Play Console Games On Your PC

For those of you who don’t know a Console emulator is an application that allows you to play games from console systems like Playstation, Dreamcast and Nintendo 64 on your computer.

LEGAL ISSUES: The emulators are programs that mimic the hardware of a console or arcade systems and are legal. They’re merely programs smart guys have written. What’s apparently not legal are the ROMs, the read-only-memory instructions that were burned on the cartridge’s chip and are now downloadable from tons of Web sites. But even that’s a gray area: You can legally download them if you already own the cartridge or arcade game.

The BIOS

A BIOS is the software that your game system uses to be able to read discs, play the games, etc.

To get an emulator running you need to download (or rip) a BIOS of your gaming system. Once again if you own the system it is legal for you to download a bios off of the internet. You can also download it off your game console but you need to buy network cables and download applications from the internet to accomplish this. So use the internet to download it, it is a lot faster and easier to do so. (I can’t tell you where to get a BIOS, it would probably be illegal for me to do so since I don’t know if you have a particular gaming system. Look on Peer-2-Peer Networks for it).

BIOS-Less Emulators

The following are commercial emulators that do not require a Bios Image to run :

(don’t bother using these, I included them in the article only for the sake of being through)

Bleem

Bleem is now discontinued. It had coded it’s own Bios substitute and as such it was fairly legitimate. However it was constantly sued by Sony, Sony never won the court cases, but rather kept appealing etc…. Because of this Bleem simply ran out of money, and went out of business that way.

Virtual Game Station

Virtual Game Station was far doggier than Bleem, and had basically incorporated an original Playstation Bios into their software. And so it didn’t fair as well in court cases! Because of this it was discontinued. However I heard that Sony had done some sort of deal with Connectix.

Playstation 1 Bios Image Versions

The following is a guide to the different Bios Image versions available:

Name Region
SCPH1000 Japan
SCPH1001 America
SCPH1002 Europe
SCPH5000 Japan
DTLH3000 America
DTLH3002 Europe
SCPH5500 Japan
SCPH5502 Europe
SCPH7000 Japan
SCPH7001 America
SCPH7003 America
SCPH7502 Europe

The ones in bold are considered the best to use with emulators!
Note: The region doesn’t have to match the region of the game you are trying to play!

As you can see there are many different BIOSes for some systems so you may have to search for the right one.

The Plugins

Once you have your BIOS set up in your emulator you need to download plugins for your video,sound, disc loader, etc. Consult the documentation of that particular emulator or look through the forums. They usually have a favorite source they like to get them from.

The ROMs (or CDs/DVDs)

A ROM is a copy of a game in a file format that you can load into the emulator to play. However, on most systems you can put your game disc into your computer and play it using that.

Are ROM images legal?

Yes, under very specific circumstances. Section 117 of the US Copyright Law gives the owner of a software package the right to make an additional copy under certain provisions. If you adhere to the provisions then making ROM images is perfectly legal. However, legislation has been passed to prevent software piracy that makes game copying devices illegal. Using such a device to create a ROM image makes the resulting image illegal as well. Also you have to remember that there is a large amount of freeware / public domain roms that you can download from the internet, and only way to play them is to use emulator or a flash card!

Pre-Loaded Emulators

You may find emulators out there that are pre-loaded with plugins and/or a BIOS. You can try using these to setup far more quickly and then replace any plugins that do not work for you.

MAME32

MAME32 (Multiple Arcade Machine emulator) is a great starting point if you’re new to the emulation scene. It’s a breeze to use and currently emulates countless arcade games.

Compatibility Of Certain Games

If a system is fairly new it may not have an emulator for it yet. Even Playstation 2 (this is new for the emulation scene) does not have a fully working emulator. It has video,sound and so on but some games just do not want to load or the frame rate may be too slow to be able to play properly. This is because these people are not doing this professionally nor are they getting any help from the console companies. They are doing this in their spare time and running off of generous donations. So be patient!

The Big Name Games Probably Work

If a game is popular chances are that the creators of an emulator will most likely try their best to make the compatibility of those games a priority over others. For those of you who are going to probably ask Final Fantasy 10 and 12 work on the PS2 emulator.

No Backwards Compatibility

Also, be aware that the emulators concentrate on just emulating one particular system, so for example the PSX2 (playstation 2 emulator) can only play PS2 games, it is not backwards compatible for PS1 games (PS1 games don’t work on it) like a normal PS2.

Patches

For some games a patch may be required to allow it to run properly. Or you may need a certain plugin or turn on/turn off certain settings. If you find yourself with a game that is continually having reoccurring trouble under identical circumstances look around for patches or fixes on the internet.

If you are looking for an emulator click on the following link…

List of Various Emulators

Screenshot of Grandia 3 (PS2) Emulated:

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