I have one like the retrolink but it's unbranded and otherwise looks the same, but it feels as rugged and solid as a real pad and when playing some games back to back between the real hardware vs over it+nestopia it was a good ride I didn't suffer for so I kept it.

the only gfx adjustments I use on emulators is scanlines usually, or ones that make it 'look' like how playing on a old tv would have. I'm not a fan of 2xsai, supereagle, etc etc that try to make it look 'better' and less pixelated

There's blargg's NTSC filter for BSNES, and I think NESTOPIA that make it look damn damn DAMN close to playing on a real TV.

If I had the space, the money, and the time, sure I'd have a distinguished library complete with one of those ladders that roll around and a spiral staircase....

right, but I have to face the music. The games aren't getting any more plentiful, cheaper, and there is only a matter of time before bitrot gets them anyway.

My stance is that emulation needs to be perfected for complete preservation...and it has to be a damn good emulator that can tap into a database of advertisements, box art, cheat books and magazine scans of the era, maybe with an '80s play list in the background while reading. The emulator would need to be able to be easily ported to different architectures also.

Right now emulation is good, usable, and satisfactory for the most part with NES, SNES, etc, but subtle differences that are hard to pinpoint exist that make the game just not "feel right" maybe it's the lcd monitor, maybe the rosy nostolgia glasses are the culprit, who knows?

But in the end, emulation is necessary, it's the best way to preserve everything, and without them we wouldn't have all those cool homebrews and romhacks easily at our fingertips.

The only time I don't mind using them is when I'm unsure about whether or not a game is worth what it would cost.

Emulators are awesome.. They are good for:
Playing NES games on laptop when someone is using the TV
playing NES games on GBA SP when you are on the go
playing NES games on phone when you are on the go

get a NES to USB adapter for the controller, and don't use the other features you don't like / want!

That's exactly what byuu is doing with bsnes. It's already cycle-exact for SNES emulation, and he's so dedicated to preserving everything that he spent thousands of dollars collecting the entire North America set of SNES games, and has been re-dumping each one as well as scanning the board, cart, box, and manual. He wants a completely preserved library. When he finishes the North America set, he's going to work on the Japanese set next, and then lastly the PAL set (which he's dreading because of how outrageous the cart prices are now.

Emulators are an abomination! Actually they are fine but nothing can replace the feeling of playing the real thing.

I love the console experience far better than an emulator, but battery backed games have failed on me over the years , I really want to keep my saves, so some games that rely on batteries I rather have an emulator save, but for most games its not necessary. Thanks God no more battery saves now!! and also you can back up your saves from GameCube, Wii, Virtual Console, so it is almost perfect.

I like feeling like an elitist and owning a repro cart that most people wouldn't even know exists.
So I'd always like to play on an actual console.

Something about emus doesn't feel right... Either too fast or too slow..

I use to play games on emulators but to be honest with you it just wasnt the same for me.

I guess part of the thrill of the hunt to me is getting to play what I find. I also prefer to play the games on my television.