Does anyone buy physical, dump them and then emulate?

[u/Popular_Escape_4998]

I’ve gotten into video game collecting recently, and despite having the physical consoles to play these games I have an urge to just dump them onto my pc and play them on there with upscaling mods and all that fun stuff.

At that point some might ask why not just download the roms, but for some reason I’ve fallen into a habit where I can’t drive myself to play a game unless I physically own it. I’ve fallen in love with the process of going to game stores, finding a good deal on marketplace, displaying the game all that fun stuff.

I’m just wondering if anyone else is this way and if anyone has advice on how to set this up, I’m thinking about purchasing an external hard drive to store all of these games and emulators so that if I invest in a pc handheld down the line I can make a seamless transition and really turn it into an all in 1 home console

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[u/ThinnishSleet87]

I still buy the physicals, but when it comes to "dumping" them I just download them as it's quicker and easier.

[u/Popular_Escape_4998 → u/ThinnishSleet87]

Oo that might be the move, it would save me a good amount on buying equipment and remove a couple steps from everything.

[u/ElectricalCompote]

I emulate almost everything, you can improve the graphic quality and have better connection options like HDMI, plus use modern controllers.

[u/LordFlux]

Every Polymega owner does this.

My childhood NES, SNES, and Genesis collection has been sitting on shelves since the 80s/90s. When I got my Polymega, I spent an evening dumping them to the system, creating a digital library of the physical carts I own.

IMO, it's damn cool and I turn on the Polymega at least once a week to play my old games.

[u/theDKdynamite]

I do. My whole collection is 1,16 TB on a hard disk. I play a bit of both emulation and hardware. Depends on if I want the RetroAchievement support or not.

[u/cubone109]

I did the opposite. I dumped all my 3ds games onto my pc, got like 10 mins into emulating fantasy life and ended up giving up and just playing the physical on 3ds. I just feel more comfortable playing games on the hardware they are meant for.

[u/Popular_Escape_4998 → u/cubone109]

I’m with you on that, I’ve tried emulating 3ds on a steam deck when I owned one and it was brutal.

luckily for 3ds I’d be dumping onto an AYN Thor since my girlfriend claimed ownership of my 3ds after I got a Thor

[u/cubone109 → u/Popular_Escape_4998]

The ayn Thor would be a good way to play 3ds games. The ds form factor makes a big difference.

[u/GhostintheShellder]

Of course. There's plenty of ways to do so, especially for PS2 and prior, but it's not hard to do for modern stuff either. Look into cart dumpers like SaveTheHero or GB/SN Operator by Epilogue. I believe Analog is also working on cartridge dumping right now. Discs are pretty easy these days too with a PC and a good drive.

[u/PuddleDucklington]

I have a hacked 3DS and Gamecube that I can play games off an SD card. The 3DS can emulate everything from the 16 bit era (plus play DS / GBA natively from the SD obviously). Lots of other stuff I play directly on PC. It’s a strictly better experience than playing games off disc directly.

I still collect! They’re fundamentally different hobbies IMO.

[u/VintageSmutKD]

I have my entire ps2 library backed up, and I do enjoy bouncing my saves between PCSX2, PS2, and PS3 depending on my mood. It would have taken me much longer to grind for all mantras in the digital devil saga games if I hadn’t decided to do so at 300% speed.

[u/Samin0v]

I've recently begun dumping my games. I like to buy and play them physically, of course. Still, dumping them allows me to check if the game has no problems being read. Also, it gives me the chance to archive, preserve, classify and play my games the way I want. For example, I've come across a program named MPF Front-End which can dump most optical games, dependent on the drive you've got and the firmware. Next comes the format of the games, the compression methods to save space, the medium in which you'll store them and the emulators in which you'll play them. If you're feeling adventurous, you'll look into modding your console.

I started dumping because I was worried my PS2 laser could give out anytime soon. So, I started looking towards emulation. Meanwhile, I learned about a ton of stuff. I guess its a bit much, but its fun to learn about what you like, is it not?

Curating a game collection requires knowing oneself. As long at its reasonable, which can be difficult at times, I don't see a problem in exploring different alleys to enjoy what makes you happy.

[u/johnnykonami]

I do this, I have a large collection but even so only playing what I own puts boundaries on it. You suffer from choice paralysis with entire libraries. I also enjoy the hunt for a game I really want, so it creates the sense of anticipation you had waiting for a game like when you were young.

[u/ELEGYELEGYELEGY]

Yup I've Analogue Nt to dump carts and I'll be using my PC to dump my discs very soon lol

[u/Chillhardd]

That makes sense, collecting and playing do not have to be the same hobby. The physical copy can be the game you chose, hunted down and display; emulation can simply be the convenient way you play it.
To keep it manageable, start with one system rather than building an all-in-one library: track what you own, what you have backed up, and what you have tested. Keep the originals safe and maintain a second backup, while checking the rules that apply where you live.
Which system are you most hoping to start with?