Actual hardware, software emulators or FPGA clones?

[sexually_inactive]

Unless there's strong justification to play a particular game on actual hardware then I go with software emulators. Generally I play DS and 3DS games on a real DSi and 3DS but emulate other systems. I've seen claims that fighting games play better on actual hardware and FPGA clones because of the lower input latency but while not a fighting game player myself more recent emulators have implemented features to eliminate the input lag so I don't think this argument is valid. The PS3 and Xbox 360 onwards don't have good emulators yet if I understand correctly. If I really wanted to play Rare Reply or some other exclusive then I might consider buying the actual hardware for it.

 

[master801]

Break up your mess into a sensible article, then maybe add what you're even trying to ask in the first place - because I have no fucking idea what you're even trying to ask.

 

[smf]

I've seen claims that fighting games play better on actual hardware and FPGA clones because of the lower input latency but while not a fighting game player myself more recent emulators have implemented features to eliminate the input lag so I don't think this argument is valid.

You mean FPGA based emulators? There aren't any "FPGA clones" that I'm aware of, it's just marketing crap.

However, an FPGA based emulator would have lower input latency than a software emulator. Though some, like the mister, throw a lot of that away by using bluetooth and hdmi (the out of the box settings for mister are quite poor the last time I looked).

Things like run ahead can help software emulators, but they aren't perfect in all cases.