Retro Games

Hacks 3352: Introduction Perhaps the most popular emulator software is MAME, the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, which was discussed in depth in the previous chapter. But retro gaming isn't just about arcade games, and neither is emulation. In thi...

I'm starting this chapter off with a few dinosaurs. Odds are you never had one of these machines, and you might never even have known that there were video game systems before Pong and the Atari 2600. It's unlikely now that you'll ever find a Magnavo...

It's no stretch to imagine that the very reason you bought this book was to read this very hack. Even those of us who were born after the Atari 2600 (or Video Computer System, if you're a purist) know what it is and what it signified for the video ga...

If any golden-age hardware gave the Atari 2600 a run for its money, it was Mattel's Intellivision console. The system's higher-powered capabilities let it create what were at the time exceptionally detailed graphics, resulting in some very impressive...

I'll admit to being not the biggest fan of retro systems older than myself. It's not as if I don't see the fun in the Atari 2600 or Intellivision, and it's certainly not as if I haven't spent quite a bit of time playing both systems. But I have this ...

The poor thing never had a chance. Originally designed as the true successor to the incredibly successful 2600 VCS [Hack #34], the Atari 7800 fell victim to all sorts of internal power struggles and botched management decisions. First, while the 7800...

For some people, Nintendo Entertainment System emulation is emulation. It's the only console they've ever emulated; it's the only console they will ever emulate. Sure, they probably know that you can emulate other systems. They might have even messed...

Ah, the bastion of classic gaming for generation Ythe Nintendo Entertainment System. The eight-bit era had a profound impact on the videogame industry, and many people late at night, after downing that second glass of store brand whiskey and half of ...

If you are reading this book, the odds are fairly good that you remember late nights in front of the television, gripping an ergonomically abusive NES controller in your hand, hoping against hope that the 127th time is the charm as you just try to sl...

Some of us might find it hard to believe that the three great 16-bit systems the venerable Super Nintendo, the epochal Sega Genesis, and the hardcore favorite TurboGrafx-16actually fall into the realm of retro gaming. For those of you still in denial...

If you get a taste of emulation on your Mac [Hack #39] [Hack #21], it won't be long before you're ready to find some more systems you can play around with. You won't be disappointedthe Mac has plenty of emulators available that cover all the popular ...

So, the emulation bug has bitten you harder than you imagined, and you're not satisfied with merely running the arcade machine emulator MAME [Hack #22] or the Nintendo Entertainment System [Hack #40]? Then read on to find out about emulators for many...

1. Sega Genesis/MegaDrive Many readers of this book probably remember the sheer exhilaration that we all felt when we saw Sonic the Hedgehog for the first time. The raw speed that the Sega Genesis console displayed was courtesy of nothing more tha...

Although Nintendo has been producing home video game consoles since the 1970s, soon after the introduction of its portable Game Boy system in 1989, gaming on the go has become the company's main moneymaker. The latest in the line, the Game Boy Advanc...

From game watches to programmable calculators, people have always found ways to play video games on the sly. The steady advance of technology has served to increase the sophistication of these covert gaming efforts. The latest generations of smartpho...

So, let's say you've set up a Game Boy Advance emulator [Hack #44] and begun to delve into enjoying the fruits of the vibrant GBA homebrew scene. But playing these games on your PC monitor just isn't enoughisn't there some way to get them from there ...

Considering that it shipped in early 2001 for under a hundred bucks, the Game Boy Advance is a pretty powerful piece of hardware. It's so powerful in fact, that you can actually use it to emulate other classic gaming consoles. And indeed, many such e...

Classic portables are an interesting footnote in gaming history. Not only do they let you play some of the best console games of the era in condensed form (sometimes with added levels), they offer up plenty of unique software that made them worth own...

In the early years of the 21st century, a Korean company decided to try something a little different in the handheld arena. As gamers went about their business, they were scrutinized and studied, as Gamepark slowly and surely drew its plans against u...

Can it be a coincidence that the current explosion of emulator popularity didn't take off until a few years after the Sega Dreamcast hit the market? Sure, you could run Nintendo games on your PC for a long time, but there was something even more appe...

So you're running some classic games on your PC, but the feel just isn't right. You're not getting the same vibe as you do playing the real thing. Maybe what you need is your old controller. Thanks to those tireless hardware manufacturers in Hong Ko...

With the advent of Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices, true cross-platform plug-and-play seemed to be within the grasp of every computer user. Well, except Linux users. But don't worryusing a USB game controller under Linux isn't that difficult. (Yes...