All about Emulators: NES and others
Welcome to the wonderful world of emulation. Ok, ok, my page isn't much of a world, but to those of you who haven't even heard of emulation or want to know more about it, this is the place to get started. Click on a question that you might have (or just scroll down if you feel like it):
What is an emulator?
Why emulators?
Wow, this emualtion stuff is cool- is there a Nintendo 64 emulator out?
Where can I get a NES emulator?
What kind of computer do I need to run a NES emulator??
What other emulators are out there?
Where can I find out about other emulators?
Where can I download NES games?
Legality issues.
An emulator is basically a translator program. It translates the code of one system into a code that the other system can understand, thus enabling you to use programs on your computer that you otherwise couldn't use. In this case we're talking about console game system (NES, SNES, Genisis, ect) emulators, but especially Nintendo emulators.
A Nintendo, or NES, emulator will allow you to play Nintendo games on your PC computer using a symple program.
You may be wondering, "why do I want an emulator?" Well, you might not, but if you love Nintendo games you probably do. I love emulators, especially the NES emulators because they allow me to play the Nintendo games I grew up with on my computer. I never have to worry about broken cartreges, getting my old dusty Nintendo to work, and I can switch games easily. There's also a huge selection of games to download off the internet. The games are also smaller than most computer games and don't take long to download. Besides, playing Nintendo games on my computer is just plain cool.
No, no, no, no! This is a very silly question that misinformed people ask ALL THE TIME. The answer is no. The reason is logical- if they still haven't perfected a NES emulator- how could they possibly be working on a N64 emulator? Plus, your computer would probably be too slow even if one were to come out. I advise you not to ask anyone who knows about emulators with a short temper about this.
There are plenty of Nintendo emulators out there which let you play
downloaded nintendo games on your very own computer at home. Although, until recently many of them had fairly large bugs that wouldn't let you use sound, and messed up some graphics. Luckily from out of no where came a real kick ass emulator that solved all these problems and was so easy to use my younger brother figured it out. It's called Nesticle, and although there are other NES emulators out there I recomend this one, and I think it's the best. Not only is it (mostly) bug-free, it has many options like: saving, internet play, and a bunch of other cool stuff. It's put out by Bloodlust Software, makers of Mortal Pong and other twisted games, and you can download their emulator off of there Nesticle page for free. There are other NES emulators out there, some let you mess with the graphics of a game, but I'm not sure which ones allow you to do that. If you a have a problem with NESticle you then try INES- I've heard it's good too. If your still not satisfied try
Pauls Emulator Page. It has a large selection of different game system emulators including a huge selection of Nintendo emulators with descriptions.
I'm not sure of the requirements for all emulators, but here's what you need for Nesticle (as quoted from the Readme file):
A 486 or Pentium running DOS or Windows 95/NT.
For the Windows version you MUST HAVE DirectX Version 3.0.
It's available somewhere on Microsoft's labyrinth of a website.
I'd recommend at least 16MB of memory for the Win95 version.
NESticle can take advantage of VESA 2.0 support if it exists.
If it does not exist, NESticle will resort to only the
video modes 320x200, 256x224, 256x240, 256x256.
You need about 8MB of memory for the DOS version. To play
larger games, 4MB of memory will just not cut it.
The DOS version currently supports 8-bit or 16-bit Soundblasters
or compatible, or the Gravis Ultrasound. 16-bit preferred, of course.
The Win95 version utilizes DirectSound for digital output (which
sucks horribly).
Here's the list of emulators I have heard of or seen around (ok, ok I go the list from Node 99 but I have heard of most of them): amiga, amstrad, appleII, atari 2600, atari 5200, atari st, commodor 64, coleco, gameboy, game gear, genesis, macintosh, sega master system, msx, nintendo, sinclair, super nintendo, turbo grafix 16, vectrex, and arcade emulators. I didn't see a Lynx emulator, but I'm sure there's one somewhere.
The same place I did. The best place to find links and information on almost any emulator is Node 99. From there you'll find whatever emulator your looking for. Also try
Pauls Emulator Page. It has all the basic game system emulators, and if it's not there try yahoo- they have plenty of categories on emulation.
You now may be wondering- where can I get games for the Nintendo emulator? Well you can download them from all over the web. Here's a list of places you can go to get such games (hopefully it will grow):
IHOR- International House of Roms:
This place has everything! Choose from a selection of: 216 Nintendo roms, 74 Turbo Grafix 16 Roms, 50 Gameboy Roms, 22 Sega Master System Roms, 27 Sega Game Gear Roms, 440 Atari 2600 Roms, and 123 Colleco Vision roms.
The Dump:
They have their own cute button for their page, and 210
NES and TG16 games on-line rated on a 1-5 mushroom system.
Virtual Emulation:
A nice all around collection of different game system's roms.
Large NES selection- he does requests!
Travis's NES Rom Outlet:
Good Selection plus he also does requests!
The Man's Roms:
Has a decent collection of NES games.
The Emulators HQ:
Some Games- nothing too snazy.
Well, if this isn't enough for you try the emulation ring
(which can be found on
Pauls Emulator Page and hopefully on the bottom of this page soon).
Legal Issues:
Legally I'm suposed to tell you that you can't download a game unless you own the actual cartrige, blah, blah, blah, but since I don't have games to download on my page I can tell you that that's pretty much bullshit that no one listens to, and if you see it on a page you may or may not chose to take much notice of it. But be careful anyway- the computers have eyes!!.
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