A program that is ran off of a computer Which acts as a Video game system.You can download these for any system.You play roms on them which are also known as games.Emulators are not illeagal but the roms are.It says to keep them for 24hours then delete but its like napster nothing will happen.This is an excellent way to try out a new video game or to play through it
Visaul Boy Advance is an Emulator for Game Boy Advance
By Rocafella
A program that causes your computer to act like a video game system or different computer. As said before, the emulator itself is perfectly legal, but the ROMs are not, UNLESS you own the physical incarnation of said program, which is not a problem with some of my Atari games, but these laws are illogical anyway. Seriously, I could hook the system up and play the game any time I want.
z26 is a good Atari 2600 emulator, as NESten is for the NES. And if you want some seriously old-school games(think 1972) download OdyEmu, the only emulator for the Magnavox Odyssey. Although OdyEmu uses no actual ROMs anyway.....
By wouldntyouliketoknow
A wonderful device that lets you play the video games you grew up with. Examples include ZSNES (best SNES emulator ever), GENS (Best Genesis emulator ever), and Mekaw (Best Game Gear/SMS emulator ever). The game images (ROMS as they're called) are downloaded separately. The emulator reads the ROM file, and activates it. Most emulators have graphic and audio options, for example you can interpolate the screen graphics or toggle between stereo on monaural sound settings. You can also map the control settings and use gaming add-ons, to try to make it feel more like the console your emulator imitates.
I use Snes9x at school every day.
By Hand Hanzo
A program that runs ROMs. Owning an Emulator isn't illegal, but owning a ROM of a game is. This is debateable though.
JNES, NESticle, and SNES9x are all emulators.
By Unown
A program used to imitate another device. The most famous types are console/handheld emulators. Emulators are often used to play games that are no longer in product, but nowadays, they are also emulating brand new systems. Examples are XBox, PS2, and GameCube emulators. While none works yet, all are beginning to play commercial games well while some other commercial games are played well already. However, the Gameboy Advance emulator came out BEFORE the actual handheld did and it emulated it excellently. The biggest problems with emulator is speed and compatibility. Emulators need PC much more powerful than the actual system it's emulating in order to run at full speed. Also, some emulators tend to sacrifice compatibility for speed or vice versa. Some notable things about emulators is that you need ROMs to use it. However, ROMs are completely illegal. The rumor that you can own a ROM if you own the original is false.
Man, emulators are kick ass! Everyone should at least have an SNES emulator!
By BusinessMan