What is video game emulation?
Video game emulators are software programs that allow your computer to act like a video game console and play games that are stored as ROM files. Emulators for popular systems like N64, SNES, NES, PS1, Game boy, Sega can be found on various sites and are usually available for free download. Of course, the ROM files can always be found nearby. This makes them a must-have software for any hardcore gamer, especially if they like older games like Super Mario or Pac Man. These low-requirement games work on some of the oldest computers.
Tutorials and how-to videos are all over the internet, making the emulation even easier for the computer-illiterate gamer to use. YouTube and various websites contain everything you need to know about downloading, preparing and playing emulators on your PC. Anyone having trouble or trying to get started with emulation can make great use of the tutorials.
I am sure you are already wondering about the legality of this type of software and how safe it is to download. As far as I know, owning the emulators themselves is completely legal. To legally download the ROMS or game files, you must own the cartridge or CD format of the game. This legal vacuum seems very difficult to check and balance. (If I download a game from a site, how will anyone know if I have the cartridge or CD?)
Whether this software fad will be beneficial or detrimental to video game producers is a mystery to me. I’m sure it’s a good way to market this type of software legally in some sort of bundle or bundle that will eliminate some of the free downloads and make the emulation a bit easier to use and not to mention cost effective. For example, if I came across a software CD that included a top-of-the-line Super Nintendo Entertainment System emulator along with thirty or forty of the best platform game titles at a reasonable price, I’d take it. The point of that would be to take all the hassle out of trying to find and use emulators downloaded for free from the internet. This Internet epidemic is still in its infancy and must be viewed with money in mind.
