Note that downloading retail .nds ROMs is of questionable (il)legality – more of a black area than gray as the games are still current generation – sold and marketed as of right now. If you want to stay on the legal side, use homebrew ROMs instead.

We’ll be covering the Windows version of DeSmuME. Fetch the latest Windows binary from their website.

You should have downloaded a zip archive. Extract it to its own folder, and you should see several files, including DeSmuME.exe, which is the Nintendo DS emulator itself.

Downloading Games

We can’t condone downloading the retail DS games’ ROMs, though we’re quite sure you know the common avenues. Your second option is to find homebrew DS ROMs – this website has a small collection of them, but you may need to click through to developer websites to see more of their own projects.

In the end, you’ll usually end up downloading an archive including an nds file – this file is the one you want. For our own purposes, we’ll be downloading “Yoshi’s Bad Brother,” a homebrew game, from this developer.

Playing the Games

When all is downloaded and unarchived, you should end up with an nds file, and perhaps a readme or other files.

Browse to your nds file, and hit Open.

The game will load – the bottom half of the Nintendo DS emulator is for the “touchscreen” input, which you control with your mouse, and the top is the top screen of your “DS”.

You can find the various key bindings in the Config > Control Config.

Basic Functions

We’ll be outlining some of the basic functions of the emulator:

File

• Save State As: Allows you to save the current exact state of the emulator – everything will be the way you left it when you load this file.
• Load State As: Allows you to load the files made from Save State As.
• Save State / Load State: Does the exact same thing as the above, except it uses numbers instead of forcing you to specify a file name.
• Other functions in the File menu allow you to save screenshots, audio, and video captures.

Emulation

• Pause and Reset are self explanatory.
• The Cheats menu will be explained in greater detail later.

View

• The various options on the view menu allow you to change the emulator size, rotation, and screen separation. You can also display an FPS counter, among other things.

Cheating in DeSmuME

Cheating is quite rudimentary in DeSmuME. We’ll be showing a simple example using the game New Super Mario Bros.

Head over to Emulation > Cheats > Search. A window will pop up, asking for the number of bytes and search type. For our example, we’ll stick with the defaults.

You’ll be prompted to enter a value. Since we’re going to freeze the number of lives, we entered 10, which was our current number of lives.

The window will tell you the number of results. Close the dialog (do not click Restart).

Change the number of lives. We went in and lost a life to reduce the number of lives we had to 9. Go back to Emulation > Cheats > Search, and enter the new number (ours would be 9) and hit Search.

The number of results should have dropped significantly (I ended up with 4). You can either die again and search a new number to reduce the number of results again, or just add all the values. Either way, once you’re done, hit View, and select each value and click Add.

You can either freeze the value, or change it. I opted to freeze it, and clicked Add. That’s all – for a more detailed guide, view DeSmuME’s guide.

That’s all the basic functions of DeSmuME. Download it at their website. If you have any questions or issues, please voice out in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Top 3 Sites For Nintendo DS Walkthroughs (6)
• Top 3 Sites For Nintendo Wii Game Walkthroughs (8)
• Top 2 Sites To Play Old Nintendo Games Online (16)
• Top 2 Sites For Nintendo Wii Game Cheats (13)
• How To Play Old School Console Games on Computer (18)

I have showed you FireNES in the past that works in your Firefox browser but now I am here to show you 2 more awesome sites that let you play old Nintendo games online in your browser. The first one is Java based and called VNES and the second one is flash based and is called PlayNES.

The first site had more titles but the game play was a little better on the flash site. But hey I will let you be the judge of that.

Next time you get that old school gaming itch you will know where to go to get your Nintendo fix.Thinking about Mario or Zelda yet? How about a little up up down down left right left right select start on Contra?

VNES – Virtual NES claims to be the largest website on the Internet that allows you to play your favorite classic Nintendo Entertainment System games online for free. VirtualNES.com is the official home of, and is powered by, the vNES emulator by Jamie Sanders.

VirtualNES also clams that it is able to provide you classic NES games without trampling over copyright laws. They say that they only upload NES games that they physically own and currently have at their offices. They operate off of donations so if you are feeling for them, cough up a few bucks for these old school gamers.

It might take you a few minutes to get the hang of the controls using your keyboard. But the arrow keys are your up, down, left and right buttons. You have B and A emulating the B and A buttons and control being select, and enter being start. You can see the controls and the legend below for the icons that appear on the game search screen.

If you hit the letters at the top it will take you to that listing alphabetically. I went looking for some Super Mario Brothers and hit the S key. This is what I saw along my way. Games going back as far as 1987. I was in gamers heaven and they are all available to play right here for free! Woot!

They show the game’s name, the publisher, the release date, how many players can play, the rom size and the icons to click on that you saw in the legend two screen shots above. They turn off the volume, show scan lines and shows if the game can be saved. I fired up Super Mario Brothers 1 and ran through the first board but I couldn’t hit that flag pole like I used to! Any one have any tips for me to get my mojo back?

I moved on to a little Simpsons vs. The space aliens which I loved playing in the arcade even before it came out on Nintendo. The controls appear in the upper right for your easy reference during game play

You can also check out these interesting sections of games you may have never seen or heard of:

• Pirate Original Games
• Unreleased Games
• Homebrew Games
• ROM Hack Games
• Translated Games

You can save and load your games just like you could on the actual NES. But you should note that it works with pasting long codes and context menus are unavailable inside vNES. To copy, hold down the Control (Ctrl) key on your keyboard and press C. To paste, hold down the Control (Ctrl) key on your keyboard and press V. To select all text, hold down the Control (Ctrl) key on your keyboard and press A.

Next up to play old Nintendo games online is the flash based PlayNes. This is what they have to say about themselves:

PlayNes.net is an online NES ( Nintendo entertainment system) emulator for which you do not need to provide the games. You can play over 800 of your favorite original games! For Free! Due to recent administration decision we have decided to expand the website to include thousands of flash games too.

Similar to the other site they have a listing of all of their games (here they list some non-nes ones as well) they have ratings, how many times the game was played, an added date and if there is  an online manual which is a very nice touch.

I went right to the L’s and found me a little game called The Legend Of Zelda 2. I fired it up and it started instantly. The game controls are shown on the right hand side while you play. You will see the start button is Enter, the select button is space, A is X and B is Z, Hit p to pause and C to save and l to load.

Hitting the S button will prompt you to which slot you want to save your progress to. I saved mine to Slot 1 and then hit the L key to load it back up. They show you each slot but not what is in it. If you highlight it it will show you a screenshot of where you are in the game. This is a VERY nice feature.

And talking about saving games they also offer save states where you can play someone elses saved game at cool points in a game. For instance play Zelda with 99% completion so you can go and do as you please in the game…

Oh well back to work (hmm but an hour break might be what I need to get my Nintendo fix on!) Do you know of other sites that you can play classic NES games online with? Share them with us in the comments won’t ya?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• How To Play Old School Console Games on Computer (18)
• DeSmuME- Free Nintendo DS Emulator to Play NDS Games on PC (21)
• 5 Sites To Play Old Computer Games Once Again (49)
• Top 3 Sites For Nintendo DS Walkthroughs (6)
• Top 2 Sites For Nintendo Wii Game Cheats (13)

When it comes to emulators, Linux is right up there. It might not be able to run Crysis or World of Warcraft, however you can surely run various free old school games like Mario, Popeye, Contra, etc.

Here is how you can play those old, free games on your Linux machine. There are various emulators available for Linux, let us look at them one by one.

DOSBox

Simply put, DOSBox is a DOS-emulator and lets you re-visit the good old days when DOS used to rule the roost. Using DOSBox you can play all those DOS games that you loved.

Just install DOSBox, download the game you want to play, run DOSBox from the terminal and execute the game you just downloaded for a trip back in time! The best way to download your favorite game is to Google it.

Check your distributions package manager, Ubuntu users can sudo apt-get install dosbox.

ZSNES

ZSNES emulates the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (NES/SNES). You can thus play almost all of the popular games that made their way onto the NES.

You can install ZNES using your package manager. Once installed you would need to download some of those old, free games. These are generally called SNES ROMs. These are freely available across the Internet and specially on various p2p networks.

PLEASE NOTE that downloading ROMs may be illegal, so you might want to re-consider your decision before you go in for the download.

Fire up ZSNES emulator and you can play the game you just downloaded by loading it via the Game > Load option within the ZSNES emulator.

gnuboy

gnuboy emulates the GameBoy console. So if you are interested in playing some of your favorite GameBoy games on the PC, give gnuboy a spin. It has great compatibility with almost every free old school game you might want to play.

As with other platforms, you can find games floating around on the Internet, you just need to put your head down and search!  You need to install gnuboy-sdl or gnuboy-svga or gnuboy-x depending upon which libraries you want to support. Again, as above, gnuboy is generally available through the package manager.

Where to get the free old games

The games are generally a Google search away, however you can also check out various p2p networks to find ROMs for your emulator. Abandonia and PDRoms are great for finding such games as well.

Are you still into old school games? Tell us about the emulators you use and your favorite games in the comments section!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• How To Play DOS Games Under Windows XP (13)
• Try Linux Live CDs from Windows Without Using any CDs (10)
• Top 2 Sites To Play Old Nintendo Games Online (16)
• How To Run Windows Mobile 6.5 On Your PC Desktop (7)
• How to play Sony PlayStation 2 Games on your PC (124)

Tell me, where’s the fun in not having to deal with himem.sys and esoteric commands to make the sound blaster mode work ? I’m sure none of us really miss those days. But, for an old timer like me, DOS will always hold a special place in my heart.

I still remember all those fun filled afternoons when I’d come back from school, drop the schoolbag and sit and play Digger on our state-of-the-art IBM PC. Haven’t heard of digger ? How about Invaders ?

When Microsoft released Windows XP in 2001, they effectively ended an era of DOS based games and applications. All Microsoft operating systems before XP, had DOS at their heart and could run DOS applications pretty well, but XP was based on an all new architecture which was supposed to be more secure, faster and free of the legacy of DOS.

Security and a spiffy new architecture is all well and good but if you’re like me and you crave good ol’ games of yore, there is still hope for you. What to know how to play DOS games under Windows XP?  DOSBox is here to the rescue.

How to Play DOS Games Under Windows XP With DOSBox

DOSBox is an open source DOS emulator. What that means is that it creates and emulates a DOS based environment for your application. To the application, it appears as if it’s running on it’s own under DOS. So, while DOSBox manages the show behind the scenes, the user really doesn’t need to bother about compatibility, memory management and other stuff which only the old timers amongst us would recognise.

DOSBox is also really easy to get started with. All you need to do is download DOSBox and execute the installer. The installer will create a shortcut to DOSBox on the desktop. Double click the shortcut to run DOSBox for the first time.

Does that Z:\> prompt look familiar ? How about C:\>?  Well, DOSBox, by default, does not create a C: drive for you. Instead, it lets the user select a directory on his/her computer and mount that inside the emulator as the C:\. This is the directory which we’ll use to store all our old DOS utilities and time wasters games.

Create a directory named DOSApps under c: on your windows computer. The name of the folder or the drive on which it is created does not matter as long as you can remember it.

Copy all the DOS apps that you want to run under DOSBox to this folder. I’m going to use DOSBox to run Digger, my favorite DOS game.

Now, get back to DOSBox and at the Z:\ prompt, type in the following command:

mount c c:\DOSApps

As you can, DOSBox has mounted Drive C and mapped it to the local directory c:\DOSApps that you created earlier. Now, switch to the c:\ drive and enter the dir command to see a list of all the files in it. You should see a listing of all the DOS applications that you copied to the directory earlier.

That’s all. I’m all set now to play my favorite DOS game of all time. I give the command digger at the prompt and, lo-and-behold, digger it is, in all its (former) glory.

What are your favorite DOS games ? Try running them in DOSBox and let us know how you fare. Do you have your methods to play DOS games under Windows XP? Share them in the comments section below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• 3 Emulators To Play Free Old School Games On Your Linux Machine (23)
• Top 2 Sites To Play Old Nintendo Games Online (16)
• How To Run Windows Mobile 6.5 On Your PC Desktop (7)
• How to play Sony PlayStation 2 Games on your PC (124)
• How To play Sony PlayStation (PSX) Games on your PC (163)

When I first started out, I was using a very slow beta that was horrible. But now, my WM 6.5 beta is very stable and all my friends are getting jealous.

So, how do you know if WM 6.5 is right for you? Until now, you relied on word of mouth and reviews but now Microsoft has released their newest Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows Mobile 6.5. Included in this package is a Windows Mobile emulator that allows you to run Windows Mobile 6.5 on your PC.

It is meant for development of software applications but don’t let that stop you from downloading and trying out the newest mobile operating system.

Here is a screen shot of my Windows Mobile 6.5 desktop:

That is the Titanium interface that is very slick, loaded up with Titanium Weather and a custom picture of my reason for living. That’s it, the rest of it is right out of the box! So now, if I have sparked some interest you can mosey on over here and grab the WM 6.5 Professional SDK package.

After installing it, you will have an emulator on your start menu like this:

Clicking on the Standalone Emulator Images will show you several emulators like this:

Choose any one of them and you are off to explore the wonderful world of Windows Mobile 6.5.

It takes a moment to boot up but when it is done you will see the above home screen. Go ahead and try Windows Mobile on your PC – it ain’t like you are going to break something! Hit the Start menu in the upper right hand corner to check out the honeycomb interface like so:

Everything is useable, except for the phone and internet but you can customize it, mess around with the settings and get a feel for it. I could never see myself going back to 6.1! Take it for a test drive and let us know your feelings in the comments.

And please, keep your “It’s no iPhone” jokes to a minimum!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Using Yahoo Go to Stay Connected On Your Mobile (8)
• Total Media Domination – Your TV, Video and Audio on any Device (12)
• The Ultimate Guide To Your Windows Mobile Phone [PDF] (12)
• MyPhone Backs Up Your Windows Mobile Device To The Internet (Beta) (9)
• How to Set Up Laptop Wireless Internet Access Through Your Cellphone [Windows] (36)

While there are many games available in the App Store, some with excellent graphics and AI, some people (perhaps the older generation) still prefer to get their hands on the old console games which they spent their childhood playing.

To be able to play console games on your iPhone, there are three things that you must do:

1. Jailbreak Your iPhone

I have previously discussed how to jailbreak your iPhone with the Pwnage tool, so this should be an easy task for you.

2. Be Able To Access Your iPhone Filesystem From The Computer

I have also discussed 6 different ways that you can use your iPhone as an external hard disk. For Windows users, DiskAid or iPhone browser are great software that you can use to transfer files to your iPhone. In Mac, the OpenSSH or Netatalk method is preferred.

3. Get working ROMs for the respective game consoles

There are plenty of sites on the Internet that allows you to download ROMs for different game consoles. If you own the game, it is nearly always legal to own the ROMs and use them on various platforms. Similarly, if you do not own the game, download the ROMs at your own risk.

CoolROM is one great site that allows you to download ROMs that are not protected by the ESA (Entertainment Software Association). They have plenty of ROMs for different consoles, ranging from Atari to GameBoy, Super Nintendo and Sony Playstation, so you shouldn’t have much problem finding the game you like.

Let’s get started…

Assuming that you have got the above three steps ready, here’s what you do to install the various game consoles on your iPhone.

On your iPhone, load up the Cydia application. (the Cydia application will appear only if you have jailbroken your iPhone). Navigate to the Games section. This will be the place where you will find most of the emulator.

Sega Genesis Emulator for iPhone

genesis4iphone is the iPhone emulator for Sega Genesis (MegaDrive) that you can use to play sega games on iPhone. It is based on the popular PicoDrive emulator.

In your Cydia, install genesis4iphone from the Games. You should see the GENESIS icon on your iPhone main screen.

Using your OpenSSH (or DiskAid), transfer your Genesis game ROM into the folder /var/mobile/Media/ROMs/GENESIS/ in your iPhone.

Back to your iPhone main screen, load the Genesis application and you can start to enjoy your Sega Genesis game.

GameBoy Advance Emulator

To play GameBoy Advance games on your iPhone, first install gpSPhone from the Cydia installer.

Search and download the gba_bios.bin file that is required for the emulator to function.

Using your OpenSSH (or DiskAid), transfer your GBA ROMs and the gba_bios.bin file into the folder /var/mobile/Media/ROMs/GBA/ in your iPhone.

Load the GBA application from your iPhone main screen and enjoy your game.

Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator (MAME)

If you are a fan of arcade games, then MAME is the application that allows you to play all your favorite arcade game on your iPhone. The MAME version in the iPhone supports many arcade machines from the 1970’s to 2000.

Install mame4iphone from Cydia.

If you have downloaded your favorite MAME game ROMs in zipped format, do not unzip.

Using your OpenSSH (or DiskAid), transfer your MAME zipped ROM into the folder /var/mobile/Media/ROMs/MAME/roms/ to your iPhone.

Load the MAME application from the iPhone main screen. Once a game is started, it will ask you to press OK. Use RIGHT then LEFT then RIGHT then LEFT to press OK.

Nintendo Emulator

Nintendo is one of the most popular old school game consoles, so we definitely won’t miss it in this list.

Install NES from Cydia.

Using your OpenSSH (or DiskAid), transfer your NES ROMs into the folder /var/mobile/Media/ROMs/NES/ in your iPhone.

Load the NES application from the iPhone main screen.

ScummVM

For those who miss the LucasArts SCUMM interpreter, used in games such as Monkey Island, Indiana Jones, Day Of The Tentacle and Sam and Max, here is the emulator for the iPhone.

In your Cydia, you have to first add the Scumm repositories. Go to the Repositories section in Cydia and install the package Urban Fanatics’ Source.

Next, go to the Games section, you should now find the ScummVM package available for installation.

If you have difficulty finding ScummVM files, the home page does have quite a number of games available for download.

Using your OpenSSH (or DiskAid), transfer your ScummVM files into the folder /var/mobile/Media/ROMs/ScummVM/.

Load the application from the iPhone main screen and you are good to go.

Sony Playstation Emulator

This emulator refers to Playstation 1, not versions 2 or 3.

Install psx4iphone from Cydia.

Search and download the scph1001.bin file in Yahoo (Yahoo gives better search results than Google in this case). This is the BIOS file required to play all PS games.

Using your OpenSSH (or DiskAid), transfer your PS ROMs and the bios file into the folder /var/mobile/Media/ROMs/PSX/ in your iPhone.

Due to the hardware limitation, some of the graphics intensive games could be slow and sluggish.

Super Nintendo emulator

Install snes4iphone from Cydia.

Using your OpenSSH (or DiskAid), transfer your SNES ROMs into the folder /var/mobile/Media/ROMs/SNES/. If you have a ROM in the zipped format, that is fine. You can upload the zipped file to the iPhone folder.

Load the SNES application from the iPhone main screen.

That’s it. Enjoy your old console games on your iPhone.

If you have installed and played console games on your iPhone, tell us about your experiences, whether it was good, bad, sluggish performance, exciting etc..

Image credit: Mustafa Maluka

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• How to Read PDF Files and Other Docs on iPhone & iPod Touch (12)
• Cooliris For iPhone: Surfing The Web With 3D Experience (6)
• Aurora Feint (iPhone App) Brings Role Play to Bejeweled (11)
• 5 Great Apps To Turn Your iPhone Into A Powertool (24)
• Two Useful iPhone Apps To Copy / Paste Text (7)

Those who’ve been around long enough will be able to recall the days of the good old SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System). Teenagers of the last generation might still remember the Nintendo 64 and (who can forget) the GameBoy Advance. These are the three systems we’re going to take a look at today.

If you’ve followed the previous guides, you’ll be relieved to see that emulation of these somewhat older systems is a whole lot simpler.

How to Play Super Nintendo Games on PC

Let’s start with How to Play Nintendo Games on PC. ZSNES is one of the most advanced SNES emulators on the block. Using some special rendering techniques, it can emulate commercial games that are still a lot buggier with the other emulators. At first, this was a DOS-only project, though it’s been ported to both Windows and Linux. Mac users should try out SNES9x.

Once installed, ZSNES delivers a pretty basic interface. It allows the user to select a ROM (an image of the game, read more about this further on in the article; use GAME-LOAD) and start playing right away.

More advanced users might be interested in some further adjustment of the emulator. The most significant might be the video resolution in the CONFIG-VIDEO menu and the key configuration in CONFIG-INPUT. Just be sure not to change anything if you don’t know what it is.

Play Nintendo 64 Games on your Computer

Now let’s talk about, Nintendo 64 emulation using Project64. The Nintendo 64 was the successor of the Super Nintendo. Even though it had to compete with the Sony PlayStation, it managed to stay on its feet. I still remember going to play it at my friend’s, getting pawned at GoldenEye 007. Maybe it’s about time for a rematch…

Project64 has been developed for the Windows platform. Linux and Mac OS X users can try out Mupen64Plus.

The graphics of the Nintendo 64 are a little bit more up-to-date compared to those of the Super Nintendo. This means you might not want to try it on your old Windows 98 PC. If you have a computer with a Pentium III with 256 MB or more, you shouldn’t worry.

Project64 delivers a very easy to use, multilingual interface, which even less experienced users should be able to handle. You can select your ROMs using the File menu, but you can also set a ROM directory. This will enable your ROMs to be listed in the main window (read more about ROMs below). Before taking off, you might want to change your screen resolution (Options – Configure graphic plug-in), as well as enabling full-screen in the basic settings menu.

You can use either your keyboard or a gamepad and can up to four different inputs.

How to Play Gameboy Advance Games on PC

When i comes to GameBoy Advance emulation there is a tool called VisualBoy Advance. The VisualBoy Advance is the most successful GameBoy Advance emulator up to date. It allows the emulation of almost all commercial games in a very smooth manner. The VisualBoy Advance should run on all PCs with Pentium III or up. It is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux.

Except perhaps changing your key configuration (Options – Joypad – Configure) you can start playing right away.

VisualBoy Advance offers a wide variety of extra options, like screen capturing (image or video), importing GameShark files and a Cheat Search.

ROMs

A ROM image is a computer back-up of your game cartridge. You can either make them yourself, using homebrew on your console, or download them. With old school consoles, a lot of games’ patents are outdated, or in a lot of cases, the company doesn’t mind the online circulation of their games as long as no one makes money from it.

CoolROM is an online inventory of ROMs. You can also download the ROMs that aren’t still protected by the ESA (Entertainment Software Association). Sadly, about all Mario and Zelda games, as well as a major part of the GBA games, are still protected.

Don’t forget though, that if you own a game, it’s nearly always legal (laws may differ from country to country) to download it using torrents or P2P software like frostwire.

What are the best old school games in your opinion? Are you aware of any other ways to play console games on a computer? Are they available on CoolROM? Please let us know in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Top 2 Sites To Play Old Nintendo Games Online (16)
• DeSmuME- Free Nintendo DS Emulator to Play NDS Games on PC (21)
• 5 Sites To Play Old Computer Games Once Again (49)
• Top 3 Sites For Nintendo DS Walkthroughs (6)
• Top 2 Sites For Nintendo Wii Game Cheats (13)

Many of you told me (in the comments here and on Digg.com) how the first PlayStation was too outdated, and thus not interesting. ‘Passé’, one might say.

Because of that and because it was planned anyway, we’ll raise the stakes a bit. This time, we’ll be discussing emulation of PlayStation 2 games.

How to Playstation 2 Games on PC

First of all a warning. Many of you will not be able to run these games properly. They’ll lag on a lot of PC’s. On some of them they’ll lag even more. When emulating PlayStation 2 and Xbox games, you always have to keep in mind the next equasion:

To remove the above mentioned ‘-1‘ factor, you can pay more attention to the specific type of game you’re trying to play. Naturally, visually simple games like ‘Disgaea’ will run smoother than 3D, over the top graphical shooters, like ‘Black’. In short, your computer will never completely be a PlayStation 2.

We’ll be guiding you through this process in a few simple steps.

Step 1 – Download and install PCSX2

PCSX2 comes in two packages. A binary package (which you have to un7zip) and an installation file. Just install or extract it to the folder of your choice.

Step 2 – Getting the BIOS files

Contrary to the first PlayStation, the PlayStation 2 uses several BIOS files. Basically, these are the hardest to find. Because they are copyrighted material, you are only allowed to own these files if you also own a PlayStation 2. MakeUseOf does NOT encourage piracy! This is also the reason why it’s illegal to host these files online. If you actually own a PlayStation 2 though, it’s not illegal to download them (laws may differ in your country).

So now you basically have two options layed out for you. You can either dump them from your PlayStation 2 yourself, or find someone else who dumped them and who put the files online. On this last website you can find the ROM1, eROM and the SECAM-, NTSC- and PAL BIOS files you’ll need. Again, you must’nt download them if you don’t have a PlayStation 2. You can put these files in a folder of you’re choice.

Step 3 – Running PCSX2 and configuring BIOS, video and controller input

The program comes in two different versions. One version uses TLB (pcsx2t.exe), the other one Virtual Memory (pcsx2.exe). First of all, try running the VM version. The program will try to reallocate the memory, after which you have to log off and on again. If it fails to do so, you’ll have to use the TLB version. This one is somewhat slower, but according to the developers the speed difference is not that great.

After you’ve started up, select ‘Config’ -> ‘Configure’.

First, we’re going to configure our BIOS. Press ‘Set Bios Directory’ and select the folder where you’ve put your BIOS files. Back in the Configuration screen, select the correct region from the Bios drop-down menu. You might want to change this now and then, depending on your games.

Next, the video plug-ins. PCSX2 comes with ZeroGS KOSMOS and GSdx9 plug-ins. A ‘Ps2 Output’ window (which looks similar to the command screen) normally opened when you started PCSX2. Else, temporarily close the Configuration screen, select ‘Misc’ -> ‘Enable Console’ and restart the program. In this Ps2 Output screen, look if ‘Detected SSE2′ is stated under Features. If not, you might want to choose the ‘no SSE2′ video plug-in.

If you press the ‘Configure…’ button under the video drop-down menu, you can tweak graphic related options like screen size, toggle full-screen, anti-aliasing and more.

As for the controller, I highly recommend LilyPad. This is one of the most adjustable plug-ins. You can use keyboard, mouse and controller input. There even is a setting so you can use your Guitar Hero guitar.
Just download it here, and drop it in the plugins directory. If you’ve used the installer, that would be C:\Program Files\Pcsx2_0.9.4\plugins .
Re-open the Configuration screen, select LilyPad from the drop-down menu and press configure. In the ‘General’ tab, you can tweak various settings. Select the ‘Pad 1′ or ‘Pad 2′ tab to configure the keys.

Step 4 – Test-driving and alternative plug-ins

With everything set up, it’s about time for a test-drive. We’re going to look if everything works as it should, and look which points need more improvement.

We can boot the games, depending on the plug-in we use, either by CD/DVD or by using an image file. The standard configuration uses Linuzappz, which is able to boot ISO’s and other image files. To do this, just select ‘File’ -> ‘Run CD/DVD’.

If you want to boot from a disc instead, go back to the configuration screen and select the P.E.Op.S driver from the Cdvdrom dropdown menu. Press configure to select an interface (based on your operating system) and the drive you want to use. Confirm your configuration and you’re ready to roll. Select ‘File’ -> ‘Run CD/DVD’ to boot from the chosen drive.

At this point you’ll be prompted for a date and a timezone, after which the game will start. If you’ve got problems with the graphics or sound, try using one of the the other plug-ins. You can get more additional plug-ins here.

If you’re still having problems, check the compatibility status of your game here.

Have fun!

About the (would-be) next article

Some of you might also remember that I had the intention of also publishing an article concerning Xbox emulation. We are, however, going to postpone this subject until it is in a somewhat more stable form.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• How To play Sony PlayStation (PSX) Games on your PC (163)
• Top 2 Sites To Play Old Nintendo Games Online (16)
• Run Windows Applications on Linux (or Mac) with WINE (15)
• MUO Games – Put Yourself In The Game With Pictogame (9)
• How To Play Old School Console Games on Computer (18)

Wikipedia says that “an emulator duplicates the functions of one system, using a different system, so that the second system behaves like (and appears to be) the first system.” This means that we can make our PC mimic a specific system, which thereby enables us to run those system-specific games on our computers.

In this series, we’ll take a closer look at the software needed to run PSX, PS2 and Xbox games on your PC. This time we’ll discuss Sony’s Playstation (PSX) and the ePSXe emulation software.

Part One – PlayStation 1

A lot of people had fun with the first PlayStation, including me, and we can’t seem to get rid of it (in a good way). All of the original PlayStation games were playable on the PlayStation 2, and most of them on the PLAYSTATION 3. These days you can even play them on your PSP, so why not on our PC as well?

To play Playstation 1 games on your PC, you need to download a program called ePSXe.

Step 1 – Download and install ePSXe

The latest version can always be found here.

As there’s no installer, you just have to unzip it in the folder of your choice. You’ll also want some shortcuts, so right-click on the ‘ePSXe.exe’, ‘send to’ and choose ‘desktop’.

Step 2 – Getting the PSX’s BIOS

The installation is far from complete though, as this is only the base of the emulator. Among the other things we’re going to need are the PSX’s BIOS files. These are essential for the emulation, but there is a catch.

You are only allowed to own these files if you also own a PSX. Make Use Of does NOT encourage piracy!

You can obtain the BIOS in two ways. You can dump it from your PSX, but that is the long route. You can also download it somewhere (direct link here), but again, only if you actually own a PSX.

We’ll extract these files in the \bios directory (you can also delete the ‘erase.me’ file)

Step 3 – Getting image

Again, we are not ready yet. Next we need the video plug-in.

There’s a wide variety of video plug-ins available, and (depending on your graphics card) some might work better for you than others, so I can’t tell you which one to use. I can point you in the right direction though, as Pete’s and P.E.Op.S. plug-ins have made a good name for themselves. If these do not work (well), try out a few and see which works best (all Linux plug-ins are at the bottom of the page).

We’re going to extract the downloaded package(s) into the \plugins directory. You might need to overwrite the ‘gpu.dat’ file.

Step 4 – Make some noise (optional)

The ePSXe core has built in sound plug-ins, but in case they didn’t work for you, check here for alternatives (scroll down a bit). You can put these plug-ins in the \plugins directory.

Step 5 – Disk driver plug-ins (optional)

The ePSXe core also has built in plug-ins for your disk drive, but in case they didn’t work for you, check here for alternatives (about halfway down the page). You can put these plug-ins in the \plugins directory.

Step 6 – adding zlib1.dll

In their haste to please us, the developers of ePSXe forgot to add zlib.dll to the latest release (v 1.70). You can get it here (just drop it in the same directory as ePSXe.exe).

Step 7 – configuring ePSXe

You’ve got all the files you need now and are just a few steps away from playing your games. Upon opening ePSXe.exe, or the shortcut you made to it on your desktop, you will encounter a configuration wizard.

First you select the correct BIOS for your region (PAL being Europe, Australia and a part of Asia). You’ll notice that there are different alternatives for your region, but all should work.

Next, select your video driver. When you press ‘Config’, you can change the video settings (like screen resolution, FPS limit, and so on. Apart from the resolution, only change these settings if you know what you’re doing.

Press next and select your sound plug-in and CD-ROM plug-in.

Last but not (at all!) least, you can configure your controller settings. First press on the controller you want to configure. In my opinion, the two best options here are either using a gamepad (USB, or an original one with a converter), or your keyboard (‘Digital’ in the menu).

Step 8 – Boot and play

Finally, in the ‘file’ menu, either choose ‘run CDROM’ or ‘run ISO’ to start playing!

You can make ISO’s of your PSX games without special procedures. Just use Nero, or another CD burning suite.

Be sure to look out for the next articles in this series, where we’ll take a closer look at PlayStation 2 and Xbox emulation.

You might also want to check out ps3maven.com – it provides Playstation 3 updates, news and everything related to the cool ps3 game console

(By) Simon is a student from Belgium who wastes his time relaxing, watching anime and surfing the net. He would tell you to check out his blog, only he doesn’t have one yet!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• How to play Sony PlayStation 2 Games on your PC (124)
• Top 2 Sites To Play Old Nintendo Games Online (16)
• Run Windows Applications on Linux (or Mac) with WINE (15)
• MUO Games – Put Yourself In The Game With Pictogame (9)
• How To Play Old School Console Games on Computer (18)

I’ve got a WII, and I love it, and one of the big reasons I do is for the emulation. Sadly however, I can’t bring my WII to work or to the coffee shop down the street – but I can bring my laptop, jump on their WiFi and fire up these four awesome sites for a quick old school gaming fix!

VirtualApple (Apple II and Apple IIGS)

I don’t know about you but every now and then I get a craving to hunt square rabbits, hire unfit workers, make them walk too far and then lose three days because I’ve got scurvy. Virtual Apple always satisfies my Oregon Trail fix; but don’t other classics like John Elway’s Quarterback, Crystal Castles, and Max Headroom (don’t lie, you remember Max Headroom).

c64s.com (Commodore 64)

My family’s first computer was the UPS-brown Commodore 64, so this one really takes me back. I even remember “modding” the case to the newer, more angular style when it came out. Yikes. Thrill to such Commodore favorites as Zork, Wizard’s Lair and Pakacuda. The site has all the titles categorized by genre and features screenshots – further underscoring the real graphical prowess of the C64!

Virtualnes.com (Nintendo Entertainment System)

vNes has a huge catalog of NES cartridge titles available for play on their site via a Java-based emulator – 765 of them to be exact. I’ve noticed a few problems with slowness on a few titles, but all in all it’s an excellent place to play old games online and satisfy your urge to jam on Super Mario Brothers, Zelda, or one of my favorites: Ivan Stewart’s Super Off Road.

Playnes.net (Nintendo Entertainment System)

Another big catalog of NES titles, but you’re able to register which gives you the ability to save states in the games you’re playing. You can even open other people’s states – meaning that when your buddy gets stuck trying to battle through the ninjas, you can swoop in, rescue the President, and prove just how bad a dude you really are.

GetBack.Com Arcade

Unlike the rest of the sites I listed, GetBack isn’t strictly a gaming site. It’s kind of a “throwback culture” site. The upside is that they do have several games in their arcade that you can play, like Intellivision Backgammon and River Raid.

What about you? Where do you go to satisfy your vintage gaming urges? Let us know!

(By) Lee Mathews is a blogger who writes to share downloads, links, and tech advice with other slightly frustrated users at Unsightful.com.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too.

• Top 2 Sites To Play Old Nintendo Games Online (16)
• How To Play Old School Console Games on Computer (18)
• DeSmuME- Free Nintendo DS Emulator to Play NDS Games on PC (21)
• Yahoo! Games: WordRacer is my Boggle Game of Choice (6)
• Toribash Fighting Game – Design & Try Perfect Fighting Moves (17)