My TV, SNES console and a CT cart can all be had for around 100$ used via the magic of ebay and goodwill stores, far less than the cost of a PC with enough power to run steam, while my computer from 1994 was able last year to run an emulator of chrono trigger (which has a scrapyard value of 3$ in weight).
Getting all that stuff for a hundred bucks would still require a great deal of luck. Just the cartridge by itself—the genuine article, not a possibly dodgy reproduction—goes for that much on eBay (and you certainly won't get the box, manual, maps, etc. for that price, but I digress). You'd have to find a seller who didn't know its value. So it's not a matter of simply having the dough in your pocket, you'd still have to get incredibly lucky.
But even if you did, it's still not a fair comparison. If you buy a SNES and a cartridge, you can play that one game.
Nobody buys a PC to play one game. Well, they
might if that game is the latest big thing, but they'll still have the option of doing other stuff with the computer besides playing games. There is no such option with a SNES. So the fact that a PC costs more than a SNES is inconsequential, since you're comparing apples to oranges.
thats my problem. I have an emulator of CT that's a decade old. Steam needed FIVE tries to make a copy, which I had for years. You can say they did a good job copying it, but if someone like me can play a free copy better from ten years ago, that's government work right there.
Again... Steam did not make the PC version of
Chrono Trigger. Square did.
I was very critical of this version when it came out:
https://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php?topic=12665.msg225740#msg225740At the time, I would have preferred the Steam version not even exist, since it was generating terribly negative publicity for my favorite game. I was afraid that new players would run screaming from
Chrono Trigger instead of embracing it.
But for once, Square fixed their own mess instead of leaving it in that state. They did right by their customers and I think they should be applauded for that. I would still prefer that people experience the SNES version first, but I can actually recommend the Steam version in good conscience now.
