Emulation 101: Classic Gaming on the PC    - Keita Iida Introduction Atari 2600 Atari 5200 / 8-Bit Computers Colecovision GCE Vectrex Arcade Multi Platform Conclusion Emulation Links

- CONCLUSION - As mentioned earlier, the emulators that I've mentioned are far from the only ones worth checking out. Almost every console, computer and arcade game on the face of this planet has a program that emulates it. Emerson Arcadia 2001, Bally Astrocade, Commodore 64, Apple II -- you name it, it's out there. And it doesn't end there. If you have a fast enough computer (Pentium II or better), you can conceivably play Super Nintendo games and even Capcom arcade fighters (Street Fighter, anyone?) in the comfort of your study room. However, this does again raise the question of legality, and it's a black and white situation in these instances... it's illegal to download them and illegal to play them unless you also own the original cartridge, CD, floppy disk or coin-op. Sure, it's nice to not have to pay for the latest and greatest stuff our on the market. But taking part in such activities will only contribute to irritate companies who still have a stake in those newer games, and may result in ALL ROM images disappearing from the 'net. So do us a favor and stick to the old stuff -- there's enough to go around. We cannot possibly expect companies to turn the other way when they see folks playing pirated copies of Final Fantasy IX on their 1 Gigahertz machines. Well there you have it; the beginner's guide to emulators. I hope that by reading this article, you have a general understanding of what emulators are and what they can do (and cannot do). This isn't meant to be an all-inclusive feature. There are enough fine dedicated emulator sites to serve all your needs and wants, so please check with other pages on the net for more in-depth reviews of specific emulators in existence. Finally, you may wonder why we don't offer emulators and ROM images for download. That's not our specialty, and hosting a ton of ROMs and emulators on our server would probably require us to pay a huge fee to our web hosting provider each month for the additional bandwidth. And frankly, everybody and their brothers seem to have emulator and ROM sites out there. We'll stick to reviews, juicy news and FAQs, thank you. And now, onto the links page....