Emulators for Windows. And now - emulators of consoles for Linux. As in the previous two parts, here are collected programs tested by time and users.
If something did not get into the collection by accident, write about it in the comments. The missed emulator will be added to the main material.
The principle of working with the emulator set-top box
A game console emulator is a software shell that emulates the operation of the hardware of the device itself. Developing an emulator is not so easy - it requires both programming experience and knowledge of accurate information about the principles of the original device. Most emulators can be divided into two groups, including "simple" and "compound" programs. Many emulators provide even more functionality than older consoles (for example, saving in games for Dendy and Sega).There are no problems with simple ones - you need to install the program, download the image of the game, and that's all - you can enjoy the process of passing. There are a minimum of settings in such programs. "Composite" ones require additional components - this is a BIOS set-top box (usually a .bin file) and various dll-plugins. BIOS files are protected by the manufacturer's rights, so emulator developers cannot embed them - otherwise, such an emulator will not be included in the Google program directory. You need to look for BIOS on the network - there are many sites where these files are shared.
We also need images of games. Their emulator developers also do not have the right to embed them into their software. Images, or ROMs, are available on the Internet. For Sega or PlayStation, the number of ROMs reaches many hundreds. Now on the Internet you can find images of even very rare games that were previously difficult to get in a store.
Emulators of the oldest systems
Fuse Emulator
Cross-platform emulator of ZX Spectrum and some other personal computers of the 80s. The emulator offers a lot of possibilities. It can be found in the repositories of most distributions. There are also system ROMs and specialized utilities.
FS-UAE
And this is an emulator for the well-known Amiga platform for Linux and FreeBSD. The basis here is WinUAE / E-UAE / PUAE with an emphasis on working with floppy and CD games. There is support for gamepads. In order for this emulator to work, you need the Kickstart files, you can find them.
MAME
This emulator is a successful attempt by the developers to recreate the gameplay and atmosphere of slot machines. The stated goal is to preserve the history of games and the games themselves. MAME stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. Available in most repositories for a number of distributions.
pSX
Not a bad emulator of the first PlayStation, supporting most games. There is no plug-in system here, everything is packed into one file, which may please users who just want to install the emulator and play, without special settings for everything and everyone.
PCSX
It is an advanced PlayStation emulator that uses plugins to fully support all the components of the original game console. Full support for gamepads, graphics, sound, memory cards and other important elements of the console. Almost all games are supported, including hits such as Crash Bandicoot 1, Time Сrisis, Mickey Wild adventure, Coolboarders 3, Street fighter EX + a, Street fighter EX2 plus, Breath of fire 3, Breath of fire 4, Quake II, Alone in the Dark 4, Tekken 3.
PCSX2
PS2 emulator. The program is still supported by its developers, who are actively developing the project. PCSX2 is compatible with most of the games for the original console. As in the previous case, it requires a BIOS, plug-ins for video and audio, a drive, as well as images of games (ROM / ISO). The characteristics of the laptop must be at their best, otherwise the game will not work - the emulator and games require a lot of resources.
If the PC configuration meets the requirements of the emulator, then all games run smoothly, the emulation speed is excellent. The color gamut and sound are nearly perfect. There is support for memory cards.
Installation:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa: gregory-hainaut / pcsx2.official.ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pcsx2-unstable
PPSSPP
An excellent PSP console emulator that supports most of the games for this device. If the specs of the PC are high, then the game will look even better than on the console. The emulator allows you to double the resolution, which removes some of the artifacts on polygonal models. In addition, the emulator corrects and complements some textures, smoothing them. BIOS is not required here, there are settings, there are quite a few of them, but everything works fine by default. PPSSPP is released for Windows, Max, Linux.
Installation:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa: ppsspp / stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ppsspp-qt or ppsspp-sdl
Panasonic
Phoenix
Pansonic 3DO console emulator. Perfect compatibility and good emulation quality. Interface - Qt5. The emulator needs the original console BIOS.
Opportunities:
- Hardware rendering
- Built-in annotation editor
- Compressed image support
- Working with the image file system
- Built-in debugger (debug version only)
- External graphics filters
- Emulation of non-standard attachment input devices (coin acceptors, pistols, Flightstick Pro)
- Recording passages
Tags:
- console emulators
- gaming consoles
- old games
Have you ever wanted to play games designed for other platforms on your computer? For example, for old consoles that no one supports anymore, or you cannot buy them because of the price. You can actually play these games without buying anything. Just use Linux.
There are so many open source emulators for Linux that you can use to run almost any console game, and it will run even better than the original console. In this article, we'll take a look at the best Linux emulators that you can download and install on your computer.
Before looking at the linux emulators themselves, let's take a look at how you can play your console games on a computer, because not all games are easy. For example, SNES games are distributed on cartridges, but the computer does not have a cartridge slot. To cope with this problem, users have created images of cartridges, which you can use in your emulators.
Most of these images can be downloaded from the Internet, which is very convenient. Each emulator is customizable. For example, you can change the frame rate if needed, adjust the window size, and customize keyboard shortcuts to use instead of the joystick. Now let's move on to the list itself:
Playstation family
1. PCSX2
PCSX2 is an open source PlayStation 2 emulator for the Linux operating system. The development of the emulator began in 2000 and was very slow at first, because computers of that time could not provide the necessary computing power. In 2005 the emulator started working more or less normally, games were already showing 5-6 FPS. To our time, the emulator supports a very large number of games and works quite acceptable on modern technology.
Installation on Ubuntu:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa: gregory-hainaut / pcsx2.official.ppa
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install pcsx2-unstable
2.ePSXe
ePSXe is a PlayStation 1 emulator, which, like the previous version, began to be developed in 2000. To emulate games, you need a PlayStation firmware dump, so using the emulator is quite legal if you have a console. You can run games not only from images, but also directly from the CDs themselves. The program allows you to run most of the PlayStation 1 games without any problems.
The Nintendo family
Mupen64 is a Nitendo 64 emulator written in C and C ++. With it, you can play Nitendo games on your computer by running them from images or directly from disk. The emulator was released a little later, in 2001, for Windows and Linux. The program has come a long way of development and later its name was changed to Nupen64Plus. It is one of the best emulators for Nitendo, it supports a lot of games and shows good performance. Installation on Ubuntu:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa: sven-eckelmann / ppa-mupen64plus
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install mupen64plus
4. ZSNES
ZSNES is another open source emulator for Nintendo written in assembler. It supports Linux, Windows and DOS platforms. Development of the program began in 1997, 7 years after the release of the 16-bit Super Nintendo / SNES console. The emulator most fully and accurately emulates the console, and this guarantees the launch of a huge number of games. In addition, you can change the screen resolution and adjust video filters.
To install on Ubuntu run:
sudo apt-get install zsnes
5. Snes9x
Another free emulator for Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) consoles. It also supports most of the games designed for these systems on your personal computer.
The program is written in C ++ with assembler inserts and has versions for Linux and Windows. Here you can customize the control buttons individually for each gamepad or adjust the video display. It was developed like the previous version in 1997. Installation:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa: bearoso / ppa
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install snes9x-gtk
6. DeSmuME
DeSmuME is an open source emulator for the Nintendo DS game console. It is developed in C ++, and besides Linux, it supports Windows and OS X. The emulator is actively developing, and runs not only free test games, but also most commercial ones. It is one of the best Linux emulators to play Nintendo DS games.
Installing from the official Ubuntu repositories:
sudo apt install desmume
7. Dolphin
The open source Dolphin emulator provides the ability to play games from multiple consoles: Wii, GameCube, and Triforce. It is the first emulator that can run commercial games for these platforms. The name means the codename for the Gabe Cube - Nintendo Dolphin.
The first version was first released in 2003 as an experimental Nintendo Gamecube emulation program that can run commercial games that did not work at all before. Now the program supports a lot of features, for example, many settings, NetPlay, and a large number of input devices.
Installing from PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa: glennric / dolphin-emu
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install dolphin-emu
Sega family
8. DGen
DGen is a Sega emulator for Linux, Mega Drive set-top box. It works not only under Linux but also under other platforms, such as Windows. The program consists of two parts - DGen and SDL, which is used as firmware. Now it is no longer being developed. Features include support for Game Genie, full screen mode, gamepad and compressed ROM images instead of discs.
sudo apt install dgen
9. Yabause
It is a linux emulator for Sega Saturn game console written in C ++. The program has a graphical interface based on Qt, and can run a lot of games, including commercial ones. Moreover, for work, the original BIOS firmware from the set-top box is not required, since SDL is used. Games can be loaded not only from optical discs, but also from images in ISO or BIN format. Installation:
sudo apt install yabause
Atari family
10. Stella
Stella is an Atari 2600 emulator written in C ++. In addition to Linux, a large number of platforms are supported, including Windows, Mac OS, Dreamcast. Stella supports almost all types of cartridges produced for this set-top box and can emulate the connection of most peripheral devices. In addition, there is support for debugging your games.
sudo apt install stella
11. Atari800
The Atari800 is an eight-bit game console emulator from Atari. It supports most platforms that SDL can run on, including Linux. The development of the emulator began in 1995 in the C language, and like all the above linux emulators on this list, it is distributed under the GPL license. Installation:
sudo apt install atari800
Other emulators
If you want to play DOS games, then DOS emulators like Dosbox and Dosemu come to the rescue.
You may have noticed that our list does not include emulators for Playstation 3 and 4, as well as new consoles from Microsoft - Xbox and Xbox One. There is an experimental emulator for Xbox - Cxbx, but so far it is in beta and not very ready yet.
These consoles are not yet supported because they are still relatively new, remember, the existing emulators were released 7-10 years after the release of the consoles. The job of the emulator is to programmatically do what the hardware does. Hardware will always win in this race, and the more powerful the next consoles will be, the more computer resources they will require. To emulate a set-top box, you need a computer several times more powerful.
conclusions
In this article, we have covered the best Linux emulators. Perhaps these are not all programs that deserve to be on this list. Do you know any other great emulators? Which are your favorites, which do you use and do you use at all? Write in the comments!
Have you ever wanted to play games designed for other platforms on your computer? For example, for old consoles that no one supports anymore, or you cannot buy them because of the price. You can actually play these games without buying anything. Just use Linux.
There are so many open source emulators for Linux that you can use to run almost any console game, and it will run even better than the original console. In this article, we'll take a look at the best Linux emulators that you can download and install on your computer.
How do I play console games on my computer?
Before looking at the linux emulators themselves, let's take a look at how you can play your console games on a computer, because not all games are easy. For example, SNES games are distributed on cartridges, but the computer does not have a cartridge slot. To cope with this problem, users have created images of cartridges, which you can use in your emulators.
Most of these images can be downloaded from the Internet, which is very convenient. Each emulator is customizable. For example, you can change the frame rate if needed, adjust the window size, and customize keyboard shortcuts to use instead of the joystick. Now let's move on to the list itself:
Playstation family
1. PCSX2
PCSX2 is an open source PlayStation 2 emulator for the Linux operating system. The development of the emulator began in 2000 and was very slow at first, because computers of that time could not provide the necessary computing power. In 2005 the emulator started working more or less normally, games were already showing 5-6 FPS. To our time, the emulator supports a very large number of games and works quite acceptable on modern technology.
Installation on Ubuntu:
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa: gregory-hainaut / pcsx2.official.ppa
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install pcsx2-unstable
2.ePSXe
ePSXe is a PlayStation 1 emulator, which, like the previous version, began to be developed in 2000. To emulate games, you need a PlayStation firmware dump, so using the emulator is quite legal if you have a console. You can run games not only from images, but also directly from the CDs themselves. The program allows you to run most of the PlayStation 1 games without any problems.
The Nintendo family
Mupen64 is a Nitendo 64 emulator written in C and C ++. With it, you can play Nitendo games on your computer by running them from images or directly from disk. The emulator was released a little later, in 2001, for Windows and Linux. The program has come a long way of development and later its name was changed to Nupen64Plus. It is one of the best emulators for Nitendo, it supports a lot of games and shows good performance. Installation on Ubuntu:
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa: sven-eckelmann / ppa-mupen64plus
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install mupen64plus
4. ZSNES
ZSNES is another open source emulator for Nintendo written in assembler. It supports Linux, Windows and DOS platforms. Development of the program began in 1997, 7 years after the release of the 16-bit Super Nintendo / SNES console. The emulator most fully and accurately emulates the console, and this guarantees the launch of a huge number of games. In addition, you can change the screen resolution and adjust video filters.
To install on Ubuntu run:
$ sudo apt-get install zsnes
5. Snes9x
Another free emulator for Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) consoles. It also supports most of the games designed for these systems on your personal computer.
The program is written in C ++ with assembler inserts and has versions for Linux and Windows. Here you can customize the control buttons individually for each gamepad or adjust the video display. It was developed like the previous version in 1997. Installation:
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa: bearoso / ppa
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install snes9x-gtk
6. DeSmuME
DeSmuME is an open source emulator for the Nintendo DS game console. It is developed in C ++, and besides Linux, it supports Windows and OS X. The emulator is actively developing, and runs not only free test games, but also most commercial ones. It is one of the best Linux emulators to play Nintendo DS games.
Installing from the official Ubuntu repositories:
$ sudo apt install desmume
7. Dolphin
The open source Dolphin emulator provides the ability to play games from multiple consoles: Wii, GameCube, and Triforce. It is the first emulator that can run commercial games for these platforms. The name means the codename for the Gabe Cube - Nintendo Dolphin.
The first version was first released in 2003 as an experimental Nintendo Gamecube emulation program that can run commercial games that did not work at all before. Now the program supports a lot of features, for example, many settings, NetPlay, and a large number of input devices.
Installing from PPA:
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa: glennric / dolphin-emu
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install dolphin-emu
Sega family
8. DGen
DGen is a Sega emulator for Linux, Mega Drive set-top box. It works not only under Linux but also under other platforms, such as Windows. The program consists of two parts - DGen and SDL, which is used as firmware. Now it is no longer being developed. Features include support for Game Genie, full screen mode, gamepad and compressed ROM images instead of discs.
$ sudo apt install dgen
9. Yabause
It is a linux emulator for Sega Saturn game console written in C ++. The program has a graphical interface based on Qt, and can run a lot of games, including commercial ones. Moreover, for work, the original BIOS firmware from the set-top box is not required, since SDL is used. Games can be loaded not only from optical discs, but also from images in ISO or BIN format. Installation:
$ sudo apt install yabause
Atari family
10. Stella
Stella is an Atari 2600 emulator written in C ++. In addition to Linux, a large number of platforms are supported, including Windows, Mac OS, Dreamcast. Stella supports almost all types of cartridges produced for this set-top box and can emulate the connection of most peripheral devices. In addition, there is support for debugging your games.
$ sudo apt install stella
11. Atari800
The Atari800 is an eight-bit game console emulator from Atari. It supports most platforms that SDL can run on, including Linux. The development of the emulator began in 1995 in the C language, and like all the above linux emulators on this list, it is distributed under the GPL license. Installation:
$ sudo apt install atari800
Other emulators
If you want to play DOS games, then DOS emulators like Dosbox and Dosemu come to the rescue.
You may have noticed that our list does not include emulators for Playstation 3 and 4, as well as new consoles from Microsoft - Xbox and Xbox One. There is an experimental emulator for Xbox - Cxbx, but so far it is in beta and not very ready yet.
These consoles are not yet supported because they are still relatively new, remember, the existing emulators were released 7-10 years after the release of the consoles. The job of the emulator is to programmatically do what the hardware does. Hardware will always win in this race, and the more powerful the next consoles will be, the more computer resources they will require. To emulate a set-top box, you need a computer several times more powerful.
More than half a year has passed since the author of these lines wrote the previous article about Windows Subsystem for Linux. During this time, Microsoft managed to release the first major update to Windows 10 - Anniversary Update 1607, in which all innovations, including WSL, are now available to any user who has installed this update. WSL has become much more sophisticated and, perhaps, "cohesive".
Compared to Windows 10 build 14316, which first introduced the Linux subsystem, in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, the subsystem looks quite functional and practical (as much as possible at this stage). The stability of the work is not satisfactory. Looking ahead, I will note the most important thing - in WSL, it became possible to launch a graphical environment and other GUI programs (from among DE, this is still Unity and Xfce), which was not in previous builds of Windows 10. So far, this was done unofficially, by individual Linux enthusiasts not by the WSL developers, but it is hoped that official support for running a full-fledged Linux GUI in WSL is only a matter of time.
WARNING
Remember: WSL must be installed first. The subsystem will not work out of the box.
WSL. Half a year later
As I said, over the past six months, the WSL developers have managed to thoroughly modify this subsystem, which simplified its installation and configuration. And Microsoft itself managed to become a "platinum" member of the Linux Foundation. Fifteen years ago, one could not even dream of such a thing. In its new capacity, Microsoft has pledged to support all Linux Foundation open source and Linux initiatives and donate $ 500,000 annually to the fund. This is definitely a great achievement. Primarily for the entire FOSS community (free / libre and open-source software - free / free and open source software). Fifteen years after Steve Ballmer called Linux a cancer, Microsoft's new leadership is far more forward-thinking and sane.
But back to Windows Subsystem for Linux. Installing Windows 10 itself is quick and easy (almost like installing Ubuntu), and there is no need to describe it to our reader. You can choose to either upgrade from the previous version of Windows 10, which will take many times more time and effort, or uninstall the previous version and install the system from scratch (which I did, and not out of laziness, but the purity of the experiment so that the system was, that called, pristine). The author of these lines has been a beta tester of Windows 10 for over a year now, and new versions are available to him for free (from a word at all). If you are also a beta tester, then you must have a license for new beta releases of Windows 10.
In the latest version of Windows, Anniversary Update 1607 - "anniversary update" (it is not clear, however, what the anniversary is for MS), WSL is enabled by default. You just need to activate "Developer Mode" in the "Update and Security" section, wait for the system to download the so-called developer package, and restart your computer. Then run the tool "Enabling and disabling Windows components", where select the item "Linux subsystem for Windows ...". And restart the computer again.
Installing bash in WSL is straightforward (although not as fast as I would like). I was unable to install Unity the first time: the installer constantly swore at broken packages. As it turned out, the first step was to update the system through the regular Ubuntu package manager - APT. After receiving the updates, the installation went like clockwork and ... it lasted about nine and a half hours on my test Dell Inspiron (not the oldest laptop, although not the top one). Why - this secret is unknown to me. However, I noticed that each Ubuntu package took three to four times longer to install than clean Ubuntu.
INFO
Before installing and enabling WSL, be sure to install ALL Windows 10 updates. Otherwise, problems may arise!
X Window, Unity and all-all-all
Canonical and Microsoft originally added the ability to run Ubuntu on top of Windows 10 to give system administrators and developers the ability to use bash and other Linux tools and utilities such as make, gawk, and grep directly on Windows. Linux users, as true hackers (in the good sense of the word), did not take long to wait and immediately began work on launching graphical desktop environments in WSL. And guess what? They did it. A Guatemalan programmer, registered on GitHub under the nickname Guerra24, was able to (quote) “run Unity (the default working environment in Ubuntu) inside WSL. This suggests that Microsoft's layer is, in principle, quite capable of running any desktop environment. "
This is a non-trivial task, and it’s hard to call the final result a full-fledged Linux desktop, but this is just the beginning. If you want to use the Ubuntu desktop on Windows 10 for practical purposes, it is best to use any of the currently available virtual machines, such as Oracle's VirtualBox. But if you just want to have some fun and improve your desktop programming skills, you can try running "native" Linux right in Windows 10. To run Unity in WSL, you first need to install (in any available way, preferably legal!) Version of Windows 10 Anniversary Update numbered 1607. And not the "home" version, but the most "professional" or even "corporate" version. After installation, be sure to update the system and move on.
After two (sometimes three) reboots during the update process, to install bash, you need to start the Windows command line (Win + R, type cmd - and you will be happy in the form of a Windows "console") and enter ... yes, exactly like that: bash. You will be prompted to agree to the terms of service (be sure to accept them, you have no choice!) And download Ubuntu. At this stage, you just need to press the Y key. The size of the downloaded files will not be much more than one gigabyte. So, if you have a slow internet connection (yes, it does happen), get ready to wait. Then the installation will begin, which, in turn, will also take some time, depending on the performance of the computer. And at the end of it all, you will be in user space (user environment) Ubuntu 14.04, running on top of WSL.
You're not technically running Linux. It may look like Linux, but it is not Linux. The fact is that the user environment (the same bash and others) does not work on top of the Linux kernel, but inside the WSL layer. WSL uses a special API and set of instructions to make everything look Linux-like, but still not the same. At the heart of all this is still the Windows NT kernel. This is important to understand in order to understand how Unity starts and works in WSL.
After installing Ubuntu, be sure to update it by entering the standard commands for this:
# apt-get update # apt-get upgrade 
Next, you need to go back to Windows 10 and install a compatible X server. VcXsrv is ideal for our experiment. It is better not to use its brother Xming, because with it, for a reason unknown to me, a problem arises: when you try to start any graphical application for Linux, everything just crashes, including the Windows console. But that's not all. I need to tell Ubuntu to use the VcXsrv X server. To do this, enter the command in bash
# DISPLAY =: 0.0
Now any graphical Linux application will run on Windows 10. But only until bash is closed. To make WSL work with Linux graphics all the time, automatically choosing the X server you need to work, simply add the specified line to the end of the bash configuration file (~ / .bashrc):
# echo "export DISPLAY =: 0.0" >> ~ / .bashrc
After that you can run any graphical Linux applications like Firefox or any DE. However, they will work differently from Linux, crashing every minute, and some, like Unity, will not start at all. The problem here is that WSL does not contain socket support code (the universal concept of data exchange between processes in UNIX-like systems, details).
To implement the concept of sockets, Linux graphical environments use the D-bus messaging system by default. Most Linux graphical applications won't even run without D-bus, let alone run. But WSL, fortunately, supports the TCP network protocol, which prompted Reddit.com user ShaRose to find a way to force D-bus to use TCP instead of sockets. The solution isn't perfect, but it works. To bind D-bus to TCP, type in bash:
# sed -i "s / 
With this command you will modify the D-bus config file so that from now on it uses TCP instead of sockets. The good old sed stream editor will help you with this. What's the bottom line? Applications requiring D-bus for their work now run in WSL.
The next step is to install graphical Linux applications. First, do this in the WSL console:
# apt-get install ubuntu-desktop # apt-get install unity # apt-get install compiz-core # apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager 
Long installation of Unity ...
The first command will install the main graphical components of Ubuntu, including end-user programs such as LibreOffice. The following command installs the Unity desktop. The other two teams will provide a Compiz composite window manager using OpenGL and a graphical frontend for it. It is he who will need to be configured correctly in the next step.
Before you can start using the Unity desktop environment on Windows 10, you need to properly configure the CompizConfig Settings Manager (CCSM). After installing all these applications, launch CCSM from the bash interface and activate the following plugins in it (everything should be EXACTLY as in the screenshot!):
In the General section:
- Commands
- Composite
- Copy to texture
- Opengl
In the Desktop section:
- Ubuntu Unity Plugin
In the Utility section:
- Compiz Library Toolbox
In the Window Management section:
- Place Windows
- Resize Window
- Scale
- Snapping Windows
$ compiz
In about a minute, you will see the Unity shell running.
There are a few key points to note:
- If you really want to run X applications in WSL, install VcXsrv as the X server, not Xming. It has been empirically proven that Xming does not want to work well with WSL.
- After installing CCSM, you need to configure it exactly as shown in the picture (that is, turn on what is checked and turn off everything else). Only then will Unity with a scratch, not on the first try, but it will start.
- It is best not to install proprietary ATI drivers for Ubuntu inside WSL. This leads to a complete freeze of the entire system (including Windows 10) and entails a total reinstallation of WSL with all that it implies.
- I will disappoint you: you should not place high hopes on the resulting crutch. This will not work normally. But on my test machine, Unity ran pretty well inside WSL. Subjectively, slightly slower than native Linux. Perhaps in the future someone will bring this whole thing to mind. And there will still be benefits from Unity in WSL.
What will happen in the end, after so much suffering? And in the end (theoretically, since in practice it is just an interesting experimental way to launch Unity and other DEs inside WSL) we will get an environment for testing Linux applications right inside Windows. And Unity running on top of Windows. Of course, the speed of work and its responsiveness are not the same as on real hardware, but still faster than in a virtual machine. Many applications, such as Google Chrome or Pidgin, simply won't launch. But Firefox, file manager, app store and other Ubuntu system utilities work with a bang (a little slower than in "real" Ubuntu, but they work!).
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In this article I want to talk about several, in my opinion, the best emulators for game consoles (from Dandy to PS2). An emulator is a program that allows you to run an application built for a different software or hardware platform.
Since most game consoles have their own, sharpened for a narrow range of tasks, hardware - this requires quite a lot of computing power to emulate it. And while Sega MegaDrive or SNES emulators can run on incredibly weak configurations, emulators for consoles such as Playsation 2 and Nintendo Wii require a 2-core processor with a minimum of 2.5 GHz, at least 2 gigabytes of RAM and a more or less modern graphics card. ... Most of the presented emulators are available in the standard repositories of most distributions. For Debian 8, there are not yet several emulators in the native repository (they are just about to be added), but I have compiled them and will gladly share with you :) Let's start!
1) Nestopia
Nestopia is one of the most popular emulators of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES, or "Dandy", better known in our area). The emulator supports quick saves, various graphic filters, video acceleration through OpenGL, and screenshots. The emulator is available in the repositories of most distributions. Installation for Debian / Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get install nestopia
2) Kega Fusion
Probably the best emulator for Sega MegaDrive game console, as well as Sega Master System, and add-ons for MegaDrive such as Sega 32x, SegaCD and Sega GameGear pocket console. The emulator is 32-bit, on 64-bit systems it requires a bunch of additional libraries. Download the assembly with 32-bit dependencies for 64-bit systems, you can follow the link.
3) Zsnes.
An emulator for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. This console was not widespread in Russia, but there were plenty of good games for it (for example, the fighting game Killer Instint or the platformer Donky Kong Country). The emulator supports a large number of video modes, video acceleration through OpenGL, various graphic filters, a quick save system and screenshots. Available in the repositories of most distributions.
4) Mupen64Plus
Nintendo64 console emulator. It has an impressive number of different plug-ins and has a high emulation accuracy. Unfortunately, it does not have a graphical interface. But you can install the N64Py graphical frontend written in PyQt. The emulator is available in the repositories of most distributions. The N64Py can be downloaded from the link.
5) Yabause.
Sega Saturn game console emulator. This console was distinguished by the fact that it had extremely complex (for those times) hardware, which made writing code a nightmare for many programmers. However, worthy projects still came out on it. For example Sonic R. The emulator is available with an interface on both Qt (yabause-qt) and GTK + (yabause-gtk) and is available in the repositories of most distributions. ATTENTION! The emulator needs a BIOS file from the original console. You can download it. Note: on my system there are slight wheezing and sound slowdowns (related to the SDL plugin in the emulator). I haven’t found a solution yet. If you know the solution, write in the comments.
6) DOSbox
As the name implies, it is a program for running DOS applications. Carmageddon, DOOM, Quake, Need for Speed. Many people grew up playing these games and still remember them fondly. Management is identical to the DOS operating system. The description of the setting can be found at the link.
7) ScummVM
Not really an emulator. Rather, a virtual machine for running games on the Scumm engine. These are mostly quests like Monkey Island or Full Throttle. The emulator supports various graphic filters, acceleration through OpenGL, surround sound. Available in the repositories of most distributions.
8) Here I would like to point out 2 emulators, since they are both good in their own way. These are emulators for the Sony Playstation console: ePSXe and PCSXR. The first is proprietary, has the highest compatibility, supports various plugins, but does not have a 64-bit version, which is why its use on 64-bit systems is rather difficult. You can download my assembly for 64-bit systems (contains 32-bit libraries, as well as a full set of plugins).
The second is an open source emulator, available in the standard repositories of most distributions, and also has plugin support.
In this case, on 64-bit systems, it is recommended to install the 32-bit version (this is not a typo). The fact is that most plugins are closed and only have a 32-bit version. You can try to install a 64-bit emulator, and it is quite possible that the stock plugins will suit you, but unfortunately, my Nvidia GTX 460 with a proprietary driver had graphics artifacts. I had to install the 32-bit version and include the PetesXGL2.9 plugin. ATTENTION! To work, you need the BIOS file of the original console. You can download it.
9) DesMuMe
NintendoDS portable console emulator. The interface is in the spirit of the console itself - two screens. The emulator is available in the repositories of most distributions.
10) PPSSPP
The best emulator of the best (in my opinion) portable console Sony Playstation Portable or PSP. High quality emulation, support for various graphics filters, multi-threaded rendering, support for network play, support for various homebrews (HomeBrew, home development) and many other features. The emulator has two versions of the interface - in Qt and SDL. The second launches in full screen mode, like a game application. Installing the latest stable version in Ubuntu / Linux Mint:
sudo add-apt-reposytory ppa: ppsspp / stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ppsspp-qt or ppsspp-sdl
11) Dolphin-Emu
Emulator for Nintendo GameCube and Nintendo Wii consoles. High quality emulation, user-friendly game manager, support for network play, support for original controllers such as Wii Mote, GameCube gamepad, drums, guitars, etc., support for high definition in games, many graphic filters, support for surround sound. The emulator is developing very actively. It is recommended to use test versions, as they actively improve emulation and add new features. Installation on Ubuntu / Linux Mint:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa: glennric / dolphin-emu
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install dolphin-emu-master
12) PCSX 2
The best and only emulator of the famous Sony Playstation 2. Support for high resolutions in games, various graphics enhancements, support for saving from real PS2 memory cards, fast save / load, support for widescreen resolutions in games (via patches) and much more. ATTENTION: The emulator requires the original console BIOS file. You can download it. Installation on Ubuntu / Linux Mint:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa: gregory-hainaut / pcsx2.official.ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pcsx2-unstable
13) Phoenix
The best 3DO console emulator. It features the most complete compatibility and the best emulation quality. Qt5 interface. The version is only 32-bit. To install on 64-bit systems, download the archive and run the Install.sh file (it will download the required dependencies). WARNING: the emulator needs the original console BIOS file. You can download it. UPDATE: there is a 64-bit version of the emulator available here.
14) MAME
Multisystem arcade emulator. MAME- an emulator designed to recreate the electronic equipment of arcade machines in the form of software in order to preserve the history of games and prevent the disappearance of old games. The program name is an acronym for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator- an emulator of many arcade machines. It is available in the repositories of most distributions (in Debian it is in the non-free section, despite being open).
15) MESS
MESS(short for Multiple Emulator Super System) Is an emulator for many game consoles and computer systems based on the MAME core.
The main purpose of MESS is to preserve the history of decades of computer programs and video games. MESS allows you to run programs for outdated systems so that information about them is not lost and forgotten, despite the fact that there are many new programs. Like MAME, MESS is available on most distributions.
16) VisualBoy Advance
Nintendo GameBoy Advance Portable Console Emulator. Available in the repositories of most distributions.
17) Fuse Emulator
Cross-platform emulator ZX Spectrum and other home computers from the 1980s with many capabilities. Available in the repositories of most distributions, along with system ROMs and additional utilities.
18) FS-UAE
FS-UAE is an Amiga emulator for Linux and FreeBSD, based on WinUAE / E-UAE / PUAE, focused on running floppy and CD games. Has "on-screen GUI" and gamepad support. The emulator is available in the repositories of most distributions. ATTENTION: for the emulator to work, you need Kickstart files, which you can download.
That's all. Have a good game!
Links: Best site for emulating gaming systems
Another emulation site where you can find settings for PCSX 2, Dolphin and other emulators.
