Emulation: Breathing New Life Into Old Games?

I recently found out that I can play PSX games on my Droid phone. That was a good day. It was also a day that my productivity plummeted. I found a lot of the same games I played as a kid, and got hours of nostalgic enjoyment from it.

With the growing power of cell phones, it’s no surprise that emulation is getting more popular. The ability to put several great games from childhood in your pocket and carry them everywhere has obvious appeal. The legality of the practice is questionable, but owners of the original games feel justified in owning a more portable copy of their game. Just to be clear: I’m NOT talking about piracy here, that’s a different issue. But being able to replay old N64 titles while waiting in line or on long car trips means I have time to play them again. I don’t have to dust off my N64 (truth be told, I’m not even sure I could find it in the attic).

The Ultimate Gaming Platform?

Legally, emulation is questionable. According to new DMCA revisions:

Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and which require the original media or hardware as a condition of access. A format shall be considered obsolete if the machine or system necessary to render perceptible a work stored in that format is no longer manufactured or is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.

What that means, in essence, is that it is no longer illegal to emulate games for systems that are no longer commercially available. Last time I checked, it’s pretty hard to come by an original SNES, so I’m pretty sure that’s covered by the addendum.

Want to get started with emulation on a mobile phone? Check out this article on how to get started with a PSX emulator!