Virtual Console or Physical Cartridge?

Do you prefer the older games (gens i through II currently) on virtual console or the physical games?

Personally I prefer playing them on and having the actual, physical cartridge. There's just something about using a physical copy that the Virtual Console just can't replicate for me. I guess it just feels kinda weirdly impersonal to play the Virtual Console copies and it kinda takes me out of the experience.

That's just me though lmao.

Virtual Console. I grew up with a gameboy color and experienced red, blue, yellow, gold, silver and crystal that way, so I do get nostalgic thinking back on it. I had a clear limited edition gameboy color that you could see the insides of-- t'was beautiful. The old cartridges were also nice to look at, such thick plastic with bold colors that you don't get to have and hold on an emulator or the virtual console. There were also some nice features you could utilize if you had a gameboy that you can't make use of now without that like the gameboy printer to print out diplomas, messages + other cute pokemon pictures and Dex entries. I also have memories of taking my pokemon from the gameboy and loading them onto pokemon stadium for tournaments with the transfer pack.

That being said though, I still have to choose the virtual console because it allows me to transfer the pokemon I go on adventures with in gen 1 and gen 2 games over to more recent generations, and continue raising those pokemon in other regions. Whereas on the gameboy there is no way to trade beyond gens 1 and 2, so what happens in those games has to always stay in those games, unlike GBA games that can allow you to move your gen 3 pokemon over to gen 4 if you want, and then onto gen 5, 6, 7, 8 etc.

Also the batteries in the Gameboy cartridges will have run out because of their age, and with the old Gameboy games you can't hold a save on your progress unless you replace the battery, so not being able to move through the region at your leisure would bother me. Even though this can be fixed, playing the virtual console on your 3ds is simpler and cheaper to do than the labor of love of trying to repair an old game, at least to me.

The Virtual Console comes with some other perks like the gs ball event being added to the international virtual console releases for Crystal. Getting my first Celebi at the end of my Johto journey was pretty awesome. It's also neat that pokemon from the virtual console always have their hidden abilities when transferred out.

I personally prefer the virtual consoles as well; they allow me to play the games with my hardware that's a lot more advanced than what the games were originally released on. I used a Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, and a Gameboy SP. I prefer using the Virtual Consoles and using my 2DS and 3DSXL for them.

I've kinda always liked physical a little more, although I think that a lot of that just has to do with how I'm old and physical is what I'm used to.

It does have the perk of not eating up storage space....even though that's starting to become less and less of a factor as gaming systems move more towards storing game files on your system regardless of whether you bought it physically or digitally, plus the convenience of buying them digitally. So I guess that just leaves that you don't lose literally everything if the system is lost or dead.

I like being able to connect to the Stadium games, but I think I prefer the Virtual Console overall since we have the option to send our Pokémon to the newer games and don't have to worry about internal batteries running dry and losing our precious Pokémon. Now if only they would release the Stadium games for Switch Virtual Console and somehow make them compatible with the 3DS Virtual Console games...

I would choose a physical version since I like using the original hardware when possible, but I have no actual preference. Once I start playing, the thought of digital and physical goes away.

I suppose I've gotta go with Virtual Console, purely because I haven't played any older games psychically in years. Although I played Yellow and Crystal on my Gameboy ages ago, I've lost the former and my batery has heartbreakingly run dry on my Crystal catridge, so I haven't even touched them for like 10 years haha. I'd do anything to go back on my Gen 2 save but seeing as that's long gone, the VC gives us all a chance to experience these games again :)

There's something super special about playing them on the handhelds they were originally meant for, using a game cart. I miss the feeling. Still, I'm so happy to be able to play the games on virtual console, even if I haven't beaten Yellow yet (oops). Love both for different reasons! VC keeps the games relevant and lets fans who never tried them out way back to play them on their modern system.

I own all my games as physical copies. That's why I never felt the need to buy the VC counterparts. However, I like that they were made accessible that way. It's just another means of preservation. Now if only Nintendo started to do that with more games...

I have both physical and virtual console copies of Pokemon Silver. The physical one, I do plan to keep for as long as I can. It's something special that I'd like to pass down a generation.

I might be one of the few that say both. While it's nice to have a physical copy and standing in line waiting to get them at midnight it's also nice to be able to download it straight to your Switch and not have to worry about having it with you or a different game. One of the nice things about getting a physical copy that's not yours is to see if there was anything left behind from the previous Trainer.

I'd prefer to own a physical copy of a game, but I'd probably prefer to play the game on virtual console.
I have almost all of my old GB games (RIP Pokemon Silver) in a box with my gameboy, but I've played virtual consoles more thanks to the convenience of them.

I would love to own physical cartridges of older games (and Game Boy). It feels like I really own the product. Virtual copy is mine only until Nintendo decides to stop supporting 3DS shop.

I much prefer the physical cartridges, because up to Emerald they always felt special, with the different coloured casings. Obviously it wasn't really viable to do this from Gen IV onwards, but I do miss it, and I still have my original games.

Accessibility means that I'd be playing them off the Virtual Console if I were to play them now - unless I dig up my GBA SP from wherever I left it anyway, or for the GBA games my DS Lite - but I'll always have a fondness for those old cartridges. As always, physical > digital, I value ownership over glorified rentals.

Physical if possible.

I have Blue and Gold on virtual console though.

I actually prefer virtual. It's cheaper, and the batteries don't die. Take this random Silver cartridge I have for example. The battery is DEAD! I bought Silver on VC (along with Crystal) before finding this random Silver Cartridge so nothing was lost I guess. That said, I have Blue on physical as well, but I never play it due to...well there's really no post game so it's pointless. The N64 is dead so I can't play it on the GB Tower in Stadium at 3X speed, and the pacing is just...wrong without the extra speed now. Idk really. *shrug* Tbh, I have none of the gen I games on VC because....I have my reasons. I did think about Yellow for the longest time though. Never followed through. Oh well.

A while back I was in the virtual camp, but then I stepped on my 2DS and broke it, loosing my yellow save file in the process. A 2DS is a very fragile thing turns out and I lost the username and password of the nintendo account.

In contrast, the Pokemon Yellow game I got as a child, which had dust and grime all over it, I was able to fix up rather easily and replace the battery, and connect it to Pokemon Stadium.

I think both have their uses, there is an appeal to never having your Pokemon die from battery loss, but on the other hand the robust physicality of the games is also pretty great.

surprisingly tough and deep question.

I feel like I'd prefer to play on a physical console for the old stuff, but that may be mostly for the nostalgia, but I'd prefer a virtual console/emulator for the new stuff.

I feel like I'm less in the mood to take my time with the newer games but I can't tell if that's on me, or a factor of how games are now.

For me I consider the old games, like up to emerald.

Maybe its just me but I feel like the older games were just slower, more about exploring and your journey, but eventually it just became, aaahhh I've got to go here, to do this, to get that, because thE WORLD IS ENDING!!

idk to me it just feels like the older games are closer to real life, and are about you and the pokemon, whenever something happens you want to follow/go (for the most part) because you want to get that pokemon, instead of always being told to go somewhere.

It's just harder to get invested in it for me. So I guess that's a large part of why I feel the way I do.

I hate VC. it feels so insecure, knowing that your console could break and your 80$ game would be lost forever. However, Carts and pretty resilient *laughs in GB carts* and will last for a long time and can be transfered between consoles.