A video game console emulator is a program that allows a computer or modern console (cross-console emulation) to emulate a different video game console's behavior. Emulators are most often used to play older video games on personal computers and modern video game consoles, but they are also used to play games translated into other languages or to modify (or hack) existing games. Emulators are also a useful tool in the development process of homeb...
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A video game console emulator is a program that allows a computer or modern console (cross-console emulation) to emulate a different video game console's behavior. Emulators are most often used to play older video games on personal computers and modern video game consoles, but they are also used to play games translated into other languages or to modify (or hack) existing games. Emulators are also a useful tool in the development process of homebrewed demos and new games for older systems.
By the mid-1990s personal computers had progressed to the point where it was technically feasible to replicate the behavior of some of the earliest consoles entirely through software, and the first unauthorized, non-commercial console emulators began to appear. These early programs were often incomplete, only partially emulating a given system, and often riddled with defects. Few manufacturers published technical specifications for their hardware, leaving it to amateur programmers and developers to...
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