Time was, when you wanted to relive your wasted youth through the magic of emulation, you needed fifteen hundred quids worth of computer to do it.

The Future. Yesterday.

But that's not the case any more. Emulation has entered the mainstream now, albeit now you have to pay for a legit version rather than getting it for nowt from Dave's...

So what are the current crop of consoles like as emulation machines? We spent some time finding out.

Not the most obvious emulation box the DS. It's the only current machine that doesn't have any kind of download capability. Or, for that matter, onboard storage. So, we're stuck with compilations and remakes really - which, to be honest, are all a bit shit. The DS just isn't built like other consoles and the twin screens and other "unique" features just don't work very well when you're trying to play Galaxians.

We're holding out hope that someone, somewhere is developing a commercial Spectrum emulator, but, for now, we're making do with homebrew.

PSP

On the surface, we're in a similar position to the DS here. Downloadable PSP games are few and far between and while the PSP serves as a slightly more attractive home for the likes of Taito Legends and the Megadrive Collection, it's something much more recent that has caught our eye...

Playstation Emulation. Okay, it took them three years to get this right, but come on - Kula World, Crash Bandicoot, WipEout, Medievil? £3 each? Get the fuck in. They seem to be trickling these out a bit, but since getting a satisfactory PS1 emulator working on PC still remains a pipedream for most of us, we'll just have to make do.

Wii

Nintendo seem to have fallen hardest for the emulation scene - and, in complete contrast to Sony, are shoving out classics (and not-so) at a huge old rate. NES, SNES & N64 games are a given, but PC Engine, Megadrive, Neo Geo, Commodore 64? Blimey, they're spoiling us.

Granted, there are issues with the Wii way - it's probably the purest emulation experience on all the consoles as there is little to no attempt to modernise or update the games. What you see here is what you get, and paying £3 or more for a not very good game that you can probably play for free on a flash site somewhere can feel like a ripoff.

Xbox 360

The 360 is all about the arcade conversions for us. Sure, there are issues with the controls on some of these (Scramble's inexplicible swapping of the fire and bomb buttons springs to mind) but it's the integration into the whole console that we love. Specifically, it's all about achievements and online leaderboards.

Achievements, because having a goal - other than "score as much as you can" - in a game really does serve to open up some of the finer points of the games.

And online leaderboards for the simple reason that getting a better score than your mates is at the heart of the arcade experience.

PS3

It's a bit early to tell with the PS3 - there were a handful of arcade classics on there at launch(Rampage, Joust etc) but we've not seen anything new for ages. We love the ability to download and play original Playstation games on both the telly and on the PSP though.

It's certainly a capable machine, but the Playstation Store seems to be concentrating more on original content than rose-tinted nostalgia.

Although, of course, you could just install Linux on the thing and just turn your PS3 into a PC. Good luck with that.

Conclusion

So, time to throw that PC out of the window then?

Emulation on consoles is, in many ways, better than having to jump through the hoops of getting this stuff working on your PC - especially if your tastes run to newer systems. Frustratingly, there isn't one single machine that gives you anything like a full range. The Wii is great for home consoles, the 360 wins for its arcade conversions and the Sony duo, well, we'll forgive them anything for the ability to play the original WipEout on the train.

Whatever your poison though, you can - easily and legally - emulate everything from the Commodore 64 through to the N64 and Playstation (and, arguably, Dreamcast if the recent XBLA conversions of Rez & Ikaruga count) with a couple of hundred quids worth of game console. That's the sort of future I can believe in.

March 2008

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