What is emulation?
Emulation is what allows you to play your favorite video games right on your computer! Almost every console system can be emulated, such as SNES, NES, Gameboy, Genesis,N64 and Turbo Grafx 16; if you own a higher-end PC you can even emulate playstation 2, Nintendo Gamecube or Wii!
There are two parts pertaining to emulation: the emulator, and the ROM. The emulator is a program that copies (emulates) the way a console system works, allowing you to play games on your PC. The ROM (Read-Only Memory) is the game that was taken from the cartridge/disc and put into digital form on your computer. To play a game, load the emulator for the system you want to emulate, and load the ROM from inside the emulator.
Emulators are not perfect; they do have their limits. Certain games don't work because of the way that they were programed. A good example of this would be the DS-1 chip that certain SNES games use. To learn the specifics of any given emulator, download the emulator, and view the README files. They will give you a broad understanding of the way emulation works.
There are two parts pertaining to emulation: the emulator, and the ROM. The emulator is a program that copies (emulates) the way a console system works, allowing you to play games on your PC. The ROM (Read-Only Memory) is the game that was taken from the cartridge/disc and put into digital form on your computer. To play a game, load the emulator for the system you want to emulate, and load the ROM from inside the emulator.
Emulators are not perfect; they do have their limits. Certain games don't work because of the way that they were programed. A good example of this would be the DS-1 chip that certain SNES games use. To learn the specifics of any given emulator, download the emulator, and view the README files. They will give you a broad understanding of the way emulation works.
What is an emulator?
Emulators are the programs written that create a virtual video game system on your computer. They are the programs you download to play the ROMs, which are the games.
What is a ROM/ISO?
ROM stands for Read Only Memory. ROMs are the files that store the game data in a cartridge. In short, they're the games you download to play along with an emulator.
A ROM differs from an ISO in that the ISO format is a CD format for creating/burning CD-based games.
ISO's can be loaded(or mounted) using programs such as Daemon Tools without having to write(or "burn") them to a real CD/DVD.
Plugins are small files(.dll mostly) that offer an emulator certain functionability or handle a part of the emulation process. One more use for plugins is that emulator authors can update a plugin faster than an entire emulator. Some plugins can be optimized to work on certain hardware(example: graphics plugins).
A .ecm file is a compressed iso image that will further compress with another compression tool. ECM is a method of compressing cd related data to be more compact. Decompressing an .ECM file is simple. Just download the ECM application from the applications page and drag and drop the file to unecm.exe to decompress the .ecm file. Compressing iso or bin images can be done by dragging and dropping an iso image to ecm.exe which will then create a smaller iso.ecm file.
These are symbols used by Cowering's GoodTools to help us further identify the specific type of ROMs we have. If you've looked at our archives, you know that there is more than one (usually two or three) copy of the same game. However, they are all different, and we use these symbols to clarify what is what.
What is a ISO's or CD/DVD Images?
Systems which don't use game cartridges, such as the Playstation, don't have ROM files. In the case of systems such as the Sony Playstation you can create a copy of the CD/DVD in your computer's hard disk. Those files are commonly called CD/DVD Images or ISO's.
ISO's can be loaded(or mounted) using programs such as Daemon Tools without having to write(or "burn") them to a real CD/DVD.
What is a BIOS file?
A BIOS(Basic Input Output System) file is a copy of the operating system of the system you are trying to emulate. Some emulators require the bios files of the original systems to be present to be able to run the games.
What are plugins?
What is a .part file?
A .part file is used with winrar to decompress this file type you must have all .partx.rar files to completely extract the archive. All of the .part files associated with the filename are needed in order to decompress without any errors.What is a .ecm file?
A .ecm file is a compressed iso image that will further compress with another compression tool. ECM is a method of compressing cd related data to be more compact. Decompressing an .ECM file is simple. Just download the ECM application from the applications page and drag and drop the file to unecm.exe to decompress the .ecm file. Compressing iso or bin images can be done by dragging and dropping an iso image to ecm.exe which will then create a smaller iso.ecm file.
What are all those weird (UEJ) [!] symbols next to the name of the ROM?
These are symbols used by Cowering's GoodTools to help us further identify the specific type of ROMs we have. If you've looked at our archives, you know that there is more than one (usually two or three) copy of the same game. However, they are all different, and we use these symbols to clarify what is what.
| Standard Codes: [a] - Alternate [b] - Bad Dump [BF] - Bung Fix [c] - Cracked [f] - Other Fix [h] - Hack [o] - Overdump [p] - Pirate [t] - Trained [T] - Translation (Unl) - Unlicensed [x] - Bad Checksum ZZZ_ - Unclassified [!] - Verified Good Dump (???k) - ROM Size | Special Codes: [C] - Color GameBoy [S] - Super GameBoy (M#) - Multilanguage (# of Languages) [M] - Mono Only (NeoGeo Pocket) (PC10) - PlayChoice 10 (NES) (1) - Japan (Genesis) (4) - USA (Genesis) (5) - NTSC Only (Genesis) (8) - PAL Only (Genesis) (BS) - BS ROMS (SNES) (ST) - Sufami Turbo (SNES) (NP) - Nintendo Power (SNES) (Adam) - ADAM Version (Coleco) (PAL) - PAL Video | Country Codes: (A) - Australian (C) - Chinese (E) - Europe (F) - French (FN) - Finland (G) - German (GR) - Greece (HK) - Hong Kong (I) - Italian (J) - Japan (K) - Korean (NL) - Dutch (PD) - Public Domain (S) - Spanish (SW) - Sweden (U) - USA (UK) - England (Unk) - Unknown Country (-) - Unknown Country |
How Old Is Emulation?
That is a difficult question to answer and we are still investigating the origins of emulation. If you have some insight as to where emulation first was used then please contact us to let us know what you think. The truth is emulation has been around for at least 16 years. The known birth of which started on IRC (Internet Relay Chat). In 1994 a collection of hardware experts, former nintendo / sega employees, and hardcore gamers began to gather on IRC. Most hung around what was known as DALNET however there was also a subculture of experts on EFNET and UNDERNET. During this time these experts began building software and hardware that could copy the contents of video game cartridges thanks to technical documents and a lot of trial and error. The end result was some of the first dumps known as roms. Roms or Read Only Memory cartS are the file representation of a physical hardware storage medium.
The NES was the first system to be completly archived to rom files thanks to the many helpfull people sending copies of their games to these underground experts to back up their games for them. These experts then began sharing their roms with other experts on IRC. Shortly there after some of the first irc DCC shares began which allowed people to download the rom carts. IRC was the breeding ground for roms as we know it and people finally had an easy way to have a backup rom copy of a game they owned! For the first time in history people were empowered with the ability to "keep" their purchased media alive forever through roms and emulation. Nintendo was highly criticized for their old Nintendo NES not loading cartridges properly or failing completly. The days of our lungs dieing or sticking another game on top to force the first nes game down to it's lowest resting position was finally over. People were finally able to create "virtual backups" of their games and play them without the need to blow the dust out of their console!
The process of backing up media is far simpler now and there are far less "bad dumps" due to the process of dumping a cart being much more widely known. These experts who helped start this advancement in technology are partially responsible for the reason why nintendo and other consoles are now providing emulation of other systems. Microsoft, SUN, and various other large software groups have noticed the advanced usage of an emulator and have since created software to emulate a computer allowing what they call "virtual operating systems". These applications are simply emulators that allow emulating an operating system. They even provide the ability to save the operating systems state exactly like emulators do.
The NES was the first system to be completly archived to rom files thanks to the many helpfull people sending copies of their games to these underground experts to back up their games for them. These experts then began sharing their roms with other experts on IRC. Shortly there after some of the first irc DCC shares began which allowed people to download the rom carts. IRC was the breeding ground for roms as we know it and people finally had an easy way to have a backup rom copy of a game they owned! For the first time in history people were empowered with the ability to "keep" their purchased media alive forever through roms and emulation. Nintendo was highly criticized for their old Nintendo NES not loading cartridges properly or failing completly. The days of our lungs dieing or sticking another game on top to force the first nes game down to it's lowest resting position was finally over. People were finally able to create "virtual backups" of their games and play them without the need to blow the dust out of their console!
The process of backing up media is far simpler now and there are far less "bad dumps" due to the process of dumping a cart being much more widely known. These experts who helped start this advancement in technology are partially responsible for the reason why nintendo and other consoles are now providing emulation of other systems. Microsoft, SUN, and various other large software groups have noticed the advanced usage of an emulator and have since created software to emulate a computer allowing what they call "virtual operating systems". These applications are simply emulators that allow emulating an operating system. They even provide the ability to save the operating systems state exactly like emulators do.