User:Kaede/Sandbox
An emulator is hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the host) to behave like another computer system (called the guest).
For instance, SEGA Mega Drive and Genesis Classics (software) running Sega Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog game (1993) on any current 20xx era PC.
- Emulation General Wiki - A large wiki dedicated to video game emulation
- Video game console emulator at Wikipedia
- List of video game emulators at Wikipedia
General usage
To run software using an emulator, one usually needs the following:
- Emulator program binaries for the host platform
- Original software, copies of which are sometimes called "dumps"
- BIOSes or firmware copies, when applicable
Commercial re-releases
Emulation is an extremely cost-effective way to distribute old games for more recent hardware. Re-releases / remakes using emulators are gaining ground and visibility on official stores.
- Gametap (now defuncted) offered emulated games.
- On consoles, Nintendo VC and PS2 Classics are emulation-based services
- Dosbox is used by Steam and GOG.com for almost all DOS games
- Neogeo games available on Humble Bundle are pre-configured emulator+game packages.
User benefits
Features extension
Emulation allows modifying or extending the behavior of the original software, for instance:
- Resolution increase and custom textures for 3D hardware-rendered games
- Netplay (for games that originally offered couch co-op)
- Game modification and translation, via unofficial patches
- Hardware customization. DOS games on GOG.com or Steam are pre-configured, but one is free to change the guest sound card or the display device, since these are virtual and handled by the emulator. This is explained in greater detail in the DOSBox article.
DRM-free backups
Official re-release providing dumps of the original software in clear (unencrypted / unobfuscated) means that the game is in effect DRM-free and not locked to the bundled emulator so that it instead could be used on another emulator for the host platform (one which provides netplay features for instance), or any other host platform given there exists an emulator for the guest system on it.
Last, unobfuscated DRM-free emulation-based releases are the most convenient way to acquire backups for the games.
An alternative is to buy the original game, and dump it using an appropriate device. However, it could be less than obvious depending on the hardware/game, and making private backups is not something that every jurisdiction allows.
Goals and legality
Backups were mentionned above: emulation is important for preservation, as game companies often fail to properly preserve the games and document them for later generations.
Emulators are considered legal to develop and to distribute, as long as they are not bundled with copyrighted software. There are a few precedents, such as Bleem! vs Sony case for example[1].
List of PCGW emulator pages
Atari
Microsoft
Nintendo
Consoles:
Handhelds:
Sega
Consoles:
Handhelds:
Sony
Consoles:
Handhelds:
Other