Hi, I'm brand new here and I can't decipher what the rules on emulators are ? Opinions seem to be at either extreme, with no details in the middle. I love NES, and actually own most of the physical games, but buying capture cards isn't really in the books right now. All help appreciated, thanks.

Emulators definitely work just fine, as you can see on the leaderboard two runs tied for the 6th place position used emulators. actually looking at it quickly, it looks like 30% of the runners did use them (in the Any% category).

I would make sure that you show the window, or input, or your hands, or something extra just to show the mods that extra effort. Input display is usually enough, especially to ensure no simultaneous L+R is used. You don't want to get a really great time and have it come into question, especially since you are new to running the game.

I look forward to seeing your runs!

Yeah when you have a game that requires a certain version Emulators (especially on nes) are always fine. If you are going for wr i'd say try and get a JP version and use a converter or find the PR0 initial US release one. But otherwise even then it's not super needed. I just like setting good pbs on the hardware when possible.