For me, video games are, like for many people I think, quite an important aspect of my life. Well yeah, I’ve been playing a lot for a long time, maybe a little less today, but in general, gaming has always been a passion for me. If I ask you today what your first game was, the one you have the most memories of, what would you tell me?
For my part, I think I’d say, I don’t know, Crash Bandicoot on PlayStation, Super Mario Bros on Game Boy, there you go, it’s not exactly recent, but tell me in the comments what your answer would have been. Well, what if I told you that you could play them again right now, even without the original console? Well, I know it’s nothing new and it’s called retro gaming emulation, and it’s simply the ability to play old games, but how old?
When Does a Game Become Retro?
It’s often said that the first game to be created was Pong, released in ’72. So that’s the case, I think, it’s the first real game released, there are other traces before that, but they were little things, but overall, there you go, games are still quite recent when you compare that to other arts, like painting, sculpture, whatever you want, it’s been around for 50 years, basically, and if I’m talking to you about this, it’s because the very definition of retro gaming is somewhat specific to each person.
For some, it’s games that are 20 years old, for others, it’s enough that the console is no longer being marketed. I like the mix between the two: from the moment the console has no longer been marketed for maybe 10 years, 10–15 years, well, we can say that it’s retro gaming. Today, I’m presenting an aspect of gaming that I really like, and for many reasons.
Introducing the UPERFECT
To play video games, I admit that it’s still better to have a screen. I’m doing pretty well, as you can see, but maybe that’s not the case for you, and that’s good because the sponsor of the video is UPERFECT BE22BQ Portable Monitor.
They sent me a very lightweight and ultra-thin portable screen that you can easily store away or take out when necessary. It’s also a touchscreen, so you can use it like a tablet, with a 2K resolution and really nice colors. We have connectors, we have two USB-C ports and an HDMI, and a stand that detaches from the screen.
You can place it and orient it however you want. So if you want an additional screen for working or gaming, know that it’s clearly possible with this type of screen. And it’s also worth noting that this screen offers a VESA mount for mobile use.
It may not be useful, but if you want to use the screen in a fixed setup, that’s completely possible. And by the way, you’ll see that we’re going to need it in the video, we’ll talk about this screen again very soon.
Preservation and Accessibility Through Emulation
Emulation and Video Game Preservation
Retro gaming is possible mainly thanks to the work of enthusiasts and the community, and you’ll see this throughout the video, but it’s impressive how much of a major role they play in this story, and it’s crazy to see how involved they are in keeping games that are 20 years old and beyond alive. Besides simply playing the very first Zelda, it also allows for genuine preservation of video game heritage, in my opinion.
What I mean is that today it’s ultimately quite expensive to try to get a copy of the first Mario Bros to play it, and retro gaming through the principle of emulation actually allows another machine, for example a PC, to believe that you’re on a console so that you can launch an old Mario, and then, magically, the game can run. So I’m not going to go into the technical details of emulation and ROM dumping, basically transforming a physical game into a virtual game for the emulator, but basically, know that it’s completely illegal to do that, there, it’s said, and honestly, even if you own a physical copy of the game, I don’t think it changes anything, in fact it’s illegal, it’s still downloading a game, there you go, we’re not allowed to.
The Debate Around Old Game Piracy
But actually, I work on the principle that once a game has no longer been marketed for 10–15 years, that it’s impossible to find normally, legally, in fact, it’s unthinkable that a game should simply die because it’s forbidden to play it, I mean, there you go, you see what I mean, it’s unthinkable for me, so I tolerate this illegality. I’m not necessarily inviting you to do it, it’s up to you to decide where you draw the line, but there you go, it’s said, but in any case, the piracy of these games, the popularization of emulators, the work of the community to make all this possible, even if it’s forbidden on paper, really makes it possible to preserve all these games that without this would actually be lost in the void.
Video Games as an Art Form
And yes, I’m talking about art. For me, video games are an art form, and besides, let’s make a little comparison with painting, for example. If you want to see the Mona Lisa, how do you do it?
There are two possibilities: either you go to the Louvre and see it, or you go to Google Images and type in Mona Lisa, there you go. There you go. So yes, indeed, it won’t be the same experience, but in principle, in both cases, you will have seen what the Mona Lisa looks like.
Accessibility and Official Releases
It’s a bit the same thing here. Where museums allow works of art to be preserved, for me, piracy of old retro games also helps preserve this video game heritage. We’re talking about preservation, but we could also talk about accessibility.
In fact, retro gaming has never been as accessible as it is today in terms of performance. In general, it’s a little less efficient to do retro gaming through an emulator because the computer or phone, whatever you’re using, has to process additional things that the machine at the time didn’t need to do, so it’s a little less efficient, actually.
Today, we’ve reached emulators and processes that are so much more advanced that we can really run games just like back then, or even better. Take Pokémon FireRed, for example. If you want to play Pokémon FireRed and you don’t have a Game Boy Advance, it’s not a problem.
You can easily install it, for example, on your Android phone or on your PC. For example, my little brother, who wasn’t even born when the game came out, was able to play it easily two or three times, I think, because the game plays really well on a phone. So once again, accessibility is incredible, the fact that children can play old games from back then.
Nintendo and Official Retro Collections
After that, you can also decide to spend 20 bucks on the same game that’s being resold on the Nintendo eShop on the Switch, there you go. It’s the favorite weapon of manufacturers: offering games, often through a cloud subscription, where in this case, you simply pay a buck and there you go, to play old games. Sometimes they even make compilations, like here where you get three Mario games on the Switch at the same time, anyway, there you go, they also try to preserve their games by releasing them again later, but then you have to pay for your game multiple times if you have all the consoles, there you go, it’s a little complicated, but it’s completely legal and it’s cool, honestly, that they do this, it also makes games accessible in another way, so great.
After that, it’s up to you to decide whether or not you want to spend your money on that. I did. So it’s cool, everything the manufacturers are doing.
They’re clearly marketing your nostalgia, but why not, okay, but today, the subscription, for example Nintendo’s, allows you to play up to the Game Boy, I think, something like that. In 20 years, let’s imagine we make it all the way to the Switch, I don’t know if for another 50 years Nintendo will still offer all the old games from 50 years ago, so even 70 years if we’re talking about the future, there you go, I think at some point there will still be a cutoff, they’re not going to offer their entire catalog forever.
For me, their solution is good, but there you go, it’s just a band-aid, at some point it’s going to break, I think. However, be careful, I tolerate emulation and piracy of games only for retro games. I’m completely against this practice for anything involving more recent games, and especially indie games, please, support the gaming economy, there you go, I wanted to say that.
The Console
The Tor Console
Personally, I’ve gotten back into retro gaming big time at the moment. I bought a console called the Tor, it’s a little dual-screen console like this that’s really cool. It can emulate all the old consoles up to, theoretically, the Switch, even though as I said just before, I don’t necessarily tolerate that.
If you want a full video about this console, the presentation and the review, don’t hesitate to tell me. In the meantime, here’s why I love this console. First of all, it has two touchscreen screens that are really high-definition and make all my games look magnificent.
Why the Dual-Screen Design Works
I’m putting some gameplay on screen here, the camera may not reflect the image perfectly, but from my side, it’s splendid, and everyone I’ve shown the console to, the first reaction is always, wow, it’s so beautiful. Then I love the two-screen format personally. First, it makes the console compact because you can close it and put it in a pocket, but above all, it allows you to play DS games, obviously, DS games, 3DS games, and even Wii U games, which sometimes need two screens.
Otherwise, all the classic games work and you can use the second screen if you want to put a video or a website, for example, a game walkthrough underneath, there you go. It’s based on Android, so in fact you can install lots of mobile applications, for example YouTube, Duplex as I was saying, or lots of other things. The frontends, so these are basically overlays for the display, are now a thing with dual-screen devices, for example I use Cocoon, so here I’m showing you that I can choose my console, choose my game, so it’s really cool.
Features, Gyroscope and Controller Support
There’s also a shop to change the theme. Anyway, this frontend is really cool. Little bonus, there’s a gyroscope in the device, so it may not sound like much when you say it like that, but it’s actually very useful for certain games like Mario Galaxy and the surfing challenge, for example, or the ball one for those who know.
And I was talking about a game just now, but it’s a console that had some unusual controllers, if you remember. In fact, it’s completely possible to emulate this console on the Tor. The right joystick becomes the cursor, and you can also assign a button to simulate a shake.
This means you don’t have to shake the console like crazy every time you want to spin, and I also tested it with a PS5 controller and it works perfectly. And little bonus, you can even connect the device to an external screen, and in fact, if you add a wireless controller afterward, you end up with a home console after all.
Using the UPERFECT Screen for Gaming
By the way, let’s get back to the sponsor of the video, this screen I was talking about in the intro. Look how easy it is to take it out of its case, plug it in, and there you go, we can have a little gaming session. You’ll obviously have to configure a wireless controller beforehand, and obviously it will be complicated to play a DS game on an external screen.
It will be possible, but more cumbersome than anything else. On the other hand, for Mario Galaxy released on Wii in 2007, that’s already almost 20 years ago, the rendering is excellent. The sound is great, the colors are nice, and it’s really a good compromise if you want to play under even better conditions.
The Screen for Work and Productivity
The Tor only has one USB port, but the advantage is that the screen also charges the console. So there’s no need to use several cables, and that’s cool. I also tested the screen for office work, and it was recognized directly by my MacBook.
It may be a little big to carry on a plane, I admit, it’s 22 inches, so it doesn’t really fit in my backpack, but personally, I’m going to use it mainly occasionally, or for example if I work in a coworking space. The screen’s case is quite easy to carry after all, and it will add a real boost to my productivity.
If you like this screen, feel free to check the description, there’s a little link if you want to buy it. You’ll see that UPERFECT doesn’t only make screens, they also make other things, docks, cables, so there you go, feel free to take a look if you need something. Thank you very much to UPERFECT for the sponsorship, and let’s get straight back to the rest of the video.
Completing Super Mario Bros. DS
During my vacation, I replayed Super Mario Bros. DS to 100%. Why am I talking to you about a game? Simply because it’s a Mario Bros game. Even if you haven’t played it, it’s quite simple to understand: you run and jump.
And so once I had beaten Bowser and saved Princess Peach for the 40th time, I had done 15% of the game in terms of trophies, and that’s when, by going through the trophies, I had to beat all the Bowsers with certain transformations, with certain handicaps, by performing certain actions in the level. Really, I literally doubled the amount of time I spent on the game, and it was enjoyable time in the game.
It wasn’t just, there you go, I did it because I had to do it. I wasn’t obligated, it was just missions, basically new quests that I was offered, which were really cool. And when there are achievements like that, it’s really great, and I never would have tried something like that if I hadn’t had a tool tracking my actions in real time.
The Future of Retro Gaming
If I had to summarize, I’d say that nostalgia invites you to replay an old game. Achievements now push you to go even further than before. All of this is possible thanks to enthusiasts, thanks to communities, and thanks to retro gaming console manufacturers, for example.
And all of this makes it even more accessible for players, and it’s magnificent. It’s a vicious circle, but a good vicious circle, you see what I mean, it’s really great. And you know what’s the best part of the story?
Conclusion
I still haven’t talked to you about speed running. Maybe for a future video. If you enjoyed this video, don’t hesitate to hit the like button, subscribe, leave a comment as usual, and also tell me in the comments if you want a more complete video about the Tor, maybe on the secondary channel.
But I’d be happy to do it, I really love this console and I have lots of things to tell you, so why not. Once again, a big thank you to UPERFECT for trusting me.
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UPERFECT GR16HQ OLED Portable Monitor Reviewed by 128KB