On the console side, OpenEMU compiles and provides a slick interface for numerous console emulators. MAME’s developers also continue to remove bugs, so everything from simple 2-D arcade classics like Pac-Man to thrilling 3-D racing games like Daytona USA (above) can run equally well. Developers have released versions of MAME for Macs, PCs, and even iOS devices, and as computer chips have continued to improve every year, games that were once sluggish have become easier to emulate quickly.

Thanks to 18 years of development, MAME is now capable of emulating thousands of different games across dozens of different arcade platforms - equivalent to translating classic books from the world’s most popular languages into English. The best-known classic game emulator is MAME, the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, which has been available (and evolving) since 1997. Yet emulators work: the faster the new machine is, and the better the emulator’s written, the smoother old games run.

Think of the emulator as being a realtime translator of Spanish into English, constantly translating the old game’s language into the new machine’s language, and you’ll get a sense of how much opportunity there is for show-stopping misinterpretations (game crashes). The picture above? That’s Super Mario Galaxy, running on a Retina MacBook Pro…Īlthough an incredible amount of hard work went into developing emulators, the basic concept is simple: the emulator converts old game “ROMs” (cartridges/chips) or “ISOs” (discs) into apps that run on another, newer machine. Nintendo may not want you to play its prior console games on your favorite Apple device’s screen, but thanks to emulators, it’s possible today. Freed from the fuzzy, low-contrast televisions people used to own, classic games can look pixel-sharp on Retina displays, and some emulators actually improve the edges and textures of 3-D objects.

These free programs let discontinued, often HDTV-incompatible games play on computers - in many cases, with noticeably better graphics than you remember. For years, Macs and PCs have been able to run thousands of classic console and arcade games, including Nintendo’s best-known titles, using emulators. The implication is that only Nintendo consoles are capable of playing Nintendo’s console games. Nintendo hasn’t actually committed to bringing the Super Mario games people love into the App Store instead, it’s saying only that its characters will appear in new titles that won’t require complex controls. When Nintendo announced last week that it will collaborate with DeNA to release iPhone and iPad games, gamers split into two camps: people intrigued by the promise of brand new Nintendo titles designed for mobile devices, and others - including myself - who expect Nintendo to release shallow mobile minigames, mostly to promote console titles.

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