UAE is a computer emulator which emulates the hardware of Commodore International's Amiga range of computers. Released under the GNU General Public License, UAE is free software.
A game controller, gaming controller, or simply controller, is an input device or input/output device used with video games or entertainment systems to provide input to a video game. Input devices that have been classified as game controllers include keyboards, mice, gamepads, and joysticks, as well as special purpose devices, such as steering wheels for driving games and light guns for shooting games. Controllers designs have evolved to include directional pads, multiple buttons, analog sticks, joysticks, motion detection, touch screens and a plethora of other features.
A gamepad is a type of video game controller held in two hands, where the fingers are used to provide input. They are typically the main input device for video game consoles.
VisualBoyAdvance is a free emulator of the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance handheld game consoles as well as of Super Game Boy and Super Game Boy 2. It is still downloadable to this day.
Homebrew, when applied to video games, refers to software produced by hobbyists for proprietary video game consoles which are not intended to be user-programmable. The official documentation is often only available to licensed developers, and these systems may use storage formats that make distribution difficult, such as ROM cartridges or encrypted CD-ROMs. Many consoles have hardware restrictions to prevent unauthorized development.
Project64 is a free and open-source Nintendo 64 emulator written in the programming languages C and C++ for Microsoft Windows. This software uses a plug-in system allowing third-party groups to use their own plug-ins to implement specific components. Project64 can play Nintendo 64 games on a computer reading ROM images, either dumped from the read-only memory of a Nintendo 64 ROM cartridge or created directly on the computer as homebrew.
Retrogaming, also known as classic gaming and old school gaming, is the playing and collection of obsolete personal computers, consoles, and video games. Usually, retrogaming is based upon systems that are outmoded or discontinued, although ported retrogaming allows games to be played on modern hardware via ports or compilations. It is typically for nostalgia, preservation, or authenticity. A new game could be retro styled, such as an RPG with turn-based combat and pixel art in isometric camera perspective.
Dolphin is a free and open-source video game console emulator for GameCube and Wii that runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S.
PCSX2 is a free and open-source PlayStation 2 emulator for Windows, Linux, and macOS that supports a wide range of PlayStation 2 video games with a high level of compatibility and functionality. Although PCSX2 can closely mirror the original gameplay experience on the PlayStation 2, PCSX2 supports a number of improvements over gameplay on a traditional PlayStation 2, such as the ability to use higher resolutions than native, anti-aliasing and texture filtering.
PCSX is a free and open-source, video game console emulator that allows software designed to be used with the Sony PlayStation to run on personal computers. Over the years, development changed hands several times with PCSX-Reloaded (PCSXR) now being the main version. As of 2021, the emulator seems to be no longer under active development. A newer, actively maintained fork of PCSX-Reloaded is PCSX-Redux.
Stella is an emulator of the Atari 2600 game console, and takes its name from the console's codename. It is open-source, and runs on most major modern platforms including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Stella was originally written in 1996 by Bradford W. Mott, and is now maintained by Stephen Anthony.
Higan is a free and open source emulator for multiple video game consoles, including the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was developed by Near. Originally called bsnes, the emulator is notable for attempting to emulate the original hardware as accurately as possible through low-level, cycle-accurate emulation and for the associated historical preservation efforts of the Super NES platform.
A video game console emulator is a type of emulator that allows a computing device to emulate a video game console's hardware and play its games on the emulating platform. More often than not, emulators carry additional features that surpass limitations of the original hardware, such as broader controller compatibility, timescale control, easier access to memory modifications, and unlocking of gameplay features. Emulators are also a useful tool in the development process of homebrew demos and the creation of new games for older, discontinued, or rare consoles.
Mupen64Plus, formerly named Mupen64-64bit and Mupen64-amd64, is a free and open-source, cross-platform Nintendo 64 emulator, written in the programming languages C and C++. It allows users to play Nintendo 64 games on a computer by reading ROM images, either dumped from the read-only memory of a Nintendo 64 cartridge or created directly on the computer as homebrew.
Mednafen, formerly known as Nintencer, is an OpenGL and SDL multi-system free software wrapper that bundles various original and third-party emulation cores into a single package, and is driven by command-line input. It is distributed under the terms of the GPL-2.0-or-later license. Certain emulation cores of Mednafen have been ported to RetroArch/Libretro.
OpenEmu is an open-source multi-system video game emulator designed for macOS. It provides a plugin interface to emulate numerous consoles' hardware, such as the Nintendo Entertainment System, Genesis, Game Boy, and many more. The architecture allows for other developers to add new cores to the base system without the need to account for specific macOS APIs.
PPSSPP is a free and open-source PSP emulator for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo Switch, BlackBerry 10, MeeGo, Pandora, Xbox Series X/S and Symbian with a focus on speed and portability. It was released to the public on November 1, 2012, licensed under the GNU GPLv2 or later. The PPSSPP project was created by Henrik Rydgård, one of the co-founders of the Dolphin emulator.
Citra is a discontinued free and open-source emulator of the handheld Nintendo 3DS for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. Citra's name is derived from CTR, which is the model name of the original 3DS. Citra can run many homebrew games and commercial games. As of August 2024, Citra has been forked in a GitHub repository by former Citra team member PabloMK7, and is currently continuing development.
Polymega is a home video game console developed by American company Playmaji, Inc. It is a retro gaming console offering backwards compatibility with several CD-based and cartridge-based platforms: PlayStation, TurboGrafx-CD, Neo Geo CD, Sega CD, Sega Saturn, Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Sega Genesis, Sega 32X, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), and Nintendo 64. It includes a built-in CD drive, while separate add-ons known as Element Modules provide support for cartridge-based games.
Anbernic is a Chinese handheld gaming console company founded in 2017 in Shenzhen by Shenzhen YangLiMing Electronic Technology Co.
