The issue is that buying an SNES becomes decreasingly viable as time goes on while using an FGPA becomes increasingly viable. I don't know if we've reached the point where the balance shifts yet, but presumably we will at some point.
Also, the medium on which the software is delivered is not the problem either. It's just information after all. The problem is accurately emulating the software in software which is easier achieved by emulating the harware in hardware :)
The SNES is now close to 25 years old, and the older the hardware gets, the more serious the issue of "bit rot" will become. Among NES collectors, it's not rare to find people lamenting not being able to play their original cartridges anymore. Those cartridges don't last forever. Thus, emulation serves an important archival purpose, and without it, those games may be lost forever.
Conservators in museums face the same issues with video art and installation art. The video equipment becomes obsolete and breaks down. The light bulbs are no longer made (an art-prep person for a recent MOCA retrospective had to drive a van from LA to Arizona to lay hands on the last available batch of a certain type of florescent tube). With some minimalist installations, just changing the bulbs can make a huge difference.
Here's a little piece on conservation challenges with a piece by Nam June Paik, who pioneered wall-size video installations:
"In the case of Internet Dream, the splitting system was the Achilles heel of the installation. The video splitter used since 1994 was produced by the South Korean manufacturer DASH. Since the manufacturer helped Paik with the technical realization of many of his works (including Megatron/Matrix in 1995), it is likely that this device was specially constructed for the installation. By 2008, the device’s shutdown function had become problematic, probably a sign of more serious loss of function to come."
You see the same dichotomy between fine-art creators versus conservators, as you see between video game artists and emulator designers: "whatever works in the moment" freedom versus obsessive attention to detail.
Aren't there a bunch of knock-off systems coming out of Asia these days? I thought I saw a box that could be play NES, SNES and Genesis original cartridges down at my local games shop.
