The legendary plumber Mario, “tanchiki”, Final Fantasy – this is just a small list of game programs that any gamer will evoke nostalgic memories. And it is unlikely that anyone will deny themselves the pleasure of once again plunging into the bewitching world of these old, but not forgotten games.
Retrogaming is now on an unprecedented scale is gaining more and more popularity. In order to realize such a possibility as running on a personal computer (PC) or other console of an old computer game typical of a game console, special software applications called emulators are used.
In addition to being a plug-in for adapting old program code on a new device, the emulator is widely used to generate custom demo games, upgrade / modify existing game programs, launch games for which there are no official versions.
What is an emulator?
The program code of any emulator is stored as image files. This can either be an image of a game console cartridge or an optical disc image. It should be noted that the vast majority of gaming applications are protected by copyright, which makes it illegal to copy and store them as image files.
Therefore, when writing an emulator, it is extremely important that the developer take into account the possible need for his direct access to the data of the optical disk / cartridge.
Writing an emulator is a time-consuming process that can only be done by a highly skilled programmer who has an understanding of the configuration of the emulated system. Therefore, an emulator written “crookedly” may be the reason that some game “slows down”, and some does not start at all.
In addition, even the most ordinary emulator is a resource-intensive software application. According to rough estimates, to obtain a plausible emulation, the clock frequency of the PC or laptop processor should be 5-10 times the frequency of the emulated system.
The most common emulators
Most of the emulators created to date are “underground production”. This is due to the publishing policy of companies involved in the generation and distribution of computer games. The regional location of the user, the information security policy of the manufacturer – these are the main reasons why the official publication of emulators is impossible for all game consoles without exception. Nevertheless, this strategy has been partially developed. The impetus for this was the same retrogaming. Public demand for gaming “old school” is growing every day.
Perhaps the most widely used official emulator is Nintendo’s Virtual Console. The developer worked in advance in the Virtual Console to use software emulation elements that allow you to run old games on new, modern devices. High emulation fidelity is the main advantage of the Virtual Console. We have to state the fact that the vast majority of unofficial versions “sin” with low quality and shortcomings in the accuracy of the emulation process.
Most of the official versions of emulators are developed for commercial purposes, as a means of selling old computer games in the retail network.
Game programs are widely used, where support for the game’s performance is achieved through the built-in emulator:
- Sega Smash Pack 1/2 is an archive of eight game programs for Sega. Adapted for PC and GBA. Based on the built-in KGen emulator;
- Classic NES – a series of three toys in relation to the NES;
- Final Fantasy game programs adapted for the PlayStation and Game Boy. Work is supported thanks to the built-in KGen emulator;
- Virtual Console is a software service that allows you to play old consoles on modern hardware.
- Among the most common versions of PlayStation emulators are FPSE , PCSX, PSXEven, AdriPSX, PSInex.
- As for such a large corporation as Nintendo, there is one universal gCubix emulator for it. It works on dozens of platforms, including both tablets and most adaptive smartphones.
What problems arise when using emulators
The vast majority of emulators are written in Visual C++, Delphi, Assembler, the source code of which can be found on their official support sites.
The most common problems in the operation of almost any emulator are the accuracy and speed of the emulated system. These two key indicators directly depend on the quality of the plugin itself. Unfortunately, we have to state the disappointing fact that in most cases, unfortunate programmers give us a product of not the best quality. The adaptability and portability of the emulator leaves much to be desired.
Another obvious problem is that the few groups of programmers involved in creating emulators work in isolation. As a result, the source code is closed, and its documentation is understandable only to the true developer of the emulator. Code profiling for speed, poor sound synchronization – almost all emulators without exception “sin” with this.
The ideal emulator is one that will run all game consoles without exception. But, alas, like the creation of a perpetual motion machine, this is simply unattainable.
