The majority of gamers of the young generation see no point in wasting their time on some games that used to be popular twenty years ago. It is difficult to explain them what is the purpose of referring to the retro titles indeed. Yet, if you had a chance of playing on of the games of the previous epochs, in all likelihood, you still remember that amazing time even though retro games have rather out-of-date graphics compared to the modern products and are definitely not thus dynamic. Yet, they have millions of fans around the world and it might even happen that you yourself prefer older games to the new releases or at least would like to have a chance of playing retro titles from time to time.
Still, the willingness to play the old games is not enough. It turns out the majority of them are simply not compatible with the new systems even though the hardware of the new playing platforms is a way more powerful than it used to be. Fortunately, there are some ways in which you can still relish the experience of playing retro games today.
Using emulators – is it legal?
If you have already delved into the topic of playing old games on new machines, you might have come across a possibility of using special programmes known as emulators. Some people are concerned whether it is legal to use emulators on their gaming machines.
In point of fact, the legal questions concern exclusively the games themselves. If the game you own is a legal copy purchased in a legal way, you do not have to worry since emulation itself is a totally legal form of using video games.
Use your old PC discs with DOSBox
If your favourite games are relatively old but can’t be regard as some artefacts coming from the Stone Age by young gamers, it is quite possible you will have a chance of running them on your computer using Windows 10. There is an option known as Compatibility Mode which can be used successfully with a range of games released in the previous years.
Still, older games will not work in such a simple way. In order to run them, you will need an emulator of DOS such as DOSBox. DOSBox will allow you to use your old programmes as long as you have a CD ROM or a floppy disc drive. In such a way, you can not only play retro games but also to use a wide range of old programmes.
Note that there are ways in which you can use DOSBox with your console, smartphone or tablet computer!
Purchasing renewed old games
Today, you have an opportunity of buying some of the old games in their renewed versions in the popular online video game stores such as Steam or GOG. The later one used to specialise in selling retro games in the first place and even its name itself stays for Good Old Games. GOG is a particularly good option for purchasing old games since it offers the products compatible with modern gaming platforms.
Moreover, you will find particularly old games with additional materials such original manuals and maps on GOG which is definitely a great bonus for real fans.
Pay your attention to the fact, you can purchase some of the most popular retro console games in such a way as well. For example, GOG is a right place for the fans of arcade games since on this service, you will find a variety of the classic games released by SNK NeoGeo.
Sega fans can find a package of 59 games. The SEGA Mega Drive and Genesis Classics collection costs $29.99.
Use old console cartridges for ripping ROM
As you can see, the variety of console games available for purchase is rather limited. For instance, in case you are a devotee of the Nintendo games, you will hardly find their renewed games for playing on modern PCs. Fortunately, there is still a possibility of running some games, however, you will need your old console cartridges for that purpose.
For instance, there is a totally legal way of making the old SNES cartridges working on your personal computer.
For this purpose, you will need some special hardware such as Retrode 2 which is suitable for ripping Genesis games as well. DragonBox with special plugin modules will help you to rip the Sega Master System games as well as the games designed for Game Boy and Nintendo 64. Pay your attention to an interesting fact that you can also get your old save games in such a way! The only condition required to be met is having at least a bit of charge in the internal batteries installed in cartridges.
Once you ripped the games, you now need a special emulator to be installed on your PC which will allow you to use these games. For playing old console games on Windows, you can use such an emulating programme as RetroArch. RetroArch can emulate almost all possible retro gaming systems and also allow you to play two-player games online.
For Mac, you can install a user-friendly OpenEmu programme which also supports a variety of gaming systems.
Thus, as you can see, there is still a way of making a usage of your old console cartridges.