscription service. I'd totally be willing to pirate them, but I've heard that's basically impossible on the Switch, and I'd rather not use a PC emulator.

    Further complication: I'm quitting my job in about three weeks to take welding classes. If I wasn't quitting, I'd say fuck it and buy the things, but from January until March I'm going to be depending on my savings and my parents for rent, groceries, etc. I also need to get work done on my car sometime soon. Welding will pay a lot more than my current job and apparently I can expect to get a job right out of the class, so I had been planning to treat myself to Videogames then to celebrate, but now I've learned that most of what I want won't exist at that point. Another factor is that I'm not too interested in any of the Virtual Console games other than the Zelda ones, EarthBound, and maybe some of the Mario and Pokemon ones.

    So, does anyone here who knows more about videogame companies know if more classic games are likely to be released on Switch Online or any other service/platform? Is the Wii U actually fun to use, and would it be a good purchase considering that it's going to be increasingly neglected in the future? I know that this wouldn't exactly be a wise purchase for me right now, but I really don't want to miss my chance to play these games.

    Alternatively, does anyone know if there's usually a substantial difference between legit and pirated versions of games? In terms of gameplay, glitches, etcetera. I have zero clue about anything to do with hacking a console but I'd be willing to struggle through it. Maybe it would be better for me to get a Wii U and just pirate all the games I want?
     
  2. LadyNighteyes

    LadyNighteyes Wicked Witch of the Radiant Historia Fandom

    In most cases, no; pirates just dump the game files straight from the cartridge/CD/whatever. And those two series are big enough names that any emulator you find is likely to be programmed specifically to run the games you're looking at with minimal issues, and if there is an issue, it'll be well-documented.
     
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  3. vuatson

    vuatson [delurks]

    When you say emulator, do you mean an emulator on a PC or on an actual console? You don't have to use an emulator to play pirated games on the console they were designed for, do you? I guess the Virtual Console is kind of an emulator (I think?), but as far as I can tell that's already built into the Wii U.
     
  4. LadyNighteyes

    LadyNighteyes Wicked Witch of the Radiant Historia Fandom

    I've only used fan emulators, sorry. My piracy experience is mostly in the vein of "I'd like to play this classic SNES game and there is literally no way to do that in a way that gives the company that made it money," and primarily involved PC emulators.
     
  5. Aondeug

    Aondeug Cringe Annoying Ass Female Lobster

    The Virtual Console isn't kind of an emulator. It is an emulator, just an officially supported one. All an emulator is is something that emulates the environment of a specific system. So things like the VC, SNES9x, and DosBOX are all emulators. But something like WINE is not an emulator since it's not actually pretending to be the thing.

    As for console...as far as I know if you want to play games that are pirated from other systems you will need an emulator. There was a booming market for emulators designed to work on the PSP, for example. So you could jailbreak the system and then get an emulator for, say, the psx or the SNES going and bam. You can now play games from those systems on it through the emulators. In terms of like...say the wii and playing pirated wii games on it...As far as I understand it so long as you're able to make the copy correctly you do not need a wii emulator to get them running. I've never actually done this myself though so I can't say much more about it other than 'So long as you made the copy correctly and managed to bypass the system's built in NO THAT IS NOT LEGIT safety measures you should be gucci.' You'd have to look into running pirated games on the WiiU yourself, sadly. That and how to jailbreak it.

    Now for differences between pirated copies of games...A bad dump can have glitches not present in official copies of the game. And emulators and actual system hardware are different (though some do strive for greater accuracy that others). So you'll be getting different shit going on. Not through changes to the rom or iso themselves, but because of differences between the emulator and the hardware it's based off. Castlevania 64 has strange screen tearing not seen in consoles unless you fiddle heavily with settings, and it has almost no in-game lag like the console versions do. And some games like FF7 are so problematic on emulator that some emulators have like built in setting packages designed JUST to get that game running. The neat thing about this fact is that you can use the flexibility of the emulators to make the games look and sound prettier. Essentially making your very own HD versions. On the flipside you can make them look hilariously crap! The other thing to keep in mind is that a lot of games have anti-piracy measures. This is a bigger issue with newer games and especially PC ones. For those you should be able to look into cracked versions of the games though, which should be fiddled with so that the anti-piracy measures are turned off.
     
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  6. LadyNighteyes

    LadyNighteyes Wicked Witch of the Radiant Historia Fandom

    Yeah, one I particularly remember was that Batman: Arkham Asylum had... I think it was gliding from a jump disabled if you didn't have the game legit, so GameFAQs etc. were full of people who got a little ways in and then hit the first spot you had to do it, and would post "HOW DO I GET ACROSS THIS GAP" and people would be like "actually buy the game." And there was that Assassin's Creed game that checked in with the server every few minutes to make sure your copy was registered and wouldn't let you play offline even though it was single-player. As far as I know there's none of that sort of copy protection on any of the Zelda or Pokemon games, but I may be wrong.
     
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  7. Saro

    Saro Where is wizard hut

    I honestly wouldn't recommend a Wii U. What's your issue with games on an emulator on a PC? A lot of Zelda and Pokemon games can be emulated without issues on the PC. Is it the keyboard? There are certainly cheaper ways to get around that if you want to use a controller. There are various SNES-type USB controllers available, you could use an Xbox controller, I'm sure there are many other options as well. If it's sitting at a computer, you don't need great specs for most of the early games, and could play them on a laptop. (One of the reasons I don't recommend a Wii U is because it is... clunky. It's uncomfortable. It doesn't feel good to physically play if you're using either the gamepad or the wiimote type controllers. I think playing on a laptop is a lot more comfortable than using the Wii U.)

    There are some very good emulators, some better than others at faithfully recreating how the original system ran the game. My husband uses RetroArch, which is a frontend for a shitton of different emulators for different systems and has a lot of options that you may/may not be interested in. My husband loves trying to emulate the feel and look of CRTs, so he's into it for the massive shader library. We've used it for games from systems ranging from NES to PS1.

    I wouldn't necessarily write off homebrew on the Switch so readily. People are quite enterprising, and there's work being done right now. Admittedly it might require a specific firmware version, which if you're buying a new Switch you might already be past, but there's always the option of eBay (where people will often tell you what the version is) or the continuing ingenuity of the community. My husband is much more conversant in this than I am because he's the homebrew wizard in our household, so if you'd like, I could ask him about it.
     
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  8. LadyNighteyes

    LadyNighteyes Wicked Witch of the Radiant Historia Fandom

    I can confirm I've had Pokemon up through the DS era run fine in emulators on a $200 netbook with the processing power of a grape. On my current laptop, I can emulate up through Gamecube and PS2. I've also had USB controllers work fine, if keyboard controls are an issue.
     
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  9. vuatson

    vuatson [delurks]

    Tysm everybody for the replies and information!
    Ah, that's what I was worried about with the Wii U. It looks really awkward to hold. The keyboard is part of why I'm hesitant to try an emulator on PC - I'm also just afraid I'd fuck it up since I have very little technical knowledge. But it sounds like I might be better off trying my luck with one anyway. RetroArch looks amazing, actually - I think I could easily get the hang of using it! Probably not on my current laptop which tries its best but is dying a little more every day, but once I finally get (or build) a new one I'll look into this for sure. Thank you for telling me about it!

    I guess overall it seems like my best option would be to wait for a Switch after all, and in the meantime get a good controller and become a pirate. If the PC emulator thing doesn't work out for whatever reason, I can always get a Wii U later and pirate the games on there whenever I want since there's no time limit on Crime.

    looks like I'll have to continue to spend my money somewhat responsibly instead of impulse buying a bunch of cool stuff, lol
     
  10. Aondeug

    Aondeug Cringe Annoying Ass Female Lobster

    Honestly my only real issue with the WiiU is the entire lack of interesting shit that isn't made by Nintendo themselves. I actually rather like the feel of the thing in my hands myself and I really love the wiimotes. A Lot. Controller feel's a very personal thing. I'm one of the weirdos that legit loves the n64 controller and I really hate dualshocks 1-3. And I know there are people out that legit love the xbox duke because it actually fits in their hands. The controller feel issue is honestly just something you'd need to field test for yourself.

    But, again, there's other issues like the library and the lack of support. As well as the fact that we're making strides on jailbreaking the switch.
     
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  11. witchknights

    witchknights Bold Enchanter Defends The Fearful

    Yeah. Our OG Wii is cracked to hell and back and our WiiU was a total waste of money, so i wouldnt recommend it, exactly.
     
    • Like x 1
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