The detailed backstory of absolutely anything can become obliterated simply through the passage of time. Books wither with age and ink can fade, so it falls upon the shoulders of a few individuals to ensure that the origins of whatever we are passionate about does not disappear from our memories and by default, those of our offspring.

The funny part is that the very people who create the things we love so much don't seem to be doing too much to preserve their roots. Nintendo recently axed the digital archive of their hugely popular and now defunct Nintendo Power magazine without any warning. They later told Polygon that the move was necessary to "protect our own characters, trademarks and other content".

To help combat the slow decay of decades-old information, projects such as MAME and Video Game Yore have stepped up to help preserve and disseminate it across the Internet, all free of charge and strictly for educational purposes. But throw in the usual white collar copyright/trademark complaint through the use of intellectual property, and it all becomes a murky mess of legalities.

Companies are being stingy about what products they release while fiercely protecting their copyrights, and gamers are demanding a way to play older games without paying premium prices. So how are emulators addressing the problem? By focusing on the five points that make playing/collecting video games so frustrating.

The Price of Collecting is Out of Control

Collecting anything from literal kitchen sinks to Beanie Babies can be pricey, and video game collecting is no exception. Poorly implemented marketing strategies and an initial lukewarm reception can suck any great game into the sands of time, creating a shortage that is quickly eaten up by word-of-mouth and aggressive sellers/resellers. Fans experienced this every time Nintendo released a new amiibo, with preorders eaten up by online bots, only to reappear later at astronomical prices.

The recent release of the NES Mini is evidence of this phenomenon, with preorders already sold before they arrive, then reappearing on sites like eBay or Amazon over the $200 mark, well over its retail value of $59.99. Companies offering a limited initial release is not unheard of, but how many units would it take to dissuade these armchair "entrepreneurs" (I call them douche bags)? 1,000 per location? 10,000?

As for video games themselves, do you want to own the highly praised platformer Little Samson that was released shortly before the end of the NES's life cycle? Be prepared to pay upwards of $1,300. However, if you're not opposed to owning a reproduction cart, you can own your own copy of Little Samson for around $60. Turtles in Time? $32, down from $65. Sunset Riders? $30, down from $95. And that's for loose copies that run on the original hardware. Pricey still, but much more affordable.

There exists speculation that these high prices can be attributed to hoarders who create an artificial shortage, but late releases can also generate lower sales numbers, and thus, create a shortage of authentic copies. The cost of emulating these same games for your own enjoyment: $0. The satisfaction of knowing that you're sticking it to scalpers and ne'er-do-wells while still getting your game on: priceless.

Certain Games Only Appeal to a "Niche Market"

Whenever a company has to make a decision as to what they're next release will entail, they have to determine whether or not the development/distribution costs to do so do not trump any expected revenue. If the expected revenue from that product or service is less than the cost to do so or if any profit turns out to be infinitesimal, they won't do it.

One example of this is the highly anticipated Western release of Mother 3 on Virtual Console. A simple Google search of "mother 3 virtual console" displays multiple articles from various sources, and all of them hoping for the same thing. At the time of this writing, the highly popular game still hasn't broke ground in North America and there are no official reports from Nintendo that they intend to do so.

One reason for this could be that when EarthBound, or Mother 2, was released in North America, it sold less than 140,000 copies. Its failure in North America has been attributed to:

Higher price point due to the inclusion of a full-size strategy guide.

A poorly received marketing campaign that included sometimes rancid-smelling scratch 'n sniff cards.

RPGs in general not having a strong foothold in North America in 1995.

Its lack of cutting-edge graphics.

Needless to say that EarthBound went on to critical acclaim years later, but Mother 3 was one of the best-selling games in Japan for the better part of 2006, when it was released for the Game Boy Advance. A fan English translation patch was released in 2008 by Starmen.net for use with ROMs, and may even be the preferred route to go, considering that original cartridges cost upwards from $50. Even worse, some of these copies may be bootlegged, which can trigger unpleasant in-game errors and thus render the game unplayable.

Until Nintendo makes the decision to release Mother 3 in the States, emulation would be the way to go to avoid an uncertain seller's market. But what if I told you that...

Emulation is Already Being Used by Corporations

Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft...all of them have used emulation at one point or another in recent history. The entire point of emulation is to replicate the internal processes of an outdated system for display and use on newer platforms. The benefits for console manufacturers include increasing the playable library available while still retaining the integrity of their IPs, and gamers benefit from being able to play their older titles on their new console and downloading older games that they may have missed.

Of course, emulators like the Virtual Console are downright simplified and don't have the upscaling and filter options offered by unofficial software. However, since the Wii and Wii U don't have multiple slots for various media as seen on the RetroN 5 (which also uses emulators), the Virtual Console became a viable option for those who may not have had access to the original software and/or hardware.