How does everyone play?

[Sydian]

I always play on my handheld (never even heard of emulators unti now). But I was wondering, are the emulators free of charge?

Yes. You can download them as well as ROMs (the games), however it's against the rules to ask for emulators and ROMs here so if you're interested, you'll have to use Google. It's illegal though, but from what I understand, it is legal if you have the actual game. So say I had Red for my emulator, which I also have the cart, that's apparently legal. lol That's just how I've understood it as, so don't quote me on it.

[Kitrigar]

Originally Posted by Moza

Any idea why the emulators run really slowly and lag a lot? Trust me my computer has the specs, I dont get it.

There's VBA, NO$GBA and DeSMUME
VBA requires almost nothing and can be played without lag.
NO$GBA and DeSMUME may require some setting tweaks in order for it to lag less.
For the best settings, you can easily YouTube and find whichever fits your specs.

Originally Posted by Ultimate PKMN Trainer Red

Tbh, DeSMUME works only to strong computer such as Mac...etc. If your using a computer, like a laptop DeSMUME's going to be sooooooooooooooooooooooo slow and lags every time.

I used DeSMUME with a Windows XP notebook (such a bad investment) a few years back and had no problem. It just requires some setting to be changed/fixed. Most laptops can handle it. The only ones that can't are ones from the dinosaur ages.

[BlueShellBeast]

I use a mixture between Game Carts and Emulators. If I'm trying to rush through a challenge, I will use VBA for Gen 1-3 Games with the speed button, however, I find things the most fulfilling when you can use your Challenge Pokemon afterwards, more so if I want to take one of those Pokemon and use it on Pokemon Stadium 1&2, or if I'm playing on one of my Japanese carts, battle myself with the link cable. When it comes to the DS games, all of the ones I owned have vanished, and I play those on my AceKard (of course, I plan to rebuy them eventually).

[Cerberus87]

I used to play only on emulators.

However, Desmume can't play HGSS (my favorite game) without bugs. You need the anti-piracy patch, and even then the game might freeze after a while. Since the Desmume devs are like "we don't support Pokémon games" and "we don't care enough about Pokémon games to fix the bugs", I decided to support Nintendo instead and bought a DSi XL.

Apparently, a Supercard DSTwo with the proper updates can run HGSS flawlessly, too, so it's better than Desmume. I prefer the flashcart to the actual games because trade evolutions annoy me greatly and with a flashcart I can get around them. I really don't like DS emulation, it looks like crap on a PC because of the dual-screen and with Desmume I can't even use the highest magnification filter because the screen ends up bigger than my monitor, which is funny because I have a 23" monitor.

But! I'm thinking about getting second-hand 4th gen games, since they don't have the battery problems GBA games had.

[Brendino]

Not quite exclusively, but I almost always play on the handheld console itself rather than an emulator. The only time I can really say I use an emulator is if I want to play a hack or something like that (might also be easier to do challenges on emulators than physical games themselves).

[mozartm99]

So when you say it is "illegal" to use emulators, does that mean I could get tracked and fined for it? Also, is there some software that I could install on my ds to do lets plays without having to point a camera at my ds?

[Sydian]

So when you say it is "illegal" to use emulators, does that mean I could get tracked and fined for it? Also, is there some software that I could install on my ds to do lets plays without having to point a camera at my ds?

I haven't heard of any cases where someone got in trouble for it, so do it if you really want lol. And I don't know. If you have more questions, please Google them. I don't need the thread going off topic. YouTube may even have some video tutorials, which are useful if you are very cautious or just not knowledgeable on the subject and need to see someone do something before you try it yourself.

[AWsquared]

I usually play games on the handheld consoles instead of an emulator. The only time I play on an emulator is if I want to try a hack, do a challenge, or if I'm bored on my computer and want to waste sometime.

[SNOR(es)LAX]

I play on the my DS lite for DS and GBA Pokemon games, play my Gameboy Colour games on emulators cos my Gameboy Colour isn't really working perfectly, and some buttons are spoilt.

[Cerberus87]

Originally Posted by mozartm99

So when you say it is "illegal" to use emulators, does that mean I could get tracked and fined for it?

Actually I don't think the emulators themselves are illegal, or else Nintendo and other console companies would've already shut them down. What is illegal is the use of the emulator to play commercial games (and their derivatives) without having paid for them. An emulator is just software that recreates a console in a different hardware and doesn't have to be used to play commercial games. It can also play indie games and software (called homebrew), which is perfectly legal.

Being in possession of a ROM (read-only memory) copy of a game is only illegal if you don't own the game, because it can be used as a backup copy. Of course, this site and many others forbid ROM distribution because you can't tell whether the person who downloads the ROM actually has the game or not, therefore distributing ROMs is illegal. However, you don't need to download a ROM from the internet - you can copy it from your legit cart using homebrew software and certain hardware, which creates a digital copy of the game for you to edit to your heart's content.

It's so easy to find ROMs on the internet that it's very unlikely you'll ever get in trouble for downloading them.

[Autaven]

I always played on my DSi until I got a 3DS XL for Christmas and now I play all my DS cartridge Pokemon on there. My bf has inherited my DSi and started playing Pokemon, so ofc I'm thrilled.
I played on Emulators when I was younger and poor. But I never enjoyed it as much as the actual games.

[True Epicness]

I usually play on Gameboid on my note, so that I have save states, fast forward and hand-heldedness... that a word? Eh.
If you're wanting to present it to forums, though, VBA is the way to go. Just screen cap whenever and go through it.