User blog:Element02/Rise of the ROMs

It seems that ROMs are very popular nowadays, and I can't say that I can really doubt the reason why. ROMs are generally free, they do not take too long to dwownload...they can be edited into a completely new custom story never before seen, and other ROMs even have their own unique Pokemon made by the creator.

Now...those edited ROMs, I can understand wanting to play those, to download those for the unique storyline and something new to play and conquer...but what I cannot understand (fully) are the people who play all the original games on a ROM.

Granted, I played Platinum on a ROM because I thought I was downloading something else. I must have only played it for 5 minutes before I decided that it was a stupid idea, and I wiped the ROM from my computer. ROMs just do not hold the same feel as an actual cartridge game...it does not hold that same nostalgia I guess, and doesn't have that same exilerating rush that we all got in the 90's when we started up a new game on those bulky gameboys.

Still...people would argue that the classic games have become more expensive over time (which they sort of have if you don't know where to look). Others argue that the old games batteries run out and most used ones do not even save anymore (even though you can have them tested first if you go to the right place...and batteries are easy to exchange). Lastly, people argue that the computer is something of a modern-day console. Gameboys take batteries, gameboy advances are hardly ever sold, a gameboy SP is not as fancy as a DS and blah, blah, blah.

There are a billion reasons why people choose ROMs over the cartridge but at the same time, I was arund when Pokemon first came out. I got Red & Blue for my birthday with a brand-new Gameboy Color. My Dad did marketing for the game, so I even got the limited edition posters, I got the comic books, I was even one of the first people in my State to get Pokemon Stadium. So to me, nothing is more...nostalgic and so close to my heart as playing the old games on my SP. Plus, without weird cartridge stories, Pokepastas would have never emerged...because go figure a ROM can be hacked, that's nothing special or unique at all.

Not sure where I wanted this argument to go...

I guess I just wanted to know why people choose ROMs rather than collect the Classics and cherish them forever as treasures. I plan on passing my games down some day to my children (or buying hem their own copies). Anyways, that's all for today.