Once you have yourself an emulator you’ll need to get yourself some programs to run with it. These programs are called ‘ROMs’ and are images of original storage device that program came on (be it a cartridge, tape, floppy or other). The process of creating a ROM is probably far too technical for vast majority of computer users so you’re probably going to have to find a ‘backup’ from somewhere to download. This is where venture gets slightly foggy. Basically deal is that you can only have a program ROM if you own original program. So if you have boxes of old Amiga disks, NES cartridges, or other old gaming programs stored away somewhere, you’re in luck, otherwise you’re treading on legally shifty ground. While it can easily be argued that downloading of a 1987 computer game is of no real consequence to company that has in all likelihood closed down, copyright doesn’t actually expire for 50 years and computer games just haven’t been around that long.

Online ‘emulation’ is a new area now being explored. The idea is that you simply play game in your browser through a Java applet or Flash application. These might not always strictly be emulated programs but many remakes are feature perfect with originals. The graphics, sounds, and game play remain intact. One excellent place to look for online games is Every Video Game (http://www.everyvideogame.com). While site does not in fact contain ‘every video game’ it does have a very large list of old games from arcades, GameBoy, NES, and Master System all playable through your browser. Many remakes can also be found at Shockwave’s site (http://www.shockwave.com/sw/actiongames/arcade_classics/).

Some of old games have even been remade and updated for this modern world we now live in. Try doing a search for remakes of a game title you particularly enjoyed and you may be surprised at what you find. There are games that have been updated to be 3D, such as some old favourites of mine: Pac man (http://www.caiman.us/scripts/fw/f1292.html) and Barbarian (http://www.dgdevteam.tk/), and while these might not always be brilliant games or remakes in their own right, thought and effort put in often leads to an enjoyable diversion. There are also more traditional versions of games that have just updated code as well as possibly graphics so that they can still be run.

So if you’re feeling nostalgic or just can’t get hang of these new-fangled games that require you to push fifty buttons in a precise configuration just to jump, you may like to check out emulation and remake scene. It’s surprisingly entertaining to go back in time to when games were simple yet fun.

Somewhat unfortunately rise of ‘Casual Gamer’ will probably lead to more simplistic games being released. While personally I would love to see depth of story and characters, there are a significant number of players out there who want to pick up a game for twenty minutes or so, have a bit of fun, and then put it down until another time. These gamers are generally less interested in latest greatest technology and more interested in a ‘fast food’ kind of entertainment that satisfies moment, despite lack of quality or lasting effects. Hopefully two game types can co-exist peacefully although recently it has been seen that some developers are cutting down on some of planned depth of a title in order to accommodate more casual gamer.

As technology pushes forwards boundaries are slowly being broken down between systems. We saw Bleemcast a few years back enabling running of Playstation games on Dreamcast, and PC is able to run almost anything given right emulation software. Consoles are able to emulate other consoles and new consoles are being announced that promise ability to play PC games. The Xbox 2 is reported to have a model in planning that comes in a PC case and with ability to run both PC software and Xbox software. Macs can emulate Windows software and vice-versa. We’ll probably start seeing less of a distinction between consoles and PCs as price of technology continues to drop and consoles continue to become more and more powerful and able to compete with more expensive computers. Ideally we’ll see a single platform come into prominence so that everything can be run without purchasing a copious number of different machines, although that does have a downside in that it can establish a monopoly for one particular company.

The technology price drop and increase in power has also lead to more powerful hand-held machines than before. Real games, not just simple toys are now available for portable market. The advent of PDAs and mobile phones with ability to play games raises awareness of portable gaming and new competitors are starting to get in on field that was once primarily dominated by Nintendo’s GameBoy. There is a new product, gp32, that can run many different emulators and hence, many different system’s games (including some PC games).

I can’t say for sure what’s going to happen but these are just a few ideas that I’ve had recently. Hopefully games industry will continue to strive towards new heights with new and interesting game play, stories, characters and ideas. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in next few years.