It's not that I have a problem with flash cards (I have at least a half dozen for various systems, some of which actually still work!) it's just...so many posts lately about the things. This constant proselytizing for the them and the obsession with having every single game available all the time without even taking a game out of the slot...drives me crazy, hard to say why.
Sure, it's nice to be able to play Magical Chase (a game nobody would know about if eBay hadn't told them it was great) or other $$$ games but not only does it not smell like 80s Japan...it's all just kinda anti-human. It took millions of man hours to build the HuCARD library and personally I feel I experience it more thoroughly with $80 worth of games than an $80 flash card. There's more to a game than the ROM and I'm not talking about the paper and plastic boxes.
I think getting into TG16, CD's and Super CD's has always had a high barrier on entry getting in. Compared to just PCE. So not only is it expensive getting just the fundamentals to play, but getting a library of games is even worse. So people who were originally put off by this now have the chance to experience the hu card library. So even though everdrives have been around for a few years now, people are still proclaiming their love for them.. over and over again haha.
There's just something about original hardware though. Experiencing exactly what the game developers intended for their audience. They even have a signature smell to them, (anyone who denies not noticing this is a liar)
. Everdrives overwhelm people from what i've noticed too. I'm personally enjoying playing through the PCE library one game at a time, as I get them. Someone here/somewhere else will mention a game that sounds cool, and i'll weasle myself a copy. But in the mean time while waiting for the slowest Canadian shipping possible, i'll continue experiencing my current title; until the new game comes.
I know in 2009 when I got into Nintendo emulation, it was easy to overlook certain titles because they fell in the shadow of more popular games. It might be ADHD, but knowing you have access to 500+ other games makes you antsy. Die a few times in solider blade, jump over to Raiden. Same thing, NEXT. And so on and on..
Contrasting this experience by being limited to only a couple games gives u more appreciation. In 2002 I was stuck with a rental N64 with one game; Indiana jones and the infernal machine. At the time I thought the controls, targeting system and everything else was really unique. And because I didn't have anything else to play, I stuck with it. Played through the entire thing and absolutely loved it.
But flash forward 15 years later, I'll watch my friends grab it from a stack of games on the table. Play it for 5 mins, say meh and move on. Guaranteed the thousands of people who have this loaded onto an emulator have never appreciated it. Regardless of having 100% access to the game.
Just lost my train of thought haha.. probably time for bed
