Playing Old Games on a New Computer: It’s a Hoot!

Admit it – you still crave a good game of scrolling Super Mario or Dig Dug just like you did “back in the day.” We all do because playing them brings back some of the fondest memories. But it isn’t easy to play these games the way we used to. Unless we’ve kept the systems and cartridges of the past in good working condition, our only trip down this jagged pixel lane is through a little known gem called emulation.

Through emulation, you can play some of your favorite games from the past including games made for Commodore, Atari, and Nintendo. Emulation refers to the ability of a program or device to imitate another program or device and it tricks the software into believing that a device is really some other device. It is also possible for a computer to emulate another type of computer. For example, there are programs that enable an Apple Macintosh to emulate a PC. 1

All that gobbledy gook doesn’t really mean too much until you discover that with the right emulator, your computer can play all your old favorite games. And the news gets even better. You can download emulators from the Internet – free. You can download Amiga, Commodore, GameBoy, Playstation 1, and Nintendo emulators plus you can download the games (ROMs) that these machines play.

Our favorite emulator is the ZSNES Emulator. This particular program emulates the old Super Nintendo console and you can learn more about it yourself by visiting http://www.zsnes.com. This program comes with an extensive help file and walks you through the process of setting up a copy on your own PC. At the very least, your system needs a 486/100 processor, 14.5MB of RAM, a VGA card, and a Sound Blaster or 100% compatible sound card. However a system with a fast P200 or higher Pentium processor, 32MB of RAM, VGA card, and Sound Blaster 16 or 100% compatible sound card yields the most realistic results.

But don’t think that just because a console is on the computer – you can’t enjoy your favorite gaming accessories. The ZSNES Emulator let’s users maneuver around games with the keyboard and a joystick. But enough about the emulator – You probably want to know what kind of games you can play, right?

Called ROMs, you can play any game on your PC that you played on the Super Nintendo System including:

* Bomberman 5
* Super Battleship
* Beavis n’ Butthead
* Bustamove
* Clue
* Dragonballz
* DreamTV
* Final Fantasy 4
* Frogger
* The Great Waldo Search
* Inspector Gadget
* Jeopardy Deluxee
* John Madden Football
* Mariokart
* Marvel Superheroes
* Megamans Soccer
* Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
* Monopoly
* Mortal Kombat 2
* Pinocchio
* Power Rangers
* Race Driving
* Carmen San Diego
* SimAnt
* SimCity
* SimCity 2000
* Super Mario RPG
* Sonic
* Space Football
* Starfox
* Streetfighter 2
* Super Black Bass
* Super Ninja Boy
* Super Punch-Out!!
* Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
* Themepark
* Troddlers
* Utopia
* Vortex
* Wacky Race
* Wheel of Fortune
* Wings 2
* Wordtris
* World Soccer 94
* Yoshis Island
* Zelda 3
* … and tons more.

Downloading these games is a simple matter of finding them online and there are plenty of websites that host them. Try http://www.everyvideogame.com for starters.

Be aware that there’s an issue with downloading these games and it’s a legal one. Basically, you’re not allowed to download and play any game that you don’t already own on a cartridge. If can abide by this law, you can revisit the past, in the present, on your brand new PC.

1 Source: Mecklermedia Corp.

February 28, 2009 · Filed Under Computer Games and Systems

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Online Gaming For Mom and Dad…

Have you ever wondered what your child was rambling on about at the dinner table when he or she started saying things like “VR” or “RPG”? If so, you’re not alone. “VR” and “RPG” aren’t new text messaging acronyms – they’re acronyms for gaming and this article is going to introduce you to some of the more common forms.

If you at least thought of the Internet when you heard “VR” or “RPG” however, you’re on the right track. Exclusive to the online environment, “VR” or “RPG” – which consequently stands for virtual reality gaming and role playing games – are just two aspects of a gaming world gone wild. The days of playing scrabble in front of the fireplace are over in today’s generation, but we don’t believe you’ll hear too many people complaining about it. Today’s generation is fascinated with online gaming – an opportunity to play games over the Internet with hundreds of people at a time.

Available to anyone with a computer and fast Internet connection, there are thousands of online games available to play by anyone… sometimes free and sometimes for a fee. They range from the familiar family board games to strange and more complicated games which require a hundred page manual to understand. One thing that they all have in common however is that they’re fun to play.

The most common type of online game you’ll probably run into is the Flash game – usually located on educational sites or Yahoo! for Kids for example. These games may or may not involve other players, but they’re always full of color, they’re fast to download, and they’re fun to play. Since they run inside the web browser, no special equipment is needed. These are the simple games – more intriguing than checkers, but no more difficult to play than chess.

Another type of online gaming is more violent than the ones we described above and it’s similar to the “shoot-em-up” type games found on the first Nintendo and Playstation systems. Designed from the first person’s point of view, the player typically maneuvers around the screen as a weapon-clad hand – periodically changing weapons as the game’s scenario permits. The violence in these games vary from mild to offensive, and as a parent, you’re cautioned to monitor your children’s access to them – especially since these games are played online with other people.

Next, in terms of complication or violence, comes the virtual reality gaming and role playing games that we introduced earlier. These types of games require an extensive amount of time spent online since players assume the role of a game character in play. Players work hard to build up an inventory of weapons or skills – none of which can be accomplished in a period of thirty minutes or less. They then go on to interact with other characters which extends game time even longer (if it even stops). Both virtual reality gaming and role playing games require and encourage strategic thinking, but as parents, you may not be comfortable with the violence that’s prominent in some of these games. Nor may you be comfortable with the amount of time that playing these kinds of games can consume. Depending on the complexity of the game, any one person could spend at least six months at a game and having access to thousands of other players simultaneously doesn’t exactly make them easy to walk away from.

Our best advice is to learn about these games right along with your child and make the decision to play them (or not play them) together. You can find some helpful advice about making computer decisions with children in our article entitled, “Protecting Children Online.”

February 28, 2009 · Filed Under Computer Games and Systems

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Going Broke Playing Games? You Don’t Have To And Here’s How

If you haven’t looked at the cost of new computer or video games and gaming systems as a whole recently, you might be in for a shock. Today’s games and gaming systems can run from a meager $30 all the way to a whopping four hundred dollars or more. To a loving mother of a game obsessed teenager, the costs can be astronomical and nothing short of frightening. Fortunately the cost of buying quality computer or video games (including the systems that they run on) can be significantly reduced once you know what to do and where to look.

One alternative to funding a gaming pursuit with a second mortgage is to “go old.” By “going old,” we mean buying last month’s or year’s games and game systems. If you could admit the one truth that we all know, but never readily face, you could literally save hundreds of dollars in an instant. This truth is that unless you’re a millionaire, none of us can afford to buy the latest toy on the market. The ugly fact behind that truth is that within a relatively short amount of time (say, 60-90 days?), that latest toy will be replaced with a new and improved system, which consequently, grants access to what was wanted in the first place – at half the price! So go old and have a little patience. Within about three to four months, you will have made a tremendous saving.

When it comes to computer gaming, you could also come out better by upgrading games rather then an entire computer. It can take anywhere from a year or more for a gaming company to release a new version and chances are, the upgrade doesn’t require new hardware – it just requires a new payment. Remember, the gaming industry can’t really keep up with the computer industry either (no one can), so there’s no reason to panic or worry. Concentrate on keeping your game current rather than your system. Only in rare instances, such as if your computer is archaic to begin with, will you need to upgrade your hardware. Shop wisely and you can catch a new soundcard, joystick, or graphics card on sale. But if you have a high gigahertz processor and Direct X 9 installed, you’ll do fine for quite a while.

Here’s a whopper of an idea and one that probably won’t take as much of an effort to convince younglings to do as you might think. But to curb the costs of gaming, perhaps a group of families could pitch in and share the finances together. Depending on the number in a group, the cost of a new gaming system – and 5 or 6 of the most popular games – could diminish to 20% or more of their original costs.

And since gaming consoles are getting smaller and smaller, there’s no reason why a group of families couldn’t band together and trade gaming space within their homes every week or two. This way the kids in the neighborhood can enjoy one or two of the new systems on the market that they could never otherwise afford, and they can enjoy them without their parents having to shoulder the burden of funding them alone.

Seeing that kids generally play games together anyway, a group effort of this sort satisfies game cravings at a significantly reduced cost and it keeps everyone happy.

February 27, 2009 · Filed Under Computer Games and Systems