What are Emulators and ROMs?
With the holiday season upon us, gifts of video games and gaming
consoles are no doubt top of mind for many holiday shoppers. Recent
years have been notable for the resurgence in interest in the
classic video games of the 1980s and 1990s, but gone are the days
where a dedicated gaming system or a trip to the arcade was
required to play these classic games. Today, the video game
classics of the 1980s and 1990s are readily playable on our
computers and smartphones.
These "retro" games are also easily accessible, and
for years have been available for free via unauthorized third-party
websites. This is made possible through the use of software
applications called emulators, which are designed to play games in
the read-only memory ("ROM") format. ROMs are essentially
versions of games that have been "ripped" from their
original cartridges or discs.
