Remember the glory days of videogaming when everyone had an Atari? How about all those quarters you fed into PacMan, Donkey Kong and Space Invaders? Well, now you can relive those moments by running an emulator. Instead of playing inferior conversions of a game, you can play the EXACT same versions you fell in love with!!!
Emulators work by imitating the various pieces of hardware that exist in the original machine. In most cases, a separate datafile is needed to provide the actual program instuctions. These are usually referred to as ROM images (for Arcade or Console emulation) and Disk images (for the Computer emulators).
I've listed some of the best emulators here, along with support sites and places to find the ROM and Disk images. A word of caution though: While the emulators are perfectly legal and are usually Freeware or Shareware, the ROM images may still be copyrighted. If you own any of the original games, it is acceptable for you to download these images for use as a backup. According to some sites that carry these ROMs, non-owners are allowed to download and preview the games for a 24-hour period. I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know how accurate this statement is. Most of these games are fairly old and are no longer on the market, so I doubt that the copyright holder would complain of lost sales.
Many of these emulators were created with the noble intention of preserving classic games for future generations. The old machines wear out and replacement parts are difficult to find. Emulators provide a perfect solution. Because they are software replications of the original hardware, they can easily be ported to many different platforms, now and in the future.
| M.A.M.E. - The Multi Arcade Machine Emulator | The BEST!!! Supports several thousand games and is constantly being updated and improved. New games are added every few weeks. This link will take you to the "Official" MAME site. There you can find versions for many different platforms ( including Pocket PC and even some cell phones), or you can download the source code to see how it all works. Try these shortcuts: MAME32 for Windows, MacMAME for Macintosh, Advance MAME for DOS, MAME-CE3 for PocketPC or X-MAME for Unix and Linux. |
| Stella - Atari 2600 VCS Emulator | The Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS), introduced in 1977, was the most popular home video game system of the early 1980's. Now you can enjoy all of your favorite Atari 2600 games like Megamania, Pitfall, Kaboom, Pole Position, River Raid and more! |
| PC Atari Emulator - Atari 2600 Emulator | This 2600 emulator allows you to play your Atari games against other internet users. |
| z26 - Atari 2600 VCS Emulator | Here's another Atari 2600 emulator with versions for Windows and DOS. |
| S.A.S.S.- Speak and Spell Simulator | Remember this cool toy from the late 70's and early 80's? Remember how fun it was making it say dirty words? S.A.S.S. runs on the PC and may require the VisualBasic 5 runtime library, which can also be downloaded from the same site. |
| Amiga.org | The Amiga scene is still alive and well. Check it out here! |
| ExoticA | I know it sounds like a porn site, but this Amiga website is full of classic and great Amiga Music, Software, Artwork, Nostalgia and much much more. |
| Back 2 The Roots | Also known as the Amiga Culture Directory Project at the University of Trondheim, Norway. |
| Little Green Desktop | This is the largest internet resource for Atari ST information and software. |
| AtariAge | This is a great site for fans of all Atari game consoles. Not only do they have a huge selection of ROMs, they also have a lot of information that collectors will find useful. |
| MAME.DK | Arcade ROM and Information Repository. This site has a huge amount of info about ROMs available for MAME. |
| CoolRoms | ROMs for Atari 2600, NeoGeo, NES, Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo, Gameboy Advance and Sega Genesis |
| MORE TO COME SOON! |
| Atari Archives | AtariArchives.org has the full text of classic Atari books, plus information, and software for Atari and other classic computers. Everything here is available with permission of the copyright holders. Teach yourself Atari BASIC or Machine Language, download classic programs from the Atari APX catalog, or read articles from Creative Computing that go back as far as the mid 1970s. |
| Deus Ex Atari | Looking for vintage Atari commercials and ads? This site has a huge collection, as well as links to several Atari emulators and utilities. |
| My Atari Monthly Magazine | Started in October 2003 and still going strong, "MyAtari" is a free monthly on-line magazine for Atari users, which includes in-depth articles, reviews and tutorials for the whole range of Atari computers and game systems. Issue 30 (April 2003) contains an article on running Atari ST software on you PocketPC! |
| Page 6 / New Atari User Magazine | Page 6 Magazine started off as the newsletter of the Birmingham User Group (BUG), an independent club of around 100 Atari computer enthusiasts who met regularly in Birmingham, England during the 1980s. It evolved into a very high quality magazine with useful articles and programs and was read the world over. The typesetting and page layout was even done using Atari computers. Many of the issues are already available for online viewing. |
| Obsolete Computer Museum | Visit this Virtual Museum and learn what the computers of the last century where like. You can even send them pictures and descriptions of your own obsolete computer to include it in the museum. There's also a Help section where you can post questions or answer those from other users. |
| HotRod - The Ultimate Joystick Control | OK, you're running all the cool arcade classics now, but a keyboard is a poor substitute for a real arcade joystick! HotRod has REAL Arcade Joysticks (2 of 'em!) and Buttons to give you an authentic arcade gaming experience. You can even daisychain 2 of them together for a four-player game! |
| HotRod - The Ultimate ArcadePC Cabinet | For those of you who always wanted to have an arcade in your home - The ArcadePC is a high-quality arcade cabinet that comes with a hi-resolution 19" Monitor (!), lighted marquee, stereo speakers, a hideaway drawer for your keyboard and mouse, and optional working coin-slots! They have three different versions to choose from. |
| X-Arcade - Arcade Joysticks | They sell arcade quality joysticks for the PC, Mac, Playstation, XBOX, Game Cube and Dreamcast. They also have an arcade-style cabinet. |
| Retrogames - One Stop Emulation Site | News and information about emulation of many different systems. |
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