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May 31, 2021 · Emulation software provides an easy way to play games that aren't otherwise accessible. Compared to playing on original hardware, emulation come with some benefits as well as a few drawbacks. Let's consider the pros and cons of emulation so you can decide what's best for you.
- Ben Stegner
- Editor-In-Chief
Emulation is great, even if you can only play old games on your rig. I usually prefer playing arcade games from the Golden Age ('80, '90), so every CPU made in the latest 10-15 years could serve my retrogaming (MAME) needs pretty well.
Emulation Pros: Ability to upscale and output video at enhanced resolutions. Doesn't use much (or sometimes any) physical space. Emulation-related enhancements (60fps patches, widescreen patches, etc.) Save states and rewind features. Peripheral emulation (no need for external memory cards and other peripherals). Emulation Cons:
Oct 17, 2024 · Emulation, surprisingly, is legal! Yes, making a backup copy of a game you own and playing it on an emulator is entirely within the law. By law, you are allowed to create a copy of any media you own (this is why it was legal to burn CDs to transfer music onto our MP3 players and iPods).
- Senior PC Hardware Author
- Better resolution and performance. Who doesn't like playing old games in 4K and 60FPS? Having spent a lot of my childhood gaming at 288p on my PSP, I was spellbound the first time I played my ripped UMDs at 4K using PPSSPP.
- Extensive modding support. Because mods make everything better. One of my biggest pet peeves with gaming consoles is the restriction on modding. Some ecosystems are so restrictive that you'd need to jailbreak the device and void its warranty just so you could access the debug menu to be able to install your favorite mods.
- Save states. No need to worry about reaching the next save point. Modern games let you save your progress at the push of a button and implement frequent autosaves.
- Game preservation. Without emulators, it wouldn't be possible to play many hidden gems. As next-gen consoles continue to replace the older hardware, there comes a time when it's not possible to access the bygone consoles anymore.
Aug 14, 2021 · Nothing is certain, but one thing makes preserving our history a lot easier: emulation. Getting old Atari, Nintendo, and Sega games working on your computer, while legally complicated , helps ensure that even the most obscure titles stay alive in some form.
Mar 28, 2017 · We talk to emulator devs and an IP lawyer about the ethics of emulators like Cemu, and how they can be proven legal in court.